Merry Christmas! I cannot believe it’s here…in a two short days we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Once a year we celebrate the greatest gift given to mankind. Once a year, each Christmas, for a few fleeting days we and millions of our neighbors turn aside from our preoccupations and join together in community of wonder.
Eugene Peterson says, “If in the general festive round of singing and decorating, giving and receiving, cooking meals and family gatherings, we ask what is behind all this and what keeps it going all over the world, among all classes of people quite regardless of whether they believe or not, the answer is simply "a birth." Not just "birth" in general, but a particular birth in a small Middle Eastern village in datable time—a baby, named Jesus—a birth that soon had people talking and singing about God, indeed, worshiping God.”
This wasn’t an ordinary birth…there are births all around us and we know from our own personal experience. Birth means that a new person is alive in the world. A miracle in it’s self…that soon is obscured by late-night feedings, diapers, fevers, and inconvenient irruptions of fussiness and squalling. It doesn’t take long or a genius to figure out as parents you are in for the long haul…years and years of the child’s growing up time that will stretch our stamina and patience…sometimes to the breaking point.
How is it that the birth of Jesus has managed to set us back, how is that this birth was something special, something unique…and it continues to do so century after century…
This wasn’t just any birth. The baby’s parents and the first witness were convinced that God was entering human history in human form. Their convictions were confirmed by angels and the Magi and Shepherds …This new and exteriorly life now was before their eyes, right in their neighborhood. Men, women and children from all over the world continue to be convinced right up to the present moment.
Jesus’ birth was where God interceded; it is where God entered into human history personally…The Bible says in John 1:14 “the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”. He moved in…
And for thirty years or so, men and women saw God in speech and actions as a fully functioning human being, he was subject to the same conditions. He was under Jewish religion, Roman rule…God was made incarnate as a human baby is still not easy to believe, but people continue to do so. Many, even those who don't "believe," find themselves happy to participate in the giving and receiving, singing and celebrating of those who do. Incarnation, in-flesh-ment, God in human form in Jesus entering our history: this is what started Christmas. This is what keeps Christmas going, this is the greatest gift!
Why is this greatest gift?
Isaiah 53:2-6 gives us our first clue about Jesus, (Read)…He grew up ordinary, there wasn’t anything special about him …in fact many considered him ‘stricken by God”…why….because he carried our infirmities our sin and on the cross he was pierced for our transgressions…he was crushed for our iniquities…
Isa 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of glory of God”…We have all chosen a path for ourselves…Yet despite ourselves God intervened….”You see, at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly….God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we where still sinners Christ dies for us”.
We found ourselves enemies of God because of our sin, we found ourselves out of relationship with God…it is through the death of Jesus on the cross that we have ‘restored’ relationship with God, it through the blood of Christ we have the forgiveness of sin…
This morning we opened with a baptism, we herd a testimony about a changed life through Christ. Why is this so important…
Romans 6:3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Roman 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
See the greatest gift in Christ in the new life! We where lost sheep, each of us has gone there own way…but God intervened and entered the world, he was born and lived the sinless life and he suffered on the cross, but on the third day he rose again….
The Dominguez family set off Sunday afternoon, dressed in T-shirts, jeans, light jackets, and sneakers. Their plan was to drive into the mountains, find the perfect Christmas tree and head back home to Paradise. They found one tree and cut it down and started to drag it out to the pickup truck they left behind. It didn’t take long after a little snow had fallen to realize they where headed in the wrong direction.
Soon they knew they where lost, they dropped the tree and started looking for a road. After some time they found a road. The family split up, two head east the other two went west…as soon as started to get dark they met back together having found nothing. They spent that night huddled against a tree with limbs over the top of them. Fredrick the father realized to survive they where going to need better shelter.
They found a large concert pipe used for drainage and took refuge. For three days they stayed in the large pipe. During the day they sang songs and night they huddled together to stay off the freezing wind.
Mean while hundreds of volunteers where desperately combing the hillside looking for the family. There was approaching storm on the way. Authorities feared for the worst. CHP helicopters where grounded because of winds, but the weather broke for a thirty minute period. One CHP officer took advantage of the opportunity and made one more loop.
On the ground the family heard the approaching helicopter and Fredrick jumped out of the pipe barefoot and ran yelling and waving…he had earlier used branches and twigs to spell out the word “help”…which the CHP officer saw…he landed on the road near by and rescued the family.
I see this story and I can’t help but to think about Christ…many of us have found ourselves lost in this world, which is cold and many times ruthless. We all try to find shelter, which at best provides temporary relief to the impending storms. Who will rescue us? Thanks to Jesus Christ who enters our world and rescues us! He saves us and restores us, he gives us a new life in Him. The Dominguez family will not care so much about material gifts this Christmas…they will be celebrating the life, their new change at life. This morning you have the same opportunity…The Bible says…
Romans 10:9-10”and if confess with your month, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised from the dead you will be saved, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved”…
If you never have trusted in Christ then do it this morning…and if you have trusted in Christ…
Think about the gift of New Life he has given you…and celebrate!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
James 1:5-8 “The Message”
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.”
Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” hit home in unique ways. He can take a passage of Scripture and bring home, home where it hurts…or…home where it moves us.
How many times do we view hardship as a growth process? Paul and the Apostles seem to look forward to hard times…over the course of their ministries they came to conclusion. It’s the kind of lesson that can be only learned by suffering. So here we are two thousands years later and we are still the same frail human beings we have always been. How many of us hit hard time and the first thing we do is look for ‘options’. We pray only after we have exhausted all other means and you no where else to go…turn to God.
The problem is when we finally turn to him we are only “worrying our prayers”…we still keep all of our “options open”. In other words we don’t trust God to come through. I mean he is invisible. He doesn’t always answer prayers the way you would think…he gives us every reason not to trust or believe in him right? But do you see the failure in this line of thought?
Many of us struggle in hard times because we do not have a ‘daily’ relationship…we have never fully lived Christ. Oh on Sunday morning we might get as close as we can get for the week. But for most once the key touches the ignition switch of our car in the church parking lot the relationship ends until next Sunday morning.
Trust God means trusting God…it takes time to build…a lifetime for some. But it means we have to trust God with our lives, families, and our money…with everything. We have forgotten how to trust God in our nations…the giving of our time and money are at all times lows, and the same time we deeply desire a walk with God. So many people are without hope…without forgiveness….
So are you serious about your relationship….are you willing to start living the gospel, to start trusting in God. It’s starts with the small things…spending time with God in the morning…praying and reading your bible. It starts by taking your concerns to God and knowing he is listening and wants to help you. It’s all about trusting….In God we trust!
Start small and work up…you will not be disappointed.
-ps
Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” hit home in unique ways. He can take a passage of Scripture and bring home, home where it hurts…or…home where it moves us.
How many times do we view hardship as a growth process? Paul and the Apostles seem to look forward to hard times…over the course of their ministries they came to conclusion. It’s the kind of lesson that can be only learned by suffering. So here we are two thousands years later and we are still the same frail human beings we have always been. How many of us hit hard time and the first thing we do is look for ‘options’. We pray only after we have exhausted all other means and you no where else to go…turn to God.
The problem is when we finally turn to him we are only “worrying our prayers”…we still keep all of our “options open”. In other words we don’t trust God to come through. I mean he is invisible. He doesn’t always answer prayers the way you would think…he gives us every reason not to trust or believe in him right? But do you see the failure in this line of thought?
Many of us struggle in hard times because we do not have a ‘daily’ relationship…we have never fully lived Christ. Oh on Sunday morning we might get as close as we can get for the week. But for most once the key touches the ignition switch of our car in the church parking lot the relationship ends until next Sunday morning.
Trust God means trusting God…it takes time to build…a lifetime for some. But it means we have to trust God with our lives, families, and our money…with everything. We have forgotten how to trust God in our nations…the giving of our time and money are at all times lows, and the same time we deeply desire a walk with God. So many people are without hope…without forgiveness….
So are you serious about your relationship….are you willing to start living the gospel, to start trusting in God. It’s starts with the small things…spending time with God in the morning…praying and reading your bible. It starts by taking your concerns to God and knowing he is listening and wants to help you. It’s all about trusting….In God we trust!
Start small and work up…you will not be disappointed.
-ps
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Dad is here…
Today I drove to San Francisco International Airport and picked up my father, who flew in from Atlanta. He is staying with us for the next three weeks. It’s good to have him here. I have never shared this on the blog…but the early part of my life, my father and I didn’t get along. In fact there was an eight year period in which we didn’t talk. But later in life through Christ we where able in mend our hearts and build a relationship.
It’s amazing how ‘forgiveness’ is so powerful in our lives. It starts with Christ…we forgive because Christ forgives us. The power of forgiveness is underestimated in our culture…the need to forgive and the need for forgiveness. For many years I carried the burden of ‘hating’ my father. I blamed him for all that had gone wrong in my life, later in life I stood face to face with him and he asked me to forgive him for what he had done.
I remember at first being shocked, and the same time relieved. It was a freeing experience that opened the door to a deeper relationship with God and my father. People ask me where are the ‘miracles’ pastor…how about the miracles of healing relationships, mending broken hearts and taking the burden of carrying the ‘unforgiving’.
I hope, if you’re reading this and God has tugged at your heart about someone you haven’t forgiven…that you would ask the Lord to help you forgive that person. No matter who the person is or what they have done…God can help you forgive. I’m speaking from experience; I have had to forgive some people in my life, whom many would consider ‘unforgivable’. But how am I the ‘chief’ of sinner, whom God forgave of all my sin…how can I not forgive those who have wronged me.
-ps
It’s amazing how ‘forgiveness’ is so powerful in our lives. It starts with Christ…we forgive because Christ forgives us. The power of forgiveness is underestimated in our culture…the need to forgive and the need for forgiveness. For many years I carried the burden of ‘hating’ my father. I blamed him for all that had gone wrong in my life, later in life I stood face to face with him and he asked me to forgive him for what he had done.
I remember at first being shocked, and the same time relieved. It was a freeing experience that opened the door to a deeper relationship with God and my father. People ask me where are the ‘miracles’ pastor…how about the miracles of healing relationships, mending broken hearts and taking the burden of carrying the ‘unforgiving’.
I hope, if you’re reading this and God has tugged at your heart about someone you haven’t forgiven…that you would ask the Lord to help you forgive that person. No matter who the person is or what they have done…God can help you forgive. I’m speaking from experience; I have had to forgive some people in my life, whom many would consider ‘unforgivable’. But how am I the ‘chief’ of sinner, whom God forgave of all my sin…how can I not forgive those who have wronged me.
-ps
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
So what’s been going on…
Let’s see…we started family night on Wednesday nights. We provide a meal and a Bible study for everyone….K-Living. I love it! Tonight we had 22 people show up for the very best ‘Spaghetti alla Bolognese’ I have ever had. The sauce of was made by Doris aka “Na-na”, mother of PJ and mother-in-law of Don. We followed-up the meal with a bible study class and prayer. Overall I would judge the last weeks as very exciting and I can’t wait to see how God plays this out.
What else, school, football…I am in a Biblical ethics class and it’s been very interesting I will have to share some of what I have learned as soon as I can digest it. It’s like ‘drive by learning’. Last week we had over three hundred pages to read and write on.
