“LIVING BIBLE STUDY” 4/8/12

Luke 24:13-35

The near global consensus on the physical Resurrection of Jesus is that it did not happen. Could it be better?

This passage proves that it can. Everyone here can be like Cleopas, Peter, Mary, and the gang. Why? Take a look!

What Jesus did here for Cleopas, and for us all, is take His life, His death, His rising, out of church, out of religion, and put it on the road we daily travel. The two disciples told Jesus about recent events. He told them the Word of God, connecting God’s Word to their experienced lives.

When we connect our lives to the Word; we know Jesus is alive.

What exactly was that Bible study about? All we know was it lasted about an afternoon. What was said? All we know is that the disciples were impressed by the lesson, but still hadn’t acknowledged God.

When we connect our lives to the Word, who then feeds our souls and inspires our actions, we know Jesus is alive.

I’m not suggesting here that all of us become expert Bible scholars, for that would miss the point. I am saying learning from the Expert, Jesus Himself, makes all the difference in how we believe, and how we behave.

If He is risen, and He is, then He is part of each and every day. Noticing Him would lead to following Him. In following, we would seek His direction, which is in the Word. Let’s travel our same routine God’s way!

“THE PALMS” 4/1/12

Isaiah 49:14-18

The near global consensus on the physical Resurrection of Jesus is that it did not happen. Could it be better?

This passage proves that it can. Everyone here can be like Cleopas, Peter, Mary, and the gang. Why? Take a look!

What Jesus did here for Cleopas, and for us all, is take His life, His death, His rising, out of church, out of religion, and put it on the road we daily travel. The two disciples told Jesus about recent events. He told them the Word of God, connecting God’s Word to their experienced lives.

When we connect our lives to the Word; we know Jesus is alive.

What exactly was that Bible study about? All we know was it lasted about an afternoon. What was said? All we know is that the disciples were impressed by the lesson, but still hadn’t acknowledged God.

When we connect our lives to the Word, who then feeds our souls and inspires our actions, we know Jesus is alive.

I’m not suggesting here that all of us become expert Bible scholars, for that would miss the point. I am saying learning from the Expert, Jesus Himself, makes all the difference in how we believe, and how we behave.

If He is risen, and He is, then He is part of each and every day. Noticing Him would lead to following Him. In following, we would seek His direction, which is in the Word. Let’s travel our same routine God’s way!

 

“MAKING SURE WE’RE READY” 3/25/12

Mark 14:32-41

Why would we want to make disciples?  Why would we want a congregation that makes disciples?  This sermon is for the rest of us:  those who neither procrastinate too much, and aren’t really looking for rewards.

We would do it because of the prayer Jesus makes here, a prayer that, simply put, is the only way we get closer to God, the only way others will see Christ in us.  “Not my will, but  Yours (Father) be done.”

Every reason and excuse we give for not making disciples boils down to the fact that we want what we want.  When God is head of a life, look at what happens here:  Jesus is brought to the depths, and raised to the heights of living.  What else does that?

His suffering is given purpose and power to change the world for the better.  What else does that?

Christ’s willingness to do it God’s way makes Him far more glorious and remembered.  What else does that?

Jesus’ command to His disciples, to Christians, is simple, “Follow Me.”  How do we follow Him?  By praying and living this prayer.  “Not my will, but Yours (God) be done.”

What makes us upset?  When things don’t go our way.  The prayer solves that?  What makes us timid, or protective?  Insecurity about what’s next.  The prayer solves that!  What keeps us from deep joy and really mattering to the world?  The way we focus on ourselves, and so lose perspective.  The prayer solves that!

“WE CAN LIVE THIS!” 3/25/12

Psalm 23

Here is a song we can live by, and here’s why!

God acts on us.  God acts in our world for us.

The Lord is:  His reality reaches into ours and guides it!

I am not in want:  That guidance leads us to good!

God makes us lie down:  His purpose is not thwarted by us!

God leads:  Always out front, always looking toward us.

God restores:  When our holiness is tattered; Christ can sew!

We walk paths:  Our life is to show others the Lord’s care and provision (for His Name’s sake, not ours…)

I need not fear:  We can live boldly and bravely!

The staff of comfort:  The cross proves we are cared for, and shows what has happened to all our cares!

Table prepared:  The meal of heaven makes for peace on earth!

Anointed:  We are set apart, holy, and sent to the world!

Goodness and mercy follow:  Putting God in the lead of our lives leads to His goodness and mercy seen in our days, shown by our ways, powerful as we do as Christ says!

 

“GOD’S WAGER” 3/18/12

Job 1:8-12

God really seems cruel here, especially as we read on.  Job loses all he has, save his life, and his wife, and his hut.  The rest is stolen, killed, or plagued.  All to see if Job’s faith would outlast a living hell?!

Two part response.  Part one is in the book itself.  Job really is two stories.  One is that of Job who maintains his faith, and, in the end, gets a new life, but no answers.

The other is the longer part of Job, where he and his friends argue.  They quarrel over why Job is suffering.  The stories come together, and really aren’t all that satisfactory, save that as one trusts God, things work out – eventually.

This all still leaves me with that wager with Satan…  Why do it?  As of now, here’s what I think.  This story of Job is, in extreme form, the story of everyone who says, “I believe in the Lord.”  We say we are on the Lord’s side, then often get blindsided.

Will our faith stand up to the assault?

We say we will keep faith, but then something comes along that shakes us to the core.  Will our core be Christ, or the circumstance?

