Chardon church of Christ

In A Time of Uncertainty - God Provides

In A Time of Uncertainty - God Provides 
Psalms 103: 1 – 22 & Ephesians 5: 19 – 20

 

ILL. I would like to start by sharing a story I read:
It was the usual schedule: up at 4:30 a.m., out the door by 5:00 a.m. to take my son to ice hockey practice, pickup another hockey team mate on the way to the rink, dash home, get ready for work and head out the door again. On this morning though, I realized I had not done the grocery shopping. So as I drove the boys to hockey practice I realized I’d be very close to a grocery store that was open 24 hours a day. So I made a mental shopping list and headed straight to the grocery store from the ice rink.
There were only a few shoppers in the store, but the aisles were full of staff stocking the shelves for the rush of grocery purchases. I zipped along. The last aisle was the frozen food section. As I stood in front of the glass door contemplating the frozen vegetables, I noticed my reflection in the frame of the freezer door. I WAS STILL IN MY PAJAMAS!! I laughed out loud!
As I drove home with my groceries I realized that in my hurry up life I was not living graciously. I was like the plate spinner at the circus. Recognizing that something needs to change and actually doing it can be a true challenge. In my daily prayer practice, I changed something. Instead of listing all of the day’s activities and then asking for help to accomplish them, I took a different approach. I began my prayer with gratitude that God was an ever-present, all power of good; and I listened more. This change wasn’t just for a day or a week, it became my regular daily prayer. And life became less frenetic and more joyful.
There are researchers who have been focusing on the beneficial effects of gratitude. One study (sited in a Harvard Health News Letter) found that,
“gratitude...helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals.” Another effect was, “fewer visits to physicians.”
You know, there is so much in our lives as Americans that we take for granted. When we get up in the morning, we can step into my shower & enjoy the hot water.
Then we can get dressed, go out & get into our car & drive anywhere we want to go. When we get low on gas we can pull into a gas station & fill up again.
Then when we go home, we can enter the house, flip a switch, & the lights come on. When we open my refrigerator we’ll find all kinds of foods to eat. And like most Americans we tend to just take all these things for granted.
ILL. But that isn’t the way things have been recently in some of our larger cities. Riots have erupted, statues & memorials torn down, stores & businesses looted & burned, houses destroyed & people terrorized. Whether accidental or deliberate, people have been injured, & lives have been lost.
And the country that we, & millions of others, love & have pledged our allegiance to, is constantly being condemned as an evil, racist society.
ILL. One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days & nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yes, I did," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog & they had four. We have a pool that fills half of our backyard, & they have a creek that stretches way past their property. We have lanterns in our yard & they have the stars at night.
"We have a small piece of land to live on & they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me just how poor we really are."
It makes you wonder what would happen if we gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
I. DAVID STARTS OUT PRAISING GOD
In the 103rd Psalm David starts out praising God & then says: “Praise the LORD, O my soul, & FORGET NOT all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2
If we forget God’s benefits - if we forget the blessings He’s given us - we can end up being ungrateful, taking what we have for granted.
ILL. We can become like the woman who walked into a grocery store a day before Thanksgiving & was very upset with the size of the turkeys that were left. She turned to the stock boy & asked snippishly, "Don't these turkeys get any bigger?" To which he calmly replied, "No ma'am. They're dead!”
That woman had more food in front of her than people in most 3rd world countries would ever see. And yet, she was angry because what she saw wasn’t BIG enough.
If we don’t get into the habit of thanking God for what we DO have we’ll soon become ungrateful because of what we DON’T have.
So the 103rd Psalm says: Get into the habit of being thankful - NOW! Get into the habit of NOT FORGETTING what God has given you.
II. GET INTO THE HABIT OF BEING THANKFUL – NOW!
A. Ephesians 5:19-20 tells us to "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
ILL. Several churches in North Dakota were being served by an old circuit-riding preacher. The people were amazed at his ability to pray, for no matter what the circumstances were, he could always find something for which to be thankful.
As he made his rounds one cold, gloomy December morning, he was late in getting to the church because of excessive snow drifts. But when he did get there, as usual he began the service with prayer.
The parishioners were eager to see what the old preacher could come up with to be thankful for on this dismal & frigid morning. "Gracious Lord," his prayer began, "we thank you that all days are not like today."
So as you spend time considering the blessings which God has showered upon you & your family, what do you thank Him for? How has God blessed you?
For most of us I imagine that we thank Him for family & friends, for those who love us & care about us. We thank him for our homes, for our jobs in a time when some are homeless & many are looking for jobs.
And probably many of us thank him for our country & the blessings He has showered upon our nation over the years. I hope, also, that you include this church & its witness – that we might be faithful & true to Jesus, our Lord.
B. Now let's look at the 103rd Psalm. Not once in that entire Psalm do we hear David give thanks for his family, his home, his possessions, or even for God making him a king. David doesn't give thanks for many of the things most people would mention.
Instead, he praises God for forgiving his sins, healing all his diseases, redeeming his life from the pit, crowning him with love & compassion, & satisfying his desires with good things so that his youth was renewed.
David couldn’t lose those things. And the world couldn’t take them away from him. And it is true for us, too. I can lose my loved ones, my home, my possessions, my abilities. But I CANNOT lose the things David wrote about in the 103rd Psalm.
Jesus emphasizes exactly the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy, & where thieves break in & steal.
“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth & rust do not destroy, & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
III. WHAT ARE OUR TREASURES?
A. What are our treasures? Well, in this Psalm David says that his greatest treasure is knowing of God’s love & compassion for each of us.
He writes, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him;
for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14)
Now David acknowledges that neither he – nor any of us – are worthy of God’s love. David goes on to say in vs’s 15-16 that “(our) days are like grass, (we) flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it & it is gone, & its place remembers it no more.” (Psalm 103:15-16)
We’re not all that impressive, are we? We’re fragile & easily forgotten. And God knows that. He was the one who formed us from the dust of the earth. But when God formed us from that dust He formed us in His likeness.
You see, the Bible tells us that you & I are a special creation by God. Yes, we are fragile & easily forgotten by this world - but God will never forget us!
He loves us so much that vs. 4 tells us He “...redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love & compassion.” (Psalm 103:4)
B. As we read through the Bible we see stories of men & women who spent time in pits. Jeremiah was thrown into a pit where he sank into the muck up to his armpits. And Daniel was thrown into a pit that we know was a lion’s den.
Then there was Joseph, whose brothers threw him into a pit with the intention of killing him - but then changed their minds & sold him into slavery instead. Those were literal pits that God rescued them from.
But there were other “pits” that weren’t so literal, but were equally depressing: David spent several years hiding from King Saul. Moses spent 40 years in exile from Egypt. And Ruth spent a number of years in poverty.
Each story about these heroes & heroines of faith told how God reached down into the holes those people found themselves in, pulled them up & out of that pit, & placed them on solid ground.
And David says that what God did for those people – He’ll do for you & me.
C. We know that God meets our physical needs on this earth. But just like David we also know that’s not enough.
Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, & lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36 KJV)
Unless our sins are dealt with we’ll be cut off from God. And unless our sins are forgiven, we’ll never know the blessings of living eternally in heaven.
Then David tells us “YES, God is willing to take care of that too.” In vs. 3 David says that God “forgives all your sin.” And in vs’s 10-12 David goes on to say, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-12)
“As far as the east is from the west.” Now that is an interesting comment. Why not as far as the North is from the South?
Consider this: if we left here going West to CA, & continued West from there, we can go as far West as we like - & we would never start going East.
On the other hand, if we start going North, we would end up at the North Pole. From that point on every direction would be South.
Now, why didn’t God say He would remove our sins from us as far as the North is from the South? He could have. But if He’d said that - He would be telling us that there is a point at which He would stop forgiving us - where He’d stop wanting to forgive us.
But that’s not true. When He forgives us – He removes our sins as far from us as the East is from the West. He will remember them no more.
That is the kind of God we serve. A God who loves us SO much that He “gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
ILL. It was the year 1822, & her name was Charlotte Elliott. She had been an invalid from her youth. Her handicap filled her with resentment & anger. And one day, when a preacher was visiting, she let loose on him about her bitterness at her condition.
The preacher listened, but instead of comforting her - he challenged her. He told her that what she needed to do was to give her life totally to God - to come to Him just as she was, with all her bitterness & anger.
As you can imagine, she didn’t like that. She resented what seemed to her to be an almost callous attitude on his part concerning her condition.
But the Holy Spirit used his challenge to get through to her, & she ultimately committed her life to the Lord.
But even as a Christian she had doubts & struggles. Her brother had become a successful preacher. But Charlotte felt that her physical condition prevented her from being of any real service at all.
Then in 1836, on the 14th anniversary of her conversion, she decided to write a song about her faith in God. One of the verses goes this way:
“Just as I am, tho’ tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!”
“Just As I Am” - That hymn has become one of the best known & most powerful invitation songs ever written.
Years later, her brother said: "In the course of a long ministry I have been permitted to see some of the fruit of my labors. But my sister, through her hymn, has accomplished far more than I ever dreamed of being able to do."
Charlotte’s time of testing gave her a testimony. And the mess in her life gave birth to a message that has brought thousands upon thousands to Christ.
INVITATION

Sermon Contributor Melvin Newland

You’re The Answer To Someone’s Prayer

You’re The Answer To Someone’s Prayer
2 Cor. 12: 7-10 & Luke 22:42

ILL. I heard a story recently about a missionary in Africa, named William Chalmers, who was approached by two tribal chieftains. For more than a year they had been hearing about Chalmers & his God & the changes that had occurred in the villages which had welcomed him.
Impressed by it all, they had come to invite him to their villages also. Sadly, Chalmers told them that because of commitments he had already made that he would be unable to go back with them to their villages. They then asked for any Christian teachers he could send. Once again he had to tell them that he had no one to send.
As a result, the two chieftains remained there with Chalmers for 2 weeks, observing what life was like in what was now a predominantly Christian village. They were particularly curious about his custom of daily praying to God – not as a God to be feared & whose anger had to be appeased, but as a God to be loved & thanked for His protection, for providing what is needed, & for His guidance.
Then the chieftains went home, after urging Chalmers to come as soon as he could. Nearly 2 years passed before Chalmers could arrange to go as he had promised. It was early in the morning when he arrived at the first village & found the villagers on their knees in perfect silence. They were not making a sound!
Mystified by this, Chalmers asked the chief what they were doing. "We are praying to your God," he replied. “But you’re not saying anything.”
"We do not know what to say, but for nearly two years we have met here praying & waiting for someone to come & teach us what to say."

A. Now how about us? Do we know how to pray? Well, of course we do! Or do we? For example, how do we pray for Christians who are going through difficulties in life? The natural response when we see someone who is sick, or going through tough times, or family difficulties ... is to say, "We'll pray for you."
But have you ever found yourself wondering, “What is the best thing to pray for in this situation?” Sometimes it is hard to know just what to pray. And doubts can arise when we pray earnestly, & we don’t get the answers that we want.
Sometimes we pray for people who are sick, & they don’t get better. Or we pray for a marriage to be healed, & the couple gets a divorce. Or we pray for a couple to have a healthy child, & a handicapped child is born. I can't give you any easy answers as to why this happens.

B. But what I don’t know about prayer doesn't discourage me, because the way I've seen prayers answered, & the way lives have been changed as a result of prayer, gives me so much encouragement that I'm absolutely convinced the most important thing we can do in times of difficulty is to pray.
Prayer puts us in touch with God. And it’s important for us to come to God & express our needs & the deepest longings of our hearts.

C. So with that in mind, look with me at 2 Cor. 12:7-10 where the Apostle Paul speaks about his "thorn in the flesh."
He says, "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Now here is the situation: Paul had just had an amazing spiritual experience. But there is a danger in spiritual experiences. And that is of becoming conceited, of beginning to think that you’re more spiritual or important than anybody else.
So the Bible tells us that God gives Paul what he calls a "thorn in the flesh." We don't know what it was, but it was something that caused Paul physical pain & anguish. In fact, it was so bad that 3 times Paul prays for God to take it away. And 3 times God answers, "No."
Then He tells Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect (or obvious) in weakness." So Paul learns the lesson & accepts the grace of God & recognizes that it is sufficient to see him through.
APPL. With Paul’s example before us, maybe the question we should be asking is, "When bad things happen, for what should we, as God's people, pray?"

