Christian Community: The Meal Worship Crisis

Posted by David on October 14, 2001 under Sermons

Last Sunday evening I emphasized a single fact, and I asked you to remember that one fact. I asked you to remember this fact: in both the Old Testament and New Testament world, people often worshipped by eating a meal. The faithful in Israel commonly worshipped by eating a meal. I called to your attention Israel’s Passover meal. I called to your attention Elkanah’s worship meal in 1 Samuel 1:1-5. I called to your attention the evil acts of the priest’s sons at worship meals in 1 Samuel 2:12-17.

Just as many of Israel’s animal sacrifices involved a worship meal, so did the animal sacrifices of those who worshipped idols.

A major crisis existed among many first century Christians because of the worship meal. Virtually all who were Christians worshipped before conversion by eating a meal. That was a common practice in many animal sacrifices for both Jews and those who worshipped idols. Virtually everyone converted to Christ was either a Jew or a person who worshipped an idol. Virtually everyone converted to Christ had worshipped by eating a meal.

Christians in Corinth lived in an idolatrous city. Many of those Christians worshipped idols prior to conversion. Becoming a Christian did not eliminate the influences of pagan practices in a convert’s every day life. City politics and idol worship were so intertwined it was impossible to separate them. Religion and state were very much joined together. Government simply did not function without the direct involvement of the gods. It was impossible to separate business and idol worship. Every business guild had a patron god or goddess. To assure that business went well, guild members honored that god or goddess. Guilds had much in common with today’s labor unions in some places. If you were not a member of the guild, you could not do business.

For first century Christians, the world of the Roman empire was in extreme contrast to the world of the American Christian. We can live in isolation. They could not. We can restrict our meaningful involvement and activities to association with other Christians. They could not. Their lives were affected by idolatrous practices every single day they lived.

1. How should Christians live when they are surrounded by idolatrous influences?
   1. That was a huge question they had to answer–it simply could not be ignored.
      1. Different Christians had different answers for that question.
         1. Some had the attitude, “That is reality. Christ freed us, so we are free to live the way we choose doing as we wish.”
         2. Some had the attitude, “There are some things Christians can do and some things Christians cannot do.” Just as today, their opinions and past experiences often determined what could and could not be done.
         3. Some had the attitude, “You cannot do anything that has the appearance of honoring a false god.”
      2. Just like today, Christians had some serious arguments among themselves about what could and could not be done.
         1. Those arguments affected their fellowship.
         2. Those arguments affected their respect for each other.

   2. Few questions brought disagreements into conflict as quickly as did worship meals.
      1. Because all of them ate worship meals prior to becoming Christians, that practice raised enormous questions.
         1. When does a meal become an act of worship?
         2. If you eat meat that you know has been sacrificed to an idol, does eating the meat automatically make the meal a worship meal?
         3. If you do not know that the meat you eat was sacrificed to an idol, is it still a worship meal in spite of your ignorance?
         4. Should Christians be vegetarians just to be safe?
      2. There seemed to be two central issues:
         1. What makes a meal a worship meal?
         2. Does eating meat from an animal sacrificed to an idol honor that idol?
      3. To understand the difficulty of these questions, you must remember some facts.
         1. Fact one: everyone had the past experience of worshipping by eating sacrificial meat; from past experience, they understood such worship.
         2. Fact two: this was a common understanding from past experience: the act of eating the meat from a sacrifice honored the god (God) to whom the sacrifice was offered.

2. Allow me to call your attention to two paragraphs found in a letter Paul wrote to Christians at Corinth. The two paragraphs are joined. The first paragraph is 1 Corinthians 10:14-22.
   1. “You must understand that idolatry is spiritually destructive.”
      1. “A Christian must run from idolatry.”
         1. “Idolatry represents everything you seek to escape by being a Christian.”
         2. “Idolatry involves a false god and an ungodly lifestyle.”
      2. “You are wise enough to comprehend this, so listen to understand.”
         1. “When a Jew eats part of his sacrifice, it is worship offered to honor God.”
         2. “When an idol worshipper eats part of his sacrifice, it is worship to honor a god.”

   2. “Does that mean an idol is a real god? No!”
      1. “Sacrifices made to idols are sacrifices made to demons.”
      2. “A Christian cannot worship God and worship a demon.”
      3. “To knowingly attempt to do so insults God.”
      4. “You cannot take communion with Christians and make sacrifices to idols with people who are not Christians.”

   3. Some Christians did not agree with Paul’s instructions, and Paul knew it.
      1. In the city of Corinth people were free to live as they pleased.
      2. Additionally, Christians argued Christ did two things.
         1. He freed the Christian.
         2. His sanctification eliminated do’s and don’ts.
      3. Paul said freedom and sanctification were not the only legitimate concerns when considering a meat that came from a sacrifice to an idol.
         1. “Christ did set the Christian free.”
         2. “Christ did sanctify every food.”
         3. “God is the source of all food.”
         4. “But you must not forget that you are servants; when you do things that are spiritually destructive to other people, you are not serving God.”

3. I call to your attention the second paragraph: 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.
   1. “When you buy meat from the meat market, buy the meat but do not ask questions.”
      1. The common supplier of meat for the meat market in most cities (outside of Palestine) were the temples dedicated to idols.
         1. Some Christians asked at the meat market, “Where did you get this meat?”
         2. They were shopping for meat for a meal.
         3. They were not preparing for a worship meal.
      2. Problem number one: meat sold at the city’s meat market.
         1. “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market.”
         2. “God is the creator.”
         3. “It all came from God.”
         4. “Eat the meat and give God the honor.”
      3. Problem number two: a person who is not in Christ invites you to a meal.
         1. First, when he obtains meat for his meal he will not ask where the meat came from–to him, it never matters.
         2. Whatever he serves, eat it.
         3. Do not ask questions; do not insult his hospitality.
      4. Problem number three: the host volunteers to you that the meat he is serving comes from a sacrifice offered to an idol.
         1. I do not understand this to be a confrontational statement but a sensitivity statement.
            1. The host knows the Christian holds different beliefs.
            2. The host does not want the Christian to unknowing eat something he would otherwise not eat.
            3. I regard the host’s information to be shared in kindness.
         2. Do not eat the meal.
            1. For his sake, do not eat the meal.
            2. For his conscience sake, do not eat the meal.
         3. Why? Why should a man’s conscience (who is not a Christian) determine what I eat?
            1. If I know God is the creator, why not eat?
            2. If I give thanks to God for the meat which He created, why not eat?
         4. Because if you eat, in that man’s conscience God will not be glorified.
            1. Christians do nothing that does not give God glory.
            2. Christians are God’s servants.
            3. Others honor God because of their actions and attitudes.
         5. If you eat, the host will lose respect for your God and you will lose influence for your God.
            1. “I will do nothing among Christians or among those who do not believe in Christ to make them think less of God.”
            2. “My objective never changes: cause more people to accept the salvation God presents in Christ.”

With far too many Christians, there are two huge spiritual questions. Question one: by what authority? Question two: is it right? This is the thinking: “If I can show that I have God’s authority for what I do, and if I can show that what I do is right, it is okay. What people think who are not Christians is irrelevant. What people who are Christians think is irrelevant. I can prove it is authorized and right, so its okay.”

Paul said those two questions are not the only relevant spiritual concerns. This same Paul answered both of those questions. He said that the meat came from the God who created it (1 Corinthians 10:26), so there is authority. He told the preacher Timothy (1 Timothy 4:3,4) to teach people they cannot eat meat is teaching the doctrines of demons. Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received by gratitude. That satisfies the “right” question.

