Sermon April 28, 2013  Love One Another

Most of us can recall meeting someone important. You might have driven a long ways to just have an opportunity to be in a special concert of a famous person because they were playing close by.  I can remember driving to Macon Georgia one time because President Lyndon Johnson was coming to the city. About all I saw was him passing by in the presidential limousine. But I was there.  I was sitting in a restaurant in Macon one time and the guy with me said look! Its Tina Turner and she and her entourage sat in the booth behind us. I remember ushering for a David Wilkinson preaching event and had a chance to meet him afterwards.  But what about meeting personally with the Almighty God!! Creator of the Universe?

And you know He is here in our Congregation right now.

Take a moment and think about this…..God dwells among us.  Right here, right now.  God is with us.  Today’s scripture call us into the presence of the One who truly is worthy of our praise and adoration.

Acts 11:1-18

In This passage the Jews in Jerusalem want Peter to explain to them how he can baptize non-Jews or even associate with them.  Peter, making it clear that he is permeated by the Spirit…(Think about that for a minute)….Permeated with the Spirit of God….and goes on to explain that God wants us “to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us” (v. 12). 

As we live with “the other”  this is a very empowering text.  It also meshes with the psalm for this week, which similarly clarifies that all persons are created by God and called into communion with God.

Psalm 148-

Praise , praise , praise. God is worthy of our praise. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: Praise him, all ye stars of light.  Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.  Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created…….

Revelation 21:1-6

This week and next week’s reading in Revelation reveals that UNITY with God is indeed possible, that the redemption of the earth is not a foreign idea to the Christian narrative. God desires to dwell with God’s people (Rev. 22:3)  This is emphasized in todays other readings, from Jesus’ unity with the Father in John 13, to Peter’s emphasis in Acts 11 that all persons can experience such unity.  Even as the psalmist has described, all of creation has the capacity to praise the Lord.

John 13:31-35

Jesus gave disciples a farewell speech….I am with you only a little longer…..I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

The gospels and the Apostles Creed spell out very clearly: Jesus will die, be buried be resurrected, live on the earth a few weeks more, and then ascend to the right hand of God.  The Spirit will then descend to his body (the church), empowering humans to boldly wear the banner “body of Christ”.

As Jesus bids them adieu, he also equips them. His parting words are “Love one another”. Jesus tells them three times in the space of only two verses.

First, and most simply, Jesus says the disciples are to love one another just as he has loved them.

Second, the call for the disciples to love one another is evangelistic.  By actively loving one another, members of Christ’s body communicate to outsiders that they are followers of Jesus.  Jesus said: “this is how everyone will know.”

Third, remember Jesus’ bold proclamation in last week’s text, “ I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

If this is true, that God is one, one being and yet somehow three persons, and humanity is created in the image of the Triune God – then Christians are to embody this oneness in the world.

We are to be one with one another just as the persons of the Trinity mutually indwell one another.

Jesus prays later in John that the disciples may be one just as he and the Father are one (John 17:21).

“I and My Father are one”

The Jews confronted Jesus on another occasion, asking Him, “Howlong do You keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ [the prophesied Messiah],tell us plainly” (John 10:24). Jesus’ answer is quite revealing: “I

told you, and you do not believe” (verse 25).

 

He had indeed confirmed His divine identity on a previous occasion (John 5:17-18).

Jesus adds, “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness

of Me” (John 10:25). The works He did were miracles that only

God could do. They could not refute the miraculous works Jesus did.

 

He made another statement that incensed them: “I and My Father are

one” (verse 30). That is, the Father and Jesus were both divine. Again,

there was no mistaking the intent of what He said, because “then the

Jews took up stones again to stone Him” (verse 31).

 

Jesus countered, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews responded, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God” (verses 32-33).

The Jews understood perfectly well what Jesus meant. He was telling

them plainly of His divinity.

The Gospel of John records yet another instance in which Jesus infuriated

the Jews with His claims of divinity. It happened just after Jesus

had healed a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. The

Jews sought to kill Him because He did this on the Sabbath, a day on

which the law of God had stated no work was to be done (which they misinterpreted to include what Jesus was doing).

 

 

 

 

Jesus then made a statement that the Jews could take in only one

way: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

Their response to His words? “Therefore the Jews sought all the

more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath [according to

their interpretation of it], but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:16-18).Jesus was equating His works with God’s works and claiming God as His Father in a special way.

 

The first Gospel writer, Matthew, opens with the story of the virgin

birth of Jesus. Matthew comments on this miraculous event with the

quote from Isaiah 7:14, “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and

bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated,

‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Matthew is making it clear that

he understands that this child is God—“God with us.”

 

John is likewise explicit in the prologue to his Gospel. “In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14).

Some of them called Him God directly. When Thomas saw His

wounds, he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

 

Paul refers to Jesus in Titus 1:3 and 2:10 as “God our Savior.”