I. SOME OBVIOUS ANSWERS
Of course there are some obvious answers to that question. We need to be asking for God's presence & strength in our daily lives through the Holy Spirit.
We also need to be praying that it is God's will that is done, & not ours.
And of course, our prayers should be for those around us, & the impact that our problems may be having upon them. We need to be concerned about more than just our own needs & trials.

ILL. In his book “Living Life on Purpose”, Greg Anderson shares this story: This man’s wife had left him & he was completely depressed. He had lost faith in himself, in other people, & even in God.
One rainy, gloomy morning he went to a small neighborhood diner for breakfast. Although several customers were there, no one was speaking to anyone else. This miserable man sat hunched over the counter, stirring his coffee with a spoon.
In one of the small booths along the window was a young mother with a little girl. They had just been served their food when the little girl broke the gloomy silence by almost shouting, "Momma, why don’t we say our prayers here?"
The waitress who had just served their breakfast turned around & said, "Sure, honey, we pray here. Will you say the prayer for us?" And the waitress turned & looked at the rest of the people in the diner & said, "Bow your heads."
Surprisingly, one by one, the heads went down. The little girl then bowed her head, folded her hands, & said, "God is great, God is good, & we thank him for our food. Amen."
That prayer changed the entire atmosphere in the diner. People began talking with one another. And the waitress said, "We should do that every morning."
"All of a sudden," said the man, "my whole frame of mind started to improve. From that little girl’s example, I started to thank God for all that I did have, & stopped dwelling on all I didn’t have. I started to choose happiness again."
And God has told us that if we don’t know exactly what to pray, the Holy Spirit will help us.

ILL. A heart-broken little girl knelt & began to pour out her heart to God. But she didn’t know what to say. As she was sobbing she remembered what her father had told her, "God knows your needs even before you pray, & He can answer when you don’t know what to ask."
So she began saying the alphabet. A lady heard her crying & knelt beside her, & hearing her saying her ABC’s, asked her what she was trying to do. The little girl told her, "I’m praying to God from my heart."
The lady replied, "It sounds to me more like you’re just saying the alphabet!" "Yes," she said, "But God knows more about what I need than I do, & He can take all those letters & arrange them in just the right way to hear & answer my prayers!"

II. IT IS ALL RIGHT TO PRAY TO ESCAPE SUFFERING
Another thing we learn from Paul is that it is all right to pray to escape suffering. Paul prayed for an end to his suffering.
And so did Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
If you're sick, it's legitimate to ask God to heal you. If you're having difficulty in life, whatever it might be, it’s perfectly all right to pray that God will take it away. Sometimes He does, & sometimes He doesn’t, & we don’t always understand why.
But we’re still to trust Him. Paul did, & out of his own experience he was able to write that great passage in Romans proclaiming, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

ILL. A long time minister in a small town tells this story:
Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My 6-yr-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, “God is good. God is great. Thank you for the food, & I would even thank you more if mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty & Justice for all! Amen!”
Along with the laughter from other customers nearby I heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice-cream! Why, I never!”
Hearing this, my son burst into tears & asked me, “Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?” As I held him, I assured him that he had done a terrific job & God was certainly not mad at him.
An elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son & said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.” “Really?” my son asked. “Cross my heart.” Then in a theatrical whisper he added, “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice-cream is good for the soul sometimes.”
Naturally, after that, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment & then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae & without a word walked over & placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, “Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes & my soul is good already.”

III. WE OUGHT ALSO TO PRAY THAT OUR SUFFERING NOT BE WASTED
A. But when we do suffer, I think we ought to pray that our suffering will not be wasted, that it will be used to bring glory to God, & that we gain the victory over it through the strength that God gives us.
I think that is what happened in this passage with Paul. Paul said, "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh." A strange gift, isn't it?
But every once in a while, God allows negative things in life for a reason. In this particular situation Paul tells us that it was to keep him humble. He didn't resign himself to it, but he accepted it as something that God had given him for a reason.

B. Paul prayed, & then he waited on a word from God. "Three times," he said, "I prayed to God, ‘Take this thorn away. Please God, heal me. Take away the hurt & pain.'" Three times heaven was silent. Three times there was no answer from God.
You've experienced that frustration, haven't you? And it is difficult to keep the level of faith you know you should have when it seems heaven is not responding.
But Paul waited, & that is exactly what the scriptures teach us to do. "Wait on God, & keep on praying."
Finally the silence was broken. God spoke to him & said, "My grace is sufficient for you." He didn't take away the thorn. He just gave Paul enough grace to be able to put up with it.
"Then," Paul said, "I suddenly realized that it's not my strength that God wants - it is me, just as I am, trusting my all to Him.” Listen again to Paul’s words:
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
Jack took a long look at his speedometer before slowing down: 73 in a 55 zone... Fourth time in as many months. How could a guy get caught so often? When his car had slowed to 10 miles an hour, Jack pulled over, but only partially. Let the cop worry about the potential traffic hazard. Maybe some other car will tweak his backside with a mirror.

The cop was stepping out of his car, the big pad in hand. Bob? Bob from church? Jack sunk farther into his trench coat. This was worse than the coming ticket. A Christian cop catching a guy from his own church. A guy who happened to be a little anxious to get home after a long day at the office.
A guy he was about to play golf with tomorrow.

Jumping out of the car, he approached a man he saw every Sunday, a man he'd never seen in uniform.

"Hi, Bob. Fancy meeting you like this."

"Hello, Jack." No smile.
"Guess you caught me red-handed in a rush to see my wife and kids."
"Yeah, I guess." Bob seemed uncertain. Good.
"What'd you clock me at?"
"Seventy-one. Would you sit back in your car, please?"

"Now wait a minute here, Bob. I checked as soon as I saw you. I was barely nudging 65." The lie seemed to come easier with every ticket.
"Please, Jack, in the car."

Flustered, Jack hunched himself through the still-open door. Slamming it shut, he stared at the dashboard. He was in no rush to open the window. The minutes ticked by. Bob scribbled away on the pad. Why hadn't he asked for a driver's license? Whatever the reason, it would be a month of Sundays before Jack ever sat near this cop again. A tap on the door jerked his head to the left.

There was Bob, a folded paper in hand. Jack rolled down the window a bare two inches, just enough room for Bob to pass him the slip.

"Thanks." Jack could not quite keep the sneer out of his voice.

Bob returned to his car without a word.
Jack watched his retreat in the mirror. Jack unfolded the sheet of paper. How much was this one going to cost? Wait a minute. What was this? Some kind of joke? Certainly not a ticket.

Jack began to read: "Dear Jack, Once upon a time I had a daughter. She was six when killed by a car. You guessed it - a speeding driver. A fine and three months in jail, and the man was free. Free to hug his daughters. All three of them. I only had one, and I'm going to have to wait until heaven before I can ever hug her again. A thousand times I've tried to forgive that man. A thousand times I thought I had. Maybe I did, but I need to do it again. Even now... Pray for me. And be careful. My son is all I have left.
Bob"

Jack twisted around in time to see Bob's car pull away and head down the road. Jack watched until it disappeared. A full 15 minutes later, he, too, pulled away and drove slowly home, praying for forgiveness and hugging a surprised wife and kids when he arrived.

CONCL. Now let’s go back & review what we have learned today from the apostle Paul. We have learned that we need to be asking for God’s presence & strength in our daily lives, for His Holy Spirit to be working within us.
We need to be praying for God’s will to be done, & not ours. We need to be concerned about more than just our own needs & trials, but also about those who are around us.
At the same time, we also learned that it is all right to pray for God to heal us, to end our suffering, to take away our difficulties, as long as we pray like Jesus, “Not my will, but yours be done” & really mean it!
And if we do suffer, Paul teaches us that we ought to pray that our suffering will not be wasted,
that it will be used to bring glory to God, & that we will gain the victory over it through the strength that God gives us each day.

Sermon Contributor: Melvin Newland

The Beginning & The End

The Beginning & The End

Revelation 22:13 – 14

 

There are Military Slogan’s which state that : “the overall decisions start and stop here.”

Or we have heard the phrase, “The buck stops here!”

And there is the famous quote from a parent … “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!!!!!!”

Back in 2008, there was a surprise best selling book entitled: “Not Quite What I Had Planned - 6-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure”

Notice the first SIX words of the title. “Not Quite What I Had Planned.” The book essentially asked people to sum up their lives in 6 words. Amongst the entries were these:

• Stephen Colbert wrote, “Well, I thought it was funny.”
• A writer from USA Today - who reviewed the book - offered this statement: “Dad was Santa. Downhill from there.”
• Another writer summed up their life this way, “Never really finished anything, except cake.”
• Someone else wrote, "Followed yellow brick road. Disappointment ensued.”
• And still another commented, “Should have risked asking, he sighed.”

Now the author of the book apparently didn’t ask for Jesus’ reply, but Jesus might have said: “I Am The Alpha And Omega.” That 6 word statement literally sums up Jesus’ life. ALPHA was the first letter of the Greek alphabet and OMEGA was the last of that alphabet. So Jesus (in Revelation 22) said:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

This was literally, the last “I AM” statement by Christ in Scripture. And it was how the Bible presents Jesus to us. Jesus was literally the beginning of all things:

Colossians 1:17 says that Jesus "is before all things."

And the Gospel of John describes Jesus as the “WORD” and tells us “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” John 1:1-2

So Jesus was “THE BEGINNING” of all things… and Jesus will literally be THE END of all things. The last words of the book of Revelation are these: “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

Now, that’s all cool stuff, but what does that all mean to us? What does it mean to us that Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last??

Well it reminds us AGAIN. that Jesus is God. The terminology used in Revelation 22 is the same that’s used to describe God in several other places in Scripture.

In Isaiah 44:6 GOD declares “I am the first and the last”

And Psalm 90:2 states: “from everlasting to everlasting You are God”

And, in the first chapter of Revelation we find these words: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Revelation 1:8

His story makes its way through Scripture like a common thread. So, for Jesus to claim to be the Alpha and the Omega, was for Him to declare that HE WAS GOD in the flesh.

And because He was God, and because He IS the “Alpha and Omega” and the “Beginning and the End” - He IS IN CONTROL because He literally has me surrounded. And because He is before and behind and all around us, that makes it so that I can TRUST Him, therefore, I don’t have to be afraid.

ILLUS: Recently there have been individuals talking about the present lock-down in our State. Some shared that many people are literally afraid because of the news they were constantly watching and hearing through social media and radio and TV. The fear was being expressed by people right here in our community, and you can understand why. But as Christians, we shouldn’t let that fear control us. As Jesus tells us in Revelation 1:17-18 “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

Because Jesus is the Alpha & the Omega, the 1st and the Last, and the Beginning and the End, I don’t have to be afraid… because Jesus has it all under control.

ILLUS: As most of you know …. I have a 2 year old grandson. He’s handsome, and he’s smart and whenever we’re together we have a great time. But one of the things that humbles me is how much he trusts me. A little while back he was at my house for a nice family visit. Now, whenever he’s there I’m usually within a close proximity from him at any given time, because – after all - he is a 2 year old and we know that 2-year-olds can find all kinds of mischief to get into! But at one point I had to be another part of the house for just a few minutes and I left him alone, thinking “what kind of trouble can he get into in just a few minutes?”

I was wrong. I’d only been gone from the room about 5 minutes when suddenly I hear him crying out in panic.

I rushed to the kitchen to see that he’d pulled a dining room chair over to the kitchen counter and had crawled up – belly down – on the counter to reach something. And there he was - his belly on the counter, his butt in the air, and his legs dangling in space about a foot above the chair he’d used. Now he actually wasn’t in any danger, but he didn’t know that. All he knew was that he was stuck and he had no way to get down. And he was afraid!