But Paul told the Christians at Corinth more is involved. “We are God’s servants. There are two things I will never do as Christian. One, I will never knowingly be spiritually destructive to another Christian. Two, I will never knowingly cause a person who is not a Christian to think less of my God.”

As a Christian, are you a servant? Do you live with those objectives in mind?

“God, Why Did You Let That Happen?”

Posted by David on under Sermons

An eight year-old boy loved taking risks. He especially got a thrill when he could combine climbing and risk-taking. More than once his father caught him in the act. Each time his father warned him of what could happen and the painful consequences that could result.

But the boy was eight years old. When you are eight years old, nothing really bad can happen. Anything can be fixed! So he continued to climb, and he increased risks. Oh, he was careful. Very careful! Very careful to see that his dad did not catch him.

One day he made his most daring climb, a climb higher than he had never attempted. He successfully made the climb, and his confidence soared. So…he took the greatest risk he had taken. Just when he was certain that he had accomplished his greatest stunt with no consequences, he slipped. In an instant that passed so fast that his mind could not grasp it, he was on the ground in great pain.

At first he could not catch his breath. The fall knocked his breath out of him. When he finally caught his breath, the pain began to scream. Both arms were broken. One was so severely broken that a bone pierced the skin. He landed so awkwardly that he also sprained both ankles. He lay in agony unable to move.

Later after surgery, he opened his eyes and saw his dad leaning over him. In a voice barely louder than a whisper, he said to his dad, “This is your fault! How could you let this happen to me?”

1. This has been an unbelievable month!
   1. If in July anyone had prophesied accurately the events of September and early October, we would have declared the person crazy.
      1. The destruction of the World Trade Center towers?
      2. Almost 6,000 casualties?
      3. The Pentagon severely damaged with casualties?
      4. Anthrax?
      5. Military action in Afghanistan?

   2. I actually have heard people ask the question, “How can God let such things happen?
      1. What does that question mean? When people ask that question, what are they saying?
         1. Some are saying there is no God.
            1. If God existed, He would not allow things like that to happen.
            2. If there was a God, and if He was all powerful, He would use His power to stop horrible happenings.
         2. Some are saying that God exists, but all this is God’s fault.
            1. God has the power to stop such horrible things.
            2. When they happen, they happen because God did not use His power.
         3. Some are saying that they are confused.
            1. They do not understand how horrible happenings and God’s power fit together.
            2. They simply do not know what to think about what happened.
      2. This is the common thought in the question: some way, some how it is God’s fault.
         1. It is the idea that God will not allow bad things to happen to good people.
         2. It is the idea that God protects Christians from bad happenings.
      3. That is a very curious idea, a very confusing conclusion.
         1. We celebrate the fact that God allowed His son to die on a cross.
         2. We admire Stephen for being the first Christian martyr.
         3. We honor Paul for enduring suffering and execution.
         4. But we conclude that today God will not allow bad things to happen to good people.

2. We find the reality of bad things happening to good people perplexing and confusing, but it is an old, old question.
   1. Before Christianity existed, Israelites asked the same question.
      1. It is the central question that stands as the heart of the book of Job.
         1. Job was the godliest man on earth.
         2. Job had horrible experiences.
         3. He did not understand how a godly person like himself could have such horrible things happen to him.
         4. His friends give him awful explanations of why he suffered.
      2. God revealed to Habbakuk the horrible consequences that Judah would experience.
         1. God warned Judah for the majority of 300 years, and Judah refused to turn their lives around.
         2. So God revealed to Habbakuk the consequences Judah would pay.
         3. Habbakuk was deeply shaken by God’s revelation.
         4. He even asked God, “Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they” (Habbakuk 1:13).
      3. Judah was extremely confident nothing bad could happen to them.
         1. They were God’s people.
         2. They had God’s temple sitting in God’s holy city.
         3. When God sent teachers like Habbakuk to tell them they needed to repent, they would cry, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” (Jeremiah 7:4)
            1. What they meant was, “Nothing bad can happen to us!”
            2. “We have God’s temple, and God would not let anything bad happen to His temple!”
            3. But the temple of the Lord was destroyed, and they were conquered by the Babylonians.

   2. In the last fifty years, we created a huge lie by believing our society should exist without consequences.
      1. We created and we live by a “no responsibility” mentality.
         1. Years ago we began to learn the factors that contribute to specific problems in human behavior, and that is good.
         2. Years ago we began to learn the many ways we are influenced as we develop, and that is good.
      2. But we took good understandings and used them for bad purposes.
         1. We should have taken those understandings and used them to become more responsible people.
         2. Instead, we allowed those understanding to deceive us. Now we believe we are not responsible for who we are or what we do.
      3. Now we live in a society that believes:
         1. No matter what happens, someone else must be blamed; it is always someone else’s fault.
         2. We should be protected from all forms of liability.
            1. We should be protected from bad food regardless of how we eat.
            2. We should be protected from medicine’s side effects.
            3. No matter how we use any product we buy, we should be protected from harm.

3. Since we live in a no consequence nation and a no consequence society, we need a no consequence God.
   1. So we declare there should be no spiritual or moral consequences to any form of human behavior.
      1. We can live in any way we please.
      2. People can be as immoral and irresponsible as they wish.
      3. The world can be as unjust as it chooses to be.
      4. Greed can rule the hearts of the majority.
      5. People world wide can hate as much as they want to hate.
      6. Selfish pleasure can drive people to use and abuse other people.

   2. BUT…God is responsible to see that nothing bad happens.
      1. No matter how we behave, God is responsible to see that there are no consequences.
      2. No matter what emotions govern our lives, God is responsible to see there are no consequences.
      3. No matter how selfish, or greedy, or unfair, or abusive, or unjust, or pleasure centered, or materialistic, or morally irresponsible we are, God is responsible to see there are no consequences.

4. I am not so stupid or arrogant as to think that I have THE answer to horrible consequences falling on good people, but I do have some thoughts I want you to consider.
   1. At some point in our existence, we must realize that evil produces consequences.
      1. The first great deceit declared by evil is this: there are no consequences.
      2. The second great deceit declared by evil is this: if by accident some consequences occur, they will be small.
      3. The third great deceit declared by evil is this: if by accident some consequences occur, it will always be someone else’s fault.
      4. All three of those declarations are lies.
      5. Evil and consequences go together.
         1. Sometimes consequences are immediate: doing evil instantly creates problems.
         2. Often consequences are unintended: “I did not mean for that to happen.”
         3. Sometimes consequences are progressive: things go from bad to worse.
         4. Sometimes consequences are long term: it is possible for involvement in evil to set in motion events that will hurt lives for generations.

   2. At some point we must realize that being free moral agents means we have responsibilities.
      1. We rejoice in the fact that God created us a persons of choice–that is what we mean by being free moral agents.
         1. Everyone of us has a right to choose.
         2. Everyone of us can choose.
         3. Everyone of us can be as evil as we choose to be or as godly as we choose to be.
      2. However, we must realize that responsibility is the price we pay for being free to choose.
         1. No matter what factors contribute to my problems, I must choose.
         2. The choices I make are my responsibility.

   3. At some point we must wake up to this fact: “God did not do that; wicked people did that.”
      1. If a drunk driver kills someone in my family, God did not make the driver drunk.
      2. If someone in my family is raped, God did not fill the rapist with hate or make him a slave to his passions.
      3. If I suffer because of someone else’s greed and injustice, God did not fill that person with greed and selfishness.
      4. Satan did, but God did not.

