Title - God makes mountains out of molehills!
Date - May 31, 2009
Text - Ex 4:1-5
Introduction
- We often have a low estimation of what God could do with our lives
- We do not recognize the gifts he has given us
- And I am not even necessarily talking about our spiritual gifts
- “Margaret Storm Jameson, the English author, once expressed the view that we all spend too much time living in the past, feeling regret for lost joys or shame for things badly done.
- “Even when our minds turn to the future, she said, we spend an inordinate amount of time longing for it or dreading it.
- "The only way to live," she said, "is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle . . .
- “Work at your work. Play at your play. Shed your tears. Enjoy your laughter. Now is the time of your life." - Bits and Pieces, July, 1991
- Exodus 4:1-4
- God was telling Moses personally he was sending him to lead 6 million people out of slavery
- What an awesome task!
- But Moses did not feel adequate to the job
- He continued to come up with excuses even after God provided answers to each one, and eventually God even got angry at him!
- Moses had to learn that God could use anything for his glory
What are our abilities?
- God says to Moses, what’s that in your hand
- Moses has to say, a rod
- A rod identified Moses
- It meant he was a shepherd, who went around the desert with a bunch of smelly animals
- It meant he had a profession, even if it was lowly
- It meant he married a shepherd girl, Zipporah
- I am sure that Moses did not see his job as the ultimate in job satisfaction
- But it paid the bills, and under the circumstances, it kept him under the radar of the Egyptian FBI
- He used to be the heir-apparent of Egypt
- But his identity was now symbolized by that shepherd’s rod
- God said, what is that in your hand
- So what is in our hand?
- What are the abilities we have right now?
- Not, what did we used to be able to do, or what could we become with a lot of hard work
- God says what do you have in your hand, right now
- Right now, what you have in you hand is that you are clean and sober
- Right now, you have friendships and relationships with brothers and sisters who are making the journey with you
- Right now, you are learning perseverance, putting down the desires of the flesh and aligning yourself with God’s will and purpose
- These are your present abilities
Does God care about our past?
- For Moses, the rod also represented a former identity
- It represented times gone by, times of success
- The shepherd’s rod reminded him of the scepter he used to wield as the prince of Egypt, educated in the ways of the court
- He had been the general of Egypt’s armies and had waged a major and successful campaign against Ethiopia
- The scepter reminded him that he had all kinds of abilities
- His disability was, that that was no longer his identity
- He now had a shepherd’s staff
- What was in our past?
- We may have used to be very successful in our life before we were humbled by our addictions
- We may have used to be a top chef, or a successful carpenter, or maybe we used to teach at college, or we used to pastor a church, or lead a small group
- Our problem is that that was in the past. It is no longer in our present
- We have moved on in life, to places we wish we had never gone
- Our addictions have brought us down, and we feel we are no longer able to be of any value to anyone
- God says to us, what is that in your hand? He does not ask what it used to represent
- He does not ask, where have you come from, what have your past achievements been
- God asks what is that in your hand, today
What can God do with our present abilities?
- God was not ignoring Moses’ ability to lead people, his dedication to a task, his being educated in the court of Pharaoh
- God had a plan for Moses which would involve all his past experience
- But first of all, Moses had to focus on his present abilities, where he was right now
- Right now he was a lowly shepherd
- Isa 66:2 - This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
- 1 Cor 1:27-29 - But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are,
- 29 so that no one may boast before him
- Eph 3:20-21 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
- 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
- God is able to use the little ability we may have, and use it in a big way
- Remember the lady in Elijah’s day, who had a little cruze of oil
- God was able to multiply it
- God was only limited by the number of jars she brought to be filled
- The only limitation on what God can do through us, is the limitation we set on him
- Moses could not see beyond the shepherd’s rod in his hand
- But God had a bigger plan for him, to be the shepherd for a whole nation of ex-slaves
- The journey starts with being humble and recognizing our own inability to do anything hugely worthwhile
- Even Jesus said, “By mysef I can do nothing” – Jn 5:30
- He tells us in John 15:5 - “apart from me you can do nothing“
- It is only as we submit what we have in the present to Him, that he can make something useful out of it
- But when we do, there is no limit to what he can do
Conclusion
- As we consider where our life may be going, don’t focus on the past, whether good or bad
- Also, don’t be all focused on the future
- There is a place for planning and preparation and goals
- But keep your focus on the present, where you are today
- God is asking you, what do you have in your hand, right now
- This is what he wants to use, for his glory
- He will make it work, he will multiply the effect and impact
- He will make your life worthwhile
- Trust God that he will do it
- Zech 4:6 – 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Facing Your Giants - 1 Samuel 17:28-50
Title: Facing your giants
Date: May 21, 2009
Text: 1 Samuel 17:28-50
Introduction
- In 19467 San Francisco's Potrero Hill was a real ghetto.
- That year was the year Oren was born.
- Rickets, a poverty-related disease actually caused by malnutrition, was Oren's major problem.
- His vitamin-mineral deficient diet caused his bones to soften. His legs began to bow under the weight of his growing body.
- Even though the family was too poor to afford braces, Oren's mom refused to sit back, sigh, and resign herself to the inevitable.
- She rolled up her sleeves and took charge. She rigged up a homemade contraption in hopes of correcting her son's pigeon-toed, bowlegged condition.
- How? By reversing his shoes! Right shoe, left foot; left shoe, right foot; plus an improvised metal bar across the shoe tops to keep his feet pointing straight.
- It didn't work perfectly, but it was good enough to keep the boy on his feet and ultimately able to play with his buddies.
- By the time he was about six years of age, his bones had hardened, his legs were still slightly bowed, his calves were unusually thin, and his head was disproportionately large.
- Nicknames from other kids followed him around: "Pencil-legs," "Waterhead"; but he refused to let all that hold him back.
- He compensated by acting tough. Street gangs on Potrero Hill were common: the Gladiators, Sheiks, Roman Gents, Persian Warriors.
- By age thirteen Oren had fought and won his way to being president of the Gladiators.
- For all the fighting, he was arrested only three times; that was the crowning achievement of his early youth.
- Those who don't know his background could easily think he got all the breaks. As they look at him today and see this fine and refined gentleman, they would assume he's always been wealthy.
- He lives in the exclusive Brentwood district of Los Angeles, drives a luxurious car, and has his elegant office in an elite bank building.
- He is now a busy executive with his own production company.
- He personally handles most of his own financial affairs and business negotiations.
- He has contracts with the media and various entertainment firms and agencies.
- In today's terms, Oren has it made. That plush office with the name on the door belongs to Orenthal James Simpson. Yes, none other than O.J. Simpson
- We all have obstacles to face
- Some will be large, some will be small
- But if we want to win, we will have to face them
- David had to face a giant
- 1 Sam 17:28-50
There is a time to face our giants
- Verse 28-32
- David starts this day like any other
- He gets up in the morning the same as he always does
- Little does he know that this day he is going to be facing the biggest crisis of his life
- Giants are like that, they pop up when we least expect them
- David’s brothers have been gone from home for 40 days, in Saul’s army
- Jesse sends David, the youngest son to see how they are doing, they didn’t have the 10 o’clock news back then
- David reaches his brothers and starts talking with them
- Suddenly, the giant Goliath comes out and mocks the Israelite army
- Davids day just changed
- Suddenly he is faced with a situation
- He has no idea how to deal with it
- But he knows he must act
- This moment did not come by accident
- We need to understand that giants don’t just show up; their appearance is well timed.
- From our perspective, they just appear. But, from God’s perspective, they are all part of His perfect plan for us.
- If we could ever grasp the truth that nothing comes our way apart from the will of God, it would change our attitude toward the giants of life.
- Rom. 8:28, Psa. 37:23
- Recognize that God is in control of your life
- He knows what is happening, and he either caused it, or allowed it to happen
- So we are not standing alone in this situation
There is a time to trust our God
- Verse 33-39
- When we recognize that God is in charge, we can also allow him to work the situation out
- David had experienced God’s taking care of him a number of times
- He had fought a lion and a bear and had won
- He could look back at his experience and see that God had been in control of those situations
- David knew God was backing him up and he could trust God to come through
- He did not trust in armour or all kinds of defensive manoevering
- He trusted that God was going to fight his battle
- Remember, God did not save you for some giant to destroy
- Phil 1:6
- 2 Tim 1:12
- God is able to take you through your trial, whatever it may be
- God is not going to change his mind halfway through and give up on you or leave you to your own devices
- God is a God who does not change
- Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8
- God has the power to part the Red Sea, to multiply the loaves and fishes, to raise Lazarus from the dead, to heal the blind and the lame and the epileptic
- He can also take care of your situation, however big it may seem to you
There is a time to take the giant
- verse 40-50
- There is a time when our talking needs to stop and we take action
- We may be able to quote verses from the Bible, but it is when we step out in faith and trust, that put our money where our mouth is
- We talk about God providing for us and we may quote Phil 4:19
- We talk about God be ing in control and quote Rom 8:28
- But there comes a moment when action is required
- David did this by
- Placing his trust in God
- Believing that he can do everything he has ever done
- Then he marched into the valley, faced his giant, and started slinging his rocks
- David took more than one stone
- He was determined not to give up
- If the first one did not work, the next one would
Conclusion
- God created us to be giant-killers
- Gods intention for us is that we overcome the enemy
- Jesus went before us and conquered the enemy, we too do battle with him
- And Gods purpose is that we win
- The giant may be our addiction, or our anxiety, or our depression
- Maybe our giant is our lack of trust
- Ultimately it is about going out there and doing battle, trusting that God will make up for our deficiencies
- Luke 12:32
Date: May 21, 2009
Text: 1 Samuel 17:28-50
Introduction
- In 19467 San Francisco's Potrero Hill was a real ghetto.
- That year was the year Oren was born.
- Rickets, a poverty-related disease actually caused by malnutrition, was Oren's major problem.
- His vitamin-mineral deficient diet caused his bones to soften. His legs began to bow under the weight of his growing body.
- Even though the family was too poor to afford braces, Oren's mom refused to sit back, sigh, and resign herself to the inevitable.
- She rolled up her sleeves and took charge. She rigged up a homemade contraption in hopes of correcting her son's pigeon-toed, bowlegged condition.
- How? By reversing his shoes! Right shoe, left foot; left shoe, right foot; plus an improvised metal bar across the shoe tops to keep his feet pointing straight.
- It didn't work perfectly, but it was good enough to keep the boy on his feet and ultimately able to play with his buddies.
- By the time he was about six years of age, his bones had hardened, his legs were still slightly bowed, his calves were unusually thin, and his head was disproportionately large.
- Nicknames from other kids followed him around: "Pencil-legs," "Waterhead"; but he refused to let all that hold him back.
- He compensated by acting tough. Street gangs on Potrero Hill were common: the Gladiators, Sheiks, Roman Gents, Persian Warriors.
- By age thirteen Oren had fought and won his way to being president of the Gladiators.
- For all the fighting, he was arrested only three times; that was the crowning achievement of his early youth.
- Those who don't know his background could easily think he got all the breaks. As they look at him today and see this fine and refined gentleman, they would assume he's always been wealthy.
- He lives in the exclusive Brentwood district of Los Angeles, drives a luxurious car, and has his elegant office in an elite bank building.
- He is now a busy executive with his own production company.
- He personally handles most of his own financial affairs and business negotiations.
- He has contracts with the media and various entertainment firms and agencies.
- In today's terms, Oren has it made. That plush office with the name on the door belongs to Orenthal James Simpson. Yes, none other than O.J. Simpson
- We all have obstacles to face
- Some will be large, some will be small
- But if we want to win, we will have to face them
- David had to face a giant
- 1 Sam 17:28-50
There is a time to face our giants
- Verse 28-32
- David starts this day like any other
- He gets up in the morning the same as he always does
- Little does he know that this day he is going to be facing the biggest crisis of his life
- Giants are like that, they pop up when we least expect them
- David’s brothers have been gone from home for 40 days, in Saul’s army
- Jesse sends David, the youngest son to see how they are doing, they didn’t have the 10 o’clock news back then
- David reaches his brothers and starts talking with them
- Suddenly, the giant Goliath comes out and mocks the Israelite army
- Davids day just changed
- Suddenly he is faced with a situation
- He has no idea how to deal with it
- But he knows he must act
- This moment did not come by accident
- We need to understand that giants don’t just show up; their appearance is well timed.
- From our perspective, they just appear. But, from God’s perspective, they are all part of His perfect plan for us.
- If we could ever grasp the truth that nothing comes our way apart from the will of God, it would change our attitude toward the giants of life.
- Rom. 8:28, Psa. 37:23
- Recognize that God is in control of your life
- He knows what is happening, and he either caused it, or allowed it to happen
- So we are not standing alone in this situation
There is a time to trust our God
- Verse 33-39
- When we recognize that God is in charge, we can also allow him to work the situation out
- David had experienced God’s taking care of him a number of times
- He had fought a lion and a bear and had won
- He could look back at his experience and see that God had been in control of those situations
- David knew God was backing him up and he could trust God to come through
- He did not trust in armour or all kinds of defensive manoevering
- He trusted that God was going to fight his battle
- Remember, God did not save you for some giant to destroy
- Phil 1:6
- 2 Tim 1:12
- God is able to take you through your trial, whatever it may be
- God is not going to change his mind halfway through and give up on you or leave you to your own devices
- God is a God who does not change
- Mal 3:6, Heb 13:8
- God has the power to part the Red Sea, to multiply the loaves and fishes, to raise Lazarus from the dead, to heal the blind and the lame and the epileptic
- He can also take care of your situation, however big it may seem to you
There is a time to take the giant
- verse 40-50
- There is a time when our talking needs to stop and we take action
- We may be able to quote verses from the Bible, but it is when we step out in faith and trust, that put our money where our mouth is
- We talk about God providing for us and we may quote Phil 4:19
- We talk about God be ing in control and quote Rom 8:28
- But there comes a moment when action is required
- David did this by
- Placing his trust in God
- Believing that he can do everything he has ever done
- Then he marched into the valley, faced his giant, and started slinging his rocks
- David took more than one stone
- He was determined not to give up
- If the first one did not work, the next one would
Conclusion
- God created us to be giant-killers
- Gods intention for us is that we overcome the enemy
- Jesus went before us and conquered the enemy, we too do battle with him
- And Gods purpose is that we win
- The giant may be our addiction, or our anxiety, or our depression
- Maybe our giant is our lack of trust
- Ultimately it is about going out there and doing battle, trusting that God will make up for our deficiencies
- Luke 12:32
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Search for Contentment - 1 Timothy 6:1-10
Title: Search for contentment
Date: May 12, 2009
Text: 1 Timothy 6:1-10
Introduction
- Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat.