When I got there and spoke to him, he seemed to relax. And after I helped him back down to the floor, he was happy again. But WHY did he suddenly relax when I got there? Because he believed that I had things under control. He saw that I was there to protect him – he trusted me.

When Jesus said “I am the Alpha and The Omega, the Beginning and the End…” He was saying “I am NEVER FAR AWAY from you. I have this under control, and I’ll always be on hand to protect you.”

That’s how we should view the crisis we now face. It is a dangerous situation, but we in Jesus we have someone who is never far away and always has things under control. In fact, that’s the kind of faith that David had about God back in the Old Testament. He wrote: “I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.” Psalm 17:6-9

Notice, David did face real danger, real enemies, and the very real possibility of death. And yet he believed God had things under control… and He could trust Him. THAT’s how we can view Jesus, because He IS God in the flesh.

So Jesus - being the Alpha and Omega - tells us He has things under control and that we can trust Him, but in addition to that, Jesus is not only THE Alpha and Omega, and THE Beginning and End, Jesus is MY Beginning and End. He is MY Alpha and Omega. HE has re-MADE my life so I my life is re-NEWED. It has re-BEGUN.

You see I could live my life without Jesus. I really could get along quite well without Him.

But it wouldn’t really be living … it would only be simply EXISTING. I would simply be “getting by” with no future and no real purpose for life. But Jesus came so that my life would be changed.

When I was baptized into Christ, Romans 6:4 tells me that “We were buried … with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE.” In Jesus I have a NEWNESS of life because Jesus is the BEGINNING of that new life.

ILLUS: There’s a story about a little girl who proudly wore a shiny cross on a chain around her neck. One day she was approached by a man who said to her, "Little girl, don't you know that the cross Jesus died on wasn't beautiful like the one you're wearing? It was an ugly, wooden thing." The little girl thought about that for a moment and then smiled and replied, "Oh yes, I know that. But they told me in Sunday school that whatever Jesus touches, He changes."

And that was what Jesus came to do. Jesus came to CHANGE our lives and offer us a NEW BEGINNING. But Jesus didn’t just come to change us and walk away. One person observed: “Alpha and Omega” means that whatever Jesus starts, he finishes. Hebrews 12:2 says we should be “looking unto Jesus, the author and FINISHER of our faith....” And Paul reminds us that “He who BEGAN a good work in you will bring it to COMPLETION at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

ILLUS: I’ve noticed that there are many craftsmen and artists in this world who do something, and then get to the point in their task where they’ll say “that’s good enough.” It’s not perfect, but it’s… GOOD ENOUGH. But Jesus is not like that. Jesus is kind of a perfectionist. When He works in our lives “good enough” is never good enough. Jesus will never be satisfied with simply beginning a good work in us and then walk away saying “I’m done.” Jesus is such a perfectionist that He will never stop working on us until He’s satisfied.

ILLUS: Some of the world’s Greatest artists have been like that. Take Leonardo Da Vinci, for example. I’m going to give you a quiz this morning and see if you know the answer:

What is the most valuable and praised painting in the world? Think about it for moment… if you guessed the “Mona Lisa” you were right! This famous portrait by Da Vinci was commissioned by a patron to celebrate a birthday. If Leonardo had simply been interested in the money, he could have painted the portrait in a month and received his payment. But money was never the object with him. It took Da Vince 4 years to paint this masterpiece… and the painting (I read) has up to 30 different layers of paint!

But, why would Da Vinci do that? Why would he keep adding more and more paint to his artwork? Well, he did that because he kept working and reworking the image until he was pleased with it. And he loved this painting so much that he never gave it to his patron. He kept it for himself for years afterward.

And that’s what Jesus does with us. He is constantly working us and reworking us. Jesus will never quite be done with us, because to Jesus… you and I are the most valuable pieces of art in existence, and He wants us to be the best that He can create! And ultimately, He keeps us for Himself because He loves us so much.

As Ephesians 2:10 tells us “We are HIS WORKMANSHIP, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do.”

Lastly - Jesus is not just MY Alpha - He’s MY Omega. He’s not just the beginning of my new life, He is the END… the completion of my existence. In other words - ultimately we will be a FINISHED PRODUCT. As Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Now, there are some people who have difficulty understanding what that means. Many may believe that the “finished product” is based on their OWN righteousness. But that’s not what is said here. The passage in Ephesians 5 says that Jesus GAVE Himself up for the church. Jesus sanctified her. Jesus cleansed her. HE DID THE WORK… not us. You can’t buy a ticket to get in because of your “sinlessness” because THAT doesn’t exist.

ILLUS: A minister had a conversation with a man on Facebook some time back about a woman who had had an abortion. From this other man’s comments made the minister got the impression the man viewed this woman as disgraceful. He was very smug as he said that he’d never do anything like that. The minister questioned him on this comment. The minister explained that we ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and that this woman was still loved by God. AND that Jesus would forgive her if she’d repent of her sins and be baptized.

The man responded that HE had never done anything “that bad” that he needed to repent of. The minister’s response to that statement was this: “THAT BAD?” Seriously???

We are reminded of the parable Jesus told about two men who came to the temple to pray.

One was a Pharisee (the very essence of righteousness and holiness) and the other – a Tax Collector (the lowest rung on the moral ladder in Israel). Jesus said that the Pharisee prayed this way “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” (Luke 18:11-12) In other words, the Pharisee bragged to God that he’d never sinned as badly as the tax collector.

But then, Jesus said, that the Tax Collector prayed: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ And Jesus said “I tell you, this man (the tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:13-14

Now, here’s the deal – you and I WILL NOT get into Heaven because of how righteous WE ARE. We’ll only get into heaven because of how righteous JESUS IS. It’s all about Jesus. If Jesus is not your ALPHA & OMEGA; if Jesus is not your BEGINNING & END;

if Jesus is not your FIRST & LAST priorities … then you and I will not make it in through the gate. To depend upon our righteousness is a fool’s game. Scripture says our righteousness will be like filthy rags unless we are washed in the blood of Christ.

We do that by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That He is our Alpha and Omega. And we do that by acknowledging that our own righteousness isn’t enough because we’ve sinned and fall short of God’s glory… therefore we need to repent of our sins and rely on Christ’s righteousness. And by confessing that Jesus is the true and only son of the father and that – He’s the one that we rely upon and trust. And lastly, we do this by allowing ourselves to imitate Christ by dying to our sins and being buried in the waters of baptism… and then rising up from those waters to walk in newness of life.

 

Sermon Contributor: Jeff Strite

We Need Each Other

WE NEED EACH OTHER
1 Cor. 12:12 – 27

OPEN: Centuries ago in Europe, a wealthy nobleman decided to build a church bldg. for the mountain village that he’d grown up in. Everybody, in the village was excited, but no one was permitted to see the plans, or the inside of the church building until it was finished. Finally, the day arrived, and people gathered on Sunday to marvel at the beauty of the new building.
But when they went inside... someone said, “Hey! Where are the lamps? It is dark in here. Where are the lamps?” Then the nobleman pointed to a line of brackets along the walls, and then he gave each of the families a lamp, telling them to “Bring your lamps each time you come to worship.” And he explained, “Each time you are here, the place where you’re seated will have light. But every time you are not here, your place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to gather with the church, some part of the building will be dark”.
The point we are making this morning is this: When Christians aren’t together in worship there’s something missing. It’s like there’s a bit of darkness that settles over our hearts.
Because WE NEED EACH OTHER!
In fact, the Bible is very clear about that idea that God’s people need each other. Back in the Old Testament God declared: “Two are better than one... If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

WE NEED EACH OTHER!!!
Paul tells the Church at Corinth “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27
The problem Paul found with the Corinthian church was, lots of folks were arguing about who had the best spiritual gift, and some were thinking they didn’t have any gifts at all!
This Morning I would like us to consider three different attitudes, and see if you find yourself in any of them. First, the attitude...

The 1st attitude we will consider is found in vs 15 – 20 of the text
“I can’t do anything!”
This is the person who feels inferior, who thinks, “I have nothing to offer. The church doesn’t need me. I can’t sing. I can’t preach. I’m not good at anything.”
First, you are not inferior.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The word for “handiwork” is sometimes translated “masterpiece.” You are a masterpiece on the canvas of God’s creation. And you were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”
And that brings us to Paul’s favorite metaphor for the church: the “body of Christ.” He uses the word “body” 18 times in today’s text and draws on the picture more than any other in his writings. In fact, he sandwiches today’s text with this thought: verses 12 and 27 say the church is the body of Christ.
Back to the first attitude, “I can’t do anything.” Sometimes we’re jealous of people who have gifts we don’t have. “Why can’t I be more like them?” Drawing on the image of a human body, Paul writes in verses 15-17, “Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason to stop being part of the body.Infra
And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”
Every part of the body is important. The foot is important, even though it’s not a hand. The ear is important even though it’s not an eye. The body needs every unique body part! Each of us are equipped to glorify God and his church in some unique way.

The 2nd Attitude is found in vs 21 – 25 of the text
“I have to do everything!”
In these verses Paul wrote to people who thought their gift was better than everyone else’s. So let’s correct that right now: You and I are not God’s last hope for mankind! This church could survive quite well without any one of us. No one is indispensable.
In verse 21, Paul says, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” He goes on to talk about how some of the most hidden parts of the body are absolutely indispensable. Think of your liver or kidneys. Quite hidden, but very important!
Sometimes I hear about someone who has been quietly praying for a person or for a situation coming up. Some have called these individuals the “knees” in the body of Christ, because they’re at least figuratively kneeling in prayer. We may hear about someone visiting a person who is hurting, or offering food, or comforting & encouraging the person who just lost their spouse. These little things that would often go unnoticed are no less important than the most stirring sermon or the leading a bible study. None of us can do it all. We need everyone to be at work in the way God has called them. Otherwise, the body is incomplete. And there are lots of churches with missing body parts.
So those are the first two myths when it comes to being church. “I can’t do anything,” or “I have to do everything.” And the last we’ll look at today is,

3. “I don’t need anybody else.” (vv. 25-26)
Every person counts in the body of Christ. And the truth is, we do need each other.
Paul writes for the need for unity out of our diversity. Listen to verse 25. Why has God given greater honor to the parts that lacked it? “So that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” God wants us to care about each other. That’s what being part of the church is all about!
Our world today is struggling between “Black lives matter” and “Blue lives matter.” I’m going to tell you, in God’s eyes, every life matters! Martin Luther King once said, “In a real sense all life is interrelated. All men [and women] are caught in an inescapable network of support, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be . . . This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
Martin Luther King was talking about society, and with God’s help, perhaps we can get there someday. And our greatest chance of doing so is if the church leads the way! The body of Christ should model for society that every life matters!
We are interconnected. Verse 26: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Elsewhere, Paul writes, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15).
Our lives are caught up in each other. You know how, when you have a hang nail, it ruins your whole day? Or if you have a migraine, nothing else in your body is going to function well? That’s because the human body is inter-related. And so it is with the church. It’s ok to admit that you need your brother and sister in Christ. We are not designed to go it alone.