The cry of our nation cannot be, “God, leave us alone; let us live as we please; but do not let anything bad happen.” The cry of Christians cannot be, “‘God leave us alone; let us live as we please; but do not let anything bad happen.”

The tragedy: we do not know evil when we see it. So we invite the consequences of evil into our lives and never realize what we are doing.

Hundreds of years ago Isaiah wrote these words to people who made our same mistake for the same reasons:
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Only God can show us how to recognize good, see the light, and understand the true distinction between sweet and bitter.

I Notice!

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Few experiences discourage anyone as much as being taken for granted. Few experiences energize anyone as powerfully as appreciation. That is the voice of experience. Occasions that deeply discouraged me invariably come when I feel taken for granted. Times when I am powerfully energized invariably come when I know I am appreciated. Is not that the way your “motivation system” works?

In these inner feelings I doubt you and I are different. If you are a Christian servant, you feel deeply discouraged when you feel “taken for granted.” You also feel powerfully energized when you feel appreciated.

Please forgive me for not saying “thank you” as often as I should–which should be constantly! I see so many things done to bless and encourage. I notice quiet, considerate acts of unselfish service. Because of my work, I am privileged to witness many things others never have opportunity to see.

I give special thanks to all who make our fellowship occasions reality on fourth or fifth Sunday evenings. Much “thankless” work make those times a reality. Special thanks to all who helped this fifth Sunday evening. Sickness required some key people to be elsewhere that evening. Volunteers promptly filled the gaps. Perhaps “thank yous” were not as generous as deserved. I noticed, and I thank you.

Last Sunday morning many of the adult classes began new studies. Those adult classes will study Climbing On The Altar, a careful examination of Romans 12:1 through 15:13. I encourage you to be part of a class each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m.

We do not conduct these studies to honor a tradition or perpetuate a habit. Attendance is not a church thing “that has always been practiced.” Classes meet and study to encourage individual Christians as they develop a committed, in-depth relationship with God. We learn godly principles, values, and standards that will help us be godly people in all our relationships.

We want to study Bible material that helps you be a godly person in your real world. This Sunday please complete an anonymous, brief input survey of only three questions:

Think about the questions. Fill in a survey form. Give the completed form to your teacher or place it in the box in the foyer. We want to encourage you to be a godly person in trying times.

Christian Community: When They Ate To Worship

Posted by David on October 7, 2001 under Sermons

I want to explain what I plan to do for the next few Sunday nights. I will use both Old Testament and New Testament scriptures to increase our understanding of a first century problem among those Christians. First, I will build some background from the Bible. Second, I will focus your attention on the New Testament’s declaration of the problem. Third, I will call your attention to God’s solution to the problem. If we understand the problem and God’s solution, that understanding should change the way Christians treat each other. That understanding should increase our patience and kindness toward each other.

Allow me to begin by focusing your attention and challenging you to think. Frequently, as individuals, all of us encounter a major spiritual problem. Spiritually and religiously, sometimes we learn information from scripture that contradicts what we were told scripture taught. Every time that happens, we face an important decision. Some times those decisions create huge personal crises.

Let me give you a specific example. Back in the 1950s it was popular to preach against smoking tobacco. Articles were written, tracts were written, and sermons were preached about the wickedness of smoking. Many arguments were made against the evils of smoking. The most common argument from scripture made was this: “If you smoke, you destroy your body. If you destroy your body, God promises that He will destroy you.” The conclusion was simple: if a person smokes, produces health problems, and dies as a result of those health problems, God will destroy that person in hell.

The proof text scripture used to “prove” this conclusion was 1 Corinthians 3:16,17. That scripture reads:
Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

But using that scripture to condemn smoking tobacco creates a huge problem. This scripture is not concerned about smoking tobacco or any problem similar to smoking tobacco. This statement was written by Paul about the internal division within the congregation at Corinth. In context, the temple of God in this scripture is the congregation at Corinth. “You, the congregation at Corinth, should realize that you collectively are God’s temple.” Paul told them that allowing internal division to destroy the congregation guaranteed God’s wrath. If they allowed internal division promoted by maintaining differing loyalties to destroy the congregation, God would destroy them.

I do not smoke. I do not think smoking advances God’s purposes in my life. I am not advocating smoking. My point is simple: this scripture has nothing to do with smoking tobacco. It concerns internal division in a congregation. It is not about an individual Christian’s physical body. In this scripture, the temple is the congregation at Corinth, not a human body. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul does call the individual Christian’s body God’s temple, but not in 1 Corinthians 3:16,17. We cannot “rightly divide the word of truth” and force 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 to say something Paul did not say.

When I understand that, I have a choice to make. (1) I can maintain my ignorance and defend my ignorance by strongly affirming my ignorance is the truth. (2) I can use my ignorance to draw conclusions from uninformed speculation. Example: “Smoking involves no moral issues!” (3) I can acknowledge my ignorance and resolve to become better informed. (4) I can dedicate myself to better understanding God’s will and purposes regardless of where He leads me.

We can talk all we wish about being Christ’s church and being dedicated to God’s will. But this is the truth of the matter: it is demanding and difficult to open our minds and hearts to valid, in context information from scripture when that information contradicts what we were taught and we accepted. That is demanding and hard for every single one of us. All of us have a desire to force scripture to support what we believe. No one wants scripture to radically change our understandings.

1. This evening, I want you to see and understand one fact from scripture. I want you to develop a single awareness.
   1. Though this fact is obvious in scripture, it is likely you read right past it.
      1. Bible students, you read over it, by it, and through it a thousand times and likely never pay any attention to it.
      2. There is a reason few pay any attention to it: this fact seems so strange to us, it seems so foreign to us, we simply do not think about it.
      3. Yet, as strange as it seems to us, it was not at all strange to people in Old Testament Israel or Old Testament idolatry, and it was not at all strange to people in New Testament Israel or New Testament idolatry.

   2. When I say “worship,” what do you automatically think?
      1. The word “worship” does not bring the same understandings and images to all of us.
         1. Some hear the word “worship” and immediately think of “correct forms.”
            1. Worship occurs if the forms are correct.
            2. Not matter what is in a person’s heart, if the forms are not correct there is no worship.
         2. Some hear the word “worship” and immediately think of what we commonly call the five acts of worship: singing, praying, preaching, communion, and giving.
            1. Worship is a matter of procedure.
            2. If the correct things are done, worship occurs.
         3. Some hear the word “worship” and immediately think of the glorification of God.
            1. If the right forms are observed but there is no deliberate, conscious glorification of God, worship does not occur.
            2. If the right procedures occur but there is not deliberate, conscious glorification of God, worship does not occur.
         4. Those are not the only three things that Christians immediately think about when they hear the word “worship,” but those are three very common things.

   3. No matter what we specifically think when we hear “worship,” we all regard singing, praying, and communion [when each comes from our understanding and hearts] as expressions of worship.
      1. I think I can be reasonably certain that none of us think of eating a meal as an expression of worship.
         1. That is so foreign to our experience or our practices or our approved expressions of worship, that eating a meal as an act of worship never enters our minds.
         2. It is so foreign to our thinking and our experiences that we would say that anyone who considers eating a meal an act of worship misses the whole point of worship.
      2. Yet, scripture confirms, without doubt, that the most significant occasions of worship in Israel [and in any form of sacrificial worship] involved eating a meal.
         1. That was true in Israel in the Old and New Testaments.
         2. That was true in most forms of idolatry in the Old and New Testaments.
         3. The vast majority of people who became Christians in the New Testament were converted from religions that ate meals as expressions of worship on some of the most significant occasions of worship.
         4. Christians in the New Testament knew the experience of worship by eating a meal.