Football has been fun…I haven’t coached in years and I get to spend two days a week coaching my son. Who by the way is turned in a real ‘force’ to be dealt with. I love his attitude most of all he plays where you ask him and he gives 100%...and lights people up! I have to say I have enjoyed this year watching more than ever.
Saturday morning I meet with my accountability ‘team’. I have learned to love these two men in way I have only started to understand. I say that because God has brought us together and we are bonded together by a common desire to know Christ deeper and to share that love with others. We all want the same thing and we are helping each other to accomplish that end. I have become so dependant, I need them in my life. I thank God for them…
Sunday morning I meet with the Deacons and the men in training, five of us right now. This group too has started to steal my heart…I have watched them grow spiritually and I have enjoyed watching them serve. All of this has been very humbling…I can see working all around me and I have to wonder why at times….I am so undeserving to have any part…yet that is what God does for all of us…we all don’t deserve his love or grace…and yet ‘while I was a sinner, Christ died for me’…It is too much for me to understand!
I love you Lord!
-ps
What else, school, football…I am in a Biblical ethics class and it’s been very interesting I will have to share some of what I have learned as soon as I can digest it. It’s like ‘drive by learning’. Last week we had over three hundred pages to read and write on.
Football has been fun…I haven’t coached in years and I get to spend two days a week coaching my son. Who by the way is turned in a real ‘force’ to be dealt with. I love his attitude most of all he plays where you ask him and he gives 100%...and lights people up! I have to say I have enjoyed this year watching more than ever.
Saturday morning I meet with my accountability ‘team’. I have learned to love these two men in way I have only started to understand. I say that because God has brought us together and we are bonded together by a common desire to know Christ deeper and to share that love with others. We all want the same thing and we are helping each other to accomplish that end. I have become so dependant, I need them in my life. I thank God for them…
Sunday morning I meet with the Deacons and the men in training, five of us right now. This group too has started to steal my heart…I have watched them grow spiritually and I have enjoyed watching them serve. All of this has been very humbling…I can see working all around me and I have to wonder why at times….I am so undeserving to have any part…yet that is what God does for all of us…we all don’t deserve his love or grace…and yet ‘while I was a sinner, Christ died for me’…It is too much for me to understand!
I love you Lord!
-ps
Monday, September 24, 2007
Book Review: The Character of Leadership
Let me say one thing to start things off...WOW!
I was getting ready to preach Sunday morning and my mentor Pastor Neely pressed this book into my hands and said, 'it's a must read'. He has never said that to me before and so I couldn't wait to get home and explore this "must read". I started reading and couldn't stop, until my body shut down...and I woke up this morning and finished it. It is only the second book I can remember in which this happened.
First let me say as a Pastor this is a 'must read'...he speaks clearly and from the heart. This is something I really appreciated…so many leadership books speak downward and I felt this was from the gut level, he was speaking from experience. Also in each chapter he gave particle advice that can be applied…it wasn’t something abstract or a twenty step process…, but reasonable attainable goals and exercises.
Secondly, this would be a good book for a pastor to go through with his leadership teams, deacons…anyone he is developing for future leadership positions. It gave a good picture of what is expected for all church leaders. It also helps those supporting pastors to better understand the pastor position and expectations (realized or not realized) demanded by the nature of the position.
It is an easy read, excellent....I want to recommend this book for several people…Dave, Bob….Cammille, Mike, Don, Dwight and John to name a few.
-ps
First let me say as a Pastor this is a 'must read'...he speaks clearly and from the heart. This is something I really appreciated…so many leadership books speak downward and I felt this was from the gut level, he was speaking from experience. Also in each chapter he gave particle advice that can be applied…it wasn’t something abstract or a twenty step process…, but reasonable attainable goals and exercises.
Secondly, this would be a good book for a pastor to go through with his leadership teams, deacons…anyone he is developing for future leadership positions. It gave a good picture of what is expected for all church leaders. It also helps those supporting pastors to better understand the pastor position and expectations (realized or not realized) demanded by the nature of the position.
It is an easy read, excellent....I want to recommend this book for several people…Dave, Bob….Cammille, Mike, Don, Dwight and John to name a few.
-ps
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Things have been busy..
Ok…I promise to post more this week. I was sick last week and got behind ‘stuff’…I also had finials due this last week…which are done. So all the excuses out of the way…
This morning we had about 60 in attendance and the message was about being thankful. I have been preaching out of Colossians…Col. 3:12-17…the last verse being
“and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.
What I love about chapter 3, it builds to this point…you see in verse 1-3 our eyes are to be one Christ…our hearts and minds are to be set on things above. We have been raised with Christ (v.1), you have a new life, and you are a ‘new creation’…you get a new start with Christ…so set your eyes above.
“Put to death” v.5…notice it doesn’t say wound it and let live in your life, cowering in the corner…have no mercy on ‘sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed”…but you can only kill these if your heart and minds…your eyes are on Christ. He is the one who enables you to destroy these sins….
After these…’rid yourself’ of anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language…do lie to each other….Paul is working down a list…it starts with Christ…look up…then look in to get rid of those things that keep you from looking up…
Now he is working on the relationships within the church…God representation on earth….’Christ is all, and is in all’ v.11
We are God’s chosen people…holy (set apart, for the glory of God) and dearly loved by the Lord v.12…we are to make every effort (clothe yourself) with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…with in the church (which should naturally carry outside the church)…but we have to work on these very things so we can “bear with one another…and forgive one another v.13. Have you every had to serve with some tough people in church…people in church can and will hurt you…but we have to forgive…because Christ forgave us. We cannot serve God and have hatred in our hearts…the two cannot co-exist with one another…you have to choose which one you want to keep…
But most of all you have put on ‘love’….without love the above will not work…love binds us and unites us…we love because Christ first loved us…and we are to love others…especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“let the peace of Christ rule in your heart" v.15…we all seek peace and only Christ can give us peace that surpasses all understanding…only Christ can take away our fears….but we have to submit…or allow him to rule in our lives…it’s like submitting to a umpire at a baseball game…the players submit to the umpires authority…he says who is safe and who is out…but the players have to agree to his authority…look what happens when we do submit…
We have peace and we can be ‘thankful’…then we can accept the word and the teaching of Christ and they will fill your life…your relationship with other believers starts to grow where you can spur one another on…you can teach and admonish one another…singing hymns and psalms will take on a new life…your hearts will be glad…filled with ‘gratitude’ v.16…
Finally you reach “and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.
So if you read through this and now I have to ask you question…what are you thankful for, is Christ in your life and are you truly thankful….are you thankful for your church family…right now pray a prayer of thanks giving…
Be thankful…
-ps
This morning we had about 60 in attendance and the message was about being thankful. I have been preaching out of Colossians…Col. 3:12-17…the last verse being
“and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.
What I love about chapter 3, it builds to this point…you see in verse 1-3 our eyes are to be one Christ…our hearts and minds are to be set on things above. We have been raised with Christ (v.1), you have a new life, and you are a ‘new creation’…you get a new start with Christ…so set your eyes above.
“Put to death” v.5…notice it doesn’t say wound it and let live in your life, cowering in the corner…have no mercy on ‘sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed”…but you can only kill these if your heart and minds…your eyes are on Christ. He is the one who enables you to destroy these sins….
After these…’rid yourself’ of anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language…do lie to each other….Paul is working down a list…it starts with Christ…look up…then look in to get rid of those things that keep you from looking up…
Now he is working on the relationships within the church…God representation on earth….’Christ is all, and is in all’ v.11
We are God’s chosen people…holy (set apart, for the glory of God) and dearly loved by the Lord v.12…we are to make every effort (clothe yourself) with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…with in the church (which should naturally carry outside the church)…but we have to work on these very things so we can “bear with one another…and forgive one another v.13. Have you every had to serve with some tough people in church…people in church can and will hurt you…but we have to forgive…because Christ forgave us. We cannot serve God and have hatred in our hearts…the two cannot co-exist with one another…you have to choose which one you want to keep…
But most of all you have put on ‘love’….without love the above will not work…love binds us and unites us…we love because Christ first loved us…and we are to love others…especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“let the peace of Christ rule in your heart" v.15…we all seek peace and only Christ can give us peace that surpasses all understanding…only Christ can take away our fears….but we have to submit…or allow him to rule in our lives…it’s like submitting to a umpire at a baseball game…the players submit to the umpires authority…he says who is safe and who is out…but the players have to agree to his authority…look what happens when we do submit…
We have peace and we can be ‘thankful’…then we can accept the word and the teaching of Christ and they will fill your life…your relationship with other believers starts to grow where you can spur one another on…you can teach and admonish one another…singing hymns and psalms will take on a new life…your hearts will be glad…filled with ‘gratitude’ v.16…
Finally you reach “and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.
So if you read through this and now I have to ask you question…what are you thankful for, is Christ in your life and are you truly thankful….are you thankful for your church family…right now pray a prayer of thanks giving…
Be thankful…
-ps
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Sick and the big thought....
I have been sick now for about three days now…I have not enjoyed it at all. But I have started reading another book, “The Spirit of the Disciplines, Understanding How God Changes Lives” By Dallas Willard.
The cross wasn’t the central theme of the early church…today we focus on the cross because it represents the forgiveness of sins…which of course is important...(the cross became a symbol of choice when the church because responsible for dispersing forgiveness in the middle ages) But was the cross the focus of Christ life or was the resurrection. Was the early church focused on forgiveness and that was it or did they live a changed life, based on the thought of this new life in Christ? Where they fearless because of the forgiveness of their sins or because they knew they would rise again?
See here is where I am really starting to struggle…I read verses like ‘you are dead to sin’, “I come that you might have life more abundant”…I am a new creation the old is gone the new has come….and I think what am I missing? Have I set my sights too low…why do I still struggle with sin like I do…where is the new life Paul talks about.
I know I have talked this way before and I really want to understand and to know Christ more than anything. I read Paul’s writing and I think ‘no way’…but is that because I have taught this is something we will attain later. See I am beginning to think we sell our faith short.
Listen Christ lives in us “Even when we were dead through our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ, Ephesians 2:5. Did Christ intent for us to just live our faith for a few hours on Sunday morning and maybe Wednesday night…did he intent for us to live in defeat all week spiritually…or did he intend for us to live in victory, a changed person…a light…Christ in us…transformed by the resurrection. We died to the old ways and we walk in the newness of life!
I don’t know about you but I want to experience the life Christ talked about, the life he lived! The life the disciples lived…how do I get there, I’m not sure…But Scripture talks about a new life…being clothed in Christ…over and over we see this picture of new life.
All of this begs the question…should we live focused on the cross where we received forgiveness of sin…and leave it at that? Or should the forgiveness of sin and the resurrection spur us to be changed…to live our lives differently…to put our faith into action? I’ll keep reading…Dallas has my attention….
-ps
Monday, September 3, 2007
Book Review: 3 Seconds by Les Parrott
One of the very cool things that has happen to me since I started blogging is Zondervan has ask me to be a book reviewer. So they send me a book and I get the pleasure of reviewing it. Problem is I have so much to read with school and church.