WE NEED EACH OTHER!
As Ecclesiastes reminds us - we’re in this together, and when we’re together - we have others around us to help us, to keep us warm, to protect us, and to keep us from being broken down by the hardships of life.
Now, God deliberately uses the imagery of us being the BODY of Christ. And in Ephesians 5:29 we’re told “... no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church”
God reminds us that WE (who are part of that body) need each other and we need to nourish and cherish the BODY of believers that we’re part of.
So, think about this for a minute: How do you nourish/cherish YOUR physical body?
ILLUS: Well, you feed it (sometimes you feed it really well); You cleanse it (showers/baths/shaving, etc.); If you’re sick, you see a doctor; If your teeth hurt – you go see a dentist; You put clothes on body that (at least) you think makes you look good; And once in a while you even pamper yourself/ entertain yourself. Those are just some of the ways you and I nourish and cherish our mortal bodies. But now, God is telling you that you’re part of a huge SPIRITUAL body, and He’s asking YOU personally to help take care of that body.
ILLUS: Francis Chan observed that “It’s no secret that most people who attend church services come as consumers rather than as servants.”
In other words, folks often don’t come to be involved with others, they come only to consume/receive. They don’t want to get involved!
ILLUS: Years ago, Snoopy (in the Peanuts comic strip) broke his leg. Believe it or not, 100s of “get well cards” came in from fans across the world. In one of the frames of the comic strip, Snoopy (with his leg in cast) says this: “My body blames my foot for not being able to go places. My foot says it was my head’s fault, and my head blamed my eyes. My eyes say my feet are clumsy, and my right foot says not to blame him for what my left foot DID....”
And then Snoopy looks out at his audience and confesses, “I don’t say anything because I don’t want to get involved.”
Now, why is that funny? It’s funny because Snoopy WAS involved. It was his foot, his head, his eyes, his feet! He was already involved because he was in part the body. And we’re part of the Body of Christ and the BODY needs you and I to be involved
Well, what can you do to involve yourself with the body?
Some of the stuff we already do: We pray for each other, we try to make people feel like they’re important, and we try take care of each other’s needs.
There are people here who will regularly call the shut-ins and sick, and there’s others who will send out encouraging cards.
That’s especially important in this post-Covid world. We don’t have the opportunity to interact like we once did. That’s why I constantly emphasize your cell phones. Call people. Email people. Contact each other on Facebook. Send cards and letters. Contact one another and see how each other is doing. Pray for one another.

WE NEED EACH OTHER.
In II Corinthians 1:3-4 we read “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, SO THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO COMFORT THOSE WHO ARE IN ANY AFFLICTION, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
What those verses are saying is this: Each of US is comforted by God in our struggles/affliction, so that we can comfort others in their afflictions. God “TRAINS” us to minister to each other.
ILLUS: An old time minister tells the story of an “open mike” prayer time... and one Sunday a man stood up and said “I need your prayers. I’ve been struggling with alcohol most of my life and I’ve made the decision that I’m going to quit. I’ve not had a drink for the past couple of weeks and it’s getting tough.”
There was a pause, and then another man stood and said: “I had the same problem. And I didn’t think I could quit, but I did. I’ve been off the bottle now for 5 years.” And another man stood... and said roughly the same thing. And then another. About 3 or 4 men stood up that day and confessed they’d struggled in this and they all pledged to help the first man overcome his habit.
Do you know what happened there? What happened was that there were 3 or 4 men who’d been comforted by God and they in turn comforted a struggling brother – saying they’d be there for him. They showed what it meant to need each other.
Now, one last thought – WHOSE body is the Church? Who does the body belong to? That’s right, the body belongs to Jesus! It’s the BODY of CHRIST.
Colossians 1:16-18 For by (Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
Christ is the HEAD of the church. It’s HIS body!
That’s why the name on the sign out front says: “CHURCH OF CHRIST.” That’s who OWNS this church.
But (you know) it doesn’t matter what’s on the sign out front. Because, unless this church - not just the building, but the BODY - unless we as a body of believers belong to Jesus Christ WE’VE FAILED! You see, the marquee isn’t bragging about WHO we are. It’s bragging about WHO we belong to. It’s a proclamation that JESUS OWNS US: He’s our head; He’s our master; He’s our savior; and He holds US - the body of Christ – together.
And we call ourselves a Church of Christ because we love Him; because we belong to Him; and because we want to spend eternity with Him.
The question for you this morning is this – DO YOU? Do you love Him? Do you belong to Him? And do you want to spend eternity with Him?
You can do that this morning if you BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. If you are willing to acknowledge that you have sinned and that you need to REPENT of your sins. If you are willing to CONFESS that Jesus will now be the Lord and Master of your life. And if are willing to allow yourself to be BAPTIZED – buried in the waters of baptism and rising up a new creature in Christ.
INVITATION

Sermon Contributor Jeff Strite

Holes In The Fence

"Holes in the Fence!"
James 1:18 – 21

A serviceman once wrote about a moment of comedy he had witnessed in the army. It happened during a company inspection. The inspection was being conducted by a full sergeant major. Everything had gone smoothly until the officer came to a certain soldier, looked him up and down and snapped, "Button that pocket!" The soldier, more than a little rattled, stammered, "Right now, sir?" "Of course, right now!" was the reply. So the soldier very carefully reached out and buttoned the flap on the sergeant major’s shirt pocket.

You see the officer had been quick to note the youngster's uniform problem, but hadn't noticed his own. And that’s a lesson we all need to learn because for some reason, the faults of others seem to stick out like a missing tooth, while our own faults are often hard to spot.

And what James is going to share with us today, are three areas which seem to stick out in most Christians, especially for young Christians in regard to the trials which we face. And as we go through today’s sermon, keep in mind that we need to apply what we learn to ourselves first.

James 1:19-20 “19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James says when it comes to our trials; the first thing we need to remember is, "be quick to listen."

He told us in James 1:18 “18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

And then he tells us in James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
And so, when James says that Christians are to be quick to listen, he’s talking about listening in regards to us being open to the word of God.

One of the first things immature Christians tend to do when they begin to face any trial, is they stop reading the Word of God. A strong Christian will always go to the Word of God for help, for encouragement, and for comfort. Because the mature Christian understands that God’s word will help them.

As someone once said, some Bible verses are like lanterns, they were made for dark places and dark hours. It’s a bit like the little girl who was going on a train many years ago. She couldn't understand why the trainman was going through the car lighting the lamps. She said, "Mother, it is the middle of the day and the sun is shining, why is he turning on those lights?" The mother smiled, and said, "Wait a bit and you'll see what the lights are for." A few moments later the train plunged into a long, dark tunnel, and then the little girl saw the wisdom of the lamp lighting process.

When we read our Bibles, it seems that they contain thousands of verses that seem very ordinary and unnecessary. And there are times when we can't see why God has gone to all the trouble of lighting those lamps of truth. But some day when you're going into the tunnel of bereavement, or the tunnel of temptation, or the tunnel of suffering. It’s then that you will find value and appreciate the verses that appear to be ordinary and unnecessary.

In other words when we are facing trials we need to be "quick to listen" to what God says to us in His word. James says when we’re struggling as Christians especially in times of trials; it’s then that we need the Word of God most of all in our lives.
We need to humbly and calmly be open to what the Word of God has to say to us. Because it’s only by reading the Word can we know that God cares.

But do you believe that? Do you believe that God wants to help you through those trails?
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you.”

Peter basically says the same thing over in 2 Peter 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

God wants to help us but for that to happen we need to keep on reading His word and listen to what He has to say. You see immature Christians when they are facing trials not only stop reading God’s word; they usually start staying away from the worship assembly. But the mature Christian can’t wait to come to worship,

why? Because they know and understand, that they can get that help, encouragement and comfort that they need to help them through those trials from bible studies and worship.

1 Corinthians 14:3 “3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. And I hope and pray that all of you receive, help, encouragement and comfort through the preaching and teaching which happens here, especially when you’re going through trials of any kind.

And so, one of the ways which is going to help us grow up into spiritually mature Christians when we are facing trials, is to keep on listening to what God has to say to us through His word.

Now the second thing that we need to learn to help us grow through our trials is we need to be "slow to speak."
There are a couple of ancient sayings I found which I would like to share with you because I believe we can learn from them.

One ancient saying says, “Men have two ears, and but one tongue, that they should hear more than they speak.”

Another ancient saying says, “The ears are always open, ever ready to receive instruction; but the tongue is surrounded with a double row of teeth, to hedge it in, and to keep it within proper bounds.”

You see ... as a Christian matures through trials they learn some things. And one of the things they learn is the ability to know when to speak.

Now I’m pretty sure we all know lots of spiritually mature Christians, even here within our own congregation.
And if there’s one thing I try to learn from them is just how much they speak.
When a young Christian is going through trials they don’t need to know every single chapter and verse in the Bible; there are times when just a few words are all that are needed.

We all probably know of someone who we view as an extremely strong Christian. It might not be because of their example as a Christian, nor because of their knowledge of the Bible but because they are a person of few words. Their words carry so much wisdom and understanding. Their words are always helpful, encouraging and comforting.

My point is that for us to help each other grow up spiritually through our trials there may be times we all need to listen more and speak less.

Often the young Christian who is suffering just needs someone to listen to them and speak few words. And so James says a mature Christian is a Christian who is quick to listen and slow to speak.
And that brings us to the final thing that Christians need to do to grow through our trials, we all need to be slow to become angry.

You see the word ‘wrath’ is closely related to the word ‘anger.’ What we really need to understand is that the Bible has a lot to say about both.
For example the Old Testament says in Psalm 37:8 “Don't give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble”.

The Book of Proverbs says in Proverbs 14:17 “One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and the schemer is hated.

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:9 “Keep your temper under control; it is foolish to harbour a grudge.”

In the New Testament Paul says to the church in Rome in Romans 12:19 “19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] says the Lord.

To the Ephesians Paul writes in Ephesians 4:31 “31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

To the Colossians he writes in Colossians 3:8 “8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

So, let me ask you, what is the difference between anger and anger? Because Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Paul doesn’t seem to have a problem with a Christian becoming angry. He says, “If you become angry.”
We may know individuals who when facing trials may get angry not only with God but with everyone else around them.
And often they say something like ‘well Jesus got angry, I’m just following His example’.

They quote Jesus expressing anger towards the money changers in the temple as John tells us in John 2:13-17 and they say, ‘you see Jesus expressed anger.’

People who try to excuse their anger often go to passages like Psalm 78:49-51 where the Psalmist writes, “He caused them great distress by pouring out his anger and fierce rage, which came as messengers of death. He did not restrain his anger or spare their lives, but killed them with a plague. He killed the first-born sons of all the families of Egypt.”

People who try to excuse their anger often go to passages like Romans 1:18 where Paul writes, “God's anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known.”

My point is this; we need to understand the difference between wrath and anger. How do we reconcile those passages which demand that anger and wrath is sinful and something to be put away, with those passages that speak of anger on the part of God, Christ and even the Christian?

Well, first of all we need to understand that God's anger is always a just reaction to evil. Because God is divine and all-knowing, His wrath is never misguided. In other words He is more than capable of properly directing anger and wrath. Whereas we, with our imperfections, are not so capable to do that. In our anger we’re often misguided whether it is through ignorance or misunderstanding.

Haven't we ever been angry about something, and later regretted it when we realize we were in the wrong?

Jesus had the ability to read the hearts of men and with such divine knowledge;
He could not mistakenly direct wrath and anger. His anger was always holy anger against unrighteousness which is detestable to God. And when Jesus was angry, He was angry only for God’s honour.

When He was personally abused, He said nothing. 1 Peter 2:21-23 “It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no one ever heard a lie come from his lips. When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered; he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge.”

Jesus said nothing, it wasn’t until someone acted against God, then He displayed "righteous anger." And that’s where we all fall down at times, we often use anger improperly. You see, were supposed to be like Jesus and follow His example.

And notice James doesn’t say a Christian doesn’t get angry, he says a Christian should be slow to anger. In other words anger itself is not the problem but the way we deal with the emotion of anger could lead to a problem.

Let’s go back to Ephesians 4:26 “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day”. Now to understand this verse we need to keep the verse in its context.

Especially since Paul writes just a few verses later in Ephesians 4:31 “Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort”.

Now what I believe James and Paul are saying to us is rather than trying to justify our anger, we should be looking at how to deal with it when it arises in our hearts. James says we should be slow to anger and Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin.” What they are saying is that our emotion of anger needs to be kept under control.

In other words don't allow it to show itself in a sinful way.
I’m sure we have all had times in our lives when people have said and done pretty hurtful things to us.

But the mature Christian has learned to control that anger and the mature Christian knows that it needs to be dealt with very quickly. That’s why Paul goes on in Ephesians 4:26 and says, “If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day”. Other translations say, "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath." Have you ever wondered why we need to get rid of that anger so quickly?

Well thankfully Paul tells us why in the very next verse, Ephesians 4:27 “Don't give the Devil a chance”. You see a mature Christian understand what happens if you don’t deal with that anger properly and quickly.