Every time someone comes to faith in Jesus, our God makes a declaration to the world.  God says, “I know My life in this person is greater than whatever you may throw that one’s way.”  And so, Job and we live a life where only faith helps.

 

 

“COMING TO US” 3/18/12

Mark 13:24-31

Why would we make Jesus our Lord, let Him transform our lives, have someone help our transformation, reach out to teach faith to someone else, deepen our own faith, and tell others about Whom we believe?

The answer is simple enough.  Jesus is coming to us.

Notice here in Mark Jesus says, “This generation will not pass away until all these things (the elect are gathered) happen.”  Not our generation, the one He was talking to then!  And so it was.  They all died, and Jesus collected back to Himself what He gave the world through them.

He gave them a faith to look beyond pleasures and wants. He gave them a love that could face natural and man-made disaster. He let them see lives gathered into His loving arms.   They were among those so held.

We are mortal, given only so much time.  “Tomorrow” is not assured.  All we have is now, and the God whose Name is “I AM”.

We could well find ourselves caught up in love with the Lord, so much so that those things I said earlier are desirable, no matter how difficult they may seem.  Christ is coming.  He wants us, and wants to be proud of us.  Can you, can I, honestly say, at this moment, we have done as we were asked to do by our Savior?

“YOUR GOLIATH” 3/11/12

1 Samuel 17: 44-45

Last Sunday I said, basically, that to have Christ raise us all up, we must lay all of our life down before Him.  Truth is, that is VERY hard to do!

One reason is because of those in the world who defy God.  Here it is Goliath, defying God and the army of Israel.  In our life it is, most likely, some idol that stands right in front of our hearts and claims our attention.

Like David, however, we can knock it down!  Do we need skill and talent?  Not as much as we need the key to victory, which is:  a desire to live and act “in the Name of the Lord Almighty…”  When God is sought by a sincere heart, then a path is cleared.

In this case, it took a rock thrown at a giant.  Well, don’t we have a rock?  1 Corin. 10:4 tells me that the rock, the solid rock we have is Christ.  Throw the Lord before the problem!  Toss Jesus at that hurt!  Hurl Christ into the fight!  What will happen?  If our intent is to know Christ and make Him known to others, then He will win, and we will join in His victory!

David had skill, so did Goliath.  The battle went to the one who went to the Holy One.  You can beat your Goliath, only if Jesus is your goal, not Goliath’s beating.

“WHERE IS YOUR MACEDONIA?” 3/11/12

Acts 16:6-10

A congregation is not just for us.  A congregation is also for the people God sends us to.  Some reminders at this point:

• We are commanded by Jesus (Matt. 28:1 8-20) to reach out to others with the gospel; no one is exempt.
• The church of Jesus Christ lives and thrives only by evangelism; everything else is just hospice care.
• We were saved to be ambassadors for Christ; God Himself making His appeal to the world through us.  (2 Corin. 5:20)

Christians, though, have the same problem we read about in Acts.  Churches and people decide ahead of time who they want to talk with, who they wish to go to.  How’d that go?

The Holy Spirit prevents them.  How many good ideas, how many sincere attempts at conversation with others, have gone wrong?  Well, here’s the reason.  God evangelizes, through us!  We seek Him; He sends us.

God’s plan of salvation all along was to put heaven’s heart in human flesh.

We are recipients of that heart.  We are to put before our world that heaven.  So, each Christian here might want to pray carefully about two things:

• To whom is my Lord sending me to tell them about Jesus?
• Who is our congregation to focus on for Christ?

“WHERE IS YOUR ANTIOCH?” 3/4/12

Acts 11: 19-26

This might sound weird but a way to phrase the question, “Where is your Antioch?” goes like this, “Where is your congregation in church?”

Where is it, better yet, with whom is it, that you find yourself growing in faith, becoming better at faithfulness, and living more boldly that faith so alive in you?  A lot of little congregations stay little because they have no place where faith is nurtured.  They have no people who step up and care enough about souls to nurture and build up the souls right around them.  So, the people are left with Sunday morning as soul exercise, and chores and good deeds for faith growth.  And, it doesn’t happen!

Antioch was a happening place!  Both Jews and Gentiles heard the gospel together.  That is like Christians and Muslim hearing the gospel in one place nowadays—radical and seemingly impossible!  This Christ-inspired openness to souls made that church grow in number and in God-given power.  So much so, that people around that segment of the Roman Empire began to talk about the church there!  It became a school for learning the faith, working out the living of it, and so Barnabas (there HE is again) brings Paul there to learn.

There is not one congregation anywhere that cannot be like Antioch.  Except if people choose not to be that way.  There is no reason we here cannot have a mini-Antioch and do Christ driven things and shape lives forever!  Except if we think we can’t.

We can, because Christ wants us to.  We shall because our Father wants us to grow up good and strong.  We must because the Holy Spirit tugs and prods us beyond who and how we’ve been to go and become all Christ sees us as being.

Right?

“LAYING DOWN” 3/4/12

Ruth 3:14-15

Ruth’s story is amazing.  She is a Moabite, of a race of people that Jews historically hate.  She married a Jewish man, who died.  Rather than go back to her people, she chose to stay with her Jewish mother-in-law, who treated her for quite a while like she was garbage.  The two went to Israel, meaning Ruth gave up her heritage and faith for a new people and new identity.