The first book I am going to review is "3 Seconds" it's about giving your first impulses a second thought, before all your negitive thougts take over. At first glance of this book you really don't see anything new, but Dr. Parrot has packaged this little book with lots of motivation. Many times we sit on things or dismiss ideas out of hand...in 3 seconds he is saying wait and think again. In the first chapter he tackles our initial impulse to: Give up before trying....because we feel helpless, Shun a challenge....because it seems daunting....etc. There are loads of good quotes tucked along the pages with a self assessment at the end of each chapter. This book would be good to go through with a mentor or a friend.
So if your looking for a book that is an easy read, its clear with motivating illustrations....this is a good book for you. Maybe your stuck in life or your job and your looking for something to kick start your 'motivation' again this book is for you.
-ps
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
No temptation…
I have been for sometime struggled understanding how to relate to life described in the bible. It’s true I have struggled with verses that say “You have died to sin”…If I have died why do I still struggle with sin?
Have you ever felt this way? As I move along in my faith, one thing that keeps come up is it not what I ‘do’ but has been ‘done’ for me. If I struggle with something it is because I have tried to correct it myself. By doing so I sin more! But if I look to Christ and focus on Him something different happens….
The Bible says…”No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
Several points….God has to be involved….No where in this verse does it say “Steve will provide”…it says God will provide. He has to be where our focus has to be…which means we must invite God into our lives and our struggles.
If God is involved…he will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear…think about that for a moment…God doesn’t take the temptation away, he allows you to be tempted and provides you a way out. Does God tempt us? No, but in our world temptation surrounds us and with God on our side we are given a way out.
No God….without God we are stuck…temptation will over take us and we will give into the very thing we are struggling against. It is impossible tackle sin on our own…there will be no way out, there will be no way to stand up to the weight of our own inherited weakness.
God is faithful…put your trust in his faithfulness. He will be the one who protects you from ‘weighty’ temptations…he will provide a way out every time. When tempted ask God to show you the way out, show me the door Lord! And I promise God will provide a way…He has never failed me if I’m looking!
-ps
Have you ever felt this way? As I move along in my faith, one thing that keeps come up is it not what I ‘do’ but has been ‘done’ for me. If I struggle with something it is because I have tried to correct it myself. By doing so I sin more! But if I look to Christ and focus on Him something different happens….
The Bible says…”No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
Several points….God has to be involved….No where in this verse does it say “Steve will provide”…it says God will provide. He has to be where our focus has to be…which means we must invite God into our lives and our struggles.
If God is involved…he will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear…think about that for a moment…God doesn’t take the temptation away, he allows you to be tempted and provides you a way out. Does God tempt us? No, but in our world temptation surrounds us and with God on our side we are given a way out.
No God….without God we are stuck…temptation will over take us and we will give into the very thing we are struggling against. It is impossible tackle sin on our own…there will be no way out, there will be no way to stand up to the weight of our own inherited weakness.
God is faithful…put your trust in his faithfulness. He will be the one who protects you from ‘weighty’ temptations…he will provide a way out every time. When tempted ask God to show you the way out, show me the door Lord! And I promise God will provide a way…He has never failed me if I’m looking!
-ps
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sermon: The Triumph of the Cross
This morning we are going to continue in Colossians. So far this is the 6th sermon out of this letter. If you remember the first sermon was “Thanksgiving and Prayer”….then we looked at the “The Supremacy of Christ”…in that sermon we looked at four things about Christ…His relationship with God (v.15), His relationship with creation (v.16,17), His relationship with the church (v.18), His relationship with us (v.19-23).
Next we looked at ‘Why Church Part I and Part II’…In part one we said we exist as the church Firstly to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the world…Secondly we exist to present every believer ‘perfect in Christ’….we do this through discipleship, through serving and worship…Thirdly we have to learn as Paul did…to rely on God. We have to allow God to work through us “Powerfully”…
In part II we expanded on the “rely on God” we saw how Paul prayed for the Church to be encouraged in heart and united in love…he was showing us his dependence on the Holy Spirit and if we are to proclaim the Gospel to the world we need to do the same.
Last sermon "In Christ all the Fullness" we said…Live in Christ…be rooted, built up and established in Him…overflowing with thankfulness…for in Christ the fullness of divinity lives…There is no one like Him…no one! There is nothing else we need!
This is where we pick up…it’s been an interesting ride and we’re only part way through Chapter 2…there are four chapters all together. So Chapter 2:10-15…
“We have been given the fullness in Christ”
Last week we talked about needing nothing more than Christ. If you add anything to Christ…remember Christ + something= nothing…Paul is still telling us we need nothing more…we have perfect standing in Him as Christians…this is a marvelous expression of grace of God that the truth of verse 10 should flow from verse 9. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and the believer is complete in Him.
This verse (10) teaches us is that the believer has in Christ all that is needed for life and godliness. Spurgeon gives a good definition of our completeness. He says we are (1) Complete without the aid of Jewish ceremony. (2) Complete without the help of philosophy. (3) Complete without the inventions of superstition. (4) Complete without human merit.
Jesus in whom we have given fullness is the head of every power and authority.
This brings us to the next verse…
11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ"
Circumcision was a typical rite of Judaism. It was a minor surgical operation in which a knife was applied to the flesh of a male child. Spiritually this signified the death to the flesh…or putting off the evil, corrupt nature of man. Unfortunately, what happen was they lost the spiritual meaning and it became a “ceremony”…it became a rite of works in which they where trying to gain God’s favor…
In this verse Paul is bring us back to the spiritual meaning of circumcision…the circumcision done by Christ refers to his death on the cross…the thought is this…Jesus died on the cross…like Jesus the person putting their faith in Christ also dies. They die to sin, to the law, to self and to the world. It isn’t done by human efforts…it’s accomplished by God…there is no way to earn it.
So when a person puts their faith in Jesus, they become associated with Christ in His death, by doing so they have recognized there is no way of earning of deserving salvation through human efforts….”it’s a gift from God”
This sets the stage for the next verse…
12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
Paul now focuses on baptism…and just as circumcision speaks of death to the flesh…baptism speaks of the burial of the old self. Paul is saying we haven not only died with Christ…but we have also been buried with him which is symbolized in baptism. All of this took place at our conversion…the moment you accepted Jesus, you died to your old self…
If we have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him, we have also been raised with him…to walk in the “newness’ of life! All of this happens at conversion and is symbolized by baptism. Water cannot save us…only Christ can…but out of obedience to Christ we publicly display our confession…by lowering into the water (death), underwater (burial) and rise out of the water (raised) and walk in a new way…
Why is this important to understand…
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Paul swings the conversation back to us or better the Colossians and we can apply it…at one time we were dead because of our sins…we were spiritually dead towards God…there was no movement in our spirits towards God and there was nothing we could do to earn God’s favor. But once you heard the gospel and believed you were “made alive” with Christ…and ‘He forgave us all our sins’…For the Colossians everything changed…for us everything changes…we are new creatures in Christ…
Paul continues saying all the written law, the ceremonial laws…religious rituals of the Jewish people…all which was there to show us how short we had fallen…we could not keep them ‘perfectly’…and there was a tab…a bill that had to be paid because of it and Jesus paid for in full having “nailed it to the cross!” Our debt is paid….Paul's language here refers to an ancient practice of nailing the written evidence of a canceled debt in a public place as a notice to all that the creditor had no more claim on the debtor.
What an incredible picture…but it get better…
15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
By His death on the cross and His resurrection and ascension, the Lord Jesus has conquered evil powers, making a public spectacle of them, and triumphing over them by the cross…the cross, the instrument of defeat…Jesus gains victory…
Upon a great Roman victory the defeated army would be disarmed and parade throughout Rome for all to see. They where no longer a threat…Rome was firmly in control…One day Jesus will parade Satan and his angels…but he will also parades death, pain and suffering…sin…all of the power and authorities will be made a ‘public spectacle’ and in the end will be forever banished!
We have the life of victory! Because we have been given the “fullness” of Christ…This should change the way we live…we have been freed from the bonds of sin…it no longer owns us….
There isn’t a past sin that should be holding you back…past guilt has been buried…let go of it…
If you’re struggling with a sin this morning claim the victory, stop trying to defeat it on your own power and let Jesus have the victory! He has won…
As Christians we shouldn’t live the life of defeat…but one of victory…no matter what the situation…is it going to be easy…no, will you struggle, yes. But in the end, when it is all said and done…we will be victorious…Jesus has won the victory through the cross…
My body is going to fail me, my friends are going to fail me…my family will fail me…life will fail me in the end…but Jesus will never fail me…through Jesus I have live, love, hope, and victory…
Pray with me…
-ps
Next we looked at ‘Why Church Part I and Part II’…In part one we said we exist as the church Firstly to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the world…Secondly we exist to present every believer ‘perfect in Christ’….we do this through discipleship, through serving and worship…Thirdly we have to learn as Paul did…to rely on God. We have to allow God to work through us “Powerfully”…
In part II we expanded on the “rely on God” we saw how Paul prayed for the Church to be encouraged in heart and united in love…he was showing us his dependence on the Holy Spirit and if we are to proclaim the Gospel to the world we need to do the same.
Last sermon "In Christ all the Fullness" we said…Live in Christ…be rooted, built up and established in Him…overflowing with thankfulness…for in Christ the fullness of divinity lives…There is no one like Him…no one! There is nothing else we need!
This is where we pick up…it’s been an interesting ride and we’re only part way through Chapter 2…there are four chapters all together. So Chapter 2:10-15…
“We have been given the fullness in Christ”
Last week we talked about needing nothing more than Christ. If you add anything to Christ…remember Christ + something= nothing…Paul is still telling us we need nothing more…we have perfect standing in Him as Christians…this is a marvelous expression of grace of God that the truth of verse 10 should flow from verse 9. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and the believer is complete in Him.
This verse (10) teaches us is that the believer has in Christ all that is needed for life and godliness. Spurgeon gives a good definition of our completeness. He says we are (1) Complete without the aid of Jewish ceremony. (2) Complete without the help of philosophy. (3) Complete without the inventions of superstition. (4) Complete without human merit.
Jesus in whom we have given fullness is the head of every power and authority.
This brings us to the next verse…
11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ"
Circumcision was a typical rite of Judaism. It was a minor surgical operation in which a knife was applied to the flesh of a male child. Spiritually this signified the death to the flesh…or putting off the evil, corrupt nature of man. Unfortunately, what happen was they lost the spiritual meaning and it became a “ceremony”…it became a rite of works in which they where trying to gain God’s favor…
In this verse Paul is bring us back to the spiritual meaning of circumcision…the circumcision done by Christ refers to his death on the cross…the thought is this…Jesus died on the cross…like Jesus the person putting their faith in Christ also dies. They die to sin, to the law, to self and to the world. It isn’t done by human efforts…it’s accomplished by God…there is no way to earn it.