The book of Hebrews is most emphatic that Jesus is God. Hebrews

1:8, applying Psalm 45:6 to Jesus Christ, states: “But to the Son He says:

‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.’” Other parts of this book

explain that Jesus is higher than the angels (1:4-8, 13), superior to Moses

(3:1-6), and greater than the high priests (4:14-5:10). He is greater than

all these because He is God.

 

Satan is always trying to put doubt in our minds. Some wonder -Did Jesus Really Die

and Live Again?

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:32).

One of the greatest proofs that Jesus is exactly who He said

He was—the Son of God and the only One through whom

eternal life is offered—is His resurrection from the dead.

His followers were convinced that He was the Messiah

and the Son of God. His miracles, His sinless life and His teachings all

proved to them who He was. But His resurrection confirms every claim

Jesus made to all people for all time.

And today we read again Christ’s New Commandment

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you , that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another (JN 13:34.

Did Jesus replace the clear definitions of the Ten Commandments with a new religious principle, that love alone can guide our lives?  Does this new commandment supersede the Ten Commandments and replace all other biblical laws.?  Jesus clearly answered this fundamental question when He said,

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets (Matt. 5:17).  Yet many people who believe in Christ as their Savior also believe this new commandment frees them from any obligation to obey God’s laws.  They misunderstand What Jesus said and meant.  The Holy Scriptures, in the Old and New Testament, teach that we should love each other (Leviticus 19:18).  Jesus did not introduce love as a new principle.  That was already in the Bible and a fundamental part of God’s instruction to ancient Israel.

What, then, was new in Christ’s “new commandment”?  Notice His wording.  He said we are to “love one another, as I have loved you.”  What was new was His own example of love!  The whole world has a perfect model of the love of God in Christ’s perfect example of loving obedience.

Christ loved us so much that He sacrificed His own life for us.  He Himself explained: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).  Jesus came as the light of the world to illuminate the application and practice of the royal law of love.  We no longer have an excuse for saying we don’t understand what to do or how to do it.  Jesus demonstrated what loving obedience is all about.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His Love (John 15:10).

We comply with Jesus new commandment when we obey every commandment of God in a genuinely loving manner and are willing to lay down our lives for the sake of others.

Jesus did not only teach or expound His message. He was identical with His message….He did not just proclaim the truth, He said, “I am the truth.”  He did not just show a way, He said, “I am the way.”  He did not just open up vistas. He said, “ I am the door.”  I am the Good Shepherd.”  I am the Resurrection and the life.  I am that I AM..

Jesus did not offer bread to nourish the soul, He said , HE IS THE BREAD.

Jesus wasn’t just a teacher of superior ethic, He was The Way.  Jesus didn’t just promise eternal life, He said I Am the resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25)

What becomes clear is that only Jesus is the true Revelation of the true God.  There could be no escaping what people saw.  God revealed Himself in such a manner that there is no easy way out for any of us.  We have to face it squarely – that Jesus was who He said He was and Had been sent here by His Father.

There is no such thing as “many roads that lead to God.”  Jesus declared : “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  That is why Peter could courageously proclaim: “Neither  is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12),.

If there is any doubt in your mind today about your relationship with Jesus I encourage you to come and kneel at this old fashioned altar and make things right with God. Get it settled and have assurance in your mind that you are on your way to heaven. Start acting on the new commandment:  Love One Another.

Sermon April 21, 2013  My Sheep Hear My Voice

Acts 9: 36-43; Psalm 23;  Revelation 7:9-17; John 10: 22-30

God is our Shepherd. Even as the Lamb of God, Christ is our Shepherd (Rev. 7:17).

In the midst of our pain, Christ comes.  Whether the hand that lifts us from the darkest valley is that of a fellow traveler or that of a mysterious sense of God alongside, Christ’s hand is the hand that reaches to us.  Christ’s voice is the one that calls to us.  Christ’s comfort is the one that is offered to us.

When did you last hear the Voice of the Shepherd?

Acts 9:36-43

What a contrast of Peter in this text.  From the Peter that denied Jesus and went and hid in shame to a disciple full of the Holy Spirit and Power.  Now he is seen in this text  “raising the dead”.

Think of the word dead as a separation from life. Or being inactive.

We can learn from this lesson that even though we may see ourselves as dead and not doing anything for  the Lord if we listen to the Voice of God within we can rise from our deadness and become alive in Christ once again.