At last, the mother-in-law, Naomi, helps Ruth get a husband.  She tells her daughter-in-law to go to a man who befriended her in days past, Boaz.  Go to him at the threshing floor, our modern version would be the strip club, and offer yourself to him.  And she does!

When Jesus calls us to faith, our story literally models Ruth’s.  We join a new group of people who do not believe as those we grew up with, and with whom we have lived for so long.  We are set apart from them, if necessary, sent away from them, so that we might draw the closer to this new life God makes for us.  Then, we are to offer ourselves, body and soul, to the only one who can give us a new life.  In Ruth’s case, that was Boaz.  In ours, that is Jesus.

Boaz shows his godliness by not taking advantage of Ruth, but arranging for their marriage.  Then, they make babies.  The risk she took was incalculable, but she believed the life of God’s people was worth joining.

How about us?  Are we willing to lay down all we are, all we’ve got, so that Jesus can “do as He likes” with us?  Most often, I say, “No.”

And that answer explains a lot, doesn’t it?  It tells us why thousands of congregations and millions of Christians struggle and ultimately prove worthless to the world.  And, here’s the good news.  Ruth proves that by laying down all, we gain far more than everything.

CHURCH BULLETIN: February 26, 2012

CHURCH BULLETIN:

February 26, 2012

ANNOUNCEMENTS

STAND AND SING

Oh, when the saints go marching in (2x) O Lord, I want to be in that number, When the saints go marching in!

And when the revelation comes (2x) O Lord, I want to be in that number, When the revelation comes.

And when they crown Him King of kings (2x) O Lord, I want to be in that number, When they crown Him King of kings.  Yes, when the saints go marching in!

CONFESSION

STAND AND SING

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!  As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be – World without end!  Amen (2x)1

HEAR GOD’S WORD

When Deliah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.”  So the  rulers of the  Philistines returned with the silver in their hands.  Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the 7 braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him.  And his strength left him.  Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”  He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.”  But he did not know that the Lord had left him.  Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza.  Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.  Be the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.  Congregation replies, “Thanks be to God.”

STAND AND SING

Take the world, but give me Jesus; All its joys are but a name; but His love abideth ever, Through eternal years the same.

O the height and depth of mercy!  O the length and breadth of love!  O the fullness of redemption; Pledge of endless life above!

Take the world, but give me Jesus, Sweetest comfort of my soul; With my Savior watching o’er me, I can sing though billows roll.  Chorus

Take the world, but give me Jesus; Let me view His constant smile; Then throughout my pilgrim journey Light will cheer me all the while.  Chorus

Take the world, but give me Jesus, In His cross my trust shall be; Till, with clearer, brighter vision, Face to face my Lord I see.  Chorus

YOUTH TIME/HOMILY

TIME OF PRAYER

Here we say, “debts” and “debtors”

OFFERING AS GOD INSPIRES

STAND AND SING

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!  Praise Him, all creatures here below!  Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!  Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!  Amen!

STAND FOR THE PRAYER OF DEDICATION

STAND AND SING

I will sing of my Redeemer And His wondrous love to me; On the cruel cross He suffered From the curse to set me free.

Sing, O sing of my Redeemer, With His blood He purchased me; On the cross He sealed my pardon – Paid the debt and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story, How, my lost estate to save, In His boundless love and mercy, He the ransom freely gave.  Chorus

I will praise my dear Redeemer, His triumphant power I’ll tell, How the victory He giveth Over sin and death and hell.  Chorus

I will sing of my Redeemer And His heavenly love to me; He from death to life hath brought me, Son of God, with Him to be.  Chorus

BENEDICTION

OUR MISSION STATEMENT:  “Christ’s strength in us, given towards community care.”

PRAY FOR:  Tionesta & Endeavor/Peter Veltmann:  a sort of yoke,  Jim McCormack:  retired

SESSION REPORT

The elders approved:  the teaching elder (pastor), treasurer, and clerk’s reports, the membership of Wally Ehrhart and Joan Fink, an application to the Synod of the Trinity for a small church development grant, a one year trial of planning any repairs, ministry or mission thoroughly ahead of time, the Scouts removing the refrigerator and keeping proceeds from its removal, not having a business in our facilities, alterations to our rental sheet, to whit (a certified food handler, and renters take their own garbage), D. Willert, B. Rejzer, L. Knauff, and M. Ehrhart serve communion March 4, and Lynda Knauff as Clerk of session for one year.

The elders discussed: our Schwab accounts.  We received our 1st $500 quarterly payment, and the funds, so far, are making money!  Adjusting the sound system so people can hear, things we learned from readying the facilities for $1 Dinners.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

* Collections:  Food Pantry, Grace Mission (mission teams), Building Fund, Organ Fund, “Feed the Bear”.

* Choir practices Wed. from 7-8pm.  Palm Sunday/Easter choir practice: Feb. 29, Mar. 7,14,21, from 7-8pm.

* Any ideas as to what goes into our next time capsule, to be opened 2037?

MONDAY:         7pm – Line Dancing, Troop 178
TUESDAY:         1pm – Silver Sneakers, 8pm – A.A.
WEDNESDAY:  7pm – Choir
THURSDAY:   1pm – Silver Sneakers, 5-7pm – $1 Dinner, 7pm – Community Prayer
SUNDAY:        10am – Adult Sunday School

BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES

07- Mel Knauff    09- Tiffany Bramlett, Kevin Shaffer
10- Kayanna Ottaway    11- Pat Foltz    12- Arthur Seath    14- Laneya Mosher
15- Hannah Dodd    17- Bronte Seath    18- Dorothy Glenn    21- Bob & Teresa King
23- Richie Davis    25- Bob King, Eriana Davis    26- Durward Burress
29- Melissa Shaffer    31- Teresa King

“WHO IS YOUR TIMOTHY?” 2/26/12

2 Timothy 1:13-14

Paul, as important as he is to the early church, would have gone unknown throughout time without one thing.  A person who would “come after him.”