So when a person puts their faith in Jesus, they become associated with Christ in His death, by doing so they have recognized there is no way of earning of deserving salvation through human efforts….”it’s a gift from God”
This sets the stage for the next verse…
12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
Paul now focuses on baptism…and just as circumcision speaks of death to the flesh…baptism speaks of the burial of the old self. Paul is saying we haven not only died with Christ…but we have also been buried with him which is symbolized in baptism. All of this took place at our conversion…the moment you accepted Jesus, you died to your old self…
If we have been crucified with Christ and buried with Him, we have also been raised with him…to walk in the “newness’ of life! All of this happens at conversion and is symbolized by baptism. Water cannot save us…only Christ can…but out of obedience to Christ we publicly display our confession…by lowering into the water (death), underwater (burial) and rise out of the water (raised) and walk in a new way…
Why is this important to understand…
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Paul swings the conversation back to us or better the Colossians and we can apply it…at one time we were dead because of our sins…we were spiritually dead towards God…there was no movement in our spirits towards God and there was nothing we could do to earn God’s favor. But once you heard the gospel and believed you were “made alive” with Christ…and ‘He forgave us all our sins’…For the Colossians everything changed…for us everything changes…we are new creatures in Christ…
Paul continues saying all the written law, the ceremonial laws…religious rituals of the Jewish people…all which was there to show us how short we had fallen…we could not keep them ‘perfectly’…and there was a tab…a bill that had to be paid because of it and Jesus paid for in full having “nailed it to the cross!” Our debt is paid….Paul's language here refers to an ancient practice of nailing the written evidence of a canceled debt in a public place as a notice to all that the creditor had no more claim on the debtor.
What an incredible picture…but it get better…
15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
By His death on the cross and His resurrection and ascension, the Lord Jesus has conquered evil powers, making a public spectacle of them, and triumphing over them by the cross…the cross, the instrument of defeat…Jesus gains victory…
Upon a great Roman victory the defeated army would be disarmed and parade throughout Rome for all to see. They where no longer a threat…Rome was firmly in control…One day Jesus will parade Satan and his angels…but he will also parades death, pain and suffering…sin…all of the power and authorities will be made a ‘public spectacle’ and in the end will be forever banished!
We have the life of victory! Because we have been given the “fullness” of Christ…This should change the way we live…we have been freed from the bonds of sin…it no longer owns us….
There isn’t a past sin that should be holding you back…past guilt has been buried…let go of it…
If you’re struggling with a sin this morning claim the victory, stop trying to defeat it on your own power and let Jesus have the victory! He has won…
As Christians we shouldn’t live the life of defeat…but one of victory…no matter what the situation…is it going to be easy…no, will you struggle, yes. But in the end, when it is all said and done…we will be victorious…Jesus has won the victory through the cross…
My body is going to fail me, my friends are going to fail me…my family will fail me…life will fail me in the end…but Jesus will never fail me…through Jesus I have live, love, hope, and victory…
Pray with me…
-ps
Friday, August 17, 2007
After the Point….
As you can well imagine writing “what’s the point”…had an impact on me and has been the catalyst of some deep thought. I have been moved to try and figure out where all this is going to lead. When I think about my church, I can’t help but to think how well we ‘do’ church. But is it changing lives, how do we move from ‘doing’ church to ‘living’ church?
Here is the deeper thought behind this…Christ died so that I would have eternal life…no dispute with this…but what am I to do in the mean time, while I’m alive here. If it’s all about where I end up…then does it matter how I live now? But if my life now is about living as Christ lived, what if while waiting for my death…I am to live humbly, sacrificially, in community, living deeply with others….as Christ did. What if church isn’t about me at all, maybe it’s about being a part of a sacrificial community. If our focus was to change into something along these lines, what would our church look like…how would our communities be impacted?
I don’t know about you…there is something stirring in me that longs for some thing much deeper…
Here is the deeper thought behind this…Christ died so that I would have eternal life…no dispute with this…but what am I to do in the mean time, while I’m alive here. If it’s all about where I end up…then does it matter how I live now? But if my life now is about living as Christ lived, what if while waiting for my death…I am to live humbly, sacrificially, in community, living deeply with others….as Christ did. What if church isn’t about me at all, maybe it’s about being a part of a sacrificial community. If our focus was to change into something along these lines, what would our church look like…how would our communities be impacted?
I don’t know about you…there is something stirring in me that longs for some thing much deeper…
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
What’s the Point…
I was listening to a podcast today, a sermon about "Salt and Light" by Matt Chandler, The Village Church. What got me about the message was how we have truly lost our saltiness. The Church has lost its influence on culture. The church as we know it is one generation away from being culturally irrelevant. Have you looked around your church? Where are the twenty something males? Where is this generation? Its advoiding the church in masses...
Here is something, I taught out of Romans tonight. Here is the last verse of chapter four of Romans…”He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”. Jesus died for us and one day we will (those who have put their faith in Him) stand in front of God justified because of what Christ did for us, not because of something we did. But what is the point if our lives are not changed? I mean what’s the point if we are not making a difference in our culture. Did Jesus die for me to be comfortable and happy in my little perfect church…or did he die for me, so that I might sacrifice for others.
I think we live lives short of what God had envisioned for us. Why does the divorce rate in the church reflect the world around us, why are Christian men/pastors/clergy/deacons still addicted to pornography, why does our behavior reflect the world around us and not Christ? Think about this for a minute we are called to go and represent Christ in the world. We are to influence the world not vise versa. Yet most of the time you cannot tell the difference between the believer and the non-believer…and then when we ask the non-believer to join us at church…he looks at us and says, “your no different from me…why should I got to church.” And what is our reaction…our feeling are hurt, we feel rejected. What did you think he was going to say?
Let me clarify something…this rant is directed at me as much as the church at large. I see the world reflected in me in so many ways and my heart is broken…because I can see Jesus looking at me and asking “what is the point, Steve…” It’s more than dieing for my sin, it’s about changing the world…He died “for all”…we have a part in this. Did Jesus die for us to have a “fire” insurance policy…a get out of jail free card….or did Jesus die to make the world a different place…what’s the point….(insert name here)
-ps
Here is something, I taught out of Romans tonight. Here is the last verse of chapter four of Romans…”He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification”. Jesus died for us and one day we will (those who have put their faith in Him) stand in front of God justified because of what Christ did for us, not because of something we did. But what is the point if our lives are not changed? I mean what’s the point if we are not making a difference in our culture. Did Jesus die for me to be comfortable and happy in my little perfect church…or did he die for me, so that I might sacrifice for others.
I think we live lives short of what God had envisioned for us. Why does the divorce rate in the church reflect the world around us, why are Christian men/pastors/clergy/deacons still addicted to pornography, why does our behavior reflect the world around us and not Christ? Think about this for a minute we are called to go and represent Christ in the world. We are to influence the world not vise versa. Yet most of the time you cannot tell the difference between the believer and the non-believer…and then when we ask the non-believer to join us at church…he looks at us and says, “your no different from me…why should I got to church.” And what is our reaction…our feeling are hurt, we feel rejected. What did you think he was going to say?
Let me clarify something…this rant is directed at me as much as the church at large. I see the world reflected in me in so many ways and my heart is broken…because I can see Jesus looking at me and asking “what is the point, Steve…” It’s more than dieing for my sin, it’s about changing the world…He died “for all”…we have a part in this. Did Jesus die for us to have a “fire” insurance policy…a get out of jail free card….or did Jesus die to make the world a different place…what’s the point….(insert name here)
-ps
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sermon: “To know Christ and to Make Christ Known”
“To know Christ and to Make Christ Known”
Sometime last fall I found myself in a leadership class thinking about our church. Our task that evening was to develop a ‘vision’ statement for a church. As we worked in our groups I couldn’t stop thinking about our church. What are we here for? What are we going to be about? What is a vision that will help unify us and help us focus? I remember praying for God to give me a vision for our church…
Before I go any further, I know the idea of vision statements is new to the church…but in reality they can find their roots in scripture…examples Gen 12:1-3, 2 Samuel 7:16
Why do we need a vision?
Vision is more than a statement of words…it is recognizing and committing to something bigger than you…A vision is not some abstract idea of ‘church growth’, but instead, helps us focus on what is important for us as a church…it gives us something to focus on…
Why Vision Needs to Matter…
A vision should matter…it carry with it a sense of conviction…Andy Stanley says this about vision, “There is always a moral element to vision. Vision carries with it a sense of conviction. Anyone with a vision will tell you this is not merely something that could be done…This is something that should be done. This is something that must happen. It is this element that catapults men and women out of the realm of passive concern and into action. It is the moral element that gives vision a sense of urgency...
Vision has a verity of meaning in the Old and New Testaments. Vision comes from faith and allows a church to be or to do something beyond its current abilities to impact the Kingdom.
We ask our kids vision question: “what do you want to be when you grow up?” We encourage them to have a picture of the future. We hope that our children will have a great “picture’ that will begin to influence the order of their lives.
Vision is God guiding his people to perform specific task within the context of their situation, and in Scripture God continually made clear what he desired his people to accomplish. When God entered the affairs of man, he did so to guide them not only in the present but to establish the direction they were to focus upon the future.
Three Verses…
As I thought further on the vision for our church three verses keep coming to my mind…the first was
Luke 4:18-19
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
The Second…
Matthew 22:37-39
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Lastly…
Matthew 28:19-20
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
In Luke 4 we see Christ proclaiming his mission to the world…he came to preach the “good news’, to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, but most of all he came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…Jesus was declaring the year of Jubilee, where all debts where cancelled, slaves where set free, property returned to it original owner…
Only this time Jesus was proclaiming he came to cancel the sin debt of man, he had come to bring the good news to the poor, he came to free us from the slavery of sin, to open our blind eyes…to mend a broken relationship…
God would make us alive with Christ…forgiving us of all our sin…having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross…Colossians 2:13-14
In Matthew 22 Jesus tells us we are to “Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all of our souls and all of our minds…and we are to love our neighbor as your self”…We are to love the Lord with all we have…
In Christ the fullness of deity dwells…in Christ we see the Word made Flesh…in Christ we see “God with us”…It is through Christ God has reconciled us from sin…Christ alone is worthy of all our praise…We are to give Christ all our heart, all of our soul and all of our minds…if we do that…as I said last week…if we put Christ first in our lives…Christ’s love for us will fill us and spill over into all our other relationships…we can then truly love our neighbor…
Lastly Christ commands us to Go…to Go into the world and make disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…teaching them to obey all that Christ command…the key word is “GO”…we need to GO..
“To Know Christ and to Make Christ Know”
I wrote these words on a piece of paper and knew it was from God…I was so excited I showed to all who would look at it…It was answer to my prayer…
I soon found out my ‘original idea” had and is being used by other churches…but it didn’t matter…this was our vision “unique” vision.
How can it be explained…We seek to know Christ deeper through worship, through discipleship and
through service…as we grow in deeper relationship with Christ…our desire should be to
make Christ known to our families, our friends, neighbors, co-workers, the community and the world around us.
As a church it gives us a clear vision for what we are about…everything we do will have two elements to it…does it help us to know Christ and does it make Christ known…if we can’t answer these questions we’ll have to reconsider or change what we are planning.