Psalm 23

The first line of this Psalm says it all…..The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He leads me,  He restores my soul….even though we walk through the darkest valley we don’t have anything to fear….He comforts us….the anointing of Oil (a sign of the Holy Spirit) causes our cup to overflow….and Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Revelation 7:9-17

This week the Psalm focuses upon God as shepherd, leading and gathering Israel not only out of Exile but into the house of the Lord.  Such an earthly gathering, however, is merely a foretaste of what is depicted here -----eternal worship of, and rest in, the one true God.  This is the end for which we were created.  “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any schorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

John 10:22-30

By the time we cross over into the 60’s some of us an usually Men have been accused of “selective hearing”.  Actually its an old question  (or joke) in many families.  And its so pervasive because all of us – not just aging men who are set in their ways ---hear what we want to hear.  Sometimes “Honey, could you take out the trash?” goes unnoticed, but then, as we see in today’s Gospel lesson, so do the words and actions of Jesus.

In John 10 Jesus is talking and has been teaching for quite some time, but no one seems to be listening.  The people say, “How long will you test our patience?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Jesus said,

I have told you,” but you don’t  believe.  You don’t even believe my works, for my works are done in my Father’s name.  If you cannot believe my words and if you cannot believe my works then you don’t belong to my sheep.  “My sheep hear my voice.”  I know them, and they follow me….The Father and I are one.  The first century Jews have been hearing what they wanted to hear.

Do we share this sort of selective hearing with those first century people?  The disciples were notorious for not listening at the pertinent times, even falling asleep in the garden of Gethsemane when they were supposed to be praying for Jesus and themselves on their last night with their friend and Lord.

What if we, too, “tune out” to the voice of the Lord when God says something that has little to do with our version of “success” and much to do with sacrifice, commitment to the least of these, or the call to perform a thankless task (like volunteering to be a nursery worker, or to help with the power-point each week, or to clean the church, or cut the grass)?  What happens when an uncomfortable truth emerges? Do we simply dismiss it?

What if we are not listening at all?  I might say I am waiting for God to speak to me about doing this or that, but what if God has been speaking all along, and I have too much noise and clutter around me to pay much attention?

For many of us, if God were to speak up, we might miss it because when we do get a bit of time away from the office or the children we bury ourselves in our cell phone or worry about our status at work or on the social scene.  Sometimes we worry about our status at church, too, concerned first and foremost about showing off our wit and knowledge.

Neither form of deafness is a good thing, and if the followers and opponents of Jesus had either of these diseases – true deafness or selective hearing ---then they were in real trouble in this scene.

Jesus answers here the New Testament’s most important question: “Are you the Christ?”  Christ means “the anointed one”.  It occurs in the Old Testament to describe prophets, priests, and even some kings.  When the definite article is used, however, it refers to the one who will liberate Israel forever.

Jesus’ answer, though he already answered clearly, is “I and the Father are one.”(v.30).  His answer is yes.

Did you hear that?  Are you sure?  Because even though “I and the Father are one” may seem like a clear answer, it has caused many to miss the real point of the passage.  Centuries have been spent arguing over the doctrine of the Trinity, (as shown in the dvds we watched during Lent)  some using the phrase “I and the Father are one” and some, in opposition, lifting up “the Father is greater than me” (John 14:28).

But, such a Christological argument is another example of cluttering up this passage with things that would prevent us from Hearing what Jesus is saying to us: “ I am the Messiah.”

I Am.  Jesus says “I Am” seven times in this Gospel:

"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35,48,51).

"I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).

"I am the door of the sheep"(John 10:7,9).

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11,14).

"I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25).

"I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

"I am the true vine" (John 15:1,5).

He has been trying to tell them in all the ways he can that He is the Messiah. BUT they do not hear.  Or they do not believe.  Or they do not want to believe that which they think just might be true.  Is such willful deafness a form of unbelief?

Most of us know how to follow Jesus.  We know the texts, the commandments, and the stories.  The trouble is not that we encounter a Jesus we can’t figure out or our inability to make sense of the Trinity.  Rather, the trouble for most of us is listening to a Jesus who calls us into radical faith.

We often talk and sing as though we want to hear the voice of the shepherd - - “Teach , Me your Ways, O Lord” ---but do we?  Just as many in the time of Jesus wanted to maintain the status quo, we are quite comfortable and we fear what change would mean for us.

In this, the fourth week of Easter, may we remember that we celebrate a resurrected Lord, and remember that if we truly believe in this resurrection,  if we truly believe that Jesus and the Father “are one,” then there is no tuning Him out.

For persons who have already placed their faith in something as odd as the resurrection, there is no call too radical.

So hear Him when he calls you to “take up your cross,”  when he calls you to “feed the sick,” when he says, “Visit my prisoners,”  when he says “do this in remembrance of me.”

He is Messiah, the anointed one.  In the words of the Lord as Jesus stood in the presence of Moses and Elijah at the transfiguration: “This is my Son, whom I dearly love.  Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7).

Prayer:Gracious God, we are distracted by many things.  We allow worries about what might be to shift our focus from what could be.  Help us attend to your will and create the future you most want us to have.  Teach us to live like we truly believe what we confess. Amen.

April 7 Sermon

April 7, 2013  Do You Doubt or Believe?