That person was Timothy.  Unless he and others like him proclaimed the faith, kept the letters in circulation, held up by their lives the life Paul declared was possible through Jesus Christ, unless all that happened, Paul would be forgotten.  Short hand version of this thought:  who takes your place in the congregation?  Who are you helping to step into the tasks now done by you?

“Follow the pattern” Paul urges Timothy.  Do as you were shown.  That means, Paul made it a point to show someone how to do what he does!

“Of sound words which you heard from me.”  Paul is not just passing along “the way he does it,” but also the way Christ shows him!  Too often, we do as we’ve always done because we aren’t following Jesus and the Spirit’s lead.

“Guard the truth entrusted to you.”  Better read like this, “Live out and give out the faith that I showed you, so that others are inspired to come to Jesus as well.”  We’ve made faith a private matter.  Never was intended to be!  There is no such thing as a private Savior.  He saved the world, and saves anyone in it.  Who are you talking to, who are you discipling towards, that Savior?

Semi-old cliché about the congregation goes, “there are no grand-children in church.”  Meaning, everyone must come to faith, and everyone must pass that faith on to someone else. No one gets to heaven on someone else’s belief.

So, who has God brought into your life to help steer into the life of Christ?  Who in the congregation are you paying special attention to, bringing her or him into the work and example you set here?

Who is your Timothy?

“LUST TROUBLE” 2/26/12

Judges 16:18-22

Samson is the Bible’s version of Hercules, with one glaring exception:  Samson is no hero.  He could have been!  The gifts God gave him made him unique for his day, and mighty enough to do great things.  He chose to give himself to desire, rather than the work of the Lord.

Know anyone like that?  Samson’s trouble was with sexual desire.  But, desire, or as it used to be called ‘lust,’ is only partly that.  Love of money is a lust.  Love of family to the excluding of the Spirit’s guidance is a form of problematic desire.  Addictions of various kinds are all lusts.  And, let’s face it, everyone has them.  At least one.

Notice here, however, the mercy and grace of God.  Samson lets himself get captured, tortured and ruined by his lust.  But, God lets his hair grow back.  Now, the source of his strength was symbolized by his hair.  The true physical might he had come from devotion to the Lord.  While in jail, while unable to do anything but turn to God, there and then the devotion returned, and so did the hair.

What does that tell you?  It tells me that, as Scripture says, “the gifts and call of God are irrevocable.”  He never gives up, for to do so would mean He was unable to accomplish His purposes.  Despite Samson’s efforts at making girls his god, God ended up being God.

Rough way to get there, I’ll admit.  Isn’t it sad that it takes that kind of disaster for some people to actually live by and for the God they say they believe in?

Isn’t it awesome that God retains and replenishes the gifts, the life, the power, one needs to live by and for Him, no matter what one may have done in the past?  Can we stop putting ourselves down for what might have been, and start lifting God up in our lives because of what He is bringing about to be?

 

“WHO IS YOUR BARNABUS?” 2/19/12

Acts 9:26-31

First question, “Who is your Lord?”  If it is Jesus, then the next question follows, “Who are you?”  Turns out, we are Christ lovers and God followers.  Are we always?  No, so the next question, “Who is your Barnabus?”

Who is Barnabus?  His real name is Joseph, from the tribe of Levi, born in Cypress.  A Greek Jew.  The church called him Barnabus, which means “son of encouragement.”  Here’s why.  We first meet him giving generously to help others.  Soon, we find him preaching grace and good news to people.  In our text, he brings Saul to the church.

Yes, that Christ-hating, church-persecuting son of a Pharisee.  Barnabus saw the work Jesus had done in Saul, and so stood with him, and defended his new life to others.  Later, we find Paul and Barnabus as a working missionary team.  The two part ways over a new believer, Mark, who fled from persecution while on this mission work.  Barnabus wanted Mark to have a 2nd chance.  Paul did not.

So, Christian, who gives you a 2nd chance?  Who has God selected for you to be a shepherd to your faith and to encourage you to be more like your Lord?

At this point, most people I know would say, “no one.”  So what happens then?  Without a Barnabus, we all too easily fall off the “narrow road.”  We wander into behaviors and beliefs that do more harm than good.  Folks who need our faith can’t find it.

Christian, we need one another.  Jesus made the church to be a new people who support and help one another.  How mighty we would be with supporters and helpers for our faith!  How mighty would others be, if we were a Barnabus to them!

“LOOK AGAIN HERE” 2/19/12

Joshua 6:15-17

Anyone here believe the U.S. military should adopt this battle plan?  How in the world would marching around a small town for a week, then march around it a lot one day, then yell, ever knock down homes?

If you believe God actually knew that this weird idea would work, and that what God said proved true, then there is a take-home question for all of us.  Why won’t we do things God asks of us, even as weird to us as they might seem?

Well, did it actually happen?  There is no sound archaeological evidence that Jericho was an enclosed town that was set ablaze during the time of Joshua.  Of course, it is also true that there is a lot of erosion at the site, which washed out centuries of artifacts and proof of settlement.  So here, and for many things, the question for us becomes – are we going to believe God, or our own eyes?