2. By now some of you are saying to yourselves, “David is nuts! Why is he talking about this? Where in the world is he going?”
   1. It is okay for you to think I am nuts; all I ask you to do is to think with me.
      1. What you may consider crazy right now may prove to be very important.
      2. I just ask you to follow me until I can show you from scripture the importance.

   2. Let me begin by asking you something many of you know and understand.
      1. In Israel what was Passover?
         1. It was, and to the orthodox Jew still is, the most important religious day in the history of the nation of Israel.
         2. It commemorates the day when God released the Israelite people from their slavery in Egypt.
         3. The very first time the nation of Israel observed this special day was the night they left Egypt.
      2. By God’s instruction, what did they do? (Exodus 12)
         1. Every family killed a lamb; small families combined and killed a lamb.
            1. The lamb was to be the best lamb they owned.
            2. The lamb’s blood was smeared on the outside of the door frame.
            3. The lamb was roasted over the fire without dressing the lamb.
         2. With the roasted lamb as the center of a meal, they were to prepare a meal, eat it as they were fully dressed and be prepared to leave.
            1. That night they were to eat the roasted lamb with bitter vegetables and bread that had no yeast in it.
            2. The only way the lamb was to be cooked was by roasting.
            3. What they did not eat at that meal they were to destroy by burning.
      3. Listen to Exodus 12:14
         Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.
         1. Passover was the most important day and act of worship in Israel.
         2. Passover still is the most important day and act of worship among orthodox Jews.
         3. And how do you observe the occasion of Passover? How do you honor and glorify God on this most important occasion of worship of the year?
         4. One of the things you did, and many still do: you ate a meal.
         5. By eating the meal you glorified God for what He did in delivering Israel, and you recommit yourself to dependence on God.

3. Most of us are not at all familiar with sacrificial worship that included sacrificing an animal.
   1. That kind of worship is foreign to our culture and foreign to our personal experience.
      1. We are far more likely to associate animal sacrifice with witchcraft than with worshipping God.
      2. Many of us have little idea of what all was involved in worshipping God through animal sacrifice.

   2. Not in all animal sacrifices, but in some animal sacrifices, the person who provided the animal to the priests for sacrifice ate part of the meat.
      1. What occurred when the animal was killed? Worship.
      2. What occurred when the man who offered the sacrifice ate the meat as a meal with his family? Worship.
      3. Consider a specific example found in 1 Samuel 1:1-5.
         1. Each year Elkanah took his family which included two wives to Shiloh for sacrificial worship. [Shiloh was the location of the tabernacle at this time.]
         2. After he offered his sacrifice, he gave portions of the meat to his family for the sacrificial meal.
         3. To Hannah, the wife who had no children, he gave a double portion of the meat from the sacrifice.
         4. At Shiloh immediately after the killing of the animal, the families who came for sacrificial worship prepared and ate a meal.
      4. Consider a second example found in 1 Samuel 2:12-17.
         1. Sacrificing a animal as an act of worship in Israel required the priests who offered the sacrifices to perform specific procedures.
         2. After the sacrifice was offered, and after those who brought animals were cooking the meat for their sacrificial meal, this was the custom: the priests walked among the people who were cooking their meat by boiling it, thrust a three pronged fork in the cooking vessel, and whatever stayed on the fork belonged to the priests.
         3. The priest, Eli, has some sons who assisted him, and they were worthless, evil men.
            1. They told those who offered a sacrifice, “We want you to give us meat before you boil it. We want roasted meat, not boiled meat. We want our meat before Eli performs his procedures.”
            2. “If you do not give us what we ask for, we will take it by force.”
         4. Notice a part of the worship involved a meal.

   3. Eating a meal as an act of worship was common among those who offered sacrificial worship, both in Israel and among idol worshippers.
      1. That was common in the Old Testament world, and it was common in the New Testament world.
      2. Most Christians tend to think that people have always worshipped in ways that were very similar to our acts of worship.
         1. Not so.
         2. In fact, to the Christians of the New Testament, worshipping without offering an animal sacrifice on special days was strange.
         3. Worshipping when there was no sacrificial meal to eat on special holy occasions was strange.
         4. Eating a meal as an act of worship was a practice hundreds of years old, and prior to becoming Christians, most of them had that experience.

The one fact I want you to remember is this: there was a time when worship included eating a meal.

If we are Christians, we have a sacrifice. Jesus Christ is our sacrifice. He was offered one time for everyone (Hebrews 10:10).

Do You Like Surprises?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Do you like surprises? That is not a yes or no question for any of us. It depends on the surprise. Some surprises are wonderful. Some surprises are horrible. If a surprise brings a person joy and delight, he or she loves the surprise. If a surprise brings a person sadness and shock, he or she hates the surprise.

Surprises use the unexpected. If you expect it, it cannot be a surprise. “Surprise” is an important tactic in modern warfare. When your objective is to destroy an enemy in modern warfare, you value the “element of surprise.” So in modern warfare we use the “surprise attack.” What is the “element of surprise”? What is the “surprise attack”? It is the element of astonishing. It is to attack when the enemy is unaware of danger.

We have been blessed to live through years of peace and times of peace. In times of peace we do not need wartime words. So we gave some of those words peaceable meanings. We developed “pleasant surprises.” “Pleasant surprises” have the same objective of astonishing and catching unaware, but the result is wonderful, not destructive.

As an example, consider the “surprise birthday party.” That astounding, unexpected event is wonderful–unless it is your fiftieth birthday! The first surprise birthday party I attended after moving to Fort Smith was for Jack Lowry. Boy, did his friends put the word surprise in that party! It was really a surprise! The party occurred at midnight at the close of his birthday. A son called and told him he had car trouble. He sat up and came outside. The party began with a candle light vigil on his lawn. Oh, the joys of Jack’s surprise birthday party! Maybe surprise birthday parties and war do have something in common.

1. I want you to note something stated very obviously by Jesus.
   1. When talking about the judgment, Jesus deliberately combined the concept of surprise and the concept of eternal accountability.
      1. And your immediate response is, “Of course he did! We clearly understand that the judgment will be an occasion of huge surprise for a lot of people!”
      2. What do you mean by that statement?
         1. “Well, we will not be surprised because we know what to expect and are prepared.”
         2. “Many people think they know what to expect and think they are prepared.”
         3. “But they do not know and are not prepared, and they are in for a huge shock.”
         4. Consider some statements Jesus made about judgment that may challenge your conclusion.

   2. Likely Jesus’ most familiar statement about the judgment is found in Matthew 25:31-46 when he discussed the final gathering of the nations.
      1. Jesus talked about the scene at the judgment and declared there would be a great separation of peoples or nations.
      2. I call two obvious teachings to your attention.
         1. First, people did not know their sentence until the Lord declared it.
            1. Those on his right were welcomed to the inheritance God prepared for them from the moment the world began.
               1. He said they were receiving this inheritance because they were kind, helpful, and thoughtful to him in times of need.
               2. And they were surprised. And in their amazement they asked, “When did we do any of these things for you?”
               3. And he said, “When you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it for me.”
            2. In the same manner, those on the left were condemned and rejected because they ignored him in his need.
               1. And they were surprised. They said they never neglected him.
               2. But he said they neglected him when they neglected the least.
         2. Second, carefully note that everyone was surprised.
            1. Those receiving the inheritance were surprised.
            2. Those condemned were surprised.