1:1  Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.

Acts 3:19  ¹⁹ Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Romans 10:9  ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

1:2

 Romans 8:37 ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

John 19:30 ³⁰ So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

John 8:36  ³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Galations 10-14  ¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”^{[a] 11} But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”^{[b] 12} Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”<sup>[c]

13</sup> Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”^[d]), ¹⁴ that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

 

1:3

 Deuteronomy 30:19  ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

John 19:30  “It is Finished”

I Peter 1: 18-19  ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

I Corinthians 1:18  ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 John 4:4  ⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Rev. 1:18  ¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Matthew 16:19  ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed^[a] in heaven.”

Rev. 12: 10-11  ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

 

1:4 
Not only is the devil not going to get us, but we are going to get him!!  We are not called to stay in the land we are in now – we are called to take the Promised Land.  We can take our streets back; we can take our schools back; we can take our judicial system back; we can take our government back…all through the blood of the Lamb.

There is power in the blood of the Lamb!  And it is available to  me and it is available to you!

We are free because of the blood of the blood of Jesus Christ!

Revelation 1:4-8 – To Him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us to be  a kingdom, priest serving his God and Father , to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

John 20: 19-31-

Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive sins of any, they are forgiven them: if you retain the sins of any, they are retained…..Here again Jesus is showing that the power has been given to us from the apostles on up until today.

But Thomas- Old Doubting Thomas said:  Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. Are you a doubting Thomas today.

A week later Jesus reappears and goes straight to Thomas….Put your fingers here and see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side….Do not Doubt but Believe!!!

Then Thomas said My Lord and My God!!!!

Today is the day of Salvation.  Are you a Doubter or a Believer?

Prayer:

Our Father help thou our unbelief!! Help us to see and to know and to understand what you are saying to us this morning. Show us that it is the by the Blood of Jesus that we are set free. Today we plead the blood over our families and loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our nation.  And when you see the blood the death angel of destruction will Passover us just as He did in Egypt over your people.  Speak to us right now in this sanctuary.  Deliver us. Set us free once again. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Easter March 31, 2013

Sermon Easter  March 31, 2013

John 1: 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “ I have Seen the Lord.”

Sometimes when we share the gospel, people don't want to hear it. I have had many situations like that when I got up to speak somewhere. I could see it on the faces looking back at me, as if they were saying, "What are you going to tell me?"

But then there are times when people are receptive and responsive and drink in every word.

That is what we find in Acts 10, when Cornelius and his friends and family had gathered to hear Peter speak to them. Peter gave them a classic gospel presentation. He reviewed the life of Jesus (verse 38). He spoke of His death and His resurrection (verses 39–41), telling everyone that He will return as Judge (verse 42). Then Peter offered salvation through Christ. And notice that Peter got the memo about it being for both Jews and non-Jews: "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins" (verse 43).

This single sermon of Peter's changed church history. And I find it interesting that it all started in a place called Joppa. Remember Jonah? He was connected to Joppa too. When God told him to take the gospel to the people of Nineveh, Jonah boarded a ship in Joppa that was sailing in the opposite direction.

So Joppa was the place Jonah went to get away from God, but it is also the place where Peter answered God's call to go to Caesarea and reach some Gentiles.

In contrast to Jonah, who didn't really want to go to his enemies, we have Peter, who was willing to go. If Peter had said, "Never, Lord!" that could have been the end of it. But he responded to God's call.

Where is God calling you to go today?

Many times, it is our fear of ridicule that gets in the way of bringing the message that God has brought to us. We live in a world that looks on experiences with God as events belonging to the mentally unstable, or tricks of the mind. We live in a world that often considers the supernatural to be superstition rather than true heartfelt experiences with God.

Today we celebrate the event that defines the very heart of the Christian faith. The resurrection of Jesus Christ IS the very heart of Christianity. Today we express the fact that Jesus Christ defeated death and gave us salvation from our sins.

You see without the central belief that Jesus Christ physically resurrected himself, then Christianity is a lie. Everything we come to church for, everything we live our lives as is a lie. This is the very point Paul made earlier  in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:12-19.

² But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19 NIV)

² But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.)

Moreover, without the resurrection of Jesus, all the sins and wrongdoings of our past are still there. We have not been forgiven and we will perish on Judgment Day. This is the consequences of there not having been a resurrection or in the denial of the actual Resurrection of Jesus.

The truth of the matter is there was a physical Resurrection of Jesus, and like Mary Magdalene, we are to announce it wherever we go. If we truly have faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we should not be afraid or fearful that we may make someone uncomfortable. Why should we be ashamed to tell someone that Christ loves them so much that he laid down his live and took it up again so that they might have life everlasting?

Those moments that put people ill at ease should be moments of dialogue and times to share ones own faith. Listening to each other’s spiritual walk or testimonies in faith is a good way to bridge the gaps. In other words sharing what Christ has done in our lives could and should become our central purpose in life.