If we are to believe God, then how is it that we so often rely on our experience and observation to make judgments and action plans?

Last question, and it is a tough one.  God commands that all in Jericho be killed.  Doesn’t that sound like Allah?  Isn’t our God different?

I deal with this as follows.  Unlike other “gods,” our God limits killing.  Of all the cities mentioned, only Jericho is wiped out.  The rest of the killings are, as the Hebrew implies, “the leaders and the warriors.”  Why single out Jericho?  It lies at the crossroads of the Promised Land.  Unless it is secure, nothing will be.

Now, that still makes all the bloodshed a problem, but there is a lot of blood spilled in Revelation as well!  Sometimes, we must deal with God as He is, not as our sentiments wish He was.  Not the best answer, I admit, but one from which I start, and allow the Lord to work.

“WHO ARE YOU?” 2/12/12

John 3:2-8

We think we know who we are.  As a Christian though, one always roams and lives in undiscovered country.  Believers are vastly more than they can ask or even imagine!

Jesus says with a smile that we are born again.  That “do over” we wish life would give us has been given!  The desire to be clean and OK with oneself and the world is here- by the power of God!  Renewed vigor, increased strength, new found optimism- all of these and more are here- since we’ve been born again.

We have entered (ALREADY, HERE AND NOW) the Kingdom of God.  That means we live by standards no culture accepts, no nation upholds, no other “savior” provides.  It also means that the reality of God at work daily breaks into and through our lives, shaping and reshaping things in ways our best efforts and “normal life” cannot.

We are born of water and Spirit (birth fluid + baptism + the Spirit cleansing us for holiness).  That means we are a work in progress, not a work in decay.  We are growing into something more and better than we’ve ever been.  The Spirit within pulls us towards Christ and on out into God ‘s work and ways.  Our destiny is not the grave, but His glory!

In us a clear distinction settles into our way of being.  There is a fleshly part of us.  That part is full of desire and reaction and past behaviors.  There is a Christ-centered part of us.  This part is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  We get to respond to God, rather than react to the world!

Think about that for a moment and be amazed.  The desires of the Divine heart come out of us.  Who are we?  If we are anything less than all this, then we are much less than we can be!

“LAW AND GOSPEL” 2/12/12

Exodus 20:1-17

The Ten Commandments – the laws of God, the rules to live by.  Do those rules fit how you regard these words?  There is more here!

The Commandments, in Hebrew, are not commands at all.  Hebrew has a word for “command;” it is not here.  The word here is “word.”  These are the Ten Words of God.  Just as in Genesis, God spoke and the world became, so here.  God speaks and people become radically different from their neighbors and friends.

Here is a creative word; here is a saving word.  Jesus Christ either fulfills these words for us, or fulfills us so that we can do them.  How so?

Well, the first 4 have to do with loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.  We don’t do that well.  Jesus, being God Himself, supplies that passion to us, so that we are moved to get better and better and what our souls most long for – loving God.

The second 6 deal with loving neighbors as ourselves.  Here we find that as our hearts are changed by the Lord, so too are our behaviors towards others.  Yes, we might want to lie, but we know who is the father of lies, and so won’t go there.  Yes, we might want to steal, or at least withhold, but we know the story of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) and so refuse to insult God like that.

Then, why are these words always taught as laws we must follow?  For Christians, these words are the standards we reach for, the aims we wish all people shared.  We reach for them because Jesus reached out to us, calling us by name, justifying us even in our sinfulness before God, and making us desire to be, and so we become, more and more like our Lord.

The Law leads to the Gospel.  The Gospel lets us live by the Law.

“WHO IS YOUR LORD?” 2/5/12

Luke 6:46, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

This is the first in a series of questions a Christian and a congregation should sincerely and carefully ask.  Who is your Lord?

In Luke, Jesus asks us, “If I am your Lord, then why aren’t you doing as I ask?”  Well, here’s a quick list:
— We don’t know what He wants (often a form of willful ignorance) – a sin keeps us from willingly following Him.
— We use God to help us, rather than put ourselves at His service.
— We already have other gods more important to us:  family, work, health, etc.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul challenges a church with these truths:
— Jesus’ love in us shapes how we live.  Well, does it?
— His death on the cross affected all people.  Well, is that how we deal with people?
— We are no better than anyone else, for we need His life in ours.  So, how strong in faith – yet humble in attitude, do people view us?
— His death and resurrection in us means we no longer live for ourselves.  Is that so?
— His life captivates our hearts, minds, and actions.  Does it?

All of the above is included in the question:  Who is your Lord?  Not the easiest one to answer, is it?  The good news here is that we have a Lord worthy of the time it takes for us to examine ourselves, worthy of making whatever changes are needful, so that we are more His and more people see Him in us.

The even better news is that He helps us in our weakness and stubbornness.  He puts His life between our normal selves, and the glorious people He is transforming us into.

When Jesus is Lord, really the Lord, of a life or a church, then there is a dynamic power that moves and shapes lives forever!

“TO LIVE” 2/5/12

Exodus 12:1-7

What does it mean to “live”?  Many answers have been given to that question.  God here gives the only answer made available by the Author of life, Himself.  To live is to be under the blood of the Lamb.