In worship we want to bring you closer to Christ through music and song, through the reading of Scripture, prayer and proclaiming Christ in preaching...In discipleship we want to help you learn to walk daily with Christ, being rooted and built up and established in Christ…in service we want help you exercise the Gifts the Lord has given you for the purpose of building up the body…
We want you to be excited about sharing Christ with others…excited about “Making Christ Known” and it all starts with a vision…
Closing…
So what have we talked about today…what is the point I want you to carry home this week. First Baptist Church of Rocklin has a vision… Christ…
First Baptist Church of Rocklin has a God size vision…a vision that will unify us and captivate us….a vision to help us understand where we are going as a church…a vision that sees the need of the community around us…a vision that convicts our hearts as something that should be done…
Our vision is “To Know Christ and to make Christ known”
If someone is to ask you what is your church all about…you can tell them….
-ps
Sometime last fall I found myself in a leadership class thinking about our church. Our task that evening was to develop a ‘vision’ statement for a church. As we worked in our groups I couldn’t stop thinking about our church. What are we here for? What are we going to be about? What is a vision that will help unify us and help us focus? I remember praying for God to give me a vision for our church…
Before I go any further, I know the idea of vision statements is new to the church…but in reality they can find their roots in scripture…examples Gen 12:1-3, 2 Samuel 7:16
Why do we need a vision?
Vision is more than a statement of words…it is recognizing and committing to something bigger than you…A vision is not some abstract idea of ‘church growth’, but instead, helps us focus on what is important for us as a church…it gives us something to focus on…
Why Vision Needs to Matter…
A vision should matter…it carry with it a sense of conviction…Andy Stanley says this about vision, “There is always a moral element to vision. Vision carries with it a sense of conviction. Anyone with a vision will tell you this is not merely something that could be done…This is something that should be done. This is something that must happen. It is this element that catapults men and women out of the realm of passive concern and into action. It is the moral element that gives vision a sense of urgency...
Vision has a verity of meaning in the Old and New Testaments. Vision comes from faith and allows a church to be or to do something beyond its current abilities to impact the Kingdom.
We ask our kids vision question: “what do you want to be when you grow up?” We encourage them to have a picture of the future. We hope that our children will have a great “picture’ that will begin to influence the order of their lives.
Vision is God guiding his people to perform specific task within the context of their situation, and in Scripture God continually made clear what he desired his people to accomplish. When God entered the affairs of man, he did so to guide them not only in the present but to establish the direction they were to focus upon the future.
Three Verses…
As I thought further on the vision for our church three verses keep coming to my mind…the first was
Luke 4:18-19
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
The Second…
Matthew 22:37-39
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
Lastly…
Matthew 28:19-20
19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
In Luke 4 we see Christ proclaiming his mission to the world…he came to preach the “good news’, to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, but most of all he came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…Jesus was declaring the year of Jubilee, where all debts where cancelled, slaves where set free, property returned to it original owner…
Only this time Jesus was proclaiming he came to cancel the sin debt of man, he had come to bring the good news to the poor, he came to free us from the slavery of sin, to open our blind eyes…to mend a broken relationship…
God would make us alive with Christ…forgiving us of all our sin…having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross…Colossians 2:13-14
In Matthew 22 Jesus tells us we are to “Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all of our souls and all of our minds…and we are to love our neighbor as your self”…We are to love the Lord with all we have…
In Christ the fullness of deity dwells…in Christ we see the Word made Flesh…in Christ we see “God with us”…It is through Christ God has reconciled us from sin…Christ alone is worthy of all our praise…We are to give Christ all our heart, all of our soul and all of our minds…if we do that…as I said last week…if we put Christ first in our lives…Christ’s love for us will fill us and spill over into all our other relationships…we can then truly love our neighbor…
Lastly Christ commands us to Go…to Go into the world and make disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…teaching them to obey all that Christ command…the key word is “GO”…we need to GO..
“To Know Christ and to Make Christ Know”
I wrote these words on a piece of paper and knew it was from God…I was so excited I showed to all who would look at it…It was answer to my prayer…
I soon found out my ‘original idea” had and is being used by other churches…but it didn’t matter…this was our vision “unique” vision.
How can it be explained…We seek to know Christ deeper through worship, through discipleship and
through service…as we grow in deeper relationship with Christ…our desire should be to
make Christ known to our families, our friends, neighbors, co-workers, the community and the world around us.
As a church it gives us a clear vision for what we are about…everything we do will have two elements to it…does it help us to know Christ and does it make Christ known…if we can’t answer these questions we’ll have to reconsider or change what we are planning.
In worship we want to bring you closer to Christ through music and song, through the reading of Scripture, prayer and proclaiming Christ in preaching...In discipleship we want to help you learn to walk daily with Christ, being rooted and built up and established in Christ…in service we want help you exercise the Gifts the Lord has given you for the purpose of building up the body…
We want you to be excited about sharing Christ with others…excited about “Making Christ Known” and it all starts with a vision…
Closing…
So what have we talked about today…what is the point I want you to carry home this week. First Baptist Church of Rocklin has a vision… Christ…
First Baptist Church of Rocklin has a God size vision…a vision that will unify us and captivate us….a vision to help us understand where we are going as a church…a vision that sees the need of the community around us…a vision that convicts our hearts as something that should be done…
Our vision is “To Know Christ and to make Christ known”
If someone is to ask you what is your church all about…you can tell them….
-ps
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Sermon: In Christ all the Fullness...
Everyday Life…(Colossians 2:6-9)
Everyday life can get you down…everyday life can ware you out, can’t it…it’s easy during these times for us to lose our focus…
The one thing I have learned about everyday life is going to happen to everyone…it doesn’t discriminate…it doesn’t matter what race you are, what sex you are…it doesn’t matter where you live…life is going to happen and with comes joy and sorrow…peace and war….pain and happiness…and everything else between.
Add all the voices that scream for attention…things can get really tough…
In this floating sea of uncertainty where do we find a steady place to stand…where can I plant my feet and stabilize myself…
The Colossian church found it self in the middle of this sea of uncertainties…The Jews where teaching one thing, the early Gnostics another…everywhere they turned someone was telling them something different to believe…and Paul reminds them….
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
Right off the bat Paul is telling the Colossians you have received Christ, so live in him or walk in him…Christ is all you need…
For the Christian walk…Christ is enough…enough for salvation, enough for everyday life.
The word Live or walk...is referring to the way a person lives their lives…walk has often been used in Christianity to describe their daily life…walking with Christ…it speaks of action and progress.
You cannot walk and remain in the same place…so it is in the Christian life; we are either going forward or backwards
Rooted, Built up, Strengthened=Thankfulness
7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
There are three words you need to underline…or circle in your bibles…Paul tell the Colossians they have received Christ…they are to live in him every day of their lives…and then Paul continues…
They are to be rooted…Paul is saying that Christ is the soil and we find our roots in Him…drawing our nourishment from Him…we are to be planted in Christ…
Think about trees that are deeply rooted…they are stable, the wind can blow and beat against them and they will not fall over…Christians deeply rooted in Christ will stand strong…in any situation…
Paul then switches to buildings…here Jesus is the foundation and we are to be built up one Him, the Rock of Ages…we are to be rooted once for all, but we are also being built up
Think about that for just a moment…if Christ is our foundation how big can we built up…there is no limit!
Next Paul says we are to be strengthened or firm or even better established…the thought here is this is a process that goes on continuously through the Christian life…Paul is saying live in Christ, be rooted in Christ, who is building you up and has established you…to continue in your faith…
overflowing with thankfulness…When we are doing these things, we should be overflowing with thankfulness…fact is our lives will be overflowing with thankfulness…when you focus all you have on Christ and he becomes the center of your lives…there is nothing left but thankfulness…he is so good to us…we don’t deserve his love, yet he lavishly pours it out on us…
Paul is saying do as I say and in any situation no matter what…you’ll not only survive it, you’ll be thankful….
What in this life can compare to Christ? Are you tired? Christ will give you rest, are you sick? Christ is the great physician….Christ is to be the center your life…want to love your spouse deeper, having marital problems?…put Christ above your wife or husband…and watch what happens…Want to love your kids properly, deeper…put Christ above your kids…if you put Christ first in your life…your life will be characterized by “overflowing thankfulness”….When Christ is first…His love will fill your life and overflow into all your relationships…You will be ‘thankful’…I promise!
Christ is all you need…
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Remember the Colossians where dealing with all these voices, saying you have to practice religion this way…or that way….there was ceremonialism, asceticism, Angele worship an attempt to diminish Christ….and there was early Gnostics with their “secret knowledge” and lastly they were facing the growing reliance on human wisdom and tradition….
I don’t know about you…but does that sound like things have changed much? Here in America we have these same voices screaming into our lives today…add materialism, idol worship, money worship….what are we to do? How do we filter all these different voices out…
Paul in this passage says…see to it that no one takes you captive through ‘hollow’ and deceptive philosophy….Many times we see people come along and try to tear down anything of value in our live…and then offer nothing to replace what they have attempted to destroyed…
The word ‘philosophy’ here means the ‘love of wisdom’…which there is nothing wrong with wisdom, but when wisdom is sought apart Christ….it can lead to terrible evil, the 20th century is a example of that….it’s when we start to exalt our own wisdom above the wisdom of God…when we worship the created, more than the Creator…we run into trouble…
The ‘human traditions’ and ‘basic principles of the world’….means following religious teaching which have been invented by man but has no foundation in Scripture…Paul was talking about the Jewish rituals, ceremonies, and ordinances by which man tried to win God’s favor.
Paul is saying to test all teaching by Christ…does it agree with the teachings of Christ? Listen to this verse from the Phillips translation…
“Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s idea of nature of the world, and disregards Christ!...
We are to filter all these voices out with Christ…
Because….
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
Paul returns everything to Christ…this verse is the most sublime and unmistakable verse in the Bible on the deity of Lord Jesus Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form…
Christ is God in flesh, in fullness…there isn’t anything missing…He is fully God and fully human….which counters many of the false religions of today…Gnosticism, Christian Science, Jehovah Witness…all deny the divinity of Christ…The argument is clear—In Christ is contained everything we need…Christ plus something equals nothing—why be satisfied with anything else? Christ is all we need…
So how can we sum up this morning….
Live in Christ…rooted, being built up and established in Him…overflowing with thankfulness…see to it that no one takes this away from you with teaching that make Christ into something less…for in Christ the fullness of divinity lives…There is no one like Him…no one! There is nothing else we need!
-ps
Everyday life can get you down…everyday life can ware you out, can’t it…it’s easy during these times for us to lose our focus…
The one thing I have learned about everyday life is going to happen to everyone…it doesn’t discriminate…it doesn’t matter what race you are, what sex you are…it doesn’t matter where you live…life is going to happen and with comes joy and sorrow…peace and war….pain and happiness…and everything else between.
Add all the voices that scream for attention…things can get really tough…
In this floating sea of uncertainty where do we find a steady place to stand…where can I plant my feet and stabilize myself…
The Colossian church found it self in the middle of this sea of uncertainties…The Jews where teaching one thing, the early Gnostics another…everywhere they turned someone was telling them something different to believe…and Paul reminds them….
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
Right off the bat Paul is telling the Colossians you have received Christ, so live in him or walk in him…Christ is all you need…
For the Christian walk…Christ is enough…enough for salvation, enough for everyday life.
The word Live or walk...is referring to the way a person lives their lives…walk has often been used in Christianity to describe their daily life…walking with Christ…it speaks of action and progress.