The hope to be found in Jesus’ defeat of death makes it possible for all of us to have a new beginning each and everyday of our lives. As the hymn “To God be the Glory” states, even the foulest offender, he or she too can be made clean and anew in Christ.

His resurrection makes it possible for each one of us to say, “I have seen the Lord”. Not only to just say it, but truly mean it with heart felt conviction, because Jesus

Christ is alive today. Early Christian preacher and evangelist John Chrysostom in his famous Easter Sermon from around 400 AD said it this way about our celebration of the resurrection.
First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day! You that have kept the faith, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! (John Chrysostom’s Easter Sermon)
In other words, celebrate this day; make joyful noises of praise and worship. Shout from the rooftops and the street corners, “I Have SEEN THE LORD!!” He is Risen. Because of your faith in Christ Jesus, you will be rewarded far above your wildest dreams. There is a poem I found which I would like to share with you today.It was written by Darlene Anderson entitled, The Silent One.
I was there for His trial and His scourging,
when they accused Him of crimes He’d not done;
But I spoke not a word in His defense,
I was "The Silent One."
I was there as He struggled up Calvary,
as dark clouds covered the sun;
And when they nailed His torn flesh to the cross,
I was "The Silent One."
I was there when they cast lots for His garment,
As they jeered and heckled in fun;
And when the spear was thrust deep in His side,
I was "The Silent One."
I saw Him die for all mankind,
And when it was "finished" and done;
He raised Himself up as He promised,
yet-I was "The Silent One."
And now, everyday I encounter,
lost souls sent my way by God’s Son;
Still I act as though I don’t know Him,
I am "The Silent One."
Dear Lord, when at last I’m before you,
when my race on earth is run;
Will you speak up for me to the Father?
Or will YOU be "The Silent One?"

As you leave here today, I would like you to take up an ancient custom whose roots are from the middle east. As you prepare to gather around the table for your Easter dinner, set a place for a stranger, for you never know who might be in your midst.

You may find your self face to face with Jesus. It may be well into the meal before He reveals Himself to you by calling out to you. Just like He did to Mary Magdalene at the tomb so many centuries ago. Then you too can go to your friends and neighbors and say, “I have seen the Lord!” Amen;

Prayer: Father forgive us for our Silence. Forgive us for our fearfulness. Renew us today on this day of Resurrection. Give us courage to leave this place determined to share our faith and the joy that we know that Christ is alive. Amen

It Is Finished

Sermon March 24  Palm/ Passion Sunday   IT IS FINISHED

IT IS FINISHED! What is finished? The ultimate price was paid.  The perfect lamb was slaughtered.

Alcoholism is finished .  Drug addiction is finished.  Lust and prostitution and all forms of sexual abuse is finished. These are the big ones that we talk about all of the time. How about Guilt is finished. Sadness is finished. Hopelessness is finished. Unfaithfulness is finished. Rejection is finished. Backsliding is finished. Unforgiveness is finished.   When Christ hung his head and offered his spirit back to God he said It is Finished. The work he came to do was finished. Salvation was paid for on that day at Calvary.

Jesus didn’t come just to get us into heaven.  He came to break every curse that’s blocking the blessings that have been paid for by the blood of the Lamb. He came to give you  LIFE and that Life more abundantly. Before you can have that life, you must learn how to break the curse.

Many people don’t get it. They have sat in church for years and years and years and still don’t get it. Many will remain “old wineskins.” But, IF you DO get it, you have decided to be a new wineskin, then  God has hand picked you. God uses the most unlikely because they are sure to give Him all the praise and glory.

Moses was  murderer.  Jacob was a deceiver. David was a murderer and adulterer. Most of the disciples were unlikely characters. Paul was even a murderer and was selected to write over 2/3’rds of the New Testament. Folks there is hope for everyone sitting on the pews in this building. Regardless of what you have done in the past or what you are doing now if you want what God is offering all you have to do is Ask, Believe, and Receive.

Isaiah 50:4-9a

This text in Isaiah is one of the Suffering Servant Songs, which Christians often read as prefiguring Jesus Christ- particularly Jesus’ own suffering on the cross and his obedience to the will of his Father. (Remember Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”). It is no surprise, then that this text should show up in the lectionary during the Liturgy of the  Passion, the time when Christians meditate on Christ’s suffering for us and his willingness to be crucified for our sin.  In much traditional Christian interpretation, Jesus Christ is the Suffering Servant sent by God to bear the burden –indeed to die- for human sinfulness and disobedience to God.

The promise revealed to us in this passage of Isaiah: the world can be a dangerous and evil place, and suffering will come, BUT we can be assured it is not at the hand of God. Instead,  God is at work in our lives for good, for peace, for justice, and for love. Even though we cannot always see the fruit of God’s labor, our hope in the Lord will not be disappointed in the end.