   3. I call to your attention a second statement Jesus made about the judgment in Matthew 7:21-23.
      1. Jesus said when that day comes, he will not know all the people who call him Lord.
      2. In judgment, there will be people who say to him, “We did Jesus’ things in Jesus’ name.”
         1. “We belong to you! We can prove it!”
         2. “You prophesied; we prophesied.”
         3. “You cast out demons; we cast out demons.”
         4. “You did miracles; we did miracles.”
      3. “We not only did the things you did, but we also did those things by your authority.”
         1. “We did them in your name.”
         2. “We gave you credit.”
      4. Jesus will respond by saying, “I never have known you. Get away from me. Your lives were dedicated to lawlessness; they were not dedicated to me.”
      5. They expected acceptance; they received rejection; and they were surprised.

   4. I call to your attention a third statement Jesus made about the judgment in Matthew 12:38-42.
      1. Some significant Jewish religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, said, “Show us some evidence that what you are saying comes from God.”
         1. Jesus said, “Your desire for evidence comes from evil motives, not godly motives.”
         2. “You have evidence from events in scripture; I will not give you any more.”
         3. “The people of Nineveh, Assyria, will tell you in the judgment, ‘We repented, and Jonah did not care about us. Jesus cared about you.'”
         4. “The Queen of the South will tell you in judgment, ‘I traveled a long way to hear Solomon’s wisdom, and you had someone greater than Solomon to hear.'”
      2. When people hear these things in judgment, can you see the shock, the amazement, the surprise?

   5. I call your attention to a fourth statement Jesus made about the judgment in Luke 10:10-14.
      1. This statement was made in Jesus’ charge to seventy men he sent out in pairs to prepare cities and towns for his coming visits.
      2. He gave these men specific instructions about what to do if a town or city rejected them.
      3. Then Jesus made some amazing statements.
         1. He named some cities which were the symbols of evil, wicked places like Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon.
         2. To Jesus the Jewish communities of Chorizin and Bethsaida symbolized faithlessness (Matthew 11:20-22).
            1. He performed miracles in those cities in an effort to move them to repent.
            2. But they refused to repent.
         3. In the judgment the wicked cities will not receive as much harshness as cities that had great opportunity but no faith.
      4. Can you imagine their shock, their surprise?

2. We will not and cannot grasp the significance of Jesus’ judgment statements unless we understand Jesus’ audiences.
   1. Jesus spoke to Jewish people who considered themselves the upstanding people of God.
      1. Jesus seemed to have made the Matthew 25 statement about the judgment on the mount of Olives while teaching his disciples (Matthew 24:3).
      2. Jesus’ Matthew 7 statement is a part of the sermon on the mount spoken to a large crowd of disciples.
      3. Jesus’ Matthew 12 statement was made to questioning scribes and Pharisees.
      4. Jesus’ Luke 10 statement was made to seventy disciples as Jesus prepared to send them out in pairs.

   2. Jesus made his judgment statements about people who were certain they had the advantage in the judgment.
      1. They were God’s people.
      2. God had chosen them.
      3. They had scripture and the prophets.
      4. They knew the right way to worship God.
      5. According to them, they had the right credentials for the judgment.

   3. The parallel is frightening. Look at the way we think about ourselves.
      1. We are God’s people.
      2. We are the church that Christ built.
      3. We understand the intent and meaning of scripture.
      4. We understand the right way to worship God.
      5. According to us, we have the right credentials.

3. Regardless of what happens to each of us in judgment–good or bad–Jesus said we will be surprised.
   1. If we are among the saved, the reasons we are accepted will surprise us.
   2. If we are among the lost, the reasons we are rejected will surprise us.
   3. There may be those who shout at us, “If your opportunities had been our opportunities, we would not be among the rejected!”
   4. Perhaps the condemnation of some of us will be harsher than people we consider wicked.

4. Jesus stressed that both he and God place enormous importance on doing good in the way we treat other people.
   1. Our conditioned, gut response to that statement is: “No, no, no! God’s emphasis is on what you know, what you do in worship, on having the right theology. Being godly is not about doing good to people, but about being obedient to the commandments we declare to be important.”
      1. Think with me a moment.
      2. No one on earth has ever known as much about God as Jesus did.
      3. No one on earth has ever understood God as completely as Jesus did.
      4. No one on earth has ever grasped God’s will as perfectly as Jesus did.
      5. No one on earth has had exactly God’s correct balance in life as Jesus did.
      6. In any way, in any subject, in any consideration, the God-Jesus relationship was superior than any other God-human relationship.
      7. Jesus truly understood what God is about and what God wants.

   2. Stated in another way, as a human, Jesus reflected God perfectly.
      1. In his attitudes, he perfectly reflected God.
      2. In his spirit, he perfectly reflected God.
      3. In his priorities, he perfectly reflected God.
      4. In his values, he perfectly reflected God.
      5. In his focus and his deeds, he perfectly reflected God.

   3. When Peter discussed Jesus with Cornelius, Peter made this statement:
      Acts 10:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

You have influence every day of your life in every relationship of your life. Jesus wants you to be light in a world of darkness and salt in a world that is decaying. Use your influence! Be like Jesus! Each day of your life, do good! Do good to your family! Do good to your neighbors! Do good to the people you go to school with! Do good to the people you work with! It is belonging to God through Jesus Christ to do good that will cause you to stand in judgment.

In judgment, it will surprise you when you realize how important doing good to “the least of these” is to God and Jesus Christ. Why? When you do good to “the least of people” you do good to Jesus. And God pays special attention to how you treat his son.

There Was a Man…

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

There was a man who made a living and supported his family as most men do. He loved his Lord, loved the church the Lord sustains, and loved people. This people-person genuinely enjoyed assembling with Christians to worship and glorify God.

There was a man who struggled with crippling arthritis. He fought it and resisted it as it increasingly restricted his life, limited his involvement, and finally confined him to a wheel chair. He fought his disease with a cheerful disposition, a smile, a growing love for his Lord, and a constant love for people.

There was a man who fought his arthritis with fierce, personal determination. He had surgeries. He took growing numbers of medications that steadily increased in strength. Yet, slowly but certainly, the disease increased its hold on his life. But his cheerful disposition never left, his smile never faded, his love for his Lord and his Lord’s church never dimmed, and his love for people was constant. Many visited to encourage this man, but most left encouraged by him. He always laughed. He always smiled.

There was a man whose replacement wrist joint wore out. His spine in his neck became about the size of a pencil. He often wore a thick collar for protection because he could not survive sudden movements. An unexpected jerk could literally break his neck. But his cheerful disposition remained, his smile never faded, his love for the Lord and his Lord’s church never dimmed, and his love for people continued.

There was a man who could not assemble for worship with the Christians he loved. He came in his wheelchair for a long time. With time his worship visits grew less frequent. Even in his home movement from his bed to his wheelchair and his wheelchair to his recliner became a major struggle. But he refused to stay in bed. He loved to listen to taped sermons. The last time he worshipped the God he loved with the Christians he loved, it took him almost a week to recover. Yet, he loved that visit! His cheerful disposition came! His bright smile was present! And the many who warmly, fondly visited with him felt the love!

There was a man who had to take huge amounts of pain killers to endure each day. As the disease advanced, the doses of those pain killers were enormous. Most people taking that amount of medication would exist in a state of stupor as minds and bodies were numbed to fight the pain. But not even those pain killers erased his cheerful disposition, or took his smile away, or masked his love for the Lord and the Lord’s church, or hid his love for others.

