Sunday, September 21, 2008

Me - a Minister of Reconciliation? - 2 Cor 5:17-21

Title: Me…a minister of reconciliation?
Date: September 21, 2008
Text: 2 Cor 5:17-21

Introduction

- The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
- Why such an odd number? Because that's the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.
- Why did the English adopt that particular gauge? Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.
- They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons, which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
- Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.
- So who built these old rutted roads?
- The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots. Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses."
- Maybe "that's the way it's always been" isn't the great excuse some people believe it to be.
Clark Cothern Tecumseh, Michigan.
- Change is sometimes hard to initiate, sometimes it is hard to accept
- But most of us have come here, looking for life-change

We are a new creation

- Adam Clarke Commentary - Behold, all things are become new.
- “The man is not only mended, but he is new made; he is a new creature, καινηκτισις a new creation, a little world in himself;
- “Formerly, all was in chaotic disorder; now, there is a new creation, which God himself owns as his workmanship, and which he can look on and pronounce very good.
- “The conversion of a man from idolatry and wickedness was among the Jews denominated a new creation. He who converts a man to the true religion is the same, says R. Eliezer, as if he had created him. “
- the same concept happens as when God recreates the earth for man’s habitation
- the earth was in chaos and confusion
- it resulted from rebellion against God, when Satan refused to allow God to rule over him
- our lives were in chaos, we were confused, what was life about etc
- we had no idea what was right or wrong, we were just living from moment to moment
- then God steps in
- the Spirit of God hovers over the waters and he says, let there be light
- John 1:1-5 Jesus came to bring light into our lives
- He looks at us, the new creation and he says it is very good!
- I like it
- I like what I see

We are reconciled to God through Christ

- Reconciliation - to change, exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value –
- 1. to reconcile (those who are at variance)
- 2. return to favor with, be reconciled to one
- 3. to receive one into favor
- This change is not gradual, it happens in an instant
- The recreation of the earth’s surface did not happen over thousands of years – it happened in an instant
- Let there be light, and there was light
- A leper comes to Jesus and wants to be healed
- Mat 8:1-3 Be clean
- An instant healing
- This is what Jesus offers to us
- I am now a different person from who I was before this change happened
- Before, I did not want to obey God or follow him
- Rom 8:5-7 the fleshly mind does not want to be subject to God
- But if we want life and peace instead of death, we must make that choice
- It’s like Indiana Jones stepping out onto the bridge of faith
- He had to take that step and risk falling into oblivion
- We too have to take a step of faith and believe
- Now I am a new person
- Not one who has been patched up and mended
- But a new creation!

Now that change spreads throughout our life

- wherever that change touches, there is transformation
- there is an example in the
- Ezek 47:1-9
- This change will spread through our life
- Jesus will bring healing to all he tou7ches
- So we will start to examine our anger and distrust and unbelief
- God will start changing us, from the inside out
- We will have a new desire, not a desire to rebel against God and authority, instead there will be a desire to do it right
- Whatever situations we face, as we allow God to touch that situation, it will change and we will change in the way we react

We are now messengers of that reconciliation

- Now God says, freely you have received, freely give
- Matt 10:8
- God now sends us out as Ambassadors
- He has entrusted the Gospel to us
- We do not have the words to speak
- But God tells us that he will give us the words to say
- Matt 10:19
- Our life can be so different
- It can be changed thoroughly, from the inside out
- Not just a cosmetic change on the outside
- This gives us a purpose and a reason for being alive
- Our desire will be to share this good news of a transformation that can come, through what Jesus did on the cross
- Awesome!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Under new management - Eph 2:1-10

Title: Under New Management
Date: September 16, 2008
Text: Eph 2:1-10

Introduction

- An illiterate couple had just been saved. They met with a group of believers who dressed alike.
- The men wore red shirts while engaged in a certain project, so the woman made one for her husband.
- He came home after the meeting, however, with a look of disappointment on his face because the others had a message printed on their shirts but he did not.
- His wife, undaunted by her inability to read, sewed three words on his shirt, which she copied from a sign in a store window across the street.
- He wore it to the next meeting and came home bubbling with joy.
- He said all of the men really liked the inscription because it so aptly described the wonderful change they had seen in his life.
- It turned out that his wife had written, "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT."