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence and said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same.’

You see, when we say or do things in anger; they leave a hole just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out.

It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. As someone once said, 'A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.’

A mature Christian knows and understands the damage anger can do. They know that the devil will have a field day with that anger and they know that the devil will use that anger to create division amongst God’s people.

James warns us in James 1:20 “Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.” You see ... there is a place for anger, but only if it’s going to lead to the honour and will of God and that’s where we fail the test.

How many holes have we left in the fence with our anger? How many people have we wounded with words and deeds which we should have controlled?

If we want to grow up into spiritually mature Christians, we need to be able to control that anger. And the way we can help ourselves to control that anger is simply by applying the first two warnings of James, be quick to listen and slow to speak in our lives.

Sermon Contributor : Mike Glover

Escaping Your Prison

Escaping Your Prison
Ephesians 4:17 – 32

Back in the 14th century, in the region we now call Belgium, there was a duke by the name of Raynald III. Raynald had a nickname – Crassus. Crassus means fat, and he was fat because he really liked to eat. He liked to EAT ... a lot! In the course of time, he had a violent quarrel with his younger brother Edward which resulted in Edward leading a revolt against him. Edward took Raynald prisoner and took him back to Nieuwkerk Castle where he had a special room built around him. He promised his brother he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room.
Now, for NORMAL SIZE people, that wouldn’t have been a problem. There were several windows and a door of normal size, and none of them were locked or barred. The problem for Raynald was his size. In order to leave the room he had to lose some weight. But Edward knew his brother’s weakness and he made sure trays of delicious food were delivered to his room each day. Thus, instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Edward was accused of cruelty, he readily replied: “My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave ... when he so wills.”
Being delivered from evil depends on not being led into temptation. No trial or temptation is neutral. They're ordeals that either strengthen or weaken, depending on how they're handled. Christ teaches us to pray to be delivered from not only evil, but also from what carries us there (Jam. 1:14). Temptation isn't sin, but sin can't thrive without temptation. Or in Raynald's case, his fight wasn't in how to get through the door, but in how to get around the food.
Raynald stayed in that room for 10 years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined that he died within a year. He died a prisoner to his own appetite.
As I read this tragic story, I was struck by several truths:

FIRST: Satan takes us prisoner by capitalizing on our desires, weaknesses and tastes. He doesn’t need to create those things in us, he just takes advantage of our appetites. And then he sets out to do his best to see to it that we stay sated with the pleasures of sin.

SECOND: Raynald had a choice – he could only eat as much as was truly necessary, he could have exercised in his cell, and he could have walked through the cell door after losing enough weight. But Raynald was too fond of his sweets and tasty delights – thereby becoming his own warden, held in a prison only by his own weaknesses. The same is true for us – Satan can’t keep us in the prison. It is our choice – to continue to smother ourselves and indulge in our passions and sin, or to leave the prison behind.

THIRD: We think that the things we long for in our human nature are what will make us happy – that if we have enough of something, then we will be free at long last, not realizing (or at least not admitting to ourselves) that we are only perpetuating our imprisonment. Freedom awaits us outside the imprisonment of our desires. What would you rather have: freedom or another piece of cheesecake?

Jesus tells us:
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross.
This morning we read a warning from Paul to new Christians in Ephesus where he urged them: Don’t die a prisoner to your appetites.

Ephesians 4:17-20 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as [a]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ,

Now, that’s not the way they “learned Christ” BUT that’s how they grew up. They once walked as the Gentiles did because they were Gentiles, and they lived in Ephesus.

Ephesus was a thriving seaport, proudly referred to as the “Treasure House of Asia.” And it was highly prized by the Romans. They had invested a huge amount of money in building the city up and it was a center of the area, that the Roman Governor would often go there to hold legal proceedings.
But it wasn’t a very nice city. It was home to the Temple of Diana/Artemis - the goddess of fertility. Her temple was a huge structure that could accommodate over 24,000 people and is reckoned as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. But because Artemis was the goddess of fertility, the worship there included the burning of incense and the playing of flute music and the whole atmosphere which was designed to arouse the worshipers into an emotional frenzy and engage in shameless sexual behavior (we’ll leave it at that).

Ephesus was also a city of criminals. The tradition in Ephesus, that if any criminal reached the Temple of Diana they were granted asylum for their crimes. They couldn’t be punished, so that’s where criminals ended up living.
So, Ephesus was an extremely popular city, but also an extremely im-moral city. And that’s where these Ephesian Christians grew up and that’s where they lived. As you might imagine... it would be a very difficult to live a Christian life there. The temptation to do evil things existed on every street corner, and the Ephesians lived RIGHT THERE in the midst of some pretty nasty stuff.
The question arose, how could Christians avoid getting dragged back into their old lifestyles?
How could Christians avoid becoming imprisoned in their appetites?
These are the same questions we face in our present world.

Well, one way would be to get bad folks to stop doing their bad stuff. I mean if we could just convince people to stop listening to vile lyrics in their music, or stop going to inappropriate movies; or convince them to stop sleeping with their girlfriends/boyfriends, or committing adultery/ treating women like sex objects; or if we could convince them to stop cursing, and saying (or writing) mean or hateful things... I mean, if we could just DO THAT.
Then being a Christian would be so much easier, don’t you think?
But Paul tells us that’s not going to be real successful.
Ephesians 4:18-19 tells us “(The Gentiles) are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”
These folks have lived like this for so long if you’d asked them to stop, they’re gonna be like... WHY? They’re alienated from God. There’s a hardness and callousness in them. They’re so imprisoned by their lifestyles that Paul says they’ve “given themselves up to sensuality etc.” They’ve gotten to the point where they ask – What’s the point? It’s so hard to stop doing it... why bother?
Someone once stated that The Seven Deadly Sins (pride/lust/greed/ etc) are not evil acts, but rather universal human compulsions that can be troubling and highly enjoyable.”
In other words, many have accepted their cage of “compulsions” and accepted the idea that “I’M NOT GETTING OUT OF HERE!”

By contrast, the reason that WE (Christians) don’t buy into that is that is Jesus has promised to FREE us from the things (like this) that have made us ashamed. The pagan world isn’t gonna change just because we say they should.

Another way to escape the prison of sin would be to practice Social Distancing. Go live in a corner, lock yourself up in a monastery, or go and live in cave somewhere. That’s what people did back in the Middle Ages.
But Paul tells us... that’s just NOT practical.
In I Corinthians 5:9-10 he states 9 I wrote to you in my epistle not to [a]keep company with sexually immoral people. 10 Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
There’s no avoiding the fact that we live in a fallen world, and that’s where we’re gonna stay until Jesus comes again.

So if I can’t convince the bad folk to change their bad ways, and if I can’t practice effective social distancing by living in a cave somewhere, how can I avoid being imprisoned by MY appetites, just like everybody else?
Well this what Paul says we should do –
Ephesians 4:22 tells us 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

In other words: determine not to live by your appetites. Decide YOU are not going to live like a pagan. That’s what repentance is all about. Repentance is the decision to turn around and leave the old lifestyle. This is such an abiding teaching that a lot of people measure their spirituality that way and say “Look at what I DON’T DO! I don't smoke, and I don't chew, and I don't go with girls who do.”
But if that’s your only way of measuring your Christianity, you’ve missed something. It’s not enough to STOP bad stuff. It’s not enough to TAKE OFF the dirty deeds of sin.

ILLUS: Let’s say you’ve been out in the garden, digging in the dirt, pulling weeds and sweating up a storm. You get all done, and you realize you that are supposed to go out to eat with friends that night. So what do you do? You go inside, take off your dirty clothes and take a shower. Once you towel off... are you ready to go out and eat??? I hope not. You’re naked! They arrest people for going around in public that way. So, what do you have to do? Well, you have to PUT ON clean clothes.
It’s not enough to take off your dirty clothes and take a bath. You have to put on clean garments! And in the same way, it’s not enough to TAKE OFF the sins of the past, you have to replace those sinful behaviors with something else. You have to put on clean deeds and clean thoughts and clean words.
Ephesians 4:24 says “PUT ON the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

And, just to help us out, Paul gives us some examples. In Ephesians 4:25, for example, he writes: “Therefore, having PUT AWAY falsehood, let each one of you SPEAK THE TRUTH with his neighbor....”
What am I taking off? “Lying!!!” What am I putting on? “Truth Telling!”
Do you remember my telling you Ephesus was a home for criminals? There were probably a good number of ex-thieves in the church there, and I suspect they were tempted to go back to their life of crime. And what Paul telling them to take off – stealing!
And what are these thieves supposed to put on? Get a job!

Now, this is interesting – Paul doesn’t stop by telling them to get a job. He tells them WHY they should get a job. They should get a job so they have something to share with others.
This goes to the heart of changing a thief’s motivation – he used to steal because “what’s yours is mine, and I can take it.” But now, he is to think of his money (which he earns in a job) as something to give to others. His money is now the money he can give away.

And lastly – Ephesians 4:29-32 “Let NO CORRUPTING TALK come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for BUILDING UP, as fits the occasion, that it MAY GIVE GRACE TO THOSE WHO HEAR. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be PUT AWAY from you, along with all malice. BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
What am I supposed to TAKE OFF? Corrupt talk! Vulgar words! Curse words! Profanity!
And what am I supposed to PUT ON in their place? Words that build others up and make people feel good.
But that’s not all. Profane language isn’t all about using curse words. You can have corrupt language that doesn’t have a single curse word in it. You can have unwholesome talk that isn’t filled with profanity. In fact, there’s a CORRUPT talk that grieves God’s Spirit Who is inside of you!!!
These are words filled with bitterness, hatred, and slander of other people. And God says... get rid of that!!! Do not tear others down by what you say. God despises that kind of language!!!!
But why? Why would God hate that of language? Well, because God knows you and I... and He knows enough about us that He could say all kinds of nasty things about us. He knows things He could say about you that YOU don’t want others to find out about.
But He doesn’t. He won’t repeat those words about your past because, in Christ HE forgave you and me! IN CHRIST... all our shameful behavior been erased.
Since that is true, it’s inappropriate for us to gratefully accept HIM forgiving us... and then us turning around and NOT forgiving others of their behavior.

CLOSE: Now in the midst of the conversation about TAKING OFF sinful deeds and PUTTING ON good deeds, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that we’re NOT doing all this because we’re nice people. We may think we are... but that’s not possible. Isaiah 64:6 tells us “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” before God
In other words, we won’t be able to stand before God at the judgement and say “Hey, look at how nice I’ve dressed myself! Aren’t I pretty?” Oh no! This isn’t about dressing up in OUR righteous deeds. It’s about dressing up Christ’s righteousness.
In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said “I counsel you to buy from me ... white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen...”
It’s Jesus who clothes in pure garments. It’s HIS blood and His forgiveness that covers the nakedness of our sins. In fact, that’s how we come to salvation. When we’re baptized in Christ, Paul says “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON Christ.” Galatians 3:27

Sermon Contributor: Jeff Strite

The Bucket List

THE BUCKET LIST
Ephesians 5: 15 – 21

Did you realize all the things we do with time?
We “MAKE” time,
and we TAKE time, for things that are important to us.
We “SAVE” time with all kinds of gadgets and doodads.
We “MARK” time,
we “KILL” time,
we “RACE AGAINST” time.
AND (someone noted) that the worst thing you can do with time, is “WASTE” time.

ILLUS: One little girl complained to her mother after her first WEEK at school “I’m wasting my time. I can’t read, I can’t write--and they won’t let me talk!”

In our text today Ephesians 5: 15 – 16 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

We may think that Paul was SIMPLY saying don’t waste your time. But it’s more than that. The Greek word Paul uses here is “exagorazo” which means to “REDEEM” the time. It’s the same word Paul used in Galatians 3:13 “Christ REDEEMED us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...”

To REDEEM means - to purchase, to buy, to obtain by making a payment. Paul is telling us that our time is so crucial, so critical, that we must treat it like a valuable and precious commodity that MUST NOT be squandered and wasted.