- "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked.
- "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman.
- "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked.
- "What would I do with them?"
- "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish.
- You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."
- The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?"
"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist.
- "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.
- Today we are going to talk about the subject of contentment
- Timothy was a young man when Paul asked him to join him in his missions work
- Eventually, Timothy was appointed the pastor of the church in Ephesus
- Paul wrote down some pointers for Timothy to remember, while taking care of the church
Contentment with our job (1 Tim 1-2)
- People who got into debt, could go into slavery to pay off that debt
- This does not mean they would be a slave forever, when the debt was paid off, they would be released
- You could buy a slave out of their slavery
- This was called redeeming the slave
- As a slave, you could have a good boss or a bad one
- If you have a bad boss, Paul says to still respect him, so that God’s name would not be slandered
- Ultimately, we have a higher boss, than our employer
- The way we work reflects on our Christian reputation
- When we work, we are really working for our higher boss, God
- Col 3:22
- Eph 6:6
- Paul’s point in these verses is to say that we should be working as though we are working for God
- We are known to be Christians
- Our behavior as an employee should not bring disrepute on Jesus
- You might be the only real Christian your boss has ever met, and how you treat your boss, how you do your job, and how you interact with your co-workers all communicate your commitment to Jesus Christ
- Paul also says that if we work for a good boss, a Christian, we should really work even harder for them, not taking advantage of their Christianity
- Sometimes people are slower to pay their bills to Christian suppliers or contractors, taking advantage of their Christian relationship
- Only, when we take advantage of them, we are not being Christian
- This is not God’s way
- There are lots of Christian business owners who prefer to not hire fellow Christians.
- The reason is that often a Christian employee thinks that he or she doesn’t have to work as hard, that they’ll get special breaks because they share a common faith with the boss
- In our employment relationships, do everything in a way that would please God
Contentment with our faith (3-5)
- There are genuine Christians who’ve grown dissatisfied with his or her Christian faith.
- I don’t mean that we should be content with who we are, we should always be growing as Christians
- “Be content with what you have, never with what you are”
- But we can become complacent in our faith
- This happens especially with people raised in Christian homes, people who’ve heard all the Bible stories since they were preschoolers.
- They’ve heard dozens of sermons on every Christian theme. For many of these people, familiarity has bred contempt.
- To spice things up, they can get all twiggy
- Instead of sticking with the trunk of the tree, they go off on the twigs, the non-essentials
- They develop their own pet theories about things, instead of sticking to the main message of Christianity
- Be content with what God is teaching you
- If it does not appear exciting, any more, ask God to give you back your first love
- Rev 2:4-5
- When we go off on interesting tangents and doctrines, we are ripe for being sidetracked into cultic ideas, and can lose out on what God is doing in our lives
- This can also lead to us losing focus entirely, and doing our ministry for the sake of profit
- Stick to the trunk of the tree
Contentment with our income 6-10
- Here Paul is telling that we should be satisfied with what God has given us
- Take care of it, maintain it, be thankful for it
- God is intimately involved in our life, he knows all that is happening to us
- He desires us to learn to trust him, and so we go through times when we may not be as well off as we would like
- But these times will probably be followed by times of blessing
- Prov 30:8-9
- "Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor." - Benjamin Franklin
- I heard about a rich man who was determined to take his wealth with him (Russell 88). He told his wife to get all his money together, put it in a sack, and then hang the sack from the rafters in the attic. He said, "When my spirit is caught up to heaven, I’ll grab the sack on my way." Well he eventually died, and the woman raced to the attic, only to find the money still there. She said, "I knew I should’ve put the sack in the basement."
- It’s been said, "Money will buy you a bed but not sleep. It will buy you books but not intelligence, food but not an appetite, a house but not a home, medicine but not health, amusement but not happiness, religion but not salvation--[money will buy you] a passport to anywhere in the world except to heaven."
- What’s most important in your today? Is it the value of your stocks or the kind of car you drive? Is it the amount of money you spend on your kids at Christmas?
- Or is it the quality of your relationships? Is it knowing that God loves you deeply and has rescued you from sin by bringing you to Jesus? What is most important?
Date: May 12, 2009
Text: 1 Timothy 6:1-10
Introduction
- Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat.
- "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked.
- "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman.
- "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked.
- "What would I do with them?"
- "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish.
- You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."
- The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?"
"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist.
- "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.
- Today we are going to talk about the subject of contentment
- Timothy was a young man when Paul asked him to join him in his missions work
- Eventually, Timothy was appointed the pastor of the church in Ephesus
- Paul wrote down some pointers for Timothy to remember, while taking care of the church
Contentment with our job (1 Tim 1-2)
- People who got into debt, could go into slavery to pay off that debt
- This does not mean they would be a slave forever, when the debt was paid off, they would be released
- You could buy a slave out of their slavery
- This was called redeeming the slave
- As a slave, you could have a good boss or a bad one
- If you have a bad boss, Paul says to still respect him, so that God’s name would not be slandered
- Ultimately, we have a higher boss, than our employer
- The way we work reflects on our Christian reputation
- When we work, we are really working for our higher boss, God
- Col 3:22
- Eph 6:6
- Paul’s point in these verses is to say that we should be working as though we are working for God
- We are known to be Christians
- Our behavior as an employee should not bring disrepute on Jesus
- You might be the only real Christian your boss has ever met, and how you treat your boss, how you do your job, and how you interact with your co-workers all communicate your commitment to Jesus Christ
- Paul also says that if we work for a good boss, a Christian, we should really work even harder for them, not taking advantage of their Christianity
- Sometimes people are slower to pay their bills to Christian suppliers or contractors, taking advantage of their Christian relationship
- Only, when we take advantage of them, we are not being Christian
- This is not God’s way
- There are lots of Christian business owners who prefer to not hire fellow Christians.
- The reason is that often a Christian employee thinks that he or she doesn’t have to work as hard, that they’ll get special breaks because they share a common faith with the boss
- In our employment relationships, do everything in a way that would please God
Contentment with our faith (3-5)
- There are genuine Christians who’ve grown dissatisfied with his or her Christian faith.
- I don’t mean that we should be content with who we are, we should always be growing as Christians
- “Be content with what you have, never with what you are”
- But we can become complacent in our faith
- This happens especially with people raised in Christian homes, people who’ve heard all the Bible stories since they were preschoolers.
- They’ve heard dozens of sermons on every Christian theme. For many of these people, familiarity has bred contempt.
- To spice things up, they can get all twiggy
- Instead of sticking with the trunk of the tree, they go off on the twigs, the non-essentials
- They develop their own pet theories about things, instead of sticking to the main message of Christianity
- Be content with what God is teaching you
- If it does not appear exciting, any more, ask God to give you back your first love
- Rev 2:4-5
- When we go off on interesting tangents and doctrines, we are ripe for being sidetracked into cultic ideas, and can lose out on what God is doing in our lives
- This can also lead to us losing focus entirely, and doing our ministry for the sake of profit
- Stick to the trunk of the tree
Contentment with our income 6-10
- Here Paul is telling that we should be satisfied with what God has given us
- Take care of it, maintain it, be thankful for it
- God is intimately involved in our life, he knows all that is happening to us
- He desires us to learn to trust him, and so we go through times when we may not be as well off as we would like
- But these times will probably be followed by times of blessing
- Prov 30:8-9
- "Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor." - Benjamin Franklin
- I heard about a rich man who was determined to take his wealth with him (Russell 88). He told his wife to get all his money together, put it in a sack, and then hang the sack from the rafters in the attic. He said, "When my spirit is caught up to heaven, I’ll grab the sack on my way." Well he eventually died, and the woman raced to the attic, only to find the money still there. She said, "I knew I should’ve put the sack in the basement."
- It’s been said, "Money will buy you a bed but not sleep. It will buy you books but not intelligence, food but not an appetite, a house but not a home, medicine but not health, amusement but not happiness, religion but not salvation--[money will buy you] a passport to anywhere in the world except to heaven."
- What’s most important in your today? Is it the value of your stocks or the kind of car you drive? Is it the amount of money you spend on your kids at Christmas?
- Or is it the quality of your relationships? Is it knowing that God loves you deeply and has rescued you from sin by bringing you to Jesus? What is most important?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The Role of a Mother - Luke 2:39-52
The Role of a Mother
Date: May 9, 2009
Text: Luke 2:39-52
Introduction
- Mother’s Day is a day we remember our mothers
- This may be a happy day for us, or it may have some sadder overtones to it
- Your mother may have passed away, and you miss her
- You may have bad memories of your mother - the Bible records a few of those
- You may have longed to be a mother and were not able
- Maybe you are a mother but are not able to have contact with your children
- So we may have different perceptions on this day
- This sermon today is not just for the ladies in our program, but also for the guys
- We are going to examine some of the roles that mothers play
- “For the hand that rocks the cradle, Is the hand that rules the world” - William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)
Women in the Bible
- Miriam who led the people in praising God after the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 15:21),
- Ruth who put God first and became the ancestress of King David (Ruth 1:16;4:17),
- Deborah, a judge in Israel (Judges 5), who was known as a “mother in Israel”
- Hannah who 'lent to the Lord' the child of her prayers (1Sam 1:28),
- Esther who took her life in her hands to plead for her doomed people,
- The widow whose obedience sustained the prophet Elijah (1Kings 17:9-16),
- The captive maid who told Naaman's wife of the man of God who could cure Naaman of his leprosy (2Kings 5:2-4),
- The woman who anointed Jesus with the expensive ointment (Mk14:3),
- The poor widow's gift of two mites which won Jesus' praise (Mk 12:43),
- Mary who gave birth to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Luke 1:28),
- Martha who served and Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42),
- Mary Magdalene who brought spices to anoint Jesus, who first greeted the risen Lord and who received the first commission -'Go tell' (Jn 20:17-18; Mk 16:9),
- Lydia one of the first converts in Macedonia (Acts 16:14),
- Dorcas - full of good works (Acts 9:36),
- Phebe & Priscilla - servants of the church (Ro 16:1-4),
- Lois and Eunice who had sincere faith (2Tim 1:5),
- Persis 'the beloved' and Tryphena and Tryphosa who laboured for the Lord (Romans 16:12).
Women are equal with men
- Many of these women were women of responsibility
- Women in the Bible were not incapable, or second-rate citizens
- They led the nation, they brought their children up to be God-fearing adults, they showed great courage, they taught the Word, they exercised faith, they served the church and the people around them
- Down thru history, women have been relegated to the back seat
- Christianity has lifted women to equality with men
- Jesus honored women in his teachings
- Women were not playthings to be disposed of or divorced when a man tired of them – marriage is for life
- Paul tells us in Gal 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Lord Shaftesbury - 'Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months.'
- Women have a profound influence on the course of history, through the way in which they raise their children
-
The role of the mother
- The influence of a mother in her home upon the lives of her children cannot be measured.
- The mother-infant bond is an intense relationship of unparalleled human affection.
- It is the foundation of the child's emotional and physical survival.
- Psychologists say that the bonding of baby with mother in the first few minutes of life is vital for the stability of the child and that that bonding through childhood has greater importance than the input the father has at that time.
- The mother provides an atmosphere of protection and care
- The mother teaches the young child skills it needs as it grows up
- The mother is usually more accessible to the child and the one to whom it will go when faced with hurt or danger or uncertainty
- As the young child is developing, the mother’s role is totally important
The role of the father
- This does not mean the dad’s role is unimportant
- When the child reaches adolescence the mother's role diminishes and the father’s role becomes vitally important.
- He helps to affirm his son in his manhood, in a type of informal initiation.
- The Jewish culture places importance on the Bar-mitzva
- But the father 's role with his daughter is also of great importance as the adolescent girl grows up.
- She desperately needs to hear from her father that she is attractive and capable.
- She trusts her dad and it is essential that the dad affirms and values and protects his daughter
- When daughters have not had this male affirmation, they will seek it elsewhere, and this can have disastrous consequences
- God’s intention is that both the father and the mother work together in the upbringing of their children
The mother’s role can be painful
- Part of the role of a mother is to nurture the young child during its early years
- During this time the child needs the close bond that exists between a mother and her child
- The mother provides the protective environment the child needs in which to grow up
- As the child grows up, it starts to develop in its independence
- The father is more important in helping the adolescent child grow up into adulthood
- As the child grows up and eventually leaves home, the mother wants to keep that bond with her child intact
- This is why it is so painful for mothers when their children leave the nest
- Our children have been lent to us for just a short time, then they will go and start a family of their own
The single parent family
- Now not all of us have a marriage where both partners are present, where the child grows up with both a mom and dad
- Where the father is not present, the mother has to play both roles
- She has had to be there for the child, usually at the same time as holding down a job to provide for the family
- She nurtures and has to be there for the child, whatever things may happen
- As the child grows up and becomes an adolescent, she now needs to add to her mother role, that of the father as well
- She has to teach the child to stand on its own two feet, to be responsible and become an adult
- This involves a letting go of the reins
- It is an enormous challenge to be a single parent
- It can be done, but it requires enormous wisdom to help our children grow up to be dependable, responsible adults.
A Mother’s Creed
A Mother’s Creed
- I will worry less about my children and trust God more.
- I will commit them into the Lord's care
- I will love my children unconditionally and let them know I do.
- I will believe in them constantly and encourage them often.
- I will pray for them daily.
- I will teach them responsibility for their own actions.
- I will try to be an example of godliness, but I will be unafraid to let them see my faults.
- I will give them generous doses of laughter, interspersed with fun.