The Passover, and the cross of Jesus, gives all humanity that simple option – live either under the blood, or die outside of it.  Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that, “The life is in the blood.”  Life isn’t in pleasure.  It is not in security.  It is not in love.  It is not in our cells, or our mental capacity.  It is not even in our independence, or quality of life.  Our life is in the blood.  The blood of the Lamb.

Under the blood, one is made into a new community:  here, the nation of Israel; in Christ, His body the Church.

Under the blood, grief surrounds one but does not crush one.

Under the blood, the ending of one’s slavery and the beginning of one’s true freedom comes into being.

Under the blood, the life once known is left for the living God creates.

Under the blood, death may do some heavy damage, but leaves those who are covered alone.

Under the blood, one is transfused:  sin’s poison drains out; the love of the Lord pours in.

Many who say they are Christians are not under the blood.  Their lives are outside the place of His safety and promise.  Many Christians under the blood are unaware of the life they possess.  But you, Christian, are alive and mighty, for Christ is mighty in you!

“WHAT’S IN A NAME?” 1/29/12

Exodus 3:13-15

This sermon is a set of “bumper stickers” for the Name of God.  Why?  Presenting it all carefully and well would take hours!

— God’s Name is a verb.  God is who God acts like.  There is a trustworthiness to the Lord, for He will never act out of character.

— The Name is the action of dynamic being.  God only acts out of His character.  He is existence itself, what all else exists by.

— As such, we cannot manipulate God to do as we would like.

— God is, not was, not will be.  God always is God.

— Were God’s Name, “I WAS,” then we would rely on the past to guide and help us.  And, what was thus matters more than what is.

— Were God’s Name, “I WILL BE,” then we would have an unknown God, one who could change hourly.  And so, there can be no assurance in the present, for the future lacks any bounds.

— God is God from generation to generation.  Times change.  Time doesn’t.  The One who made time changes even less than time.  We are to work with God in this time, rather than conform His will and Word to our times.

— God is where reality is and where what is real abides.  Following Him frees us from all that is false, all that is momentary.

— God acts in and through people.  “I AM” sends Moses.  “I AM” provides the way for the Israelites to walk to freedom.  God’s Name isn’t “I DO FOR YOU,” but “I AM”.  We become as He fills and shapes our choices and actions in our lives.

“LET YOUR PEOPLE GO!” 1/29/12

Ezekiel  37:9-14

In this vision, Ezekiel is talking to God but acting on dead people.  Really dead people.  Long since past any sort of life people.

The prophet speaks at the Lord’s command, and the skin and bones rise up!  They are ready.  They are filled with life!  And, here’s the most important part – that life is the Holy Spirit.

Notice the role of the religious leader – speak God’s Word, then let God work!  Notice the role of the hearers of the Word – receive the Spirit, then move to do God’s work!  Church is really that simple.  Congregations make it more complicated by doing one if not more of the following:
* Having only a few people run things,
* Sticking with a few ideas, rather than allowing any and all to create and add to what is done,
* Saying, “We don’t do that,” solely because some don’t want to.

We are not too bad here in terms of letting people follow the Spirit.  Here are some ways we can grow and come even more alive:

* You who do things here – train someone to take your place.
* You not doing things – ask to serve Jesus in ways that inspire you.
* You who see a need – bring it in here and prayerfully present it.
* You who can’t do anymore – spend time praying, less time fretting.
* You too full to do more – prayerfully ask what the Lord wants done.
* You who lead – let’s spend more time praying than discussing.
* You who think you know little – ask to learn more!

This congregation is right on the verge of a new work of God in its midst.  All that is required is that we open ourselves up to the transforming work and life of Christ through the Holy Spirit!

“LOVE BLOCKERS” 1/22/12

Genesis 37: 1-4

Joseph and his brothers is a great story because their family makes ours look better by comparison.  The seeds for the whole mess are right here, and we can learn how to better love another person by doing the opposite of what the family of Jacob did.

Joseph gets his brothers in trouble.  Nothing makes a family less happy than never meeting expectations, and having someone point that out.  We are advised by our Savior to neither accuse people, nor judge them poorly for their shortcomings.  We are advised by Jesus to help them overcome those unpleasantries, to become new and better.

Jacob played favorites.  To make a church miserable, treat people you like better than people you don’t.  To make a family a disaster, pick favorites and let everyone know by action and word who is the chosen.  Remember, Jesus picked favorites too.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whomsoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If we must pick certain people over others, then let us strive to pick as Jesus does.

Jacob gave his best to only one.  When God loves us, we are loved as if we are the only One in the world to Him.  Out of that love, however, we quickly discover that others feel the same way.  That is how the family of God feels bonded and blessed.  What works in God’s church works in a family, works in a factory, works in a community, etc.

Hate someone.  Hard to love someone you hate.  Easy to keep hating once you start.  That is like a small snow blob starting down a mountain.  By the time it reaches the mountain’s base, a whole avalanche has followed along!  God could hate every one of us, for God hates sin.  Instead, God found a way within Himself to love us more than He hated our sin.  With Him we could do that for others.

“C IS FOR CASH” 1/22/12

Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew is speaking here to people who lived on less than 25 cents a day, or $91.25 a year.  If anyone had to worry about how to pay bills, feed the family, maintain the property, then these folks were those people!

Almost all of the congregations I know act as if the resource most important to the life of the congregation were money.  BUT, we learned last week that the most important thing is Jesus, and what He does in and through us, right?

This expectation the Maker of the universe has for us seems completely unreasonable, though.  Well, it is.  It is unreasonable to presume that the God who made the universe would actually take care of those He loves in that universe.