The man was Joe Halford. Why was Joe Halford this kind of man? Many factors contributed to his kind disposition, his constant smile, and his love for the Lord and for other people. Yet, all those factors rested on one foundation. Joe Halford was that man because Joe Halford knew the Man. Joe understood why Jesus died and what God accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Joe understood Jesus gave him life.

Nurturing Life, Not Barriers

Posted by David on September 30, 2001 under Sermons

In working with any group of people, the greatest challenge to achieving a common goal is generating cooperation. This is especially true in our American culture and society. These are our tendencies: (1) individually we tend to be extremely independent. (2) Individually we tend to be very self-centered. (3) Individually we tend to think of self importance. (3) Individually we tend to attribute bad motives to those who do not think “as I do.” (4) Individually we tend to be very competitive. (5) Individually we tend to have great confidence in our personal conclusions. (6) Individually we tend to want to determine the direction rather than following in a direction.

In my understanding of scripture, God establishes our goal as the church. In my understanding of scripture, that goal is to encourage every person toward the fullness of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Christians achieve spiritual maturity by traveling differing routes, differing development patterns, and differing learning patterns.

When Paul wrote his letter we call Romans to the Christian community in Rome, those Christians were extremely different. Part of them were converted from first century Judaism and part of them were converted from first century idolatry. Their differences were enormous. Their concepts of God were quite different. The way they saw life was quite different. Spiritual development occurred in their lives differently.

1. Read with me as I read Romans 12:3-8.
   For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
   1. Were I to sum up Paul’s message in this paragraph to Christians in Rome as they struggled with differences, I would do it in this way: “You are not in competition.”
      1. “Whatever ability or gift you have, use it for the benefit of the entire church.”
      2. “You are not in competition.”
      3. “Look at yourselves in the same way you look at a human body.”
      4. “You are not in competition.”
      5. “Well developed eyesight, a strong stomach, and powerful hands do not achieve strength in the same way.”
      6. “You are not in competition.”
      7. “No matter how different you are, it is okay.”
      8. “You are not in competition.”

   2. We urgently need Paul to teach us the same lesson.
      1. We are not in competition.
      2. The car clinic is not in completion with CURE, the Discovery Dinner is not in competition with His Needs/Her Needs, the Inner City Ministry is not in competition with Kids for Christ, the Quilters are not in competition with 60 plus, Wings is not in competition with the Vacation Bible School, local outreach is not in competition with foreign missions, and the Jail Ministry is not in competition with the children’s education program.
      3. We are not in competition.
      4. We function together as a body to help people move toward a mature, spiritual completeness in Christ.

2. The lives of many of you are sources of personal encouragement to me.
   1. This morning I want to mention one person to illustrate my point, and I surely do not want to do anything to embarrass him.
      1. John Lindgren powerfully encourages me.
      2. I sincerely doubt “big John” has any idea of how much he encourages me.

   2. Let me share just a little bit about John as a person.
      1. I met John about four years ago when he was deeply troubled.
         1. He genuinely wanted to be a Christian.
         2. But he thought his past made it impossible for him to be a Christian.
         3. When John understood that the purpose of God’s mercy and grace was to allow him to begin his life anew, John became a Christian.
      2. John grew up in an orphanage without parents.
         1. Because of that experience, he endured a lot of disadvantages.
         2. Initially, his Bible background would not allow him to have a good understanding of sermons or classes–he just did not understand.
         3. The fact that he could not understand caused John at lot of anxiety.
      3. So Buster Herren and John spent one-on-one time studying together every class period and on many Sunday nights.
         1. And John grew.
         2. And John became a serving, involved part of the body of Christ.
      4. And every time I see John, I am encouraged.
         1. And every time John walks up to me and says, “I have a question,” I am encouraged.
         2. And every time I watch John as he is involved, I am encouraged.

3. The road to maturing in Christ is not the same road for all of us.
   1. That is one of the reason we started the small group ministry.
      1. Not everyone learns by the same methods.
      2. Not everyone is encouraged by the same context.
      3. Not everyone is nurtured in the same forms.

   2. That is the reason that this ministry continues to function as LIFE groups.
      1. The “L” is for love; the “I” for involvement; the “F” for fellowship; and the “E” for evangelism.
      2. The objective of LIFE groups: to encourage people on their journey to the fullness of Christ.

   3. Deacons Blake Frost and Larry Roper want to share with you briefly a blessing and opportunity that LIFE groups provides them.

[This ends the prepared outline of David Chadwell.]

The Strength of Faith in God

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Throughout time, amazingly, in some ways people never change. With the sophistication of our achievements, technology, and advancements, we, as a society, convince ourselves that “we are really different from people in the past.” In basic ways, we are not. We allowed the glitter of our external advancements to blind and deceive us. No matter how much life changes externally, people who place their trust in humanity remain amazingly the same. And they always suffer the same disillusionment.

Hundreds of years ago a young man named Daniel witnessed the unthinkable. The city of God containing the temple of God collapsed. Its government failed, and its most prestigious people were forced to move several hundred miles to Babylon. That entire situation must have been quite a shock. Previously, important people including influential religious people [supposedly close to God] declared nothing bad could happen. Anyone declaring the contrary was using scare tactics.

I do not know what Daniel planned for his adult life in Jerusalem, or what he thought his Jerusalem future held. I am confident his aspirations included none of his actual adult experiences. Rather than becoming an important hometown man who moved among Jerusalem’s elite, he was forced to move to Babylon to become servant to the king.

Incredibly, Daniel experienced a significant life of great influence in Babylon. In time, King Nebuchadnezzar placed great trust in Daniel’s insights and wisdom. The king often relied on Daniel more than anyone else.

From the beginning, Daniel never took credit for his wisdom and understanding. From the beginning, Daniel made it clear that God was the source of his understanding. God was to be glorified, not Daniel. “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for all wisdom and power belong to Him… It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; who knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells in Him” (Daniel 2:20,22).

Daniel experienced some severe trials. He survived hatred and jealousy. Why? His faith was in God, not himself. His faith was in God, not human strength. His faith was in God, not a world empire’s might. Daniel’s faith in God was always the basis of his decisions and actions.

Each of us attempts to determine the meaning of the current events. We are assured everything will be all right, but we wonder. May our lives and our values reflect Christ’s light. May we be lights in darkness. May we be the assurance that things can be all right. Because we are America? No. Because of our great military might? No. Because of our economic strength? No. Because of our position as leader of the free world? No. Because of our reputation as the defender of freedom? No. Because of our incredible technology? No.

Then why? Because Jesus is the Christ. Whatever happens, it will be all right.

The Big Gift

Posted by David on September 23, 2001 under Sermons

In the past twelve days we have seen Americans responding to American needs with an outpouring of concern unseen in this country for decades. The images of firemen rushing up a burning, collapsing building as thousands flee that building astound us. The images of policemen securing a disaster area by placing their own lives in jeopardy are riveting. Nationwide long lines of people gave blood, and some donors had never given blood before. This summer our hospitals pled for blood, but very few gave. Those who exhaust themselves in recovery and rescue efforts have their physical needs addressed as people bring food, water, and anything else they think is needed. If any personal equipment is needed by the hundreds of people working at ground zero, Wal-Mart sends it if they can find it. In New York’s business community, competitors sacrifice to assist each other. A massive influx of people continue to go to New York to volunteer their help.

Everyone wants to do something. People do not just want to do something. They want to do something that makes a difference.

Therein lies a major issue. What makes a difference? How should you measure differences when they are made? What criteria determine if a difference is an important difference?