Psalm 31

 BE Gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress……   A grieving Soul.  Like the musical traditions of the Blues and Country music, the Psalms are the songs of life.  They express the highest joys and the deepest sorrows of life, often within the same, single psalm.  The Psalms express the painful truths of the human condition, while simultaneously declaring the most profound hopes of the human spirit.  They declare the human spirit’s longing for the blessing of the divine presence to shield us against grief and terror.

The psalm cries out from the depths of a grieving soul.  Although few people are unaware of the stages or cyclical understandings of grief, too many are unaware of the devastating experience of grief.  Grief theories tend to focus on symptoms and overlook the distorting effects of grief upon the soul.  There tends to be a lack of understanding regarding the way grief has the power to redefine life as a bottomless pit.

Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus’ final days, death, and resurrection are acts of humble service that reveal his true vocation.  Likewise they are our true vocation.  As Paul confronts issues in the church in Philippi, he calls Christians to their vocation, that is, to have the Mind of Christ.  This is the mind of Christ – a commitment to serving others, with an unwillingness to seek personal gain.  These verses are not a morality lesson leading us to think that if we humble ourselves, then we become exalted.  Such was the expectation of Jesus….Jesus was simply living out his vocation.  Therefore, for a community of faith that had become preoccupied with its own discord, and for individuals who were more concerned with their own self-righteousness, the hymn sang of Christ’s true vocation as a reminder of who we are and how we are to live together. Remember who you are!

What part of your own mind-set would you have to let go of in order to have Christ’s mind? What would change if you let go of your own mind-set, instead of wishing for others to let go of theirs?

How do we as Christians learn to put our minds into a state of trust in God’s faithfulness?

Luke 23: 1-49

“Certainly this man was innocent”….(the Roman Centurion at the foot of the Cross).

The cross is still a stumbling block, both in its horror and in the fact that a crucified innocent man was made the center of our faith.  This form of execution was reserved for the worst offenders: revolutionaries against the state, violent criminals, and low class thieves.  Roman citizens could be crucified ONLY for high treason.  No more hideous fate could be imagined.

No wonder Paul called the cross “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (I Cor. 1:23). Justin Martyr, defender of the faith in the century after Paul, said, “ They say that our madness consists in the fact that we put a crucified man in the second place after the unchangeable and eternal God.”

The Roman statesman Pliny wrote about the “perverse and extravagant superstition” of Christians--- that a man honored as God would be nailed to a cross as a common enemy of the state.

Preaching the cross ponders how God is redeeming the world in the darkest and most shameful of places.

When Jesus asked who do YOU say that I AM?  Peter said, YOU are the Christ.  Jesus responded to Peter: “Blessed are you  (Blessed means now you are anointed from heaven.)  Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but MY Father, who is in heaven.”

In Hebrew there is no one smart enough to teach the revelations of God; no one smart enough to understand the revelations of God.  If you “get it,”  God has hand picked you to be an example of his Favor and blessings.

Jesus said ON THIS ROCK I will build my church. Not on the Rock of Peter (as some proclaim)…..but on the Rock of the revelation that Jesus is the Christ.  If your beliefs are built on sand, the storms will wash away the foundation.  But Jesus said, “On this Rock (of revelation) I will build MY Church. And the gates of Hell, even satan himself, will not be able to come against it.

Why do people backslide?  Most people backslide when the storms hit.  Religion won’t support you.  Just saying you believe in Jesus won’t do it.  But if you build your faith on the Rock of Revelation of Jesus the Christ, it will stand forever.

Building your faith on the rock that Christ is the burden removing ,   yoke destroying Messiah. Knowing that He will not only forgive every sin….Did you hear that?  He will forgive every sin and knowing that He died on the cross to remove the curses, for cursed is He who hangs on a tree.  He will forgive every sin, and break every curse that is on YOU, your family, your children, your grandchildren, your finances, your health or whatever mess you get your self into. 

The gates of hell will not be able to stand against you.  He does this everyday, but on Yom Kippur, it is the most anointed day of the year, and He will break every curse and release every blessing.  If you understand this, you can break the curses from every area of your life. If you don’t understand what I am talking about you need to go back and read the TORAH. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).

The TORAH is the beginning of the Bible. IF you want a new beginning I would suggest going back and reading this part again and again and again and Ask God for the Revelation.

The church does not understand everything that Jesus taught. BUT, Everything that Jesus taught came from what the Church calls The Old Testament.  Everything he teaches comes from the revelation of the shadow of things to come.

God says in this world is life and death. He says in this life there are blessings and curses.  God doesn’t leave us; WE LEAVE GOD and go into a world full of curses.

Jesus said, “ Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom.” Jesus doesn’t have the keys.  YOU have the Keys. On the Cross he shouted :  “IT IS FINISHED.”