- I will release them when they are grown but they will always be my own.
A MOTHERS' DAY CREED
- I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary.
- I believe in the love Mary gave her Son, that caused her to follow him in his ministry and stand by his cross as he died.
- I believe in the love of all mothers, and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.
- It is stronger than steel, softer than down, and more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside.
- It closes wounds, melts disappointments, and enables the weakest child to stand tall and straight in the fields of adversity.
- I believe that this love, even at its best, is only the shadow love of God, a dark reflection of all that we expect of him in this life and the next.
- And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is a mother who lets this greater love flow through her to her child, blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch and the tears of her joy.
- Thank God for mothers, and thank mothers for helping us understand God!
Date: May 9, 2009
Text: Luke 2:39-52
Introduction
- Mother’s Day is a day we remember our mothers
- This may be a happy day for us, or it may have some sadder overtones to it
- Your mother may have passed away, and you miss her
- You may have bad memories of your mother - the Bible records a few of those
- You may have longed to be a mother and were not able
- Maybe you are a mother but are not able to have contact with your children
- So we may have different perceptions on this day
- This sermon today is not just for the ladies in our program, but also for the guys
- We are going to examine some of the roles that mothers play
- “For the hand that rocks the cradle, Is the hand that rules the world” - William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)
Women in the Bible
- Miriam who led the people in praising God after the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 15:21),
- Ruth who put God first and became the ancestress of King David (Ruth 1:16;4:17),
- Deborah, a judge in Israel (Judges 5), who was known as a “mother in Israel”
- Hannah who 'lent to the Lord' the child of her prayers (1Sam 1:28),
- Esther who took her life in her hands to plead for her doomed people,
- The widow whose obedience sustained the prophet Elijah (1Kings 17:9-16),
- The captive maid who told Naaman's wife of the man of God who could cure Naaman of his leprosy (2Kings 5:2-4),
- The woman who anointed Jesus with the expensive ointment (Mk14:3),
- The poor widow's gift of two mites which won Jesus' praise (Mk 12:43),
- Mary who gave birth to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Luke 1:28),
- Martha who served and Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42),
- Mary Magdalene who brought spices to anoint Jesus, who first greeted the risen Lord and who received the first commission -'Go tell' (Jn 20:17-18; Mk 16:9),
- Lydia one of the first converts in Macedonia (Acts 16:14),
- Dorcas - full of good works (Acts 9:36),
- Phebe & Priscilla - servants of the church (Ro 16:1-4),
- Lois and Eunice who had sincere faith (2Tim 1:5),
- Persis 'the beloved' and Tryphena and Tryphosa who laboured for the Lord (Romans 16:12).
Women are equal with men
- Many of these women were women of responsibility
- Women in the Bible were not incapable, or second-rate citizens
- They led the nation, they brought their children up to be God-fearing adults, they showed great courage, they taught the Word, they exercised faith, they served the church and the people around them
- Down thru history, women have been relegated to the back seat
- Christianity has lifted women to equality with men
- Jesus honored women in his teachings
- Women were not playthings to be disposed of or divorced when a man tired of them – marriage is for life
- Paul tells us in Gal 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Lord Shaftesbury - 'Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months.'
- Women have a profound influence on the course of history, through the way in which they raise their children
-
The role of the mother
- The influence of a mother in her home upon the lives of her children cannot be measured.
- The mother-infant bond is an intense relationship of unparalleled human affection.
- It is the foundation of the child's emotional and physical survival.
- Psychologists say that the bonding of baby with mother in the first few minutes of life is vital for the stability of the child and that that bonding through childhood has greater importance than the input the father has at that time.
- The mother provides an atmosphere of protection and care
- The mother teaches the young child skills it needs as it grows up
- The mother is usually more accessible to the child and the one to whom it will go when faced with hurt or danger or uncertainty
- As the young child is developing, the mother’s role is totally important
The role of the father
- This does not mean the dad’s role is unimportant
- When the child reaches adolescence the mother's role diminishes and the father’s role becomes vitally important.
- He helps to affirm his son in his manhood, in a type of informal initiation.
- The Jewish culture places importance on the Bar-mitzva
- But the father 's role with his daughter is also of great importance as the adolescent girl grows up.
- She desperately needs to hear from her father that she is attractive and capable.
- She trusts her dad and it is essential that the dad affirms and values and protects his daughter
- When daughters have not had this male affirmation, they will seek it elsewhere, and this can have disastrous consequences
- God’s intention is that both the father and the mother work together in the upbringing of their children
The mother’s role can be painful
- Part of the role of a mother is to nurture the young child during its early years
- During this time the child needs the close bond that exists between a mother and her child
- The mother provides the protective environment the child needs in which to grow up
- As the child grows up, it starts to develop in its independence
- The father is more important in helping the adolescent child grow up into adulthood
- As the child grows up and eventually leaves home, the mother wants to keep that bond with her child intact
- This is why it is so painful for mothers when their children leave the nest
- Our children have been lent to us for just a short time, then they will go and start a family of their own
The single parent family
- Now not all of us have a marriage where both partners are present, where the child grows up with both a mom and dad
- Where the father is not present, the mother has to play both roles
- She has had to be there for the child, usually at the same time as holding down a job to provide for the family
- She nurtures and has to be there for the child, whatever things may happen
- As the child grows up and becomes an adolescent, she now needs to add to her mother role, that of the father as well
- She has to teach the child to stand on its own two feet, to be responsible and become an adult
- This involves a letting go of the reins
- It is an enormous challenge to be a single parent
- It can be done, but it requires enormous wisdom to help our children grow up to be dependable, responsible adults.
A Mother’s Creed
A Mother’s Creed
- I will worry less about my children and trust God more.
- I will commit them into the Lord's care
- I will love my children unconditionally and let them know I do.
- I will believe in them constantly and encourage them often.
- I will pray for them daily.
- I will teach them responsibility for their own actions.
- I will try to be an example of godliness, but I will be unafraid to let them see my faults.
- I will give them generous doses of laughter, interspersed with fun.
- I will release them when they are grown but they will always be my own.
A MOTHERS' DAY CREED
- I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary.
- I believe in the love Mary gave her Son, that caused her to follow him in his ministry and stand by his cross as he died.
- I believe in the love of all mothers, and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.
- It is stronger than steel, softer than down, and more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside.
- It closes wounds, melts disappointments, and enables the weakest child to stand tall and straight in the fields of adversity.
- I believe that this love, even at its best, is only the shadow love of God, a dark reflection of all that we expect of him in this life and the next.
- And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in the world is a mother who lets this greater love flow through her to her child, blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch and the tears of her joy.
- Thank God for mothers, and thank mothers for helping us understand God!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Olive Press - Mark 14:32-41
Title: The olive press
Date: March 29, 2009
Text: Mark 14:32-41
Introduction
- Ever been in a hard place
- No hope of making it
- Like chemistry class
Disciples thought they were ready
- Mark 10:35-40
- James and John thought they were up for anything
- Mark 14:27-31
- Peter is told he will deny Jesus 3 times
- All the others said they would never disown Jesus
- How often do we think we have it together
- We can do this thing
- With enough effort I can make it
- But there is a warning for us in Proverbs 16:18
- Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall
- Peter, James and John forgot about that proverb
Jesus knew he couldn’t do it on his own
- He had said previously
- Joh 5:30 – By myself I can do nothing, I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me
- So Jesus was very dependent on the Father
- So now let’s read about what happens in Gethsemane
- Gethsemane was a garden area on the mount of olives, where there were a lot of olive trees. I have been there and have seen these trees.
- Mark 14:32
- Jesus tells the disciples to wait while he goes and prays
- V 33-34
- He takes Peter James and John with him
- He tells them to watch
- Gregoreuo – watch, wake, be vigilant, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one
- And it was used to describe the posture of a leopard lying in wait.
- It speaks of a certain spiritual posture. And the opposite of this word involves spiritual sleepiness.
- What happens
- Jesus prays and commits the anguish to God
- He knows he cant do it on his own
- Not what I will, but what you will
- V 38 - Jesus wants the disciples to pray not for him, but for themselves
- They weren’t totally tuned in
- It wasn’t just that they didn’t understand what was happening
- They thought they could handle it
- But they couldn’t
- And what is absolutely remarkable that in the midst of his deepest distress, he does come back and check on them three times and he tells them how to avoid failing the test.
- He says to watch and to pray with full reliance on God's Spirit. Jesus is basically saying to those three and he is saying to us, YOU CAN NOT MAKE IT THROUGH GETHSEMANE ON YOUR OWN STRENGTH
- The son and daughter-in-law of an eighty-year old woman were trying to persuade her to come and live with them. "Mom, now that Dad is gone you shouldn't live alone, you should be with us." But the woman resisted, protesting, she said, "No, a thousand times no. I've always said that I would never live with one of my children. It brings on too many problems. It just raises too many issues." The daughter-in-law insisted, "That's true mother, but you're different." The mother-in-law looked at her said, "Yes, I know dear, but you're not."
- We often have an unrealistic idea of our own capabilities
- So we don’t come for help
- That would be a sign of weakness
- The one person we need to go to for help is God, and specifically Jesus
- John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing
- Gethsemane means oil press
- Have you ever seen an oil press?
- The olives get loaded in and then they are squeezed and ground and crushed till the olive is unrecognizable and comes out as olive oil
- What is your trial that you are facing
- What is your insurmountable difficulty
- Is it your anger, foul mouth, your fear
- Is it your addiction
- We can feel that we have it together and that we can lick this problem
- But in reality, without Jesus we are pretty powerless
- God may be calling us in a particular direction, but we feel it is too hard
- And it may well be so, in the flesh
- But with God all things are possible
- And without Jesus we can do nothing
- Maybe our struggle today is in allowing Jesus to come in and fight our battles
- Maybe we smugly feel I dnot need this Jesus thing
- I can do it on my own, in the right environment
- Don’t forget the warning that the disciples ignored
- Pride comes before a fall
- Perhaps someone today is facing a hard decision and think "I can't do it, it's too hard, but God says, "Oh no, you can with my strength, you can do it."
- Maybe this is the day you have to make that choice
- Ask God to help you make that choice, and follow through on it
- With God’s strength we can do it
- The disciples may have failed this test, they all ran away and left Jesus standing alone
- But later on they were filled with the Holy Spirit and a new relationship with Jesus and they stood their ground, even facing matyrdom with courage
- So you cant do it on your own, but you can with God’s help
- Make that choice today
Date: March 29, 2009
Text: Mark 14:32-41
Introduction
- Ever been in a hard place
- No hope of making it
- Like chemistry class
Disciples thought they were ready
- Mark 10:35-40
- James and John thought they were up for anything
- Mark 14:27-31
- Peter is told he will deny Jesus 3 times
- All the others said they would never disown Jesus
- How often do we think we have it together
- We can do this thing
- With enough effort I can make it
- But there is a warning for us in Proverbs 16:18
- Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall
- Peter, James and John forgot about that proverb
Jesus knew he couldn’t do it on his own
- He had said previously
- Joh 5:30 – By myself I can do nothing, I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me
- So Jesus was very dependent on the Father
- So now let’s read about what happens in Gethsemane
- Gethsemane was a garden area on the mount of olives, where there were a lot of olive trees. I have been there and have seen these trees.
- Mark 14:32
- Jesus tells the disciples to wait while he goes and prays
- V 33-34
- He takes Peter James and John with him
- He tells them to watch
- Gregoreuo – watch, wake, be vigilant, to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one
- And it was used to describe the posture of a leopard lying in wait.
- It speaks of a certain spiritual posture. And the opposite of this word involves spiritual sleepiness.
- What happens
- Jesus prays and commits the anguish to God
- He knows he cant do it on his own
- Not what I will, but what you will
- V 38 - Jesus wants the disciples to pray not for him, but for themselves
- They weren’t totally tuned in
- It wasn’t just that they didn’t understand what was happening
- They thought they could handle it
- But they couldn’t
- And what is absolutely remarkable that in the midst of his deepest distress, he does come back and check on them three times and he tells them how to avoid failing the test.
- He says to watch and to pray with full reliance on God's Spirit. Jesus is basically saying to those three and he is saying to us, YOU CAN NOT MAKE IT THROUGH GETHSEMANE ON YOUR OWN STRENGTH
- The son and daughter-in-law of an eighty-year old woman were trying to persuade her to come and live with them. "Mom, now that Dad is gone you shouldn't live alone, you should be with us." But the woman resisted, protesting, she said, "No, a thousand times no. I've always said that I would never live with one of my children. It brings on too many problems. It just raises too many issues." The daughter-in-law insisted, "That's true mother, but you're different." The mother-in-law looked at her said, "Yes, I know dear, but you're not."
- We often have an unrealistic idea of our own capabilities
- So we don’t come for help
- That would be a sign of weakness
- The one person we need to go to for help is God, and specifically Jesus
- John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing
- Gethsemane means oil press
- Have you ever seen an oil press?
- The olives get loaded in and then they are squeezed and ground and crushed till the olive is unrecognizable and comes out as olive oil
- What is your trial that you are facing
- What is your insurmountable difficulty
- Is it your anger, foul mouth, your fear
- Is it your addiction
- We can feel that we have it together and that we can lick this problem
- But in reality, without Jesus we are pretty powerless
- God may be calling us in a particular direction, but we feel it is too hard
- And it may well be so, in the flesh
- But with God all things are possible
- And without Jesus we can do nothing
- Maybe our struggle today is in allowing Jesus to come in and fight our battles
- Maybe we smugly feel I dnot need this Jesus thing
- I can do it on my own, in the right environment
- Don’t forget the warning that the disciples ignored
- Pride comes before a fall
- Perhaps someone today is facing a hard decision and think "I can't do it, it's too hard, but God says, "Oh no, you can with my strength, you can do it."
- Maybe this is the day you have to make that choice
- Ask God to help you make that choice, and follow through on it
- With God’s strength we can do it
- The disciples may have failed this test, they all ran away and left Jesus standing alone
- But later on they were filled with the Holy Spirit and a new relationship with Jesus and they stood their ground, even facing matyrdom with courage
- So you cant do it on your own, but you can with God’s help
- Make that choice today
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Come to Worship - part 2 - Psalm 95:1-11
Title: Let us come to worship – part 2
Date: February 8, 2009
Text: Psalm 95:1-11
Introduction
- Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment.