We must redeem the time (he says) - but why?
What’s so critical about time that it must be redeemed?
Most of us would think the reason time is valuable because we only have so much of it. Sooner or later, we’re all gonna die. Now, if you’re blessed you may live 80 or 90 or100 years, but sooner or later your time is gonna run out. So don’t waste your time!!!
But that is not really what Paul says here. “Redeem the time... because the days are evil.”

ILLUS: What does that mean? Well, think about it this way.
Do you have a bucket list? A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket.”

And what people have on their bucket list tells you a lot about their priorities. They want to go to Europe,
make a “Hole In One”, swim with dolphins, go deep sea fishing, meet a famous person or jump out of an airplane.

There’s all kinds of things you could put on your “bucket list” - and there’s nothing wrong with those things (except maybe jumping out of an airplane).

It’s a wish list, and God’s OK with that kind of thing. But He warns us not to be foolish. He warns us NOT to leave one thing OFF that list. What is that ONE THING we must not leave off our bucket list?

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:17
Everything else you put on your bucket list is just for fun, but this one – this “understanding the will of the Lord... this one is serious. We live in an Evil time, and the choices we make have eternal consequences. We live in a world of evil. All you have to do is watch the news, or spend some time on Social Media, and you KNOW things aren’t right!

It’s an evil world and since God has saved you and I.... he asks us to do something about it –
and that SOMETHING is for us to shine our light into this dark world. Ephesians 5:8 & 10 tells us “At one time you were darkness, but now you are LIGHT in the Lord. Walk as children of light... and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

Jesus said “You are the light of the world”. That means you and I are called to reflect HIS LIGHT into this dark world, and the only way we’re going to do that effectively is to UNDERSTAND what God’s will is.

So, how do we do that? How do we learn God’s will?
Well, you’d think the answer would be - read your Bible. Memorize huge passages of Scripture.
Meditate on God’s Word day and night.
And that is good stuff because that’s what God expects of us.

But the problem is, if that’s all you do (immerse yourself in Scripture) you could end up like the Pharisees. The Pharisees knew more of their Bible than most of us, but there was something missing in their lives. And so, in place of asking us to Memorize and Meditate... Paul writes this in Ephesians 5:18:
“... do not get drunk with wine, for that is sin, but be filled with the Spirit”

What? What’s he talking about here? Well, he’s saying that in order for us to fully understand God’s will, we must be totally controlled by God’s Spirit. And then he makes an odd comparison: “don’t get drunk on wine” he says. That seems illogical until you understand what he’s trying to say.

ILLUS: Have you ever seen someone who’s been drunk? How can you tell if they’re drunk if you’ve never seen them take a drink? Well, you can tell they’re drunk by how they walk, by how they talk, by how they think and by how they act.
Everything about their drunkenness is obvious by their behavior. They are FILLED with alcohol... and it controls them.

By contrast Paul says, don’t be filled with alcohol (don’t get drunk) but be FILLED with the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit should so fill you that it controls how you walk and talk and think and act. That is crucial for Christians - we need to be so filled with the Spirit of God that people know it when they see our behavior!
So, how do we get FILLED with the Holy Spirit?
Well, first we need to understand that we already have the Spirit inside of us. Acts 2:38 promises us "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

Ephesians 1:14 tells us - God’s Spirit “is THE GUARANTEE of our inheritance.” You can’t be a Christian without God’s Spirit inside of you. So, first we need to realize we already have the Spirit inside of us.

But here in Ephesians it says we need to be “refilled” with Spirit. What’s that all about? Well, first let’s examine what Paul tells us to do, and then I’ll try to explain WHY this is so important.
First, Paul says that in order for us to be filled with God’s Spirit we need to... SING. We should be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” Ephesians 5:19

One group that I particularly enjoyed listening to was a trendy folk group called “Simon and Garfunkel.” As I listened to their music more critically, I discovered that one of their songs went this way:
“I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain, it's laughter and it's loving I disdain... Hiding in my room, safe within my womb, I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock - I am an island.” (I Am A Rock).
It’s a Great song... but really depressing.
Another song declared: “Hello darkness my old friend .....
I’ve come to talk to you again!”

The Bible teaches us that music has a spiritual power over the Spirit world!
One of the greatest singers in the Bible was a little shepherd boy named David. The book of Psalms is a collection of 150 songs (or Psalms) that the Jews sang, and David wrote half of them.
He was so good at singing that people began to pay attention long before David ever confronted Goliath.
In the meantime, King Saul (the King of Israel) had decided to stop listening to God, and run his kingdom his own way.

So, God withdrew His Spirit from him and the King became plagued with an evil Spirit. He plunged into depression, and that EVIL SPIRIT so tormented King Saul that (on the advice of one of his friends) he sent for David to sing for him. And we’re told in 1 Samuel 16:23 that “David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.”

Music has power over evil. And it has the power to bring peace to my heart and soul. So, when you’re depressed or struggling - find a song that glorifies God and sing it.

ILLUS: One song we could sing in most any situation in life is “This World Is Not My Home.”
“This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven's open door. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
The chorus “O Lord, you know I have no friend like you, if heaven's not my home, dear Lord what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”
Now, it doesn’t matter if you can sing well and with much power. The point is: find a song that glorifies God... and sing it. Use the power of GOD’S music to lift your soul out of despair and sadness.

Secondly - Paul tells us, that in order to be filled with God’s Spirit, we need to be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20
Now, quiz time: HOW OFTEN do should give thanks? (ALWAYS), and FOR WHAT should we give thanks? (EVERTHING). There’s a lot of people who have a hard time doing that.

ILLUS: Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet who made a lot of money for his writings. One time a newspaper reporter came up to him and said, “Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, “Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that.” The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, “Here’s a hundred dollar bill, Mr. Kipling. Now, you give me one of your hundred dollar words.” Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred dollar bill for a moment, took it, folded it up, and put it in his pocket and said, “Thanks.”
He’s right! The word ‘thanks’ is certainly more than a hundred dollar word. I would say it is more like a million dollar word. Thank you is one word that is too seldom heard, too rarely spoken, and too often forgotten. If we would all adopt an attitude of thanksgiving into our lives – our lives would be changed. We would cherish each day.
ILLUS: Studies have been done over the years where people have been asked to write down 10 things they’re thankful for and after an extended period of time the list is often still incomplete. Many people become so negative they struggle think of 10 things they’re thankful for. BUT, when given a tablet of paper and asked to write down things they were unhappy about, or disappointed with, or frustrated about, they could fill out an entire tablet of paper... and ask for another.

Why? Why are they so unhappy? Well, because most folks aren’t used to being thankful for what they have. For example, they don’t express thankfulness for the fact that they have 2 hands. Why should they? They’ve ALWAYS had those two hands.
And they’ve always had the ability to run and laugh and hear and see and sing. Why be grateful for those things?

By contrast, these folks tend to focus instead on what they DON’T HAVE.
They dwell on the wanting of a better job, or a better car, or a better spouse, or a better ... whatever. And that’s why they’re so depressed – there is ALWAYS going to be stuff that they don’t have, or that they can’t possess! So they end up being miserable/unhappy people.

Philippians 4:4-7 says “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice... do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Learn to be grateful for what you have (and quit focusing on what you don’t have) and you’ll be so filled with God’s Spirit that it will change how you think and how you behave. And the world around you will notice.

Now, there is a 3rd item Paul mentions that we can do to be FILLED with the Holy Spirit, but we’re going to address that next week (you can read ahead... it will spoil the surprise, but go ahead and read it anyway).

CLOSE: But, I want to close by explaining WHY it’s so important to be “Filled” with Holy Spirit. We talked about HOW we could do that, but I promised to tell you why it was so critical to do that.
The Bible tells us that Spirit is a very powerful force. He teaches us, He comforts us, He helps us in our prayers when we don’t know what to say.

Romans 8:11 tells us that We have the same power living in us... that raised Jesus from the dead!!!! “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Being “filled with the Spirit” is all about laying hold of the full power of the Spirit God has given us. You see, in order for the Spirit to operate fully in our lives, we’ve got to make our hearts decent places for Him to reside.

ILLUS: For example, let’s say I invite you to come to my house. But when you come in the door, the first thing you see is my clothes scattered everywhere, the dishes are piled high in the sink and all over the counters.  I have cats all over the place... 3 or 4 of them... and I have not cleaned up after them for weeks. Now, how comfortable are you going to be? How willing will you be to spend time with me and share with me? Not very.

The same is true for having the Spirit FILLING our lives. If we don’t clean up our lives by filling our hearts with singing and praise and such, God’s Spirit is NOT going to feel real comfortable with you. But when we learn to sing songs about God’s glory, train our hearts to be grateful and filled with thanks THEN God’s Spirit can be COMFORTABLE inside us, and be able to work His POWER fully in our lives.
But that’s only if you’re a Christian. If you don’t belong to Jesus, His Spirit isn’t going to be inside you anyway. That’s why we need to respond to His free gift of salvation as Acts 2:38 tells us "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Sermon Contributor : David Dykes

Sometimes The Truth Hurts

SOMETIMES the TRUTH HURTS
Text: John 12:42-50

A woman was preparing some pancakes for her sons,
Johnny, who was 5, and Alex, who was 3.
The two boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. So their mother decided that this would be a good opportunity to teach them a moral lesson.
So she said to them, "If Jesus were sitting here,
He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake,
I can wait."

Little Johnny quickly turned to his younger brother and said to him, "Okay, Alex, you be Jesus!"

And I guess the moral of the story is,
being a good example of Jesus needs to involve handling the truth like Jesus did. We are going to look at how Jesus handled the truth, especially when He was in debate with other people. We are going to learn how we should handle the truth
and come to the understanding that people will often be offended by it
and that’s because sometimes the truth hurts.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Timothy tells us that all scripture of God breathed. And you need to understand that when God says “All” He means “All”.
Everything written within the Old Testament and everything written within the New Testament.

“All scripture is God-breathed.” But we are living in a time where some people want to rip the Bible to shreds and discredit it.
We are living in a time where many religions of the world, even so-called Christians are placing less and less faith in the Word of God. We are living in a time where so-called religious people are using and twisting the Word of God to suit their own needs.
But how are we going to handle the truth? Are we going to stand up proudly and say,
“Yes, we have the truth and everyone else doesn’t and that’s just tough”? Or are we going to handle the truth like Jesus did?

Turn your Bibles to John 12:42-50 42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not [a]believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Jesus has just performed miraculous signs in front of a big crowd of people and as usual we have our dear friends the Pharisees in the crowd. They have just questioned Jesus about His up and coming death but they didn’t understand what was going on.

But this was no surprise to Jesus because He knew that the reason they couldn’t understand was because
God had prophesied that this would happen through Isaiah prophet in Isaiah 6:10 where he says,
“Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”

You see, like we saw a moment ago in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,
the Bible says the Bible is good for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.
And it’s by teaching the truth that you can set people free.

Now let me ask you, what is stopping you from becoming free? What’s stopping you from becoming a Christian?
Is it embarrassment from your friends at work or school?
What if you are already a Christian, what’s stopping you from becoming free?

You see freedom is when your walk reflects the truth that you talk. But how can you walk and talk the truth,
if your best friends and your family don’t even know you’re a Christian?

What’s stopping you all from walking and talking the truth?
You see for the religious leaders at the time of Jesus, it was the Pharisees who stopped some of people from becoming followers of Jesus.
But it wasn’t just the Pharisees who stopped the religious leaders from becoming followers;
it was their love of praise from men.

John 12:42-43 states it this way, 42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Remember these are religious men and they had a chance for freedom from all the religious ceremonies and sacrificing, which Jesus was bringing to an end anyway.
But they were afraid of loosing their jobs, their highly paid jobs, I may add.
But they liked their job, which was so much in the public eye, which was so well thought of by men and they loved it all.

You see, the Jews had the emotions of religion but they didn’t want Jesus as He was. They looked good and that’s all that mattered to them, but God knows the hearts of men.

Isaiah 1:10-17 10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.  11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?  13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.  14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.  15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.  16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Now ladies and gentlemen that’s pretty strong language ...  but you need to understand that this is God speaking about His own people.
And we as Christian can easily go through the motions of our religion but not have our hearts in it.   We can easily talk the talk but never walk the walk.