At the close of the Gospel of Mark JESUS said:   YOU go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned (cursed). 

And these signs shall follow them that believe;  In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing; it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Church did you hear that? It is for YOU)

As Jesus declared and shouted.   IT IS FINISHED!!!!

This is the Day that the Lord has Made!!!!!

A Special Gift

 

Sermon March 17

Old Testament- Isaiah 43:16-21

Israel’s present languishing in exile is, in the poet’s imagination, sandwiched between the memory of the exodus from Egypt and the hope of a new exodus from Babylon.

The Lord says: “I am about to do a new thing: now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

God has done so many wonderful things in your life. Yet, when you are going through that dark trial or storm it can be hard to remember the good times because you are so surrounded by the darkness. Yet, you can read a word from scripture, or someone can say something that brings hope. That is the message we want to focus on this morning, Hope.

Psalm  126

Psalm 126 is a psalm of two moods.  It begins (vv.1-3) in happiness, with the people of Israel looking back at the good old days, when it seemed that their dreams had finally come true.  After years of loss and exile, God made a way for them to come back home – Home!  God restored them to a land they loved and had lost, to livelihoods and neighborhoods.  Restoring their city walls and structures was like restoring their very sense of community.  People pulled together then.  They remembered, and laughter and shouts of joy filled their mouths, filled the air, and floated like helium balloons carrying the message far and wide.:  “God has done great things for us!”  Surrounding nations, though they worshiped other gods, were drawn into Israel’s rejoicing and said in response: “The Lord has done great things for them” v.2.

Epistle- Philippians 3:4b-14

If Lent is, among other things, a time to reconsider – a time to set aside distractions in order to focus on our relationship with god and with Christ’s church a time to let the Holy spirit work on us in order to remold us into the image of God as individuals and as the body of Christ – then the passage from the letter to the church in Philippi brings the season to its peak.

This passage encourages us to make a life assessment, creating a ledger as to “losses” and “gains”.

While there are social, cultural, economic, political, familial values to be cultivated and refined, during lent we discover other values that outrank those we work so hard to attain.  During Lent we look again at what shapes our identity and gives us security and against which we are held accountable.  Such Lenten reconsiderations have brought us to this text on the Fifth Sunday of Lent and to the reality that we count as “loss” all that we have striven to achieve, because of the surpassing worth of Knowing Jesus Christ.

As Paul so wonderfully states it:  Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Gospel -)  John 12:1-8

Nothing will begin a conversation like an extravagant gift.The setting is: “Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany” “There they made him supper” Who?  Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.”

This was after Lazarus resurrection. The one whom Jesus wept for. The one whom Jesus raised from the dead (after 3 days in the tomb). Surely Lazarus was still trying to figure out how to live the rest of his resurrection life. 

Then there was Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. Wanting to absorb every word the Master said. Then she took the extravagant costly oil and anointed Jesus feet and wiped them with her hair. An extravagant act of devotion. The fragrance filled the room. Sort of like EsteLauder if you have ever smelled that perfume.

Tension enters when Judas objects…..His sanctimonious attitude is noticed. Because we know what he does later.

I know of a church where a family was burned out across the street from the church. They took an offering of $150 to give to the family. (But they are sitting on  over $50,000 of CDS just gathering dust.. )

Extravagance…..such as Mary’s love for Jesus. Think about it.  A life without such extravagance, a life dominated by caution, careful calculation, and cost-benefit audits, is terribly sad and constricted – actually the word that comes to mind is constipated.

How can we hang around Jesus for very long and not catch the spirit of reckless abandon?  Jesus called the Zebedee boys away from their boats, nets, and family –and they went!

Jesus counseled the ardent young man to sell all his possessions, revolutionize his life, and follow Jesus – but “prudent calculation” stopped him.

Jesus offered the honor of his company to the swindler Zacchaeus (instead of to any honorable folk), and Zacchaeus responded by promising to pay back fourfold whatever he had cheated anyone of (which was going to leave Zacchaeus with little).

Jesus was warned that Herod was gunning for him, but Jesus immediately dismissed the warning and stayed his course.

A fews days after accepting and Praising Mary’s lavish gesture of love, Jesus gave his disciples his last commandment – to love one another in the same manner that he had loved them, and indicated that the measure of that love is to lay down one’s life.

Over the top!  Always over the top!  How can we be under the influence of Jesus and not be extravagant.?

Prayer:

Father, as human beings we are up and sometimes we are down. When we are in the downward spiral it seems we always turn to you and when we are up we neglect to do that.  Help us to stay steady on the course that you have set for us. Forgive us for being wishy washy and open our hearts and minds to hear what you are telling us to do. In Christ name we pray.