The Way We Were

- Eph 2:1-3
- Before we accepted Christ, we were just like everyone else out there
- Without Jesus, this world is a very dark and hopeless place
- People are doing their own thing
- Thousands upon thousands of people are just going through the motions, getting up, going to work, carousing around, and then going to bed to do it all again the next day
- What a hopeless and futile way to spend your life!
- Jesus says broad is the way that leads to destruction
- Mat 7:13
- Millions find their way onto the road to destruction
- Mat 24:37-39
- People think it will go on forever the way it is today
- But the answer is no, it will not
- In the days before the great stock market crash of 1929, people were living it up
- Millions of people were playing the stock market
- Even if they had no money, they would borrow money to buy stocks and then use the stocks as collateral
- Then suddenly there was a dip in the market, on Sep 3, but it recovered, and then dipped again
- The same thing happened October 4, only this time it did not recover, the slide continued, people started sweating, the decline continued, then suddenly on Oct 21 people panicked and on Oct 24 the stock exchange was overwhelmed by people selling stocks
- People were jumping out of the windows of their Wall street offices
- It’s the same with the world around us – one day we will reach the end of the road, and there will be a precipice and hell waiting for us at the bottom

Jesus gives us love, life and promotion

- Eph 2:4-6
- Jesus gives us love
- This is the gift Jesus gives us
- Our life does not have to be like a hamster on a treadmill
- There can be purpose for our life, a reason for being
- Our life can have value, not just for ourselves but for other people and for God
- Jesus gives us life
- He forgives our sins and cleans us up, and makes something special of us
- He even says that not only does God come to live with us, but we get to live with him
- Verse 6
- When God looks at Jesus, he sees not only Jesus, but us as well
- Its as though we are already there, its so real

Jesus gives us a new purpose in being

- Eph 2:7-10
- This new purpose comes solely through God’s grace
- It is a gift, something he gives to us without our have earned a penny of it
- It is like someone gives you an inheritance
- You did not earn it
- It is a free gift
- The fresh start that comes through Jesus is given to us, pure and simple
- And with this new beginning in our life, God gives us a purpose
- Verse 10
- God is working on us, like a sculptor with a hammer and chisel
- It takes time to create a masterpiece, but that is what God is doing
- Verse 10
- We are his workmanship, created to do good works
- When we were dead in our sins we weren’t created to do good works, no this is after we have become a new creation
- Now we are in a position for God to be able to work through us

Conclusion

- Years ago a drunken man in Chicago headed toward Lake Michigan to drown himself.
- As he stumbled past the Pacific Garden Mission, someone helped him through the open door.
- He collapsed in front of the preacher and fell asleep.
- The superintendent cared for him, gave him a bed, and explained the Gospel to him the next morning.
- That day Harry Monroe was transformed by the grace of God. Later he was to preach the Gospel from that same platform where once he had slept in a drunken stupor.
- Mr. Monroe became superintendent of the mission, and when he died, it took all day for people to pay their respects. A newspaper editorial described him as one of the most useful men in Chicago.
- Mr. Campbell then raised this penetrating question: "What made the difference? The world would not have missed the penniless derelict if he had jumped into the lake, but God saw great value in him!"