1. Think with me about an incident in Jesus’ ministry recorded in Matthew 9:1-8.
   1. This particular incident involved a man who was paralyzed.
      1. Remember that Jesus already caused enormous curiosity and incredible interest by performing miracles.
         1. Matthew 8 recorded Jesus healing a man with leprosy, healing the servant of a Roman centurion, destroying a fever in Peter’s mother-in-law, causing a storm to cease, and casting demons out of an uncontrollable man.
         2. This miracle in the beginning of Matthew 9 just followed in the flow of Matthew’s emphasis.
      2. Some friends or family members of the paralyzed man either heard or saw what Jesus could do.
         1. They were convinced that Jesus could make a difference.
         2. Jesus could end their friend’s [or family member’s] paralysis.
         3. Jesus arrived in Capernaum by boat.
         4. They brought the man to Jesus on a bed; his physical condition was bad.
         5. Jesus looked at the faith of the people who brought the man on a bed and said to the man, “Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven.”

   2. Jesus’ statement would not have been heard as an insignificant statement.
      1. Remember, these were Jewish people in Galilee who knew and understood the beliefs and traditions of the Jewish people in Palestine.
      2. Remember first century Jewish people commonly regarded disease and serious health problems to be the result of acts of evil the sufferer committed.
         1. Often a serious health problem existed as proof of a serious sin.
         2. To tell a first century Jew with a serious health problem that his sins were forgiven quite significant.
         3. That statement made to a seriously sick person today would likely cause a lot of people to laugh, but not then.
         4. From the teachings given to Israel in what we call the Old Testament, they clearly understood that God used disease to punish evil Israelites.

   3. It is possible to focus on two reactions to Jesus’ statement.
      1. Matthew focused on scribes’ reaction.
         1. The scribes overheard Jesus’ statement and were appalled by what Jesus said.
         2. Among themselves they said, “This man blasphemes God.”
         3. In their view Jesus acted as if he were God by presuming to do what only God could do.
         4. Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he classified those thoughts as evil.
            1. Astounding!
            2. Here were men who served a very important religious role in Jewish society by, among other things, making copies of scripture.
            3. Scribes had an earned reputation for detailed knowledge of scripture.
            4. But Jesus said in this situation their perception of God caused them to think evil thoughts.
            5. I seriously doubt anyone but Jesus considered their thoughts evil.
            6. Most Jews considered the scribes’ thoughts to be godly in any situation, particularly a situation that involved knowledge of God.
         5. So Jesus revealed to them the evil of their mistaken perspective.
            1. He asked which was harder to do, to say the paralyzed man’s sins were forgiven, or to tell the paralyzed man to get up and walk?
            2. To document his authority to forgive sins, Jesus told the man to get up, pick up his bed, and go home.
            3. That is exactly what the man did.
            4. The large crowd who watched and listened were in awe of what happened and glorified God for giving such authority to people.

   4. For a moment I would like to focus your attention on the paralyzed man and the friends or family members who brought him.
      1. Matthew did not record their reaction to Jesus’ statement, “Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven.”
      2. I wonder if they realized that Jesus gave this man his greatest gift first?
      3. I wonder if they were disappointed because Jesus did not immediately heal the man as they expected?
      4. Let me try to put the situation in perspective.
         1. Jesus’ forgiveness would last for eternity.
         2. Jesus’ act of physical healing would last only until the man died.
      5. Would he feel and understand the blessing of forgiveness if he spent the rest of his physical life paralyzed, unable to get up or walk?
      6. Would he feel blessed only if he could get up and walk?
      7. What do you think?

2. Allow me to focus our attention on us.
   1. The greatest single blessing God wants to give each of us is the forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ atoning blood.
      1. You and I can be reconciled to God only if we are forgiven.
      2. You and I can be at peace with God only if we are forgiven.
      3. You and I can worship God only if we are forgiven.
      4. You and I can serve God only if we are forgiven.
      5. You and I can live in hope only if we are forgiven.
      6. You and I can die in confidence only if we are forgiven.
      7. You and I can be resurrected to live eternally with God only if we are forgiven.
      8. Every good thing God wishes to give us depends on our forgiveness.

   2. Right this moment in our lives, there is no gift that Christ can give anyone of us that is more significant than forgiveness.
      1. Yet, the truth is that forgiveness is the least appreciated gift God gives us right now.
         1. We each want God to do something for us that makes a difference.
         2. Forgiving us while leaving our physicals situations untouched is not what we want.
         3. Right now, forgiveness is not the difference we expect and want.
         4. The situation is much like the immaturity we see in our children who live at home.
            1. Their expectation wants a difference that is immediate and visible.
            2. If their parents do things that have the potential to make major, lasting differences throughout the child’s life, those things are not significant to the child unless they are immediate and visible.

   3. If you could have God do anything you can imagine to make a difference right now, what would it be?
      1. If we let our imaginations run wild, we can think of a lot of things we would like to change instantly.
         1. We would like to have the Trade Center Towers standing and the Pentagon unharmed.
         2. We would like to have all those wives have their husbands back, all those husbands have their wives back, all those children have their parents back, and all the dead have their lives back.
         3. We would like to have the same secure feeling we had two weeks ago.
         4. We would like to have the terrorists become as committed to peace as they are to destruction.
         5. We would like for all the innocent people of Afghanistan to have their wounds healed and lives restored.
         6. We would like to have people understanding each other instead of hating each other.
      2. Could it be that nothing we want would be eternal?
         1. Could it be that nothing we want would last longer than our lifetimes?
         2. Could it be that nothing we want would be the thing we need the most–God’s forgiveness?

   4. Let me approach the same thought from a different direction.
      1. How long have you been a Christian?
      2. In the time that you have been a Christian, has there been an occasion or situation in which you knew beyond doubt that God powerfully touched or blessed your life?
         1. I am not talking about your everyday type of experience.
         2. I am talking about an unusual circumstance or situation.
      3. If someone who was not a Christian was in a serious conversation with you and asked, “Has God ever done anything for you?”
         1. How would you answer? Would you say yes?
         2. If the person sincerely asked you to illustrate how God has blessed and helped you, and you were moved to answer, how would you illustrated God’s help?
         3. Let’s say you shared more than one illustration.
            1. What would be your number one illustration?
            2. Would the fact that God forgives you on a daily basis be one of the illustrations?

If we through God’s mercy and grace hear our Lord greet us and accept us as faithful servants in the judgment, we will hold a unanimous conclusion about God’s greatest gift to us. It will be God’s forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. And we will praise Jesus for dying for us. And we will glorify God for sending His son.

What Would You Like?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Wow! Have you caught your breath this week? Is it not amazing how our thinking has changed? So many things that were enormous and of incredible importance to our lives on Monday, September 10 became insignificant and petty after Tuesday, September 11. If you are like me, your mind staggers and reels as it attempts to grasp the significance of September 11. We realize something major happened, but we struggle to understand what it means. We realize our nation is unlikely to ever be the same, but we struggle to grasp how it will be different.

Allow me one example to illustrate the change. If on Monday, September 10, we made an application for a permit for a prayer assembly on the capitol building steps, what reception do you think that request would have received? If on Monday, September 10, we suggested through proper channels that our congress make plans that week to sing a prayer for our country [God Bless America] on the capitol steps, what reception do you think that suggestion likely would have received? If on Monday, September 10, we recommended all living American presidents and a host of dignitaries assemble in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for prayers for our nation and our world, would anyone have seriously considered the request? If on Monday, September 10, we seriously suggested that President Bush declare within that week a national day of prayer, what reception do you think that suggestion would have received?