March 10, 2013  The Prodigal Son

Joshua 5:9-12

God is always saving people, leading them into new places and new possibilities.  Our passage in Joshua details how the forty years of wilderness wandering for the Israelites are coming to an end.  Moses has led the people this far, but in this new place they have a new leader named Joshua. They have been wandering for forty years, having escaped the oppression of the Egyptians.

Folks its time to get out of the wilderness and move forward. It s a time for a New Beginning. Onward and upward. (It is time to get out of the pigpen)

Psalm 32

Happiness is high on most people’s list of priorities. Hunger for happiness drives much of our lives. The ambitions we pursue, the relationships in which we engage, the professions we enter, the hobbies we love; the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and even the way we observe Lent reflect individual beliefs about what brings fulfillment and happiness.

In Psalm 32, happiness comes from being forgiven.  It comes not from being important, accomplished, organized, optimistic, or busy. Instead, being happy is a matter of being righteous, and according to Psalm 32, righteousness is not a matter of being sinless. It is about the ego-bruising work of Lent: acknowledging sin, accepting forgiveness, vigilantly attending to God’s teachings, trusting God more than self, and then being happy in the ONE who steers us toward paths of utter fulfillment.

Think about it: Resurrection Sunday is just around the corner. What a grand and glorious time is upon us. Spring is near. Soon Winter will be over.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Peter never gets credit for his intelligence.  The Gospel writers go out of  their way to make him into an idiot. Perhaps that is what happens when you associate with Jesus. You are never the smart one.  As far as I am concerned , Peter delivered the definitive line about Paul’s letters when he wrote, “There are some things in them hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16).

Today we have an example from the Second Letter to the Corinthians on the Fourth Sunday in Lent: “ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, see, everything has become new! (5:17).

Not only is this statement hard to understand, it is hard to swallow once you do ----once you can handle Paul’s cosmology, once you comprehend how he thinks the world collapsed in Christ’s coming and a whole new one sprang up in its place.

“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.” It is a beautiful statement – almost impossible to preach.  The trouble hangs on the “anyone”. If anyone is in Christ; there is a new creation – a whole new creation.  Everything old has passed away; everything has become new – if anyone is in Christ.

For instance let us now look at the prodigal Son…..

 

Luke 15: 1-3 and 11b-32

II. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON. Luke 15 V11-24

A. Here was a man like us all. He desired the world and what it offered.

1. He thought it would bring pleasure and good.

2. So he took all he had and went after it.

3. For the man, woman boy or girl who seeks after the world...it cost you everything.

4. It was clearly a mistake, his father knew it, but he did not interfere. God gives a will and will not violate yours.

B. He paid a great price for his pleasure.

1. Cost him his home and family.

2. Cost him any of his true friends.

3. Cost him all his pride.

4. Cost him all his material possessions. (what a paradox that is)

5. Cost him his inheritance.

6. Cost him all his grand plans for his life.

Yes, it was very expensive. He thought he was doing right, he thought he was all right....but he was blind to the reality of what the course of life he had taken would bring.

C. His good times were short lived. Sure they were fun while they lasted....but the problem was they never last.

D. He still tried to help himself....went to the hog pen. That's where it always winds up. Eating with the hogs.

1. We think money solves problems...no it makes them worst. The money people are a proud lot, and most are self seeking. You need not but turn on the TV to see the life style the rich and famous live. Most die early, of AIDS and diseases brought on by a live or abuse of their bodies. That had a ball killing themselves. Url Brinner, died of lung cancer, but before he died he recorded and aired on TV an appeal to folks not to smoke.

2. He did all he could, yet he was still hungry!!

3. Have you ever been truly hungry? He was starving to death.

Spiritually, the world is starving for satisfaction, peace and for fulfillment. Yet, most take the road that leads to the garbage pile, and the hog pen. Most can not see that far...but God does and warns in his Word.

Yet, God seeks to tell men everywhere of His love and mercy. There is peace in knowing and being a child of God. That is the only place it is found.

III. PRODIGAL SON --- HE REMEMBERED HOME!

A. Sure he had failed. Sure he was ashamed.

1. But his failure..made reality clear.

2. He was no longer under the delusion that the world gave peace and satisfaction.

3. His mind was swept clear of the deception that Satan places there...

4. He realized how precious is home and abiding in his fathers house.

B. With his thinking now cleared...he arose from the hog pen...came home to his father.

VI. CONCLUSION.

1. What did his father do? Scold him? Rebuke Him?

2. No He with open arms rushed to him, hugging him and kissing him. How happy was the father!!!

3. The son confessed...Father he said, I've sinned against heaven and you. I'm not worthy to be called a son.

4. What was the father's second reaction? Bring the best robe, put it on him, put on his finger a ring and sandals on his feet, kill the fatted calf and let us rejoice and be happy.

"for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found"

Are you tired of wandering?  Are you tired of being in the pig pen? It is time today for a new beginning. It is time for us to go back to the Father that has been waiting all this time with open arms ready to receive us back.