You cannot walk and remain in the same place…so it is in the Christian life; we are either going forward or backwards
Rooted, Built up, Strengthened=Thankfulness
7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
There are three words you need to underline…or circle in your bibles…Paul tell the Colossians they have received Christ…they are to live in him every day of their lives…and then Paul continues…
They are to be rooted…Paul is saying that Christ is the soil and we find our roots in Him…drawing our nourishment from Him…we are to be planted in Christ…
Think about trees that are deeply rooted…they are stable, the wind can blow and beat against them and they will not fall over…Christians deeply rooted in Christ will stand strong…in any situation…
Paul then switches to buildings…here Jesus is the foundation and we are to be built up one Him, the Rock of Ages…we are to be rooted once for all, but we are also being built up
Think about that for just a moment…if Christ is our foundation how big can we built up…there is no limit!
Next Paul says we are to be strengthened or firm or even better established…the thought here is this is a process that goes on continuously through the Christian life…Paul is saying live in Christ, be rooted in Christ, who is building you up and has established you…to continue in your faith…
overflowing with thankfulness…When we are doing these things, we should be overflowing with thankfulness…fact is our lives will be overflowing with thankfulness…when you focus all you have on Christ and he becomes the center of your lives…there is nothing left but thankfulness…he is so good to us…we don’t deserve his love, yet he lavishly pours it out on us…
Paul is saying do as I say and in any situation no matter what…you’ll not only survive it, you’ll be thankful….
What in this life can compare to Christ? Are you tired? Christ will give you rest, are you sick? Christ is the great physician….Christ is to be the center your life…want to love your spouse deeper, having marital problems?…put Christ above your wife or husband…and watch what happens…Want to love your kids properly, deeper…put Christ above your kids…if you put Christ first in your life…your life will be characterized by “overflowing thankfulness”….When Christ is first…His love will fill your life and overflow into all your relationships…You will be ‘thankful’…I promise!
Christ is all you need…
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Remember the Colossians where dealing with all these voices, saying you have to practice religion this way…or that way….there was ceremonialism, asceticism, Angele worship an attempt to diminish Christ….and there was early Gnostics with their “secret knowledge” and lastly they were facing the growing reliance on human wisdom and tradition….
I don’t know about you…but does that sound like things have changed much? Here in America we have these same voices screaming into our lives today…add materialism, idol worship, money worship….what are we to do? How do we filter all these different voices out…
Paul in this passage says…see to it that no one takes you captive through ‘hollow’ and deceptive philosophy….Many times we see people come along and try to tear down anything of value in our live…and then offer nothing to replace what they have attempted to destroyed…
The word ‘philosophy’ here means the ‘love of wisdom’…which there is nothing wrong with wisdom, but when wisdom is sought apart Christ….it can lead to terrible evil, the 20th century is a example of that….it’s when we start to exalt our own wisdom above the wisdom of God…when we worship the created, more than the Creator…we run into trouble…
The ‘human traditions’ and ‘basic principles of the world’….means following religious teaching which have been invented by man but has no foundation in Scripture…Paul was talking about the Jewish rituals, ceremonies, and ordinances by which man tried to win God’s favor.
Paul is saying to test all teaching by Christ…does it agree with the teachings of Christ? Listen to this verse from the Phillips translation…
“Be careful that nobody spoils your faith through intellectualism or high sounding nonsense. Such stuff is at best founded on men’s idea of nature of the world, and disregards Christ!...
We are to filter all these voices out with Christ…
Because….
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
Paul returns everything to Christ…this verse is the most sublime and unmistakable verse in the Bible on the deity of Lord Jesus Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form…
Christ is God in flesh, in fullness…there isn’t anything missing…He is fully God and fully human….which counters many of the false religions of today…Gnosticism, Christian Science, Jehovah Witness…all deny the divinity of Christ…The argument is clear—In Christ is contained everything we need…Christ plus something equals nothing—why be satisfied with anything else? Christ is all we need…
So how can we sum up this morning….
Live in Christ…rooted, being built up and established in Him…overflowing with thankfulness…see to it that no one takes this away from you with teaching that make Christ into something less…for in Christ the fullness of divinity lives…There is no one like Him…no one! There is nothing else we need!
-ps
Sunday, July 29, 2007
I Love you Lord…
Thank you Lord for all you do in my life…I think about how much you love me and I can ‘scarcely’ take it in. My mind is two weak to fully understand the depth of your love for me. Yet there you are, everywhere I turn you’re there to remind me…O’ Lord forgive me where I come up short of such love…
Lord help me love as you love…let me have a glimpse this morning of your heart, touch me and move me to greater depths. Help me love the ‘unloveable’, help me see past hurt and pain, use me to heal and restore. Let my tongue be one that brings peace and joy. Lord make my desire your desire, empty me and fill me with your presence…
Lord I love you and I am yours…bend me, mold me, Lord into the child you want me to be...for apart from you I am ‘nothing’.
Amen
-ps
Lord help me love as you love…let me have a glimpse this morning of your heart, touch me and move me to greater depths. Help me love the ‘unloveable’, help me see past hurt and pain, use me to heal and restore. Let my tongue be one that brings peace and joy. Lord make my desire your desire, empty me and fill me with your presence…
Lord I love you and I am yours…bend me, mold me, Lord into the child you want me to be...for apart from you I am ‘nothing’.
Amen
-ps
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Fools say in their hearts
'There is no God'
They are corrupt and their ways are vile
there is no one who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the human race
to see if there are any who understand
any who seek God.
Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt
there is no who does good,
not even one.
Psalm 53:1-3
I read these verses and think the fool isn’t very smart. To say there is no God is a very arrogant statement. By saying such a thing you are claiming to know everything there is to know in the universe and are declaring there isn’t a possibility of God. But when I continue reading something starts to catch my eye and causes me to shift in my seat. “There is no on who does good’, ouch. God looks down on the human race…(what happened to the fool?) Everyone has turned away? No one does good? Not even one?
What does all this mean? First the “There is no God” statement probably isn’t a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God doesn’t care about the way man lives. The fool is saying God doesn’t care how we live morally or ethically.
The Bible makes no bones about it…the entire human race…as a whole lives as if God didn’t care. The human race is characterized by its sinful behavior. This ‘practical’ atheism—living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions—makes them fools. One of the identifying characteristics of a fool is failure to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.
We see the LORD looking down from heaven…He is sovereign over the world and the people…he is looking for someone who seeks to have a relationship with him, who will wholeheartedly obey and worship him and he can find no one…because there isn’t one person alive who can do this on their own.
Many of us struggle with sin or we just live as if God doesn’t care about ‘my’ little sin…by doing so we become the fool…living our lives as if God sits far away and doesn’t care about what 'I' do…sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. God cares a great deal…in fact he cared so much he sent his Son…to die for our sins and make it possible to have a ‘right’ relationship with Him. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift from God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
So are you a Christian or are you a fool…and if you’re a Christian are you living as the fool or as a Christ follower?
-ps
What does all this mean? First the “There is no God” statement probably isn’t a philosophical assertion that God does not exist, but rather a confident affirmation that God doesn’t care about the way man lives. The fool is saying God doesn’t care how we live morally or ethically.
The Bible makes no bones about it…the entire human race…as a whole lives as if God didn’t care. The human race is characterized by its sinful behavior. This ‘practical’ atheism—living as if there is no God who will hold them accountable for their actions—makes them fools. One of the identifying characteristics of a fool is failure to anticipate the long range consequences of one’s behavior.
We see the LORD looking down from heaven…He is sovereign over the world and the people…he is looking for someone who seeks to have a relationship with him, who will wholeheartedly obey and worship him and he can find no one…because there isn’t one person alive who can do this on their own.
Many of us struggle with sin or we just live as if God doesn’t care about ‘my’ little sin…by doing so we become the fool…living our lives as if God sits far away and doesn’t care about what 'I' do…sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. God cares a great deal…in fact he cared so much he sent his Son…to die for our sins and make it possible to have a ‘right’ relationship with Him. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift from God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
So are you a Christian or are you a fool…and if you’re a Christian are you living as the fool or as a Christ follower?
-ps
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Short time or Long Time….
Have you ever known someone who was driven…I mean their whole life was drive to accomplish what they wanted. In the Air Force I can remember guys set out to make Chief on day. Their entire military life was set on doing things that would make them stand out for future boards. Every step they took along the career path was another rung on the Chief ladder.
In the Bible you see people driven but for an entirely different reason. It isn’t for the fame or money…but something more. We see God working in a person’s life and they are ‘driven’ to accomplish the task God has given them. Paul was one these people. God had called him and commissioned him to take the gospel message of Jesus to the Gentiles. His life had become this mission.
In a court session before King Agrippa, Paul told his story. The story was so compelling that Agrippa thought was trying to convert him….”do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian” protested Agrippa….but listen to Paul’s reply…
“Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, exact for the chains.” Acts 26:29
I love Paul’s heart…I love what motivates him. He wants to see people come to Christ. Nothing else mattered…everything else in life was secondary to the ‘prime directive’. What if we where focused as Paul was…My prayer this morning is God would give us this same fire and focus…that we would be like Paul.
-ps
In the Bible you see people driven but for an entirely different reason. It isn’t for the fame or money…but something more. We see God working in a person’s life and they are ‘driven’ to accomplish the task God has given them. Paul was one these people. God had called him and commissioned him to take the gospel message of Jesus to the Gentiles. His life had become this mission.
In a court session before King Agrippa, Paul told his story. The story was so compelling that Agrippa thought was trying to convert him….”do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian” protested Agrippa….but listen to Paul’s reply…
“Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, exact for the chains.” Acts 26:29
I love Paul’s heart…I love what motivates him. He wants to see people come to Christ. Nothing else mattered…everything else in life was secondary to the ‘prime directive’. What if we where focused as Paul was…My prayer this morning is God would give us this same fire and focus…that we would be like Paul.
-ps
Monday, July 23, 2007
Big Weight…
Ever have to carry a big weight for any distance? Even a little weight can get heavy under the right circumstances. I remember being in the San Diego Zoo a few years ago (2003) and on the back side near the Polar bears, Joe hurt his foot. So I had to carry his 50+ pound to the gate.
At first I put Joe on my shoulders and we looked at the animals, taking our time. But as time progressed in the heat Joe’s 50 pounds started to feel like several hundred pounds. By the time I got to front of the park I was worn out and didn’t care about any of the animals. I didn't want to carry Joe anymore
and boy did it feel great when he got down.
Many times I think sin in our lives can get the same way. We carry around sin and it wares us down to the point nothing else matters. We just want some relief. My times people never find relief and carry their burden to an early grave. Sin can totally drain your life; it will rob you of any joy. The Psalmist said “Blessed are those who transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Psalm 32:1. I love this verse because it tells us there is forgiveness; it proves God does forgive sin. He can and will take weight of our sin, through Jesus Christ. Jesus carried our sin and nailed it to the cross.
By accepting Christ’s forgiveness, he removes the burden of sin from our lives.
I don’t know about you…but knowing I am forgiven has changed my life…I am free from the slavery of sin and now I’m a slave to righteousness. Sin no longer has a grip on my life, I have been set free. It you are carrying a burden and need forgiveness asks Christ today to forgive you of your sins and ask him to be a part of your life. You’ll never regret it…I promise.