- His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege.
- Dante defended himself by saying, "If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."
- Last week we started talking about worship
- We discussed the greatness of God and we also talked about his closeness
- God is here with each one of us that has accepted him into our life
- Today we are going to look at Psalm 95 which leads us into a further discussion about worship
An invitation to worship
- Psa 95:1-5 “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
- Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
- For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
- In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
- The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land”.
- It is an invitation, a privilege, to be allowed into the presence of Almighty God
- This is not a take it or leave it kind of thing
- God is the creator of all things
- He is the one who created the sun which gives us warmth and light
- Did you know that the Sun is by far the largest object in our solar system. It contains 98% of the solar system's total mass.
- It would take 109 Earths to stretch across the Sun, and it would take over one million Earths to "fill up" the Sun if it were hollow
- God created this sun. But this sun is not alone
- Astronomers estimate that there are over 100 billion galaxies or clusters of stars in the universe
- On average, each galaxy has around 100 billion stars
- This means that our sun which is a relatively small star, is only one of 10 thousand billion, billion stars
- That is a 10 with 21 zeros after it
- This one person or being we worship, to whom we sing praise songs, made all of this!
- This demands some respect!!!
- But this person also wants to spend time with us, help us, lead us in ways that are beneficial to us! That is awesome!
Ways to worship
- Psa 95:6-7a “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
- For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
- There are many ways in which we can worship
- We can worship in silence, just like Dante Alighieri. We can be so absorbed by the closeness and love of God, that we are silent before him
- We can also show emotion in our worship
- Dance
- David was so enthusiastic at the ark being brought to Jerusalem that he danced before the Lord with all his might – have you ever seen people dance the highland fling!
- 2Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod
- Kneel
- Psa 95:6-7a “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
- We can lift our hands to God
- Psalms 28:2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
- Psalms 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
- Lifting our hands to God is an expression of our desire for closeness with him at particular times in worship
- My own experience with raising hands – was afraid people would see me
- But was really denying God, not doing what I recognized I needed to learn to do, because of fear of people
- My worship is something I want to do with all my heart
- We will cheer at the top of my lungs when someone puts a little leather ball on the ground in a football game
- How much more do I want to be enthusiastic in my worship of this great God who has come so close to us
- Ultimately it does not matter if we raise our hands, kneel or dance
- What counts is what is happening inside
The source of worship
- Psa 95:7b “To day if ye will hear his voice,
- Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
- Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
- Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”
- It seem strange that these verses are tacked on to a psalm about worship
- But they are not just tacked on, they mean something
- David is here drawing attention to the rest of our life when we leave this chapel
- The whole of my life should be an expression of the relationship I have with God
- And it is
- When I am close to God, the things I do on a day to day basis will be close to the way God would conduct himself
- And when I am far away from God, that will be evident in my actions, because I will not be as open to being led by the Holy Spirit
- This is why David refers to the ways in which the ancient Israelites messed up – he is encouraging us to not be like that but let our whole life be an expression of worship to the one who made us
- Everything we do can express our worship to God
- Because we are in close relationship with God every moment of the day
- He is here, inside us – can’t get any closer than that
Sing “All the Earth”
- We will now sing a praise song. First of I I would like you to sit and listen to the tune
- Then we will all get up and have an opportunity to worship God from the depths of our being
Prayer
Date: February 8, 2009
Text: Psalm 95:1-11
Introduction
- Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment.
- His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege.
- Dante defended himself by saying, "If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."
- Last week we started talking about worship
- We discussed the greatness of God and we also talked about his closeness
- God is here with each one of us that has accepted him into our life
- Today we are going to look at Psalm 95 which leads us into a further discussion about worship
An invitation to worship
- Psa 95:1-5 “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
- Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
- For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
- In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
- The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land”.
- It is an invitation, a privilege, to be allowed into the presence of Almighty God
- This is not a take it or leave it kind of thing
- God is the creator of all things
- He is the one who created the sun which gives us warmth and light
- Did you know that the Sun is by far the largest object in our solar system. It contains 98% of the solar system's total mass.
- It would take 109 Earths to stretch across the Sun, and it would take over one million Earths to "fill up" the Sun if it were hollow
- God created this sun. But this sun is not alone
- Astronomers estimate that there are over 100 billion galaxies or clusters of stars in the universe
- On average, each galaxy has around 100 billion stars
- This means that our sun which is a relatively small star, is only one of 10 thousand billion, billion stars
- That is a 10 with 21 zeros after it
- This one person or being we worship, to whom we sing praise songs, made all of this!
- This demands some respect!!!
- But this person also wants to spend time with us, help us, lead us in ways that are beneficial to us! That is awesome!
Ways to worship
- Psa 95:6-7a “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
- For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
- There are many ways in which we can worship
- We can worship in silence, just like Dante Alighieri. We can be so absorbed by the closeness and love of God, that we are silent before him
- We can also show emotion in our worship
- Dance
- David was so enthusiastic at the ark being brought to Jerusalem that he danced before the Lord with all his might – have you ever seen people dance the highland fling!
- 2Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod
- Kneel
- Psa 95:6-7a “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
- We can lift our hands to God
- Psalms 28:2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
- Psalms 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
- Lifting our hands to God is an expression of our desire for closeness with him at particular times in worship
- My own experience with raising hands – was afraid people would see me
- But was really denying God, not doing what I recognized I needed to learn to do, because of fear of people
- My worship is something I want to do with all my heart
- We will cheer at the top of my lungs when someone puts a little leather ball on the ground in a football game
- How much more do I want to be enthusiastic in my worship of this great God who has come so close to us
- Ultimately it does not matter if we raise our hands, kneel or dance
- What counts is what is happening inside
The source of worship
- Psa 95:7b “To day if ye will hear his voice,
- Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
- Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
- Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”
- It seem strange that these verses are tacked on to a psalm about worship
- But they are not just tacked on, they mean something
- David is here drawing attention to the rest of our life when we leave this chapel
- The whole of my life should be an expression of the relationship I have with God
- And it is
- When I am close to God, the things I do on a day to day basis will be close to the way God would conduct himself
- And when I am far away from God, that will be evident in my actions, because I will not be as open to being led by the Holy Spirit
- This is why David refers to the ways in which the ancient Israelites messed up – he is encouraging us to not be like that but let our whole life be an expression of worship to the one who made us
- Everything we do can express our worship to God
- Because we are in close relationship with God every moment of the day
- He is here, inside us – can’t get any closer than that
Sing “All the Earth”
- We will now sing a praise song. First of I I would like you to sit and listen to the tune
- Then we will all get up and have an opportunity to worship God from the depths of our being
Prayer
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Why Should I Worship? - Psalm 122
Title: Why should I worship?
Date: February 3, 2009
Text: Psalm 122
Introduction
- Many people are like nomads
- In school we learned that nomads move from place to place, nowhere is really the place to stay and put down roots
- nomads focus on the journey, on enjoying the traveling rather than finding meaning or relevance in a fixed place
- a lot of us have been like nomads
- we traveled our journey, enjoying life as we were able, but without a fixed purpose or destination in life
- a pilgrim, on the other hand, is a person who is on a journey, but to a fixed destination- their life has meaning and purpose
- they are not walking around aimlessly, but have a reason for being
- this difference particularly comes out in the way we worship
Whom to worship
- Nomads have all kinds of ideas about whom to worship
- People think it doesn’t really matter whom we worship
- It is as though we can have our own personal private little God and we can take it or leave it
– this morning I want to have relationship with Him, the next day we choose to leave Him aside
- Here are some comments by college students being asked about their views on God and why they exist:
- “Why do we exist? Um, because we are very, very lucky
- “Because we're here; because that's what happened, I think."
-“ I think people should be here just to do as much good as they can."
- “Some rock got moved to the side which caused some blade of grass that some cow was going to eat to not eat it and then that cow died."
- “I guess we are here to help other people"
- “To have as much fun before we go."
- “Don't read any Bible or any scripture from any of those religions."
- “I am pretty scarce. I have my own ways of doing it."
- “Evolving to the more individualized and personal religion where everybody has their own conception of what is good and what is bad and what is right and what is wrong."
- “I would like to be a good person in my own relative terms."
- “I have my own little traditions, like my own rituals, but nothing that like has a name or people affiliated with it or anything like that.”
- “You know it's karma based - it's give and take."
- “My own voodoo or something you know."
- Here are some comments from people you know of:
- “I believe in God. I just don't know if that God is Jehovah, Buddha or Allah." – actress Halle Berry
- “Eastern thought western mysticism. I really dig the whole Hindu pantheon and I just pull from all kinds of things." – actress Meg Ryan
- “I go to the synagogue. I study Hinduism. All paths lead to God," and then she has her son baptized in an Anglican Church - Madonna in interview on 60 Minutes
- this is all very normal thinking for a nomad
– a nomad has no purpose in life except to enjoy the journey, wherever it leads
Pilgrim worship
- Madonna’s type of thinking is very different than the thinking of a pilgrim.
- In Psalm 122 we have the mindset of the pilgrim.
- this pilgrim has been on a journey, but this journey has a focus
- the pilgrim’s focus is to come to Jerusalem to worship
- This psalm gives a picture of the pilgrim arriving at the gates of Jerusalem and the kind of response that that person has
- let's take a look at Psalm 122
David the pilgrim
- Psalm 122:1-2- King David was a pilgim
- he had been anointed to be king, and his destination was Jerusalem
- Jerusalem was the place of God’s temple, a place where God was close, where man and God met each other in worship
- Jerusalem was also the place where David would reach his purpose, to be king
- David longed to reach his destination, Jerusalem
- but the road had been difficult and hard for David
- he had been kept from worshiping God in Jerusalem because of being on the run from King Saul
- so to David it was very special to at last be at the entrance to Jerusalem
- David in this psalm expresses his heart for the destination of his journey
- Verse 3-5 David describes the place to which he has been traveling all these many years
- it is a place with foundations, a place where people go to worship, a place where God rules his people, and a place which is David’s destiny
- Verses 6-9 Here David responds to his joy at having arrived at the destination of his journey
- he prays for the peace of Jerusalem, because it is a place where God dwells, a place where David goes to worship, a place which is the focal pointy of David’s journey
We too are pilgrims
- we too are on a journey
- our journey is to meet God in the place that he has chosen
- God no longer dwells in a temple made with hands
- today, he dwells in a different kind of temple
- the temple today is inside of us
- he tells us in John 14 that he will make his home with us individually
- the journey we have been on has not been one of traveling various roads till we reach our destination
- instead, our journey has been to find the one being who can give meaning and purpose to our lives
- this is the reason why we worship
- in Psalm 122 David expresses his joy at having arrived at the place where he can finally worship with all his being and strength
- when we worship here in chapel we have a chance to express our joy at having found our destination, Jesus
- when we worship we express that joy in the words we sing, in our participation, in our heart of prayer before God
- worship is a special event, it is the whole purpose of our being
- worship expresses our relationship with God
- We can’t imagine David standing quietly while everyone is worshiping God
- David worshiped with all his heart
- we too desire to worship God with all our being
- that may mean getting out of our personal comfort zone
- but we want to express what is in our heart when we hear the songs of worship that are expressed here in chapel
- if we don’t feel that joy, there is something missing and maybe we should consider what is going on
- we are not nomads, focusing on the journey
- instead we are pilgrims with a destination
- that destination is a close and intimate relationship with God
- Next week we will take a look at how we worship – what God’s word says about it
Date: February 3, 2009
Text: Psalm 122
Introduction
- Many people are like nomads
- In school we learned that nomads move from place to place, nowhere is really the place to stay and put down roots
- nomads focus on the journey, on enjoying the traveling rather than finding meaning or relevance in a fixed place
- a lot of us have been like nomads
- we traveled our journey, enjoying life as we were able, but without a fixed purpose or destination in life
- a pilgrim, on the other hand, is a person who is on a journey, but to a fixed destination- their life has meaning and purpose
- they are not walking around aimlessly, but have a reason for being
- this difference particularly comes out in the way we worship
Whom to worship
- Nomads have all kinds of ideas about whom to worship
- People think it doesn’t really matter whom we worship
- It is as though we can have our own personal private little God and we can take it or leave it
– this morning I want to have relationship with Him, the next day we choose to leave Him aside
- Here are some comments by college students being asked about their views on God and why they exist:
- “Why do we exist? Um, because we are very, very lucky
- “Because we're here; because that's what happened, I think."
-“ I think people should be here just to do as much good as they can."
- “Some rock got moved to the side which caused some blade of grass that some cow was going to eat to not eat it and then that cow died."
- “I guess we are here to help other people"
- “To have as much fun before we go."
- “Don't read any Bible or any scripture from any of those religions."
- “I am pretty scarce. I have my own ways of doing it."
- “Evolving to the more individualized and personal religion where everybody has their own conception of what is good and what is bad and what is right and what is wrong."
- “I would like to be a good person in my own relative terms."
- “I have my own little traditions, like my own rituals, but nothing that like has a name or people affiliated with it or anything like that.”
- “You know it's karma based - it's give and take."
- “My own voodoo or something you know."
- Here are some comments from people you know of:
- “I believe in God. I just don't know if that God is Jehovah, Buddha or Allah." – actress Halle Berry
- “Eastern thought western mysticism. I really dig the whole Hindu pantheon and I just pull from all kinds of things." – actress Meg Ryan
- “I go to the synagogue. I study Hinduism. All paths lead to God," and then she has her son baptized in an Anglican Church - Madonna in interview on 60 Minutes
- this is all very normal thinking for a nomad
– a nomad has no purpose in life except to enjoy the journey, wherever it leads
Pilgrim worship
- Madonna’s type of thinking is very different than the thinking of a pilgrim.
- In Psalm 122 we have the mindset of the pilgrim.