It is unreasonable to trust that the Christ who offered His life in place of ours would also guide and supply those redeemed lives with what was needful.

It is unreasonable to live by the Holy Spirit, who makes us like Jesus to others and helps us trust our Father and our Savior.

It is more reasonable to worry.  To scrounge and work and hoard money for a rainy day.  To do all we can to provide for ourselves, and then ask God for help.

How does Jesus react to the reasonable people?  “…the Gentiles run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them.  But seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will added to you as well.”

Two points here:

1) Jesus compares people who live off their own power for their own wants with unbelievers, and…

2) Is He right, and what would church look like if we believed He was?

“B IS FOR BUILDING” 1/15/12

Ephesians 2:19-22

Listen to this truth that changes everything.  After I’m through, tell me where the church is.

God destroyed the power of sin by the life and death of Jesus Christ, and placed Christ’s life in people – people who live as though God controlled them, and nothing else was more important.

That means, according to what we read, the following things:

We belong to a new people – God’s people.  The word in Greek is “ecclesia”, or what we would call “church.”  God did not become flesh for brick and stone.  Jesus did not die for finances or decorations.  The Spirit does not lead us to adore memories and familiarity.  We are new.  Unsaved people live by stone and money and desires.  We live by the Spirit, with Christ, for God.

The church’s treasure is the lives of saints, and their lessons.  What is the foundation of this church?  The apostles and prophets!  What is the cornerstone of the church?  Jesus Christ!  What is the purpose of the church?  To become a holy temple!  The building is no more holy than we who fill it with holiness.  Where we go is church!  What we do is worship!  How people see us is God’s testimony!  That is, if we accept that we belong body and soul to Jesus, and live by His Word and love.

We are a work in progress.  In Christ, we are carved and chiseled, nailed and sealed, wired and insulated to be the church.  The church is people – people in love with Jesus and who live Jesus’ way.  Are we all perfect at this life?  NO.  But our perfect God keeps on building our souls and reworking our lives, so that we are better.

Master Carpenters can do that.  So, now I ask this congregation:  Where is the Mill Village Presbyterian Church, and how do we make it stronger, better, more alive to and for the Lord?

“WHAT WOULD YOU DO?” 1/15/12

Genesis 22:1-19

Abraham was promised that Isaac would be the child by whom the world would be blessed.  Then, God told the father to kill his son.

Would you believe God’s promise, or trust your emotions, experience, and best judgment?  What would you do?

Abraham makes preparations to do as God asked, even though it must have been abhorrent to him.  Would anyone here act on God’s promises, even against their own hearts?  What would you do?

Abraham tells a ½ truth to his wife and servants.  He is going to make a sacrifice.  He didn’t say what would be offered.  Why do we lie?  Do we lie to fulfill a divine command, or for some reason of our own?  What would you do?

Isaac looks into his father’s face and asks him, “where is the offering?” Abraham answers, “God will provide.”  Can anyone here say they would trust in God alone during their darkest, toughest moments?  What would you do?

Abraham and Isaac prepare the sacrifice, then Abraham ties up his son.  When would you stop following God’s will because you disagree with Him?  What would you do?

Abraham looks into his son’s face and raises the butcher knife, seeing only his own tears and the boy’s horror.  Who here can testify that they have seen God provide when their own lives were at a point of disaster?  What would you do?

God provided a ram.  God kept His promise.  Both father and son went through hell to get to that point.  Jesus said, “Pick up your cross and follow me.”  This day was Abraham’s cross, the time when he either gave his life to God, or not.  What is your cross?  What would you do?

“HUH?” 1/8/12

Genesis 6:11-14

“God is Love.”  We say.  “Jesus loves everybody.”  We believe.  Guess no one reads the story of Noah then, huh?  (…tell it.)

Last Sunday I showed, I hope, that God saw human sinfulness for what it was – simple stupidity.  Graciously the Lord provided, in due time, an antidote for stupid.  Now, this week, we read that God seemingly forgets the plan and wants to start all over!  Huh?

We tell this story to kids, but really it is a kind of horror movie.  Think of all the destruction and death!  How would you feel on the outside of the boat, pounding on silent wood to get in?  At story’s end, a world where most everything got along now becomes a place of hunter and hunted, predator and prey.  Huh?

The best way I can tie Noah’s story into the story of salvation is the way Abraham Lincoln did it.  When both sides of the U.S. Civil War wanted to take vengeance on the other, or on someone, Lincoln said, “With malice towards none, with charity towards all, let us bind up the nation’s wounds.”  He saw how wrong everybody was.  And he saw that maybe, just maybe, God would let the nation experience the results of their wrongness, without benefit of grace.

No one wanted to hear that then, or now.  But it seems to be the case that our Lord more often than we’d want to recognize, lets things go to hell because, well, we are headed that way anyway.

Yet, He provides one place of refuge.  One ark built before all our eyes.  One spot where the flood can affect, but not destroy.  Only one.

Noah’s tale is, to me, a picture of how we should be in a sinful world – taking in the helpless and needy, defending them against the raging evil, living in the boat, not trying to improve our swimming skills.

“A IS FOR ATTENDANCE” 1/8/12

Acts 2:42-47

Doesn’t church feel good when you are surrounded by people?  The singing seems better.  The distractions are greater.  It feels alive!  When there are gaps in seating spaces, it just doesn’t feel like that.