-ps
Many times I think sin in our lives can get the same way. We carry around sin and it wares us down to the point nothing else matters. We just want some relief. My times people never find relief and carry their burden to an early grave. Sin can totally drain your life; it will rob you of any joy. The Psalmist said “Blessed are those who transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Psalm 32:1. I love this verse because it tells us there is forgiveness; it proves God does forgive sin. He can and will take weight of our sin, through Jesus Christ. Jesus carried our sin and nailed it to the cross.

I don’t know about you…but knowing I am forgiven has changed my life…I am free from the slavery of sin and now I’m a slave to righteousness. Sin no longer has a grip on my life, I have been set free. It you are carrying a burden and need forgiveness asks Christ today to forgive you of your sins and ask him to be a part of your life. You’ll never regret it…I promise.
-ps
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Sermon: Why Church Part II
As you know Sharon and I was on vacation last week…
We where up in the mountains at 7000 ft in a beautiful cabin with 7 people. We no TV, internet, computers, radios, telephones nothing…and here are ten things I leaned…
10. A deck of cards can lead to some great conversation
9. Geese are a natural alarm clock
8. Goose would have been good for dinner
7. There is no air for walking at 7000 ft
6. You can get a sunburn in half the time
5. Using the bathroom is a coordinated effort
4. Matches are a necessity
3. Life does exist without electricity
2. The boys can walk and talk without the aid of an mp3 player
1. Smores are a food group
This morning we are going to continue in the letter to the Colossians…This is a rich letter…Paul is writing from a prison cell to a group of people he had never met.
The church in Colosse where struggling with religious relativism, some of the believers where trying to combine paganism and secular philosophies with the Christian faith. Some where questioning Christ…Paul confronts these views and affirms the sufficiency of Christ.
In fact I love this letter, because Paul always brings it back to Christ…Christ is the center of this letter and Christ is to be the center of our lives.
In Chapter one Paul talked of thanksgiving and prayer…He talked about the Supremacy of Christ…and how Paul labors for the church. In fact the last time I talked was ‘why church’…and we came up with three reasons…all of this taken from the end of chapter 1.
Firstly we exist to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the world…The fact that Jesus lived and died…that he was buried and resurrected…and that he defeated death…and by putting our faith in him we have an abundant life now…and we will live with Him in eternity.
We are to proclaim this good news to our neighbors, our family…to everyone…
Secondly we exist to present every believer ‘perfect in Christ’….we do this through discipleship, through serving and worship….
Thirdly we have to learn as Paul did…to rely on God. We have to allow God to work through us “Powerfully
In Chapter 2
We continue this same line of thought…So if you have your Bibles…we are going to read in Chapter 2:1-5…but before we do let’s pray.
In the first verse we see Paul is addressing not only the church in Colosse, but also the church in Laodicea. Both of these towns where close together and believed to have been started by the same person.
Paul mentions his struggle…remember how Paul in verse 29 of chapter 1 said “To this end I labor, struggling with all of his energy, which so powerfully works in me”…Paul understood it was Christ working through him, through the person of the Holy Spirit…it was the only way Paul could do things he did…by relying on the Spirit.
What are some of Paul’s struggles? Five times he received 40 lashes minus one from the Jews…three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three time he was shipped wrecked, he was consistently on the move, threatened from all sides, labored without sleep and many times without food…all the time worrying and concerned for all the churches…in now from a Roman prisons writes this letter…
Paul understood what it meant to suffer for his faith…he understood how to rely upon the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance.
We look at Paul and think we could never be like Paul, we could never do the things he did…but I challenge you this morning.
Does not the same Spirit that filled Paul and enabled him to do so many things for the church reside in you?
Upon putting your faith in Christ you where filled with the Holy Spirit…this Spirit is not one of fear or defeat…but it is the Spirit of victory in life…it’s the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...
One of the problems for Christians today is unrealized power of the Spirit in our lives. I think many time we relegate the Spirit to the sidelines of our lives…and only call on him when we really need him in our lives. We struggle with sin and life in general…never asking for help until it’s to late. It’s only when we find ourselves stuck in addiction or stuck in whatever rut do we call on the spirit to help us.
We need to live as Paul did, relying daily, moment by moment upon the Spirit in which God has given us.
Why was this so important to Paul
Paul’s purpose was “that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love”…v.2
Firstly Paul wanted to encourage the believers in their faith…Living the Christian faith is a challenge…it can be hard and at time seemly impossible. The Christians faith isn’t for the weak in spirit; it’s not the easy way out. The easy way is to live as the world around us lives…too go along with what feels good and what is ‘natural’. But the Christian faith calls you to be different, calls you live for Christ and to die to self. It fly’s in the face of our culture…
Secondly Paul wanted the believers to be ‘united’ in love…Paul is echoing Jesus’ command…John 13:34-35 says “A command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Paul understood the difficulty of living out the Christian faith, but he also understood it was impossible to do it alone. It is only when we are united in love, supporting one another…encouraging one another can we even begin to understand God…
Read the rest of the verse…”So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, v.3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Paul knew we could not fully understand Christ without each other…You can only grow in Christ through cooperate worship, discipleship and service through the church.
Now understand me…you can worship alone, you can study the Bible on your own and you can serve others alone…I would encourage you to do all these things…and you will grow in the knowledge of Christ. But it will only take you so far…
If I plant a tree in a pot…that tree will only grow to the height that pot can support…you will only grow so far alone…
But in the Church with other believers severing one another, exercising the gifts God has given you…is when you grow the most as a Christian….to fully realize Christ.
Another Reason
Is stated in v.4, Paul’s tells them this ‘so that no one may deceive you with fine-sounding arguments…How many Christians have been deceived and have fallen from their faith or joined cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormon because they where not part of a church and properly trained in their faith.
Many cults purposely pray upon “Christians”…they use the same terms or language, they will use the Bible and sound and look very Christian…but they are way off. Many believers fall into these cults thinking they are
following the traditional Christian faith, without realizing they have been deceived.
Others like Dan Brown the writer of the “Da Vinci Code”, sold millions of books and even had a movie…challenged the deity of Christ…reducing him to a man. By doing so he was denying the very center of the Christian faith…Some ‘Christians’ bought into this ‘fiction’ and started to question their faith….
Lastly
Paul delighted in knowing the churches at Colosse and Laodcea were firm in their faith in Christ…
We are to be firm in our faith…but the only way we can is…the only way… is if we are surrendered to the Spirit which resides in us…through the Spirit we can do it together…Through the Spirit we encourage one another, through the Spirit we love one another…If we do this we this…you will grow as a Christian…we will grow as a church…I guarantee it…
We where up in the mountains at 7000 ft in a beautiful cabin with 7 people. We no TV, internet, computers, radios, telephones nothing…and here are ten things I leaned…
10. A deck of cards can lead to some great conversation
9. Geese are a natural alarm clock
8. Goose would have been good for dinner
7. There is no air for walking at 7000 ft
6. You can get a sunburn in half the time
5. Using the bathroom is a coordinated effort
4. Matches are a necessity
3. Life does exist without electricity
2. The boys can walk and talk without the aid of an mp3 player
1. Smores are a food group
This morning we are going to continue in the letter to the Colossians…This is a rich letter…Paul is writing from a prison cell to a group of people he had never met.
The church in Colosse where struggling with religious relativism, some of the believers where trying to combine paganism and secular philosophies with the Christian faith. Some where questioning Christ…Paul confronts these views and affirms the sufficiency of Christ.
In fact I love this letter, because Paul always brings it back to Christ…Christ is the center of this letter and Christ is to be the center of our lives.
In Chapter one Paul talked of thanksgiving and prayer…He talked about the Supremacy of Christ…and how Paul labors for the church. In fact the last time I talked was ‘why church’…and we came up with three reasons…all of this taken from the end of chapter 1.
Firstly we exist to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the world…The fact that Jesus lived and died…that he was buried and resurrected…and that he defeated death…and by putting our faith in him we have an abundant life now…and we will live with Him in eternity.
We are to proclaim this good news to our neighbors, our family…to everyone…
Secondly we exist to present every believer ‘perfect in Christ’….we do this through discipleship, through serving and worship….
Thirdly we have to learn as Paul did…to rely on God. We have to allow God to work through us “Powerfully
In Chapter 2
We continue this same line of thought…So if you have your Bibles…we are going to read in Chapter 2:1-5…but before we do let’s pray.
In the first verse we see Paul is addressing not only the church in Colosse, but also the church in Laodicea. Both of these towns where close together and believed to have been started by the same person.
Paul mentions his struggle…remember how Paul in verse 29 of chapter 1 said “To this end I labor, struggling with all of his energy, which so powerfully works in me”…Paul understood it was Christ working through him, through the person of the Holy Spirit…it was the only way Paul could do things he did…by relying on the Spirit.
What are some of Paul’s struggles? Five times he received 40 lashes minus one from the Jews…three times he was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three time he was shipped wrecked, he was consistently on the move, threatened from all sides, labored without sleep and many times without food…all the time worrying and concerned for all the churches…in now from a Roman prisons writes this letter…
Paul understood what it meant to suffer for his faith…he understood how to rely upon the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance.
We look at Paul and think we could never be like Paul, we could never do the things he did…but I challenge you this morning.
Does not the same Spirit that filled Paul and enabled him to do so many things for the church reside in you?
Upon putting your faith in Christ you where filled with the Holy Spirit…this Spirit is not one of fear or defeat…but it is the Spirit of victory in life…it’s the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness...
One of the problems for Christians today is unrealized power of the Spirit in our lives. I think many time we relegate the Spirit to the sidelines of our lives…and only call on him when we really need him in our lives. We struggle with sin and life in general…never asking for help until it’s to late. It’s only when we find ourselves stuck in addiction or stuck in whatever rut do we call on the spirit to help us.
We need to live as Paul did, relying daily, moment by moment upon the Spirit in which God has given us.
Why was this so important to Paul
Paul’s purpose was “that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love”…v.2
Firstly Paul wanted to encourage the believers in their faith…Living the Christian faith is a challenge…it can be hard and at time seemly impossible. The Christians faith isn’t for the weak in spirit; it’s not the easy way out. The easy way is to live as the world around us lives…too go along with what feels good and what is ‘natural’. But the Christian faith calls you to be different, calls you live for Christ and to die to self. It fly’s in the face of our culture…
Secondly Paul wanted the believers to be ‘united’ in love…Paul is echoing Jesus’ command…John 13:34-35 says “A command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Paul understood the difficulty of living out the Christian faith, but he also understood it was impossible to do it alone. It is only when we are united in love, supporting one another…encouraging one another can we even begin to understand God…
Read the rest of the verse…”So that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, v.3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Paul knew we could not fully understand Christ without each other…You can only grow in Christ through cooperate worship, discipleship and service through the church.
Now understand me…you can worship alone, you can study the Bible on your own and you can serve others alone…I would encourage you to do all these things…and you will grow in the knowledge of Christ. But it will only take you so far…
If I plant a tree in a pot…that tree will only grow to the height that pot can support…you will only grow so far alone…
But in the Church with other believers severing one another, exercising the gifts God has given you…is when you grow the most as a Christian….to fully realize Christ.