- this pilgrim has been on a journey, but this journey has a focus
- the pilgrim’s focus is to come to Jerusalem to worship
- This psalm gives a picture of the pilgrim arriving at the gates of Jerusalem and the kind of response that that person has
- let's take a look at Psalm 122
David the pilgrim
- Psalm 122:1-2- King David was a pilgim
- he had been anointed to be king, and his destination was Jerusalem
- Jerusalem was the place of God’s temple, a place where God was close, where man and God met each other in worship
- Jerusalem was also the place where David would reach his purpose, to be king
- David longed to reach his destination, Jerusalem
- but the road had been difficult and hard for David
- he had been kept from worshiping God in Jerusalem because of being on the run from King Saul
- so to David it was very special to at last be at the entrance to Jerusalem
- David in this psalm expresses his heart for the destination of his journey
- Verse 3-5 David describes the place to which he has been traveling all these many years
- it is a place with foundations, a place where people go to worship, a place where God rules his people, and a place which is David’s destiny
- Verses 6-9 Here David responds to his joy at having arrived at the destination of his journey
- he prays for the peace of Jerusalem, because it is a place where God dwells, a place where David goes to worship, a place which is the focal pointy of David’s journey
We too are pilgrims
- we too are on a journey
- our journey is to meet God in the place that he has chosen
- God no longer dwells in a temple made with hands
- today, he dwells in a different kind of temple
- the temple today is inside of us
- he tells us in John 14 that he will make his home with us individually
- the journey we have been on has not been one of traveling various roads till we reach our destination
- instead, our journey has been to find the one being who can give meaning and purpose to our lives
- this is the reason why we worship
- in Psalm 122 David expresses his joy at having arrived at the place where he can finally worship with all his being and strength
- when we worship here in chapel we have a chance to express our joy at having found our destination, Jesus
- when we worship we express that joy in the words we sing, in our participation, in our heart of prayer before God
- worship is a special event, it is the whole purpose of our being
- worship expresses our relationship with God
- We can’t imagine David standing quietly while everyone is worshiping God
- David worshiped with all his heart
- we too desire to worship God with all our being
- that may mean getting out of our personal comfort zone
- but we want to express what is in our heart when we hear the songs of worship that are expressed here in chapel
- if we don’t feel that joy, there is something missing and maybe we should consider what is going on
- we are not nomads, focusing on the journey
- instead we are pilgrims with a destination
- that destination is a close and intimate relationship with God
- Next week we will take a look at how we worship – what God’s word says about it
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Dealing With Anxiety - Phil 4:6-7
Title: Dealing with anxiety
Date: February 1, 2009
Text: Phil 4:6-7, Mat 6:25-34, Psa 55:22
Introduction
- Anxiety is a big problem to many people
-The Maryland Medical Center states that over 23 million Americans are affected by anxiety each year
- It takes the forms of butterflysie anxiety, worry, all the way to straightout fear
- It robs us of accepting opportunities, it immobilizes us when we could master the situation, in stops us from achieving our potential
- It also is an emotion which goes along with drinking and using – many of us here this morning battle against anxiety
- This morning we will be examining some aspects of how the Bible guides us in overcoming this mental state
- Phil 4:6-7
- Mat 6:25-34
What causes anxiety?
- 1. Fear of things we can’t control
- The unknown
- The future
- The worries of life
- Luke 21:34 – “be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap”.
- 2. Trying to carry our burdens alone
- We weren’t created to carry our own burdens
- Corrie Ten Boom – “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength”
- It steals our focus on God in our worship and devotions and during our activities
- It robs us of the desire to serve and help others because it immobilizes us
- John 10:10 – “the thief comes only to steal and to kill and destroy”
- So anxiety is something the enemy uses to stop our progress as a Christian
- The word the Bible uses for anxious, both in Phil 4 and Mat 6, is: merimnao. It means to be anxious and troubled with cares.
- We were not made to carry the burden of anxiety
- Mat 11:28 – “come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”
- Jesus promises he will take our burdens from us and give us rest from the pressures of life
- 1 Pet 5:7 – “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”
- Worry is futile, it is not of faith, it is sin
- A preacher once said – “Worry is sin because it denies the rulership of God; it says He does not know what He is doing; it denies the love of God; it says He does not care. And it denies the power of God; it says that He isn’t able to deliver me from whatever is causing me to worry.”
- 3. Not seeking God first in our lives
- So what is the secret of not having anxiety – it is that we seek God first in our lives
- Mat 6:33 – “but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
- What things? Life, clothing, food, physical needs
- God never wanted us to be discouraged by the cares of this life – he wants us to know that He is able to care for us
What is the cure for anxiety?
- Phil 4:6 – “do not be anxious about anything”
- The way this is written in the Greek is as a command – stop being anxious
- 1. Make a choice to trust God
- Remember that God is in control
- He is sovereign – he exercises the ultimate permanent authority
- He is supreme – he is greatest in power, authority and rank
- Remember that God is capable
- Anxiety merely steals our faith
- It shows we are trusting in our own strength, not God
- We have to choose to trust in God’s protection and provision
- He is able to take care of our situation, but we have to make the choice
- 2. Make our needs known to God
- Phil 4:6 – “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”
- This is not just a quick short let’s get it out of the way type of prayer, but prayer from the heart
- Opening our life up before God
- Example of Hezekiah spreading a letter out and reading it before God
- This requires that we communicate with God
- It means we don’t run away from God when things get tough, but that we run to him for help
- It also requires that we confess our anxiety to him, that we tell him our needs, and that we thank him for progress in the situation
- 3. Make God’s peace your protection
- Phil 4:7 – “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
- The opposite of anxiety is peace
- The peace God gives to us replaces the anxiety in our heart
- This peace will see us through any problem
- It says that this peace will guard our hearts and minds
- The Greek word for guard here refers to an armed guard of soldiers keeping watch over a city, not allowing anyone in or out
- We don’t need to be ok one day and fearful the next
- God will give us this peace, and it will be impenetrable
- Why? Because it is not dependent on the circumstances, but on the capability of a big God to take care of things
- 2 Cor 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”
Conclusion
- We may have a problem with anxiety
- The key to dealing with this is
- 1) Make a choice to trust God in this situation
- 2) We make our needs known to God – he loves to hear from us
- 3) Lastly, allow God’s peace to protect you
- This comes by looking at the eternal, rather than focusing on the immediate problem
- The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything
- The absence of anxiety comes from the presence of God in every aspect of our life
Date: February 1, 2009
Text: Phil 4:6-7, Mat 6:25-34, Psa 55:22
Introduction
- Anxiety is a big problem to many people
-The Maryland Medical Center states that over 23 million Americans are affected by anxiety each year
- It takes the forms of butterflysie anxiety, worry, all the way to straightout fear
- It robs us of accepting opportunities, it immobilizes us when we could master the situation, in stops us from achieving our potential
- It also is an emotion which goes along with drinking and using – many of us here this morning battle against anxiety
- This morning we will be examining some aspects of how the Bible guides us in overcoming this mental state
- Phil 4:6-7
- Mat 6:25-34
What causes anxiety?
- 1. Fear of things we can’t control
- The unknown
- The future
- The worries of life
- Luke 21:34 – “be careful or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap”.
- 2. Trying to carry our burdens alone
- We weren’t created to carry our own burdens
- Corrie Ten Boom – “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength”
- It steals our focus on God in our worship and devotions and during our activities
- It robs us of the desire to serve and help others because it immobilizes us
- John 10:10 – “the thief comes only to steal and to kill and destroy”
- So anxiety is something the enemy uses to stop our progress as a Christian
- The word the Bible uses for anxious, both in Phil 4 and Mat 6, is: merimnao. It means to be anxious and troubled with cares.
- We were not made to carry the burden of anxiety
- Mat 11:28 – “come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”
- Jesus promises he will take our burdens from us and give us rest from the pressures of life
- 1 Pet 5:7 – “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”
- Worry is futile, it is not of faith, it is sin
- A preacher once said – “Worry is sin because it denies the rulership of God; it says He does not know what He is doing; it denies the love of God; it says He does not care. And it denies the power of God; it says that He isn’t able to deliver me from whatever is causing me to worry.”
- 3. Not seeking God first in our lives
- So what is the secret of not having anxiety – it is that we seek God first in our lives
- Mat 6:33 – “but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”
- What things? Life, clothing, food, physical needs
- God never wanted us to be discouraged by the cares of this life – he wants us to know that He is able to care for us
What is the cure for anxiety?
- Phil 4:6 – “do not be anxious about anything”
- The way this is written in the Greek is as a command – stop being anxious
- 1. Make a choice to trust God
- Remember that God is in control
- He is sovereign – he exercises the ultimate permanent authority
- He is supreme – he is greatest in power, authority and rank
- Remember that God is capable
- Anxiety merely steals our faith
- It shows we are trusting in our own strength, not God
- We have to choose to trust in God’s protection and provision
- He is able to take care of our situation, but we have to make the choice
- 2. Make our needs known to God
- Phil 4:6 – “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”
- This is not just a quick short let’s get it out of the way type of prayer, but prayer from the heart
- Opening our life up before God
- Example of Hezekiah spreading a letter out and reading it before God
- This requires that we communicate with God
- It means we don’t run away from God when things get tough, but that we run to him for help
- It also requires that we confess our anxiety to him, that we tell him our needs, and that we thank him for progress in the situation
- 3. Make God’s peace your protection
- Phil 4:7 – “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
- The opposite of anxiety is peace
- The peace God gives to us replaces the anxiety in our heart
- This peace will see us through any problem
- It says that this peace will guard our hearts and minds
- The Greek word for guard here refers to an armed guard of soldiers keeping watch over a city, not allowing anyone in or out
- We don’t need to be ok one day and fearful the next
- God will give us this peace, and it will be impenetrable
- Why? Because it is not dependent on the circumstances, but on the capability of a big God to take care of things
- 2 Cor 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”
Conclusion
- We may have a problem with anxiety
- The key to dealing with this is
- 1) Make a choice to trust God in this situation
- 2) We make our needs known to God – he loves to hear from us
- 3) Lastly, allow God’s peace to protect you
- This comes by looking at the eternal, rather than focusing on the immediate problem
- The way to be anxious about nothing is to be prayerful about everything
- The absence of anxiety comes from the presence of God in every aspect of our life
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tax collectors, sinners and shepherds - Luke 2:8-20
Title: Tax collectors, sinners and shepherds
Date: December 10, 2008
Text: Luke 2:8-20
Introduction
- (from Charlie Brown's Christmas)
- Charlie Brown: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?
- Linus: “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is about. Lights Please!
- Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
- And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
- Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
- For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
- And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
- That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown!”
- Let's continue with the story
- Luke 2:15-20
- My question this morning, is why did God announce Jesus’ birth to a group of shepherds?
God loves tax collectors
- I know that tax collectors are not the same as shepherds, they are probably at opposite ends of the social structure
- But bear with me – we will get to the shepherds
- Luke 19:1-10
- Zacchaeus was a tax collector, an IRS agent
- He was someone who operated not on behalf of the Jewish government, but on behalf of the enemy, the Romans
- For this reason he was not well-liked
- On top of that, he was also someone who extorted more than was needed to pay the taxes, so he would skim off a portion for himself.
- On top of that again, he would also take a rake-off from those tax collectors working under him
- So Zacchaeus had a good thing going for himself, which made him a hated individual
- Zacchaeus is a little guy, so when he hears Jesus is coming into town he climbs a tree to see him - As Jesus is entering Jericho, he makes a bee-line for Zacchaeus’ tree and tells him he knows him by name, and that he will be having dinner with him that night
- This act of grace alone, totally changes Zacchaeus’ life
- He publicly announces that he is going to make amends to all his victims, and he is now a changed man
- People don’t understand Jesus associating with their enemy, but Jesus tells them: “the Son of man came to seek and to save what is lost”
God loves sinners
- Luke 5:27-32
- The calling of Levi the tax collector
- Levi was another tax collector, and this is a similar story
- Jesus invites Levi to follow him and become a disciple
- Levi then goes and throws a party for all his friends, most of whom were tax collectors and other sinners
- Once again, people criticize Jesus for associating with these people who were their enemies, and sinners, who were ceremonially unclean
- Much of this accusation came from the religious rulers, who figured they were OK, didn’t need Jesus
- Jesus’ response was: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”
God loves shepherds
- And now we get to the shepherds
- Shepherds are unclean
- Shepherds smell like sheep, they are around them all the time
- They may slip in their doo-doo, they pick up diseased animals and carry them around
- They are not clean people, they would not be allowed into the temple without all kinds of ceremonial cleansings
- These shepherds are humble, they live out with the sheep
- Maybe they drink in order to stay warm at night
- But God loves these shepherds
- H much rather associates with people who need him and welcome him, than all kinds of people who feel they have it all together
- God chooses to reveal the birth of his son to these lowly shepherds
- This relates to the tax collectors and sinners in that they too are not the socially acceptable
- They too are people who need help
So whom does God care about?
- God doesn’t reveal himself to the righteous types who seem to have it all together
- 1 Cor 1:26-31
- When God calls us to accept his Son, he does not seek the wise and successful of this world
- God works through the lowly of this world
- They have been humbled
- They know they need God
- The righteous don’t see that they need a Savior
- We do
- God says in Isa 57:15 – “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones”
- When we are humble and know we haven’t got all the answers – that is when God can work in us and through us
- That is why God loves us
- We are people who need a Savior
- God cares about us
- If we have not yet accepted Jesus into our lives and we want to do so, why don’t we do so right now?
- Let’s pray
Date: December 10, 2008
Text: Luke 2:8-20
Introduction
- (from Charlie Brown's Christmas)
- Charlie Brown: Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?
- Linus: “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is about. Lights Please!
- Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
- And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
- Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
- For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
- And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
- That's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown!”
- Let's continue with the story
- Luke 2:15-20
- My question this morning, is why did God announce Jesus’ birth to a group of shepherds?