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Dealing with anger - 1 Sam 25:2-44

Title: Dealing with anger
Date: September 13, 2008
Text: 1 Samuel 25:2-44

Introduction

- As a passenger boarded the Los Angeles-to-New York plane, he told the flight attendant to wake him and make sure he got off in Dallas.
- The passenger awoke just as the plane was landing in New York.
- Furious, he called the flight attendant and demanded an explanation.
- The flight attendant mumbled an apology and, in a rage, the passenger stomped off the plane.
- "Boy, was he ever mad!" another crew member observed to her errant colleague.
- "If you think he was mad," replied the flight attendant, "you should have seen the guy I put off the plane in Dallas!" - H.B. McClung.
- Today we want to talk about the subject of anger
- In particular we will look at an example in the Bible when David lost his cool!

Background

- This incident happened around 1000 BC
- Saul was the first king over Israel, and he had disqualified himself
- David had been anointed king by Samuel, under God’s instructions
- Saul was aware of this, and knew David would be his successor
- So he persecuted David, and wanted to kill him
- For this reason David was forced to live as an outlaw, for around 20 years
- That’s a long time to wait for something you have been promised!
- But this was a time when God was teaching David and preparing him for when he would be king
- Anyway, around 600 men, who were real outlaws, joined up with David
- He worked with them and welded them into a loyal and principled body of men
- Even though David was an outlaw he did not allow his situation to get the better of him, generally. He tried to keep the big picture and trust God to work things out His way
- So even though he was an outlaw, he did not act like an outlaw
- He kept out of Saul’s way, and used his resources to help the general population in the best way he could

The hurt

- One of the things David would do was to use his men as guards to protect landowners and their shepherds from robbers and thieves
- Now lets read 1 Sam 25:1-11
- David had done good to Nabal and his property – instead of thanking him for what he had done, Nabal stupidly insults David
- Nabal had a name to live up to
- He had a name that he was surly and mean in his dealings – verse 3
- This would have hurt David
- David had done good to Nabal and instead of being offered some food and refreshment (which Nabal was well able to afford), he is insulted

The anger

- David gets angry - He is furious
- He tells his men to saddle up, we’re going to teach this man a lesson!
- Verse 12-13
- This was an understandable reaction
- Isn’t it like us, when we think we’ve done good, and someone doesn’t respond in the way that we feel they should?
- We may feel anger rising when our good actions are not recognized or appreciated
- We want to take matters into our own hands and teach the other person a lesson too!
- Doing this may be a wrong thing to do, but our anger blinds us to the consequences if we follow through on our emotions
- The same thing happened here with David – he was blind with rage

The voice

- Then David hears a voice
- God prompts him to change the route he is going on, through someone coming to warn him
- Abigail, Nabal’s wife hears about what is happening and she goes out to ask David to reconsider his actions
- Verse 14-31
- She recognizes that David is in the right and that her husband deserves everything coming to him
- But she asks David to reconsider taking matters into his own hands
- She uses the way things would look as a way to wake David up
- 400 men going after one ungrateful and insulting individual
- That would not look good
- Often when we start getting angry, we sense a still small voice prompting us that this would not be good
- That voice tells us to reconsider and think about the long-term consequences
- The consequences of a broken relationship, the hurt and pain of unforgiveness and all the fallout that comes from venting your anger

The response

- David responds appropriately
- He listens to Abigail and accepts the words she says and takes them to heart
- Verses 32-35
- He does not want to be a king who has to look back at having murdered a man out of rage
- And so he turns back
- He repents and changes his behavior
- We need to do the same thing
- When we are angry and emotional about something that has happened, we need to listen to that reminder not to let our feelings run away with us
- Instead we need to do as David did, and allow God to work the situation out
- Verse 36-38
- God took care of Nabal
- David did not have to lift a finger against him
- We too should learn toallow God to fight our battles, and not want to go do it ourselves
- When we learn to allow God to take care of things, we will be learning to trust God and live in his peace
- We do not need to experience the anger that we used to do
- It will take discipline and not allowing our feelings to run rampant

Conclusion

- David had to learn a lesson here, from a woman he probably did not even know
- But he listened to that small voice that says, don’t do it, let it go, allow God to take care of it
- Listen to that voice, and learn to allow God to work things out