I think the only honest answer to all of those questions is a negative answer. Yet, all that happened. In less than twenty-four hours after Monday, September 10, the unthinkable became the desirable. A society that was virtually anti-religious instantly became a praying society. An invincible society suddenly felt weak. A society who was the master of its own destiny suddenly became vulnerable. A society that strongly believed in self and its abilities suddenly knew they were pathetically inadequate. A society that was convinced it had fashioned an indestructible nation by becoming the earth’s only superpower suddenly realized it could be destroyed by an incredibly small group of invisible enemies.

1. This is the strangest moment in American history.
   1. We have declared war on an enemy who devastatingly attacked us in unbelievable, impossible ways.
      1. We have declared war, yet we have not fired one shot because we do not know where to shoot.
      2. We have declared war, and we have placed our powerful military on high alert, but for days we did not deploy our military to a specific front.
      3. We have declared war, and we have the world’s largest navy and air force, but for days our navy and air force’s primary function was to protect this nation instead of attacking an enemy.
      4. We have declared war, and we are not absolutely certain who our actual enemy is or where that enemy is located.
      5. We have declared war, and our greatest initial weapon is prayer.

   2. So you are praying, are you using your prayers to help fight our war?
      1. What do you want?
      2. If through your prayers anything could happen that you want to happen, what would happen?
         1. Would some people die?
         2. Would over 6000 bodies be found so grieving family members could “find closure?”
         3. Would grieving people find comfort?
         4. Would our lives and our American lifestyle “return to normal?”
      3. What is it you would have God do? What would you like?

2. In his earthly ministry, Jesus lived in a very religious, very prayerful society.
   1. In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus told a praying people there were some basic lessons they needed to learn and understand about prayer.
      1. He said that if they were sincere in their desire to talk to God, they needed to understand some realities.
         1. First, he said when you pray, you pray for God’s ears not for people’s ears.
            1. If you pray to impress other people, those people may be impressed, but God does not even listen.
            2. When you pray, talk to God.
         2. Second, he said (speaking of personal prayers) pray your private prayers all alone.
            1. With many religious people then that was not the situation.
            2. Privacy was much harder to find and was not a typical part of life.
            3. Some seemingly felt that if people did not hear your prayers that God could not hear your prayers.
            4. Jesus said people do not have to hear your prayers in order for God to hear your prayers.
         3. Third, he said you cannot influence God by “wearing God down.”
            1. Many children use the tactic of “wearing their parents down” by endlessly making the same request over and over.
            2. Jesus said that is the way that people who do not know God pray.
            3. He said it is not repetition that moves God to action.
            4. Repeated, earnest requests are good, but attempts to use whining manipulation is bad.

   2. Then Jesus gave these praying people an example of how to pray to God.
      1. In his example, Jesus included this very simple statement in verse 10: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
      2. Is that what you want? Do you want God’s will to be done right here and now in the same manner that it is done where God’s presence is centered?
         1. If I had a one-on-one religious conversation with you three weeks ago and we discussed the moral, spiritual, and religious decay in this nation, could you, three weeks ago, illustrate America’s decay?
         2. If three weeks ago we discussed things that were spiritually hurtful in our nation, could you, three weeks ago, illustrate spiritual failures?
         3. Since September 11 has this nation become morally or spiritually healthy?
         4. Has anything changed besides our anger, our fear, and our awareness of our need?

3. I absolutely do not wish to be misunderstood.
   1. To me, the patriotism, the courage, the bravery, and the national unity we have seen for almost two weeks is wonderful.
      1. I have deep gratitude for the incredible examples of sacrifice and caring we have seen for days from New York.
         1. With genuine apologies to the residents of New York and Washington D.C., I do not think most religious people in this nation would have looked to those two cities for spiritual or patriotic inspiration.
         2. I honestly doubt that any place in America could have surpassed them in heart, attitude, or courage in the face of an unthinkable crisis.
      2. My personal love for this nation grew powerfully in the early 1970s when Joyce and I did mission work.
         1. Until that experience, I had no idea of how blessed Americans are.
         2. I have visited in several nations in capacities other than a tourist.
         3. No one lives as do we.
         4. No one has the extensive freedoms we have.
         5. No one has the opportunities we have.
      3. One of the great gifts God has given me is American citizenship.
         1. It is an unspeakable privilege to live in this country.
         2. Far too few American truly understand the privileges they have and commonly take for granted.

   2. I wonder in the past week and a half, how many times Americans have sung “God bless America” sincerely with heart?
      1. I wonder in the past week and a half how may times Americans have earnestly prayed for God to bless America.
      2. Have you?
      3. If so, what are you asking? What do you want?
      4. May I ask you to think about something I find absolutely fascinating.
         1. The first week in September you and I could have discussed all the reasons for God perhaps not blessing America.
         2. Few, if any, of the things we could have talked about have disappeared.
         3. Could we have a discussion today of reasons for God blessing America?

   3. I love my country.
      1. I do not even wish to try to imagine life without the freedoms and opportunities this nation provides me.
      2. But as much as I love America, there is something I love more.
         1. I love God’s kingdom even more than I love this nation.
         2. I would love to see God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
         3. Above everything else, I would love for God’s kingdom to prosper.
      3. If God can bless America and His kingdom simultaneously, may it be.
      4. Nothing would bless this nation and this world more than for God’s will to be done here and now as it is in heaven.

4. Two thousand years ago Luke 13 tells us about a tower in Jerusalem that fell and killed eighteen people.
   1. It is possible that the tower in Siloam was a part of Jerusalem’s defense system that was intended to help protect the holy city and the temple.
      1. It was unthinkable that a tower whose purpose was to help protect God’s city and God’s temple could fall on some of God’s people.
      2. With their view of God and their concept of God’s people, what happened to those people simply did not make sense.
      3. There was only one answer that made sense to them: the people who were killed when the tower fell must have been really evil people, and God was punishing them.

   2. Jesus said they reached the wrong conclusion.
      1. He did not explain why the tower fell on those people; in fact, he did not even discuss the deaths.
      2. Instead, he talked to his living audience.
         1. He said if their conclusion was that those people died because they were evil and they were lived because they were good, they reached the wrong conclusion.
         2. The tower falling on those people had nothing to do with their being evil, and the fact that his listeners were alive had nothing to do with them being good people.
      3. Then Jesus made this simple but profound statement: “…Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).
         1. “The fact that they died violently in an incredible accident is not proof that they desperately needed to turn their lives around.”
         2. “The fact that you are alive does not prove you do not need to turn your lives around.”
         3. “You need to redirect your lives as much as they did.”

5. Our nation is in great crisis, probably greater than any of us yet realize.
   1. That automatically means each of us is in great crisis.
      1. The truth is that we all face a crisis we do not wish to face.
      2. So we sing and pray, “God Bless America.”
      3. What do we want from God?
         1. Are we singing and praying, “God get us out of this mess.”
         2. Or are we singing and praying, “God help us turn our lives around.”

   2. America’s greatest crisis is not terrorism.
      1. That is the shocking, devastating crisis that captured our attention.
      2. That is the unbelievable crisis that mystifies us.

   3. America’s greatest crisis is the same crisis we faced when the month of September began.
      1. We need to redirect our lives. Have you redirected your life? Have you placed God in charge of the direction?
      2. Allowing God to redirect our lives is a crisis that we each can handle.

None of us are invincible. We never have been. We just deceived ourselves into believing we were. September 11 sobered us. September 11 made us stop lying to ourselves.

Since September 11, what has happened to your spiritual health? Do you need to redirect your life? Do you want to redirect your life? Do you realize all that God has done in Jesus Christ to give you opportunity to redirect your life?