Now that’s the truth and I know it hurts us sometimes but we need to be pleasing to God, not to people. You shouldn’t be ashamed of being a Christian because Jesus said,
your not just the light in your house;
you’re the light of the world.
You’re not the salt in a shaker;
you’re the salt of the earth.

Jesus said in John 12:44-46, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

Jesus has brought you into the light and out of the darkness. Colossians 1:10-14 “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,  and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
You can’t mix an ungodly walk with a godly talk.

It’s like the man who goes to the doctors and says, “OK doc, give it to me straight, tell me in plain English, what’s wrong with me, I can take it!
And the doctor says, “OK you are just plain lazy.”
The man says, “OK tell me the technical name for it, so I can go home and tell my wife.”

And that brings me to my next point; there are some people who are sharing the Word of God with others for the wrong reasons. Jeremiah calls them ear-tickling preachers.
In other words, they are just out to please people.
They tell people what they want to hear,  not what they need to hear.

Jeremiah told them that they were going to be in captivity for a long time because their hearts were hardened towards their God. And much like the people of the world today, nobody wants to hear bad news. So the people tried and tried again to get rid of Jeremiah and kill him because they only wanted to hear good news.

God describes what was going on in Jeremiah 5:31. “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.”

Then in Jeremiah 6:13-14 “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.”

I love that phrase in there, where Jeremiah says, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.”
In other words, they looked great on the outside and carried on as though everything was fine but spiritually they were dying.

A mother put some turnip on her son's dinner plate, which was one of his least favorite vegetables, but she told him to eat everything. He cleaned his plate, except for the turnip.
She pointed out to him that if he had eaten the turnip first; he would have not been left with its taste in his mouth at the end of the meal.
The young boy said, "I suppose I was trying to delay the inedible."

When Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in Matthew 23 where He continually says, “Woe to you Pharisees and teachers of the Law.”
And He calls them “Blind guides and fools.”

Jesus said these things with the intent of getting them to look at themselves. He wanted them to realize that their ways were wrong and so bring about their repentance.

Now you might ask, where does it say that in the text? Well I show you, in Luke 23:34 when Jesus was on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He rebuked them because he loved them.

“For God so loved the Pharisees, he gave His One and only Son.” He was still willing to die for them.

Do you remember in Acts 2 when Peter preached the first gospel sermon and many responded? He repeatedly told the Jews that they were the ones who killed Jesus. They were the ones who had crucified the Christ.

The long awaited Messiah, God Himself, was brutally killed by them. Now can you imagine what that would have been like to have been there and been told that you are guilty of killing the anointed one?

Well, in a sense you were there because Jesus died for your sins too. So we are just as guilty as those who were there at that time.
But in Acts 2:37 it says, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

The reason they were cut to the heart was because they understood what they had done and now they are panickingNow Peter’s sermon offended many of them who were listening and so some people just went on their way because the truth hurt them.

But there were also 3000 other people who were offended but wanted to know how to make up for what they had done. That’s why they said, “Brothers, what shall we do?"

And it’s because Peter was preaching for a response, that’s why he got a response. He may have offended many people but it was for their own good.

And can you imagine how they would have felt after Peter told them what they must do? Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

I would imagine that they would be thinking to themselves, we’ve just killed the Messiah and now you’re talking about forgiveness and a gift! The truth hurts but sometimes people need to know the truth.

The truth about God,
the truth written within the Word of God
and the truth about themselves.

We ALL need to know the Truth.
We need to try and understand a little more of His Word, the Bible, everyday.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “The Bible is also useful for correcting”.
A three-year-old boy decided to put his shoes on by himself but his mother noticed that the left shoe was on the right foot.
She said, "Son, your shoes are on the wrong feet."
He looked up at her with a raised brow and said,
"Don't kid me, Mom, they're the only feet I've got"

And the point is that “There is only one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

And when Jesus was talking about the words He spoke, he said in John 12:49-50 “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."

Jesus spoke the very words the Father told Him to speak. He spoke in the very way the Father asked Him to speak. We have the Word of God today,
which according to Hebrews 4:12 is “Living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Romans 10:17 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Let me finish by saying this, “You can know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:9+10 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
People are going to perish because they refuse to love the truth and they want to feel good and look good.
Let me leave you with the words of Solomon, who had the right attitude towards our God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

We are here to obey God and to please Him, not ourselves. And if you’re not a Christian this morning then you too can please God by being obedient to His word. The truth will set you free

Sermon Contributor : Mike Glover

Who Crucified Jesus?

WHO CRUCIFIED JESUS?

Three executives were being flow across Seattle in a helicopter. When without warning, a huge cloudbank descended. It was too high for the pilot to fly above it and too low for him to fly below it. So he carefully flew the helicopter through the dense mist.
As he tried to regain his bearings, he could see a tall building through the cloud. As he flew towards it, he spoke to his co-pilot. The co-pilot took out an old map and wrote something on the back of it. When the helicopter drew near the building the co-pilot held up the map. On which he had written: “Where are we?” The people in the building recognizing their distress quickly wrote on a large piece of paper and held it up and it read: “You are in a helicopter.”
The pilot picked up a manual. Punched some co-ordinates into the on-board computer and flew the executives to their destination. When they had landed, one of the executives turned to the pilot and asked: “How did you know where we were, from a sign that read: ‘You are in a helicopter.” Oh that was easy,” replied the pilot. “I just knew that had to be the Microsoft building. Because they gave me an answer that was technically correct and absolutely useless!”

When we look at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, one of the questions that have to be answered is: “who is most responsible for the death of Jesus on a cross?” This is a question, which has puzzled and intrigued sceptics and unbelievers alike.
It has produced many written works about the last days of Jesus trying to decide who was most responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. And that’s the very question we want to look at today: Who is most responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus?
I can give you the technically correct answer to that question. It was a nameless squad of Roman soldiers, commanded by a centurion, who crucified Jesus. The details are sketchy.
We don’t know their names. Scripture gives no indication of their feelings as they carried out the death sentence on Jesus. They did what they were trained to do, execute criminals. Crucifixion was a horrible and gruesome act but the Bible doesn’t go into that.

It just tells us that they took Jesus out and crucified him. An anonymous squad of Roman soldiers, hammered in the nails, raised him on a cross, and stuck a spear in his side. All of which resulted in his death. But if that’s the only answer you will settle for, you haven’t looked deep enough.
We need to look at the crucifixion like an old paint covered chair. We need to strip away the layers and reach a conclusion on: “Who really crucified Jesus Christ?” We want to begin by stripping away the top three layers. These three layers are three men whom scripture holds particularly culpable for the death of Jesus.
The first one is one of His own disciples, Judas. The first question, which is always raised about Judas, is: “How can Judas be held responsible, if his betrayal of Jesus was predicted?”

Yes his betrayal was predicted, but doesn’t mean he wasn’t a free agent, anymore than the Old Testament prophecies of Jesus death would mean that he did not die voluntarily. There are numerous Old Testament prophecies about the death of Jesus and yet scripture says quite clearly “his death was his choice”.
Well, in the same way Judas’ choice was exactly the same. It was his choice to turn Jesus over to the authorities and it was a choice that crucified Jesus. Have you ever wondered what Judas’ motive was to betray Jesus?
Again this is one of the questions of history that has been the subject of many books and much speculation. However, when you turn to scripture you will find that the answer to: “Why did Judas betray Jesus?” Is as simple as it was sinful.

We begin in John 12. Which as you remember,
is the story of Jesus being anointed by Mary with a bottle of very expensive perfume. Judas protests the money could have been used to help the poor.
But John goes on to say in John 12:6 “Not that he cared for the poor, but he was in charge of the disciples' funds and often dipped into them for his own use”! Judas was stealing from the pooled money.
So, the first point we note as to who crucified Jesus, we can say, Judas’ greed put Jesus on the cross. His greed crucified Jesus. And there is more evidence from scripture to support this. After Jesus was anointed by the perfume, Matthew records that Judas left the room, went to the chief priests and he said to them in Matthew 26:15 “How much will you pay me to get Jesus into your hands?'' And they gave him thirty silver coins.”
And do you know what? Judas was not a unique person. He’s only one of many people, who have sold out Jesus. Judas is simply a powerful illustration of a principle taught by Jesus when he said in Mark 8:36 “And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process?”
“You cannot serve God and money”. You will ultimately make a choice and Judas did. And his greed crucified Jesus. Judas is a tragic example of what happens when people go all out for materialism and in the process they lose their souls.
Judas made a poor choice. What about you?
Now we scrape away the second layer of paint. Underneath this layer we find the leaders of the Jews and in particular,
Caiaphas, the High Priest. He’s the one that clearly exhibits their collective motives. He’s the one who orchestrated the worst miscarriage of justice in legal history.

Lawyers who have studied the legal system of the Jewish people of that time are quite clear that, in his eagerness to get rid of Jesus, Caiaphas broke the law. And he broke it many times over. He shouldn’t have allowed the trial to go ahead at night.
He shouldn’t have allowed a criminal case to proceed during the Passover season.
He didn’t have two witnesses examined separately before the trial. And he certainly didn’t have all the evidence for the court, prior to the start of the trial.

What happened that would cause these men to conduct an unfair and crooked trial? Scripture has the answer. Matthew records that the Chief Priests and Jewish leaders were trying to find a way to get the Romans to pass the death sentence on Jesus. So they pack Jesus off, in chains, to Pilate but Pilate wasn’t conned by their claims that they cared about the future of the Roman Empire. He knew their real motive. Matthew says in chapter 27:18 “For he knew very well that the Jewish leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy because of his popularity with the people”.

Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. It was nothing more than sheer jealousy that motivated them. The envy of Caiaphas crucified Jesus. He and the other officials viewed Jesus as a threat to their position and to their prejudices. The first thing he thought was: “he’s a threat and I have to get rid of him”. And that that’s exactly what Caiaphas and his crooked cronies did. They convicted Jesus, not because he was a sinner, but because they were. Greed and envy handed over the Son of God. It did then and it still does.

Let’s look at what’s under another coat of paint. As we strip it away, one name appears. One person whose finger prints are all over the cross and that’s the Governor Pilate. It seems that Pilate was a man who valued justice and we reach that conclusion by the very fact that three different times, he publicly declared that Jesus was innocent. It’s recorded in Luke 23:22 “Once more, for the third time, he demanded,” Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death.''
Pilate tried to avoid sentencing Jesus to death but Pilate’s downfall was that he was also a ideal politician. He knew that releasing Jesus would not please the crowd. So he tried to please the mob with a series of four cowardly compromises.

First, he packed Jesus off to Herod, claiming that Galilee was Herod’s responsibility. However, Herod sent Jesus back.

Secondly, he decided to compare Jesus with a gangster. Believing that the mob wouldn’t want a violent thug released to them. It didn’t work. The mob chose Barabbus.

Then thirdly, he decides he’ll have Jesus flogged within an inch of his death and that’ll come close to the real thing and satisfy the mob. Pilate should have known better. You don’t satisfy a pack of wolves by giving them a taste of blood.

And finally, he had a bowl of water brought to him and washing his hands, he tells the mob in Matthew 27:24 “I am innocent of the blood of this good man. The responsibility is yours!” And they said: “Fine, the responsibility is ours.” Every attempt he was trying to make to avoid sentencing Jesus failed.

And then the Jewish leaders said something that sealed it.
John 19:12 “Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar's.”

From that point forward, Pilate drops all this business about Jesus being innocent. Pilate’s fear crucified Jesus. Pilate was afraid. Afraid that word would get back to Caesar that he was not loyal governor. Afraid that word would get to his peers that he was a weak governor. Afraid, the people would become restless and revolt against him.