God loves tax collectors
- I know that tax collectors are not the same as shepherds, they are probably at opposite ends of the social structure
- But bear with me – we will get to the shepherds
- Luke 19:1-10
- Zacchaeus was a tax collector, an IRS agent
- He was someone who operated not on behalf of the Jewish government, but on behalf of the enemy, the Romans
- For this reason he was not well-liked
- On top of that, he was also someone who extorted more than was needed to pay the taxes, so he would skim off a portion for himself.
- On top of that again, he would also take a rake-off from those tax collectors working under him
- So Zacchaeus had a good thing going for himself, which made him a hated individual
- Zacchaeus is a little guy, so when he hears Jesus is coming into town he climbs a tree to see him - As Jesus is entering Jericho, he makes a bee-line for Zacchaeus’ tree and tells him he knows him by name, and that he will be having dinner with him that night
- This act of grace alone, totally changes Zacchaeus’ life
- He publicly announces that he is going to make amends to all his victims, and he is now a changed man
- People don’t understand Jesus associating with their enemy, but Jesus tells them: “the Son of man came to seek and to save what is lost”
God loves sinners
- Luke 5:27-32
- The calling of Levi the tax collector
- Levi was another tax collector, and this is a similar story
- Jesus invites Levi to follow him and become a disciple
- Levi then goes and throws a party for all his friends, most of whom were tax collectors and other sinners
- Once again, people criticize Jesus for associating with these people who were their enemies, and sinners, who were ceremonially unclean
- Much of this accusation came from the religious rulers, who figured they were OK, didn’t need Jesus
- Jesus’ response was: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”
God loves shepherds
- And now we get to the shepherds
- Shepherds are unclean
- Shepherds smell like sheep, they are around them all the time
- They may slip in their doo-doo, they pick up diseased animals and carry them around
- They are not clean people, they would not be allowed into the temple without all kinds of ceremonial cleansings
- These shepherds are humble, they live out with the sheep
- Maybe they drink in order to stay warm at night
- But God loves these shepherds
- H much rather associates with people who need him and welcome him, than all kinds of people who feel they have it all together
- God chooses to reveal the birth of his son to these lowly shepherds
- This relates to the tax collectors and sinners in that they too are not the socially acceptable
- They too are people who need help
So whom does God care about?
- God doesn’t reveal himself to the righteous types who seem to have it all together
- 1 Cor 1:26-31
- When God calls us to accept his Son, he does not seek the wise and successful of this world
- God works through the lowly of this world
- They have been humbled
- They know they need God
- The righteous don’t see that they need a Savior
- We do
- God says in Isa 57:15 – “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones”
- When we are humble and know we haven’t got all the answers – that is when God can work in us and through us
- That is why God loves us
- We are people who need a Savior
- God cares about us
- If we have not yet accepted Jesus into our lives and we want to do so, why don’t we do so right now?
- Let’s pray
Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Way, the Truth, The Life - John 14:6
Title: The Way, the Truth and the Life
Date: October 26, 2008
Text: John 14:6
Introduction
- A pioneer missionary in Africa tells how he was taking the gospel to a new tribe, far to the north.
- With his bearers, he arrived at a village, a point beyond which his porters refused to go.
- The missionary appealed to the local chief . Was there someone in his village who could act as his guide to the distant northern tribe?
- The chief summoned a man, tall, battle scarred, carrying a large axe.
- A bargain was made and the next morning the missionary set off through the bush, following his new guide. The way became increasingly rough and the path had all but disappeared.
- There was an occasional mark blazed on a tree, occasionally a narrow path. Finally the missionary called a halt. He asked the guide if he was sure he knew the way.
- The man pulled himself up to his full height. "White man," he said, "you see this axe in my hand? You see these scars on my body? With this axe I blazed the trail to the tribal village to which we go.
- I came from there. These scars I received when I made the way. You ask me if I know the way? Before I came, there was no way. I am the way!
Background
- Jesus was telling the disciples that he was leaving them, that he would die but that he would return
- Thomas responds to Jesus, that they don’t know where he is going, so how can they know the way?
- Jesus response is to make this statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father except through me”
- In making these 3 statements, Jesus is describing 3 ways in which he is showing us the way to heaven
- Today we are going to examine these three statements
I am the Way
- Jesus’ first statement is the He is the Way
- What does this mean, that Jesus is the way?
- The greek word “hodos” literally means a travelled way, a road, a journey - It also means a course of conduct, a way of thinking, feeling, deciding
- How does this meaning relate to Jesus?
- 1. Jesus went before us
- In the Roman army, the prodromoi were the reconnaissance troops who went ahead of the army to blaze the trail and ensure that it was safe from ambush for the rest of the troops
- Jesus is the prodromos, the traulblazer showing the way to heaven – the word is translated as forerunner, or the one who goes before us
- Jesus is the one who is our trailblazer – he has prepared the way for us
- 2. There are 2 ways to live
- Matt 7:13-14
- Two roads – one is wide and easy to follow, one is narrow and crooked
- The easy way is the way everyone else is going
- It is easy to follow, just follow the crowd
- It’s fun for the moment, but unless they repent and change direction, they will end up going over the precipice, and land in the fires of hell.
- The narrow road, representing following Jesus, is more difficult
- 2 weeks ago, went to South Lake Tahoe and saw the salmon run in Owen’s Creek
- Thousands of salmon had swum upstream to find a mate, and spawn
- The Christian life is a little like that – it can be a struggle to follow Jesus’ example, but at the end there will be a reward
- Rom 2:7
- Jesus is the way
I am the Truth
- Jesus is the Word of God
- John 1:1, 14 – he is God’s spokesperson
- He spoke God’s word, and gave it to us as truth
- John 17:17
- He says “I am the truth”
- He personifies the truth that sets us free
- John 8:32
- Jesus is the truth that sets us free from sin, from bondages and from everything that hinders us from going to heaven
I am the Life
- John 1:1-4
- Jesus was the creator of all things – he is the one who created life and gave it to us
- Heb 1:3 - He upholds all things by the word of his power
- He came to bring life
- John 10:10 – I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full
- John 11:25 – I am the resurrection and the life
- It is through Jesus that we have life, life eternal
- So Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
- He shows us the way to heaven
But we have a problem
- Rom 3:23 - Man has sinned, all of us
- Rom 6:23 - The result of that sin is death, eternal separation from God
- We have all been on that wide road, the easy road
- God’s gift to us is eternal life
- Jesus came to stand in our stead, and paid the price for us
- He offers that to every person
- He is the way the truth and the life
- This is what we remember as we celebrate communion, remembering what Jesus did in our place, and celebrating that we have been freed from death and given eternal life
Communion
- 1 Cor 11:23- 29
- People who take part in communion, should be believers
- If you wish to be a believer, and have not done so before, you can ask Jesus right now to forgive you of your sins, and ask him to come into your life, as your personal Lord and Savior
- You can do this right now
- PRAYER
- If you prayed this prayer right now, your sins are forgiven, and you now have a special relationship with God
- He is proud to call you his child
- He has given you a fresh start in life and he has promised to never leave you or forsake you!
- Our God is an awesome God!
Date: October 26, 2008
Text: John 14:6
Introduction
- A pioneer missionary in Africa tells how he was taking the gospel to a new tribe, far to the north.
- With his bearers, he arrived at a village, a point beyond which his porters refused to go.
- The missionary appealed to the local chief . Was there someone in his village who could act as his guide to the distant northern tribe?
- The chief summoned a man, tall, battle scarred, carrying a large axe.
- A bargain was made and the next morning the missionary set off through the bush, following his new guide. The way became increasingly rough and the path had all but disappeared.
- There was an occasional mark blazed on a tree, occasionally a narrow path. Finally the missionary called a halt. He asked the guide if he was sure he knew the way.
- The man pulled himself up to his full height. "White man," he said, "you see this axe in my hand? You see these scars on my body? With this axe I blazed the trail to the tribal village to which we go.
- I came from there. These scars I received when I made the way. You ask me if I know the way? Before I came, there was no way. I am the way!
Background
- Jesus was telling the disciples that he was leaving them, that he would die but that he would return
- Thomas responds to Jesus, that they don’t know where he is going, so how can they know the way?
- Jesus response is to make this statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father except through me”
- In making these 3 statements, Jesus is describing 3 ways in which he is showing us the way to heaven
- Today we are going to examine these three statements
I am the Way
- Jesus’ first statement is the He is the Way
- What does this mean, that Jesus is the way?
- The greek word “hodos” literally means a travelled way, a road, a journey - It also means a course of conduct, a way of thinking, feeling, deciding
- How does this meaning relate to Jesus?
- 1. Jesus went before us
- In the Roman army, the prodromoi were the reconnaissance troops who went ahead of the army to blaze the trail and ensure that it was safe from ambush for the rest of the troops
- Jesus is the prodromos, the traulblazer showing the way to heaven – the word is translated as forerunner, or the one who goes before us
- Jesus is the one who is our trailblazer – he has prepared the way for us
- 2. There are 2 ways to live
- Matt 7:13-14
- Two roads – one is wide and easy to follow, one is narrow and crooked
- The easy way is the way everyone else is going
- It is easy to follow, just follow the crowd
- It’s fun for the moment, but unless they repent and change direction, they will end up going over the precipice, and land in the fires of hell.
- The narrow road, representing following Jesus, is more difficult
- 2 weeks ago, went to South Lake Tahoe and saw the salmon run in Owen’s Creek
- Thousands of salmon had swum upstream to find a mate, and spawn
- The Christian life is a little like that – it can be a struggle to follow Jesus’ example, but at the end there will be a reward
- Rom 2:7
- Jesus is the way
I am the Truth
- Jesus is the Word of God
- John 1:1, 14 – he is God’s spokesperson
- He spoke God’s word, and gave it to us as truth
- John 17:17
- He says “I am the truth”
- He personifies the truth that sets us free
- John 8:32
- Jesus is the truth that sets us free from sin, from bondages and from everything that hinders us from going to heaven
I am the Life
- John 1:1-4
- Jesus was the creator of all things – he is the one who created life and gave it to us
- Heb 1:3 - He upholds all things by the word of his power
- He came to bring life
- John 10:10 – I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full
- John 11:25 – I am the resurrection and the life
- It is through Jesus that we have life, life eternal
- So Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
- He shows us the way to heaven
But we have a problem
- Rom 3:23 - Man has sinned, all of us
- Rom 6:23 - The result of that sin is death, eternal separation from God
- We have all been on that wide road, the easy road
- God’s gift to us is eternal life
- Jesus came to stand in our stead, and paid the price for us
- He offers that to every person
- He is the way the truth and the life
- This is what we remember as we celebrate communion, remembering what Jesus did in our place, and celebrating that we have been freed from death and given eternal life
Communion
- 1 Cor 11:23- 29
- People who take part in communion, should be believers
- If you wish to be a believer, and have not done so before, you can ask Jesus right now to forgive you of your sins, and ask him to come into your life, as your personal Lord and Savior
- You can do this right now
- PRAYER
- If you prayed this prayer right now, your sins are forgiven, and you now have a special relationship with God
- He is proud to call you his child
- He has given you a fresh start in life and he has promised to never leave you or forsake you!
- Our God is an awesome God!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Pulling Down a Fortress - 2 Cor 10:4-5
Title: Pulling down a fortress
Date: October 19, 2008
Text: 2 Cor 10:4-5
Introduction
- 2 Cor 10:4-5 - “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
- We can learn about strongholds by reading about real-life wars and battles
- In Israel there is a place called Latrun.
- It’s right off the main highway from Tel Aviv and the airport heading up to Jerusalem.
- It’s a stronghold right along the main highway.
- It also intersects with a highway leading from Gaza up to Ramallah, two major population centers of Palestinian Arabs.
- The Turks, when they controlled the land, had built this fortress, near a monastery and ancient Emmaus.
- The British converted the fortress into a police station.
- When the War of Independence in 1948 began, the Arab Legion took control of the Latrun stronghold.
- From this spot, they could pick off the caravans carrying supplies up to the Jews in Jerusalem.
- This was one stronghold that had to be taken! It had a stranglehold on Jerusalem!
- Five separate times, the fledgling Israeli Defense Forces tried to take it.
- Again and again the Arab Legion drove the attackers away.
- So the Israelis built a road around the stronghold, over rough terrain, so the supply trains could get through. This basically nullified the effectiveness of the fortress
- During the 6-day war, the Arabs were forced to abandon the fortress, and today it is a tank museum
- So can we see the strategic importance of a stronghold?
- For 20 years that place threatened the security of Israel, right in the heart of the nation.
- For how many years has a stronghold threatened your security in the heart of your thought life?
(illustration from http://www.lehigh.edu/~gdb0/simcha/strongho.htm)
- Today we are going to talk about strongholds and how to defeat them
What is a stronghold?
- A stronghold is a defensive position, a place that is difficult to capture
- Psalm 9:9 “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble”
- Hebrew “misgab” - high place, refuge, secure height, retreat
- A place on a high cliff for example, is not easy to take control of
- So a stronghold is a place that is difficult to be captured
- This defensive position may be held by either enemy or friendly forces
- It can threaten the safety of the surrounding terrain, depending on who controls the fortress
- The stronghold may have been there for a long time
- It could be a natural rock formation, something that has been there as long as we know about it
- An example of this could be our sinful nature
- Our sinful nature is a stronghold in our lives – it is something which enslaves us, it is addictive, it pulls us down
- A stronghold could also be something that has been constructed during our lifetime
- We may have built a fortification, a structure with walls and defenses
- An example could be lying
- The first time we lie, it may be seem like a small thing, a “little white lie”
- Then we do so again, and again, and again
- Before long we have built up a habit of being economical with the truth
- We have built a stronghold of dishonesty
- A stronghold is a way of thinking and feeling that has developed a life of its own
- This could apply to many things
- For example:
- Depression, unbelief, temper
- Repeating pattern of failure
- Provoking others to reject you (without knowing you are doing so)
- Resentment, worthlessness
- Abuse often leads us to build a stronghold of worthlessness filled with negative thoughts (I’m guilty, I’m worthless, Nobody could ever love me, I’m good for nothing, I’m ugly, Nobody would like me if they really got to know me, Nobody really cares for me, Nobody really wants me for who I am)
- The truth may be quite different, but we believe these lies
- As we accept these lies they can become a stronghold of rejection, stopping us from accepting God’s love for us
How can we capture and pull down these strongholds?