It could.  We need to shift focus from the number of people here, or not, to the One we are here for.  Attendance in worship, to our Lord, is a function solely of our lives lived in devotion to Him.

Right in verse 42 it says, “they devoted themselves…”  To what?  To the apostolic teaching.  That meant the words of God, not the interpretation of those words.  A church that lets the Word shape how and who it is becomes one where sin is broken, hearts are open, and Power is flowin’.

They devoted themselves…  To what?  To fellowship.  They met together, to be together as a supportive group.  They shared what they had and helped one another.  A congregation that relies on itself will find a greater and greater reliance on Jesus.  And, a congregation that meets in Jesus’ Name will find that more and more people become more and more like Christ.

They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.  This was done at home.  This was done at temple.  The body of Christ needs fed.  When?  Once a year?  Once a month?  No, the church learned to need Jesus daily, or at least weekly, and hunger for Him.

They devoted themselves to prayer.  Prayer was part of the fellowship.  Prayer was vital to each and every one.  And so, many miracles and miraculous signs were done.

Now, really, are the folks back then so much different from you and I?  They grew their congregation by focusing, not on people, but on Christ and loving Him.  The people just flowed in to where the good was!

“HOW GOD WORKS” 1/1/12

Matthew 13:31-32

“My ways are not your ways…” says our God in Isaiah.  Yet, most churches try to thrive, or at least survive, by our ways of doing things.  You know how that goes.  We do what we are good at.  We try what “worked” for us, what has meaning to us, then hope someone else catches on.

Jesus describes the reality of God-life, the Kingdom, differently.  Let’s take it apart and see how God works.

The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed:  Small.  It is the little things that make the biggest difference.  The details, not only in how things are done, but why they are attempted, matter.  Souls grow, churches increase, if they do the small things well.

A man planted the seed in His field.  God plants.  We don’t.  Where we are is God’s field, not ours.  The work, and the owner of the work is God, and God alone.  When He is first and foremost, then things happen!

When it grows it becomes a tree.  Everyone who heard Jesus knew this wasn’t so.  Mustard is a weed-like thing; it can cover a field, but not tower over the land!  So too with souls and congregations.  We must grow out to grow up.  Reach beyond us to become the best we can be.

The birds of the air perch in its branches.  God already has picked a flock of people to be in Mill Village.  He awaits a place and a people to put them in.  No person Jesus saves is loved to do poorly.  No congregation where Christ is Lord, ever shrinks or wastes away.  We are meant to cover the land and bring rest, God’s shalom, to those around us.

This year the sermons are all about how God would make Mill Village Presbyterian Church an amazing place and people.  You ready?

“SELF AND SIN” 1/1/12

Genesis 3:8-19

This passage answers all we need to know about human nature, and therefore our need of a Savior.  First, the story (…tell it).

Now the point.  Where did this trouble come from?  Not from any sexual act.  Not from “somebody else’s fault”.  This trouble came from Adam and Eve and the snake wanting it.  This is original sin; we want what God clearly said not to desire.

Why didn’t God make us so that we would not desire the wrong things?  Well, who ever desires what they feel is wrong?  No one.  God made us to have wants, even hungers and lusts.  But they were to be directed His way.  We turn away, and so sin.

I didn’t answer the question, did I?  In part I did.  God made us to desire the good.  We, apparently, wouldn’t know what was good for us even if planted in a garden and surrounded by it!  We would still find the one wrong thing.  But we didn’t have to be that way!

And I believe that in the curse God gives, is the rest of the answer.

To the snake:  A promise is made.  An offspring of the woman will strike/crush the seducer’s head, even while that same one tries and bite the heel of the woman’s child.  Is that not what the cross, in part, is about?

To the woman:  Life and human relationships will bring pain and power struggles.  From birth on, people will try to “get over on” one another.  But, there will come, from out of all that misery, One child who can change it all.

To the man:  Humans will find life hard work, and discover they are but mortal.  Doomed to the dust.  Until that One offspring, through His work and His burial, ends the curse and brings new life!  We are not God, and so prove to be weak, unless He is strong in us!

“JESUS IS GOD WITH US” 12/25/11

Isaiah 52:7-10, John 1:1-14

God is with us.  The Bible does not defend this point, simply states it, and proves it.  The proof comes in three important ways.  Here they are, in order of importance to God.

#1 – The Facts:  Jesus was born, was real, was crucified.  All this can be verified by historical research.  All this shows how much God cares about the tiny details of lives and living.

#2 – The Promise:  You hear it in Isaiah.  You hear it all over Scripture.  God will save His people.  Others will point out the Savior.  Lives who follow Him will change.  The New Testament is nothing less than a road map God lays out for all to see, a path one can take to live by and become new from the Promises.

#3 – The New Life:  John would say nothing if Jesus were not there.  Isaiah would prophecy nothing if Jesus were not real to him.  God with us forces change the same way a tornado through our town would.  The same way an earthquake would.  The same way life and death would.

Sad but true tale.  Christmas for Christians has become a time of timidity and compromise.  We act like those who won’t live for Jesus.  In the Middle East, the Christians want to leave to avoid persecution.  In the U.S. we are mostly left alone because there is so little of Christ’s power in us worth attacking.

The Good News, however, does not and has not changed.  God is with us.  And His life in ours can reshape our lives, our homes, our communities, our world.  How?  By our living for Jesus, doing nothing apart from His command and power, expecting to be made new by His grace.

Our world needs Christmas.  Jesus gave the world us.