Yes, Pilate wanted justice, but fear played a higher motivation in Pilate’s life than justice. And that’s the lesson we must all learn from Pilate.
People must decide what their ultimate fear is going to be. That’s something Jesus said in Matthew 10:28 “Don't be afraid of those who can kill only your bodies--but can't touch your souls! Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell”. You see Pilate decided that his ultimate fear was what every politician fears: falling out with the people.
in Mark 15:15 “Then Pilate, afraid of a riot and anxious to please the people, released Barabbus to them. And he ordered Jesus flogged with a leaded whip, and handed him over to be crucified.”

That was Pilate’s fear, what’s yours?

You see greed put Jesus on the cross;
envy held the nails
and fear hammered them in.

But the scriptures don’t stop there. We’ve looked around the cross and identified the guilty. Now we must look above the cross and see who else was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Yes, men were guilty of the most heinous crime ever committed. But somehow in some mysterious way, even though their evil immorality was responsible for crucifying Jesus, God was also at work. The cross plan existed before Moses, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. In fact the cross plan is older than this world.

God foretold the death of Jesus. Acts 3:18 “But God was fulfilling the prophecies that the Messiah must suffer all these things.”

Jesus himself said the same thing in Mark 14:21 “I will die, just as it is written about me”. And three of the sayings of Jesus on the cross are direct quotes from the Old Testament. It was God’s plan. Yes, the cross exposes human wickedness at its worse but it was also the revelation of how God was going to overcome human evil.

And so we can say that God was also responsible for putting Christ on the cross. And you’ll find that in scripture too.
Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.”

Scripture says that Judas put Jesus on the cross.
Scripture says that Caiaphas put Jesus on the cross.
Scripture says that Pilate put Jesus on the cross.
And it also says that God put Him on the cross.

The cross was God’s ‘Plan A’ from the beginning.
Jesus knew that before he came.
That’s what the struggle in Gethsemane was all about.
He was praying so hard, he began to sweat blood.

Before the crucifixion, as Jesus Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciple and physician Luke noted in 22:44
“For he was in such agony of spirit that he broke into a sweat of blood, with great drops falling to the ground as he prayed more and more earnestly.”

What was the source of Jesus’ great stress and anguish?
Clearly he was in intense spiritual agony.
He has to make a decision.
The same decision that Adam had to make.
And the same decision that you and I have to make.
Will I do what I want? Or will I do what God wants?

God asked such a small thing of Adam. He put him in a beautiful paradise; told him to have anything he wanted, but just don’t touch that one tree. That’s all he asked of Adam.

But what did he ask of Jesus? He asked him to go and hang on a tree. That’s what Jesus was wrestling with and when he left Gethsemane, we know what his decision was because he didn’t back down. Do you know why? Jesus died before he was killed.

He died to self. He died to personal ambition. He died to personal desire. He didn’t walk to the cross like a victim. He marched to the cross as a man who had fully embraced the will of his Father. John 10:17-18 “The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again. No one can kill me without my consent--I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right and power to lay it down when I want to and also the right and power to take it again. For the Father has given me this right.''

Jesus had to make that decision. His Father loved the lost children of the world and their only hope, was a perfect substitute, to take the penalty that they themselves deserved. Jesus loved his Father and he knew what his Father wanted.

So, we acknowledge that Jesus’ love put him on the cross. He chose the cross because he loved his Father so much and he chose the cross because he loved us so much.

John 15:13 says “And here is how to measure it--the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends”

And Galatians 2:20 says “And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. Does anyone want to guess what “gave himself for me” really means? Jesus put himself on the cross.

Yes, Judas, Caiaphas and Pilate put Jesus on the cross but in a mystery almost too complex for us to comprehend, the Bible says that God put him on the cross and it even says that Jesus put himself on the cross.

Jesus loved us and he put himself on the cross for us.
SO, it finally hits us that the very best answer as to “Who crucified Christ” is: our sins crucified him.

And like Pilate we want to say: “I am innocent of the man’s blood. I didn’t have anything to do with the cross.” Well, Pilate can protest all he wants, but scripture knows better.

WE can’t wash our hands of the cross.
Remember the song: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Yes, I was there and so were you. Not just as a spectator either, but as a participant!

We will never understand the cross as something done for us, until we see it as something done by us.

In his painting titled the “Elevation of Christ”, Rembrandt depicts the cross being raised by men full of spite, malice and hate.
But, down in the left-hand corner in the dark shadows you can make out the face of Rembrandt himself. You see Rembrandt understood that in a very real way, he was there too ... and his sins were as much responsible for the cross as the men who were there that day.

Our fingerprints are all over the cross and the day that hits our hearts, is the day when we’ll get serious about discipleship! After the first gospel sermon, Peter finished by saying to the people that “they had crucified Jesus”.

They already knew that in their heads, but that day, it says they were pricked in their hearts.
Acts 2:37 “Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "What are we to do, brothers?"

You will never own your cross, until you own up to His.
Jesus has a cross for everybody.
You and I will not truly carry our crosses until we are broken by the truth that our sins sent Jesus to his.
And until that happens, the cross will be just a story we read and not the center of who we are. Jesus handed over his life for you. Have you handed your life over to him?

Sermon Contributor Michael Glover

Anchored or Drifting?

ANCHORED or DRIFTING?
James 1:12-16

1 One day, a great storm broke out while this man was sailing in his small boat down the Thames, the wind was blowing and the river was raging, so he tried to tie his boat to the harbor wall.

The next thing he knew there was a great big cruiser ship which collided with his small boat and substantially damaged his boat. Furious, he yelled, "Are you aware that power gives way to sail?" to which the owner of the cruiser replied, "I am aware of this but I happen to be anchored."

Just recently in the news we heard of a young actress and mother who lost her life because she failed to anchor the pontoon boat she rented with her 4 year old son. Authorities stated that she did not anchor the boat so it started drifting away from her while her and her son were swimming.
She struggled to save him but then was unable to save herself. He was wearing a life jacket but hers was found in its original spot on the boat.

I’m wondering how your anchor is holding this morning. Are you anchored or are you dangerously drifting through life.
The New Testament is filled with warnings about the possibility of falling away from the Lord. That’s why John tells us in
1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or anything in the world.”
The apostle Paul reminds us that, that world reliance can lead to us falling away. You see loved ones falling away is a real possibility for all of us.

In 1 Timothy 1:19-20 we find that “Hymenaeus and Alexander rejected the faith” and Paul says that they had “shipwrecked their faith” because of that rejection.

In 2 Timothy 2:16-18 we find again that Paul says that
“Hymenaeus and Philetus were replacing their faith with godless speech.”

And finally in 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul says that “Demas deserted him and the faith because he loved this world.” And so one of the ways to help us remain faithful is to understand why some Christians drift away from among us.

A new minister in a small Oklahoma town spent the first four days desperately calling on the membership, begging them to come to his first services but sadly he failed. He placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that as the church was dead, it was his duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice said. Morbidly curious the whole town turned out. In front of the pulpit, they saw a high coffin smothered in flowers. The minister read the obituary and delivered a eulogy; he then invited his congregation to step forward and pay their respects to the dearly beloved one who had departed.

2 The long line filed by. Each mourner peeped into the coffin and then turned away with a guilty, sheepish look. For in the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror where everyone saw themselves. Take a moment this morning to take a look at the people around you. Who do you see? Faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Who do you not see?

I know that many of us have seen many faithful brothers and sisters in Christ over years simply disappear into the sunset. Some still faithful to the Lord but moved homes or jobs and some who have simply fallen away.

And they fall away for a number of reasons, and the 1 st reason we’re going to look at is this, “Their anchor didn’t hold because it got tied up in temptation.”

When Jesus is sharing the parable of ‘the seed sower’ He says that “some of the seed fell among the rocks.”
And so, in Luke 8:13 He says that, “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”

In the film “Shawshank Redemption” which is about a prisoner called Andy who got convicted of crime he never committed. Now Andy was struggling to come to terms with life in prison and one of his friends says to him, “life in prison does strange things to a man, first you hate it, then you get used to it until finally you learn to depend on it.” And that’s how sin can work in our life.

Maybe you used to come to every worship service, every Bible study, every Men’s Class or Ladies Class, every time there was something happening at church you would be here. But then you started to miss a few of these days and you hated it at first, but now you are just in the habit of missing out
and now whatever it is your doing in it’s place
has become just too important for you miss out on.

You see that’s how sin works, sin grows and if you don’t put a stop to it, it will end up killing you. That’s what James was saying in James 1:12-16 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.”

James says that when you get involved with sin then it’s only going to lead to one thing and that’s spiritual death. And don’t be fooled loved ones, this testing that James and Jesus talk about can come to us in different forms. “Will your anchor hold?”

3 One of which Peter warns us about in 1 Peter 4:3-4 3 For we have spent enough of our past [a]lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.

Peter says that our old friends can come along and test us.
We’ve all got history and we’ve all probably been involved in some ungodly activities at some point in our lives. But when we became Christians that ungodly behaviour came to a stop. And Peter says, “Listen, when you meet up with old friends, they are going to come along even though they know you’re a Christian and tempt you.” They are going to tempt you to go back to the way you were before. And so loved ones we need to be on our guard against that. Do your non-Christians friends have more influence in your life than Jesus Christ does? Because if they do, you could be one step closer to going out from among us.

Jesus continues to say in Luke 8:14 “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” Now I believe that these are probably the most popular ways of falling away. Worry, riches and pleasures!

Christians get so tied up in this world and they get so involved in their jobs, their professions that their love for God takes 2nd place in their lives. There’s a big difference between working to live and living to work. Jesus said in Luke 12:15-21 “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” You see money has caused people to fall; money has caused people to grieve.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” It was the love of money that caused Judas to betray Jesus according to Matthew 26:14-16.

Money caused Ananias and Sapphira’s death because they lied to God according to Acts 5. Which Tom mentioned in a recent sermon.

Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

If you’re spending less time with God and His people and spending more time in perusing sport and pleasures, or making money then you could be on the slippery slope to falling away.

And then finally some people fall away because “their anchor got tied up in false doctrine.”

John warned these early Christians in 1 John 4:1 he says,
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 7:15, He says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

in Ephesians 4:14 The apostle Paul described them as being “Tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming”

Now we need to understand that the Bible wouldn’t warn us about these things if they weren’t a reality. People would rather trust people than trust God’s word.

Paul said to the church in Galatia in Galatians 6:6-9 6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.  7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Galations 1:7-8 "some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”   Because you see loved ones not only do those who teach false doctrine have a penalty to pay, so do those who fall away.

Hebrews 6:4-6 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

You see the Hebrew writer was writing to Hebrew Christians who were saved. He says that they have tasted the heavenly gift. They have received the Holy Spirit. They have tasted the goodness of God’s word. They saw and heard about the miraculous events through the Holy Spirit.

But because Christianity wasn’t their idea of Christianity they wanted to go back to Judaism. Some people can become Christians and months or even years later fall away and don’t come back,

not because they can’t ... but because they won’t.

1 John 1:6-9 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I want to leave you with some good news. Those Christians who fall away can return, if they so desire too.

James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

I don’t know how your anchor is holding up this morning, but I do know that God does. And please don’t think that you are beyond falling from grace, because nobody is. I have heard Christian after Christian say, “I will never leave the Lord and His church.” Only to find out a few years later they have fallen away.

6 Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12 “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!” And if you’re finding yourself slipping from the faith then take Isaiah’s advice.

He says in Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”

Because loved ones there is only one thing more tragic that falling away from the Lord and that is dying in that same condition. Because it’s only faithful Christians who have the hope of eternal salvation.

Song # Will your Anchor Hold ...

Or Song # You are Drifting TOO Far From Shore ...

And Hebrews 6:19 tells us that, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” And I hope that your anchor is steadfast and sure even though the billows are rolling. I hope and pray that your hope is anchored and fastened to the Rock Jesus Christ, grounded firm and deep in our Saviour’s love.

Will your anchor hold?

(compare to the regret that the actress had that she did not put on the vest before going swimming with her son....
It was available... it is something we all know would have saved her life ....
BUT, could have only SAVED her IF she had it on!!!!!

God’s Word is that LIFE JACKET that can save us but ONLY IF you take advantage of it’s purpose.

Be found faithful until death that you may receive that crown of righteousness that is prepared for us.!!!!!!