- 1. First of all we need to identify the stronghold
- Eph 5:11 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them”
- Psalm 26:2 “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind”
- It takes courage to man up and take a good look in the mirror
- What are the areas of my life that have become strongholds?
- Sometimes the real stronghold is hidden and hard to see
- In prayer, ask God to show you your secret sins
- This takes humility, but we have to know our enemy before we can get him out of the way
- 2. Repent of your sin
- Be honest before God and repent
- We may need to overcome our instinct to automatically defend ourselves
- Excusing ourselves will never deal with the issue
- Confession and repentance is the only way to bring down these strongholds
- Ask for the sin to be covered by the blood of Jesus
- 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
- 3. Surround the stronghold with truth
- John 8:32 – “32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”
- In the introduction we talked about the stronghold at Latrun
- First, the Israelis tried a frontal attack, five times – that did not work
- The way that stronghold was dealt with ultimately was by building a road around it
- Sometimes we have to defeat our strongholds by surrounding them with truth
- Once you’ve identified a stronghold, go to the Bible, and study the opposite truth from God.
- Use a concordance or a chain reference bible or a topical bible.
- For example, if the stronghold is rejection, study all that the Bible says about God’s acceptance.
- Then surround that stronghold with the word of God! Read those verses, pray them, make them a part of you
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of depression, surround it with hope.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of rejection, surround it with acceptance from your Abba Father
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of unresolved anger, surround it with forgiveness.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of fear, surround it with the knowledge of God’s love.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of failure, surround it with the victory of the resurrection!
Conclusion
- If we have strongholds in our life that we want to deal with, let’s pray together
- “Lord, please show me any areas of my life that I need to surrender to you. Please forgive me for compromising, and give me the courage to pull down these strongholds. Thank you Jesus for your forgiveness and for dying on the cross so that I could be set free. I commit to surrender every stronghold to you, and in Jesus’ name I reject any satanic influences that have held me captive. I purpose to take every negative way of thinking captive, and bring it into obedience to the truth, because the truth will set me free. In Jesus’ name, Amen."
Date: October 19, 2008
Text: 2 Cor 10:4-5
Introduction
- 2 Cor 10:4-5 - “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
- We can learn about strongholds by reading about real-life wars and battles
- In Israel there is a place called Latrun.
- It’s right off the main highway from Tel Aviv and the airport heading up to Jerusalem.
- It’s a stronghold right along the main highway.
- It also intersects with a highway leading from Gaza up to Ramallah, two major population centers of Palestinian Arabs.
- The Turks, when they controlled the land, had built this fortress, near a monastery and ancient Emmaus.
- The British converted the fortress into a police station.
- When the War of Independence in 1948 began, the Arab Legion took control of the Latrun stronghold.
- From this spot, they could pick off the caravans carrying supplies up to the Jews in Jerusalem.
- This was one stronghold that had to be taken! It had a stranglehold on Jerusalem!
- Five separate times, the fledgling Israeli Defense Forces tried to take it.
- Again and again the Arab Legion drove the attackers away.
- So the Israelis built a road around the stronghold, over rough terrain, so the supply trains could get through. This basically nullified the effectiveness of the fortress
- During the 6-day war, the Arabs were forced to abandon the fortress, and today it is a tank museum
- So can we see the strategic importance of a stronghold?
- For 20 years that place threatened the security of Israel, right in the heart of the nation.
- For how many years has a stronghold threatened your security in the heart of your thought life?
(illustration from http://www.lehigh.edu/~gdb0/simcha/strongho.htm)
- Today we are going to talk about strongholds and how to defeat them
What is a stronghold?
- A stronghold is a defensive position, a place that is difficult to capture
- Psalm 9:9 “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble”
- Hebrew “misgab” - high place, refuge, secure height, retreat
- A place on a high cliff for example, is not easy to take control of
- So a stronghold is a place that is difficult to be captured
- This defensive position may be held by either enemy or friendly forces
- It can threaten the safety of the surrounding terrain, depending on who controls the fortress
- The stronghold may have been there for a long time
- It could be a natural rock formation, something that has been there as long as we know about it
- An example of this could be our sinful nature
- Our sinful nature is a stronghold in our lives – it is something which enslaves us, it is addictive, it pulls us down
- A stronghold could also be something that has been constructed during our lifetime
- We may have built a fortification, a structure with walls and defenses
- An example could be lying
- The first time we lie, it may be seem like a small thing, a “little white lie”
- Then we do so again, and again, and again
- Before long we have built up a habit of being economical with the truth
- We have built a stronghold of dishonesty
- A stronghold is a way of thinking and feeling that has developed a life of its own
- This could apply to many things
- For example:
- Depression, unbelief, temper
- Repeating pattern of failure
- Provoking others to reject you (without knowing you are doing so)
- Resentment, worthlessness
- Abuse often leads us to build a stronghold of worthlessness filled with negative thoughts (I’m guilty, I’m worthless, Nobody could ever love me, I’m good for nothing, I’m ugly, Nobody would like me if they really got to know me, Nobody really cares for me, Nobody really wants me for who I am)
- The truth may be quite different, but we believe these lies
- As we accept these lies they can become a stronghold of rejection, stopping us from accepting God’s love for us
How can we capture and pull down these strongholds?
- 1. First of all we need to identify the stronghold
- Eph 5:11 “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them”
- Psalm 26:2 “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind”
- It takes courage to man up and take a good look in the mirror
- What are the areas of my life that have become strongholds?
- Sometimes the real stronghold is hidden and hard to see
- In prayer, ask God to show you your secret sins
- This takes humility, but we have to know our enemy before we can get him out of the way
- 2. Repent of your sin
- Be honest before God and repent
- We may need to overcome our instinct to automatically defend ourselves
- Excusing ourselves will never deal with the issue
- Confession and repentance is the only way to bring down these strongholds
- Ask for the sin to be covered by the blood of Jesus
- 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
- 3. Surround the stronghold with truth
- John 8:32 – “32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”
- In the introduction we talked about the stronghold at Latrun
- First, the Israelis tried a frontal attack, five times – that did not work
- The way that stronghold was dealt with ultimately was by building a road around it
- Sometimes we have to defeat our strongholds by surrounding them with truth
- Once you’ve identified a stronghold, go to the Bible, and study the opposite truth from God.
- Use a concordance or a chain reference bible or a topical bible.
- For example, if the stronghold is rejection, study all that the Bible says about God’s acceptance.
- Then surround that stronghold with the word of God! Read those verses, pray them, make them a part of you
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of depression, surround it with hope.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of rejection, surround it with acceptance from your Abba Father
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of unresolved anger, surround it with forgiveness.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of fear, surround it with the knowledge of God’s love.
- If you are struggling with a stronghold of failure, surround it with the victory of the resurrection!
Conclusion
- If we have strongholds in our life that we want to deal with, let’s pray together
- “Lord, please show me any areas of my life that I need to surrender to you. Please forgive me for compromising, and give me the courage to pull down these strongholds. Thank you Jesus for your forgiveness and for dying on the cross so that I could be set free. I commit to surrender every stronghold to you, and in Jesus’ name I reject any satanic influences that have held me captive. I purpose to take every negative way of thinking captive, and bring it into obedience to the truth, because the truth will set me free. In Jesus’ name, Amen."
Monday, October 13, 2008
Repent and be Baptized - Acts 2:38
Title: Repent and be baptized
Date: October 13, 2008
Text: Acts 2:38
Introduction
- Once there was a young minister who kept boring his congregation with sermon after sermon on baptism. Finally church officers instructed him to preach on the subject of pills the following Sunday. They could see no connection between pills and baptism.
- So on Sunday, the young minister announced that would be his topic for the day. "There are big pills and there are little pills," he said, "bitter pills and sweet pills, cheap pills and expensive pills. Another pill is the gospill-and that gets to my real subject-'baptism.'
Instruction to be baptized
- Mat 28:19-20
- Acts 2:38
Jewish baptism
- repentance first
- self-immersion
- there had to be a witness
- for both men and women after conversion to Judaism
- a ceremonial cleansing after defilement
- seen as new birth
- spring or flowing river the highest form of ritual bath or mikveh
Baptism by immersion
- Jesus was baptized by immersion
- The eunuch was baptized by immersion
- The word baptidzo means “to immerse or dip under water”
- The word baptize itself means “to dip under water”
Examples of baptism
- Mat 3:13-17 Jesus baptism
- Acts 8:26-39 Ethiopian eunuch
Symbolism of baptism
- Rom 6:3-4
- Just as Jesus died, was buried and was raised from the dead, we die to our old life, are buried in baptism and come up to live a new life
Being born again
- “The baptismal water (Mikveh) in rabbinic literature was referred to as the womb of the world, and as a convert came out of the water it was considered a new birth separating him from the pagan world. As the convert came out of these waters his status was changed and he was referred to as "a little child just born" or "a child of one day" (Yeb. 22a; 48b; 97b). We see the New Testament using similar Jewish terms as "born anew," "new creation," and "born from above."” - http://www.bebaptized.org/Jewishroots.htm
- John 3:1-7
Conclusion
- Will be baptizing shortly
- Let me know if you are ready to be baptized
Date: October 13, 2008
Text: Acts 2:38
Introduction
- Once there was a young minister who kept boring his congregation with sermon after sermon on baptism. Finally church officers instructed him to preach on the subject of pills the following Sunday. They could see no connection between pills and baptism.
- So on Sunday, the young minister announced that would be his topic for the day. "There are big pills and there are little pills," he said, "bitter pills and sweet pills, cheap pills and expensive pills. Another pill is the gospill-and that gets to my real subject-'baptism.'
Instruction to be baptized
- Mat 28:19-20
- Acts 2:38
Jewish baptism
- repentance first
- self-immersion
- there had to be a witness
- for both men and women after conversion to Judaism
- a ceremonial cleansing after defilement
- seen as new birth
- spring or flowing river the highest form of ritual bath or mikveh
Baptism by immersion
- Jesus was baptized by immersion
- The eunuch was baptized by immersion
- The word baptidzo means “to immerse or dip under water”
- The word baptize itself means “to dip under water”
Examples of baptism
- Mat 3:13-17 Jesus baptism
- Acts 8:26-39 Ethiopian eunuch
Symbolism of baptism
- Rom 6:3-4
- Just as Jesus died, was buried and was raised from the dead, we die to our old life, are buried in baptism and come up to live a new life
Being born again
- “The baptismal water (Mikveh) in rabbinic literature was referred to as the womb of the world, and as a convert came out of the water it was considered a new birth separating him from the pagan world. As the convert came out of these waters his status was changed and he was referred to as "a little child just born" or "a child of one day" (Yeb. 22a; 48b; 97b). We see the New Testament using similar Jewish terms as "born anew," "new creation," and "born from above."” - http://www.bebaptized.org/Jewishroots.htm
- John 3:1-7
Conclusion
- Will be baptizing shortly
- Let me know if you are ready to be baptized
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Salvation for Rahab - Josh 2:1-24
Title: Salvation for Rahab
Date: October 12, 2008
Text: Joshua 2:1-24
Background
- It was around 1400 BC, in the spring
- The Israelites had spent 40 years traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land
- They had physically left Egypt, but Egypt was still inside them
- The journey had taken longer than intended, because of personal choices the Israelites made
- But finally they reached their destination, the promised land
- It was now around 38 years after Joshua himself had been sent out as a spy
- Joshua, who had succeeded Moses, now sent out two spies to take a look at the land, especially Jericho
- Jericho was the first fortified city the Israelites would encounter while taking the land
- It had a double wall around the city, with a space of 15 feet between the two walls
- The inner wall was about 12 foot thick and the outer wall was around 6 foot thick and 25-30 feet high
- “In his book The Bible As History Werner Keller describes the archaeological expedition in 1930 led by Professor John Garstang Garstang noted every detail with utmost precision and graphically described the violence by which the ancient walls of Jericho fell. The diggings showed that there were two parallel walls; the inner wall was especially massive, being twelve feet thick. The outer wall or fortification was a six foot brick wall about twenty five to thirty feet high. Houses (like the house of Rahab the harlot) were built on top and connected the two walls.
- “Professor Garstang described clear traces of a tremendous fire and the space between the two walls was filled with rubble, blackened bricks, charred wood, and ashes. Along the walls the houses had been burned to the ground and their roofs crashed on top of them. The most remarkable of Garstang's discoveries, however, had to do with how the two walls had fallen. The stones of the outer wall had fallen outward and downhill, but the inner wall had fallen the opposite direction - inward. According to Garstang, these observations could lead to only one conclusion: that an earthquake must have shattered the city” - http://www.newtestamentchurch.org/opa/Articles/1998/06/walls%20of%20jericho.htm
Rahab’s identity
- Joshua 2:1-7
- The NIV says Rahab was a prostitute, and the marginal note says “possibly an innkeeper”
- The Hebrew word used here is “Zanah” which means “to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot”, so it seems that that is just who Rahab was, a prostitute
- Hospitality was an important part of the culture of the times, and it may be as a result of exercising this custom that Rahab invited the men in.
- There is no indication whatsoever, that anything immoral happened here
- We notice that the spies were observed going to Rahab’s house, and the king of Jericho wants them to be arrested
- Rahab lies about their being there
- There is no way to sugar coat this, she did lie, and the Bible makes no excuses for it
- A Christian is told not to lie – the Ten Commandments tell us “Thou shalt not bear false witness”, and Jesus tells us “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no”
Rahab’s salvation
- Joshua 2:8-14
- Rahab expresses her recognition that the God of the Israelites is greater than the gods of Jericho
- In Jericho they practiced child sacrifice – the Bible tells us that when Jericho was built, the king sacrificed his own son and laid him in the foundations for the gate at the entrance to the city
- As a result of her action in welcoming the spies, Rahab had shown a change in her allegiance
- She had now sided with the Israelites, and the God of Israel
- A change had happened
- She had seen the way in which God was dealing with the Israelites
- She saw that their God was alive and powerful, totally unlike the gods of the land
- She chose to submit to that God
- Josh 2:15-21
- There was something she had to do, however
- That was that she had to let down a scarlet cord, out of her window
- In a way this was like baptism, an outward and public expression of our faith in Jesus
- The scarlet cord represents the blood of Jesus, the means of her and our salvation
- She immediately hung this cord out the window
- She did not wait till the Israelite soldiers were outside the walls of Jericho
- She did it immediately, not being afraid of being suspected of treason
- This was an act of faith
Rahab’s faith
- as a result of Rahab’s faith in the God of Israel, she was listed in the list of Biblical heroes, in Hebrews 11
- Hebrews 11:31
- Her obedience and faith in God was accepted, and she became a part of the Israelite nation
- She personally received salvation as a result of accepting the God of Israel as her God
- As a result of her obedience, her parents and her family were also saved
- And she eventually married a leader in Israel
- Matthew 1:5 – she married Salmon, the father of Boaz, and became the great-great-grandmother of David the King of Israel, and thus became an ancestor of Jesus
- Jesus was not ashamed to have Rahab as an ancestor, despite her former way of life
- Because when we come to Jesus, the former things have passed away
- Rev 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”
- The old way of life we had before Jesus came into our life no longer has to have a hold over us
- We may have been drug dealers
- We may have have cheated and stolen and broken God’s law in every conceivable way
- We may have been violent and criminal, we may have beaten our wife or children
- We may have wrecked the lives of our loved ones and hurt them in so many ways
- But God says that he accepts us
- Just as Rahab was accepted by Jesus as his ancestor, we are accepted by him as his children
- Roman 8:15-16
- We are now clean and washed by the blood of the Lamb
- Revelation 7:14 – we have come out of the tribulation, the pain and heartache and troubles of our former life and now we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus
- How awesome
- If anyone would like to receive Jesus into their life right now, I will lead us all in a prayer
- This is not just a ritual, this is us offering our life up to God, just like Rahab did
Date: October 12, 2008
Text: Joshua 2:1-24
Background
- It was around 1400 BC, in the spring
- The Israelites had spent 40 years traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land
- They had physically left Egypt, but Egypt was still inside them
- The journey had taken longer than intended, because of personal choices the Israelites made
- But finally they reached their destination, the promised land
- It was now around 38 years after Joshua himself had been sent out as a spy
- Joshua, who had succeeded Moses, now sent out two spies to take a look at the land, especially Jericho
- Jericho was the first fortified city the Israelites would encounter while taking the land
- It had a double wall around the city, with a space of 15 feet between the two walls
- The inner wall was about 12 foot thick and the outer wall was around 6 foot thick and 25-30 feet high
- “In his book The Bible As History Werner Keller describes the archaeological expedition in 1930 led by Professor John Garstang Garstang noted every detail with utmost precision and graphically described the violence by which the ancient walls of Jericho fell. The diggings showed that there were two parallel walls; the inner wall was especially massive, being twelve feet thick. The outer wall or fortification was a six foot brick wall about twenty five to thirty feet high. Houses (like the house of Rahab the harlot) were built on top and connected the two walls.
- “Professor Garstang described clear traces of a tremendous fire and the space between the two walls was filled with rubble, blackened bricks, charred wood, and ashes. Along the walls the houses had been burned to the ground and their roofs crashed on top of them. The most remarkable of Garstang's discoveries, however, had to do with how the two walls had fallen. The stones of the outer wall had fallen outward and downhill, but the inner wall had fallen the opposite direction - inward. According to Garstang, these observations could lead to only one conclusion: that an earthquake must have shattered the city” - http://www.newtestamentchurch.org/opa/Articles/1998/06/walls%20of%20jericho.htm
Rahab’s identity
- Joshua 2:1-7
- The NIV says Rahab was a prostitute, and the marginal note says “possibly an innkeeper”
- The Hebrew word used here is “Zanah” which means “to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot”, so it seems that that is just who Rahab was, a prostitute
- Hospitality was an important part of the culture of the times, and it may be as a result of exercising this custom that Rahab invited the men in.
- There is no indication whatsoever, that anything immoral happened here
- We notice that the spies were observed going to Rahab’s house, and the king of Jericho wants them to be arrested
- Rahab lies about their being there
- There is no way to sugar coat this, she did lie, and the Bible makes no excuses for it
- A Christian is told not to lie – the Ten Commandments tell us “Thou shalt not bear false witness”, and Jesus tells us “Let your yes be yes, and your no be no”
Rahab’s salvation
- Joshua 2:8-14
- Rahab expresses her recognition that the God of the Israelites is greater than the gods of Jericho
- In Jericho they practiced child sacrifice – the Bible tells us that when Jericho was built, the king sacrificed his own son and laid him in the foundations for the gate at the entrance to the city
- As a result of her action in welcoming the spies, Rahab had shown a change in her allegiance
- She had now sided with the Israelites, and the God of Israel
- A change had happened
- She had seen the way in which God was dealing with the Israelites
- She saw that their God was alive and powerful, totally unlike the gods of the land
- She chose to submit to that God
- Josh 2:15-21
- There was something she had to do, however
- That was that she had to let down a scarlet cord, out of her window
- In a way this was like baptism, an outward and public expression of our faith in Jesus
- The scarlet cord represents the blood of Jesus, the means of her and our salvation
- She immediately hung this cord out the window
- She did not wait till the Israelite soldiers were outside the walls of Jericho
- She did it immediately, not being afraid of being suspected of treason
- This was an act of faith
Rahab’s faith
- as a result of Rahab’s faith in the God of Israel, she was listed in the list of Biblical heroes, in Hebrews 11
- Hebrews 11:31
- Her obedience and faith in God was accepted, and she became a part of the Israelite nation
- She personally received salvation as a result of accepting the God of Israel as her God
- As a result of her obedience, her parents and her family were also saved
- And she eventually married a leader in Israel
- Matthew 1:5 – she married Salmon, the father of Boaz, and became the great-great-grandmother of David the King of Israel, and thus became an ancestor of Jesus
- Jesus was not ashamed to have Rahab as an ancestor, despite her former way of life
- Because when we come to Jesus, the former things have passed away
- Rev 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”
- The old way of life we had before Jesus came into our life no longer has to have a hold over us
- We may have been drug dealers
- We may have have cheated and stolen and broken God’s law in every conceivable way
- We may have been violent and criminal, we may have beaten our wife or children
- We may have wrecked the lives of our loved ones and hurt them in so many ways
- But God says that he accepts us
- Just as Rahab was accepted by Jesus as his ancestor, we are accepted by him as his children
- Roman 8:15-16
- We are now clean and washed by the blood of the Lamb
- Revelation 7:14 – we have come out of the tribulation, the pain and heartache and troubles of our former life and now we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus
- How awesome
- If anyone would like to receive Jesus into their life right now, I will lead us all in a prayer
- This is not just a ritual, this is us offering our life up to God, just like Rahab did
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!
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!"
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
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
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Your King is Coming to you - Matthew 21:1-11
Title: Your King is Coming to You
Date: March 16, 2008
Text: Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11
Introduction
- today is one week before Easter, Palm Sunday
- on this day, 1,977 years ago, Jesus fulfilled a prophecy
- Zech 9:9-" Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."
- this was a prophecy of the King, the Messiah, coming on a donkey
- Mat 21:1-11
- he was a king, yet riding a lowly donkey
- he even told the disciples to ask for permission to use the donkey
- this symbolized Jesus coming in humility and meekness
- not as a conqueror, but as the Lamb ready to be slain
- later, when Messiah comes again, he will come as a conquering king
- but at this time, the King comes on a donkey
The people's perspective
- the people welcomed their Messiah
- they wanted to be rid of their Roman conquerors
- they were looking for someone to solve their problems and bring healing to their wounds
- they saw that Jesus had the power and the integrity to bring change into their situation
- but they were fickle
- just one week later they were crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him!"
- popular opinion changes from moment to moment
- most people are looking for a quick fix, an easy solution
- they would like someone to step in and bring instant healing in their lives
- they want a king but on their own terms
- they do not look forward to a lifetime of discipleship, learning to be obedient
- many of the Jews were not ready for life-change
- towards the end of Jesus' ministry, many forsook him
- the words he spoke were too radical
- he said to them, eat of my body, it is the bread of life
The leaders' perspective
- the leaders of the Jews did not want Jesus around
- they were not a part of the throhgs that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
- they were too busy trying to maintain their positions as rulers under the Romans
- they did not want an upstart prophet to upset their applecart
- they felt they had it all together
- they did not need someone to show them their sins and require them to change
- they instead wanted stability, they wanted to maintain the status quo
- they were happy enough that the Romans were there, it gave them power
- they could not handle an upstart Jew from Galilee
- one who dared to step in and rid the temple of money changers and businessmen
- 5 days later they crucified him
Jesus' perspective
- God knows what is in man's heart
- God knew how the people were thinking
- He knew that they were not yet ready for life-change
- that is why Jesus spoke in parables to them, they were not ready to change
- if they had fully understood what he was saying, they would be accountable
- so he veiled the meaning in stories, so they would later have the chance to turn around
- he knew what their hearts were like
- that is why Jesus came
- he came to be a sacrificial lamb, to pay for their sins
- he did this so that the way would be open for them to change their ways
- he wanted so badly to give people a fresh start
- the people are shouting Hosannah, which means "the one who comes to save or liberate"
- they are looking for a deliverer who will set their nation free
- but Jesus knows that true freedom starts within
- true freedom comes when past guilt is washed away, and people can start afresh
- in just five days, he would be paying the price to make that possible
What is our perspective?
- are we looking for a Savior who will take care of our physical needs?
- one who will heal us of our sicknesses?
- who will take care of our addictions?
- who will provide for our needs?
- who will get us a job, or send us the perfect wife or husband?
- while we continue to live our old ways
- while we refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us
- while we hang onto that bitterness about something that happened long ago
- or are we looking for a Savior who paid the price to forgive us of our sins?
- One who gives us a fresh start, so we can live life the way it was intended?
- One who sends us the Holy Spirit so that we can do battle against our old ways?
- One who gives us the power to be able to reach others with the good news?
- One who teaches us by his example to live for others and not for ourselves?
- what is our perspective?
Conclusion
- Jesus offers us a choice
- on the one hand, he offers us a fresh start, clean and pure
- on the other hand, we can hang onto our old ways, do the same things, and reap the same consequences
- choosing the one means we will be embarking on a journey of life-change
- choosing the other is easier, but will result in the misery that brought us here
- he says to us, "Choose life!"
Date: March 16, 2008
Text: Zechariah 9:9, Matthew 21:1-11
Introduction
- today is one week before Easter, Palm Sunday
- on this day, 1,977 years ago, Jesus fulfilled a prophecy
- Zech 9:9-" Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."
- this was a prophecy of the King, the Messiah, coming on a donkey
- Mat 21:1-11
- he was a king, yet riding a lowly donkey
- he even told the disciples to ask for permission to use the donkey
- this symbolized Jesus coming in humility and meekness
- not as a conqueror, but as the Lamb ready to be slain
- later, when Messiah comes again, he will come as a conquering king
- but at this time, the King comes on a donkey
The people's perspective
- the people welcomed their Messiah
- they wanted to be rid of their Roman conquerors
- they were looking for someone to solve their problems and bring healing to their wounds
- they saw that Jesus had the power and the integrity to bring change into their situation
- but they were fickle
- just one week later they were crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him!"
- popular opinion changes from moment to moment
- most people are looking for a quick fix, an easy solution
- they would like someone to step in and bring instant healing in their lives
- they want a king but on their own terms
- they do not look forward to a lifetime of discipleship, learning to be obedient
- many of the Jews were not ready for life-change
- towards the end of Jesus' ministry, many forsook him
- the words he spoke were too radical
- he said to them, eat of my body, it is the bread of life
The leaders' perspective
- the leaders of the Jews did not want Jesus around
- they were not a part of the throhgs that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem
- they were too busy trying to maintain their positions as rulers under the Romans
- they did not want an upstart prophet to upset their applecart
- they felt they had it all together
- they did not need someone to show them their sins and require them to change
- they instead wanted stability, they wanted to maintain the status quo
- they were happy enough that the Romans were there, it gave them power
- they could not handle an upstart Jew from Galilee
- one who dared to step in and rid the temple of money changers and businessmen
- 5 days later they crucified him
Jesus' perspective
- God knows what is in man's heart
- God knew how the people were thinking
- He knew that they were not yet ready for life-change
- that is why Jesus spoke in parables to them, they were not ready to change
- if they had fully understood what he was saying, they would be accountable
- so he veiled the meaning in stories, so they would later have the chance to turn around
- he knew what their hearts were like
- that is why Jesus came
- he came to be a sacrificial lamb, to pay for their sins
- he did this so that the way would be open for them to change their ways
- he wanted so badly to give people a fresh start
- the people are shouting Hosannah, which means "the one who comes to save or liberate"
- they are looking for a deliverer who will set their nation free
- but Jesus knows that true freedom starts within
- true freedom comes when past guilt is washed away, and people can start afresh
- in just five days, he would be paying the price to make that possible
What is our perspective?
- are we looking for a Savior who will take care of our physical needs?
- one who will heal us of our sicknesses?
- who will take care of our addictions?
- who will provide for our needs?
- who will get us a job, or send us the perfect wife or husband?
- while we continue to live our old ways
- while we refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us
- while we hang onto that bitterness about something that happened long ago
- or are we looking for a Savior who paid the price to forgive us of our sins?
- One who gives us a fresh start, so we can live life the way it was intended?
- One who sends us the Holy Spirit so that we can do battle against our old ways?
- One who gives us the power to be able to reach others with the good news?
- One who teaches us by his example to live for others and not for ourselves?
- what is our perspective?
Conclusion
- Jesus offers us a choice
- on the one hand, he offers us a fresh start, clean and pure
- on the other hand, we can hang onto our old ways, do the same things, and reap the same consequences
- choosing the one means we will be embarking on a journey of life-change
- choosing the other is easier, but will result in the misery that brought us here
- he says to us, "Choose life!"
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