Another Reason
Is stated in v.4, Paul’s tells them this ‘so that no one may deceive you with fine-sounding arguments…How many Christians have been deceived and have fallen from their faith or joined cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and Mormon because they where not part of a church and properly trained in their faith.
Many cults purposely pray upon “Christians”…they use the same terms or language, they will use the Bible and sound and look very Christian…but they are way off. Many believers fall into these cults thinking they are
following the traditional Christian faith, without realizing they have been deceived.
Others like Dan Brown the writer of the “Da Vinci Code”, sold millions of books and even had a movie…challenged the deity of Christ…reducing him to a man. By doing so he was denying the very center of the Christian faith…Some ‘Christians’ bought into this ‘fiction’ and started to question their faith….
Lastly
Paul delighted in knowing the churches at Colosse and Laodcea were firm in their faith in Christ…
We are to be firm in our faith…but the only way we can is…the only way… is if we are surrendered to the Spirit which resides in us…through the Spirit we can do it together…Through the Spirit we encourage one another, through the Spirit we love one another…If we do this we this…you will grow as a Christian…we will grow as a church…I guarantee it…
Friday, July 20, 2007
Giving…
I like t read ‘The Message’…I enjoy the way Eugene Peterson words things…You know what I don’t like? Infomercials on at night that entices people to get rich fast…You even see this creeping into the church. People think Jesus is a money dispenser, you just need enough faith.
Jesus says in Mark Chapter 4:24-25
"Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."
Let’s look at this for just a moment. Giving and not getting is the way…Is this true for all things? I think it is…Giving comes from the heart; you have to be willing to give, before you can give. You have to be willing to give up something ‘of value’ to another. So many of us give something away…because it is no longer of any use to us and we call this giving…but the giving Jesus is talking about is sacrificial. This is the kind of giving that changes us, changes our heart. Giving to your church should be done because you truly want to give…from your heart. I would rather you hang onto your money if your heart isn’t in it.
Giving shows we trust…by giving to your church…or because God has laid a need upon your heart to give to someone…shows you trust God. What that person does with the money, isn’t your concern….your concern is to do what God has told you to do, and this is trusting God and not yourself. How many of us give something away to a needy person and worry that they will use the money for something else?
Jesus also said in Luke Chapter 6:35
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it.
Give without expecting a return…this is the key to sacrificial living. The giving that keeps giving…it is when you reach this point God will flow through you to bless more and more people. Because keeping it will not be the issue…giving it away will be the need. Along the way God will bless and meet your needs…I promise, because God promises. I have never met a sour-faced, mean, gracious person, have you? The words just don’t blend together.
Give, give, give…give of your time, give of your money…give….and why do we give? Because God first gave to us….remember everything starts with God…He gave his Son…He gives you health…He gives you life and everything you have…So give back…
-ps
Jesus says in Mark Chapter 4:24-25
"Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes."
Let’s look at this for just a moment. Giving and not getting is the way…Is this true for all things? I think it is…Giving comes from the heart; you have to be willing to give, before you can give. You have to be willing to give up something ‘of value’ to another. So many of us give something away…because it is no longer of any use to us and we call this giving…but the giving Jesus is talking about is sacrificial. This is the kind of giving that changes us, changes our heart. Giving to your church should be done because you truly want to give…from your heart. I would rather you hang onto your money if your heart isn’t in it.
Giving shows we trust…by giving to your church…or because God has laid a need upon your heart to give to someone…shows you trust God. What that person does with the money, isn’t your concern….your concern is to do what God has told you to do, and this is trusting God and not yourself. How many of us give something away to a needy person and worry that they will use the money for something else?
Jesus also said in Luke Chapter 6:35
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it.
Give without expecting a return…this is the key to sacrificial living. The giving that keeps giving…it is when you reach this point God will flow through you to bless more and more people. Because keeping it will not be the issue…giving it away will be the need. Along the way God will bless and meet your needs…I promise, because God promises. I have never met a sour-faced, mean, gracious person, have you? The words just don’t blend together.
Give, give, give…give of your time, give of your money…give….and why do we give? Because God first gave to us….remember everything starts with God…He gave his Son…He gives you health…He gives you life and everything you have…So give back…
-ps
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Apart From You…
I was reading in the Psalms (catching up on my yearly reading), when I came across this verse “I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing”. –Psalm 16:2
I long ago realized “apart from God I have no good thing”. Many people in our culture would argue with me about this. They would say I have a beautiful wife and children, you have everything you need. The same people would say I’m a good person, I live in the greatest country on earth…etc…etc…etc.
Without God I wouldn’t have any of these things…left on my own my wife would have been gone long ago….left on my own I wouldn’t have kids....they would get in the way of my own life…left on my own I would be a ‘wrenched man’….
I had a professor say ‘your Messiah will be as big as our concept of sin’…think about that for just a moment. Your understanding of sin and its effect on your life will determine how big of a Messiah you need to save you…How big is your Messiah?
Think further about this…I forgive because I was forgiven, I love because He first loved me…I give grace because grace was given to me. There is nothing good I do that wasn’t first done to me through Christ. I have no good thing on my own….
But ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” Romans 8:37
Through Christ we are made complete, through Christ we become son’s and daughters to the most high….”The creation waits in eager expectation for the son’s of God to be revealed” Romans 8:19…through Christ, God’s glory shines through your life from now and into eternity…In Christ you are everything…apart from Christ we are nothing…
-ps
In case this hasn't sunk in, here is what Jesus said...
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
I long ago realized “apart from God I have no good thing”. Many people in our culture would argue with me about this. They would say I have a beautiful wife and children, you have everything you need. The same people would say I’m a good person, I live in the greatest country on earth…etc…etc…etc.
Without God I wouldn’t have any of these things…left on my own my wife would have been gone long ago….left on my own I wouldn’t have kids....they would get in the way of my own life…left on my own I would be a ‘wrenched man’….
I had a professor say ‘your Messiah will be as big as our concept of sin’…think about that for just a moment. Your understanding of sin and its effect on your life will determine how big of a Messiah you need to save you…How big is your Messiah?
Think further about this…I forgive because I was forgiven, I love because He first loved me…I give grace because grace was given to me. There is nothing good I do that wasn’t first done to me through Christ. I have no good thing on my own….
But ‘in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” Romans 8:37
Through Christ we are made complete, through Christ we become son’s and daughters to the most high….”The creation waits in eager expectation for the son’s of God to be revealed” Romans 8:19…through Christ, God’s glory shines through your life from now and into eternity…In Christ you are everything…apart from Christ we are nothing…
-ps
In case this hasn't sunk in, here is what Jesus said...
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Servant, Called and Set Apart….
Paul writing to the Romans simply opens his letter like this…
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God”
Paul considered himself a servant first…which is interesting. Humility is the where it has to start for all of us. We humble ourselves and acknowledge we are all sinners in need of grace. From this position you further humble yourself to become a servant. On of the biggest problems facing our churches today is a lack of humility. The church today has catered to the consumer mentality and as a result we have “consumer church goers’. These are the people who show up at your church service wanting to know what you can offer them. From the point the conversation starts, it’s all about them. There is not an ounce of ‘Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus’ in their hearts.
The other thing is Paul considered himself called. I believe we are all called by Christ. It’s a call to ‘follow me’. He calls for different task, but he does call. Not everyone’s call is the same job, but we are all called to one body…the church. Each one of us has a unique mission that we where created to fulfill. God has a plan for each and every person on earth. It’s important to remember we didn’t call God…but that Jesus called us. We answer the call, but we don’t place the call. God places the call on our lives early; your response to him is something he inspired inside your heart….from the beginning. Why…
To be “set apart for the gospel”. The gospel is—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the good news for all people. We were once lost in our sin with now way out…but through Christ…we die to the old way of life, we bury it forever more…and we rise to walk in the new life. He changes us from the inside out. Christ is awesome! I cannot help but get excited. He changes lives forever…he drives out the darkness in our lives and gives us a new light to guide our steps.
All of this starts with becoming a servant. So does your life story open the same ways as Paul’s…
Does it say, “Steve, a servant of Christ Jesus…”
(insert name), a servant of Christ Jesus, called by him and set apart for the Gospel of God….Does your life speak this verse to the world around you? Let is start today and watch what happens around you!
-ps
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God”
Paul considered himself a servant first…which is interesting. Humility is the where it has to start for all of us. We humble ourselves and acknowledge we are all sinners in need of grace. From this position you further humble yourself to become a servant. On of the biggest problems facing our churches today is a lack of humility. The church today has catered to the consumer mentality and as a result we have “consumer church goers’. These are the people who show up at your church service wanting to know what you can offer them. From the point the conversation starts, it’s all about them. There is not an ounce of ‘Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus’ in their hearts.
The other thing is Paul considered himself called. I believe we are all called by Christ. It’s a call to ‘follow me’. He calls for different task, but he does call. Not everyone’s call is the same job, but we are all called to one body…the church. Each one of us has a unique mission that we where created to fulfill. God has a plan for each and every person on earth. It’s important to remember we didn’t call God…but that Jesus called us. We answer the call, but we don’t place the call. God places the call on our lives early; your response to him is something he inspired inside your heart….from the beginning. Why…
To be “set apart for the gospel”. The gospel is—the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the good news for all people. We were once lost in our sin with now way out…but through Christ…we die to the old way of life, we bury it forever more…and we rise to walk in the new life. He changes us from the inside out. Christ is awesome! I cannot help but get excited. He changes lives forever…he drives out the darkness in our lives and gives us a new light to guide our steps.
All of this starts with becoming a servant. So does your life story open the same ways as Paul’s…
Does it say, “Steve, a servant of Christ Jesus…”
(insert name), a servant of Christ Jesus, called by him and set apart for the Gospel of God….Does your life speak this verse to the world around you? Let is start today and watch what happens around you!
-ps
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Struggles…
Life seems to have many struggles…we live through life and some suffer more than others. But we have all seem to struggle with something. Lately I have encountered my own struggles. I have struggled to trust God. I know for many readying this, the idea of a pastor struggling to trust God seems strange. It’s strange for me also…I find myself in a position where I have never been in before. It’s nothing special, I just find myself in a position where I have to trust others and especially God Himself. As a pastor I think God takes delight when his children are in total dependence on Him.
So here you are facing the impossible…it looks like there is no way out…it feels like God has abandoned you…King Jehoshaphat was in s similar situation (2 Chronicles 20). The Moabites, Ammonites and some of the Meunites banded together to make war on Jehoshaphat. Upon hearing the news Jehoshaphat called for the nation to pray and fast.
After praying the prophet Zechariah tells Jehoshaphat ‘do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’ (2 Chronicles 20:15) The next day the armies where destroyed by others factions. The battle was already won and Jehoshaphat’s people gathered the plunder.
I love this story because you see how Jehoshaphat’s heart worked…when faced with the situation he prayed. When given the answer from the prophet, he worshiped. Before facing the battle he gave thanks…he never wavered in his faith. So I hope your like me and draw strength from such stories. I have to put my faith in God and trust he has already fought the battle…the battle has been won. We can sing praises to the King “give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever.”
So give thank to the Lord…
-ps
So here you are facing the impossible…it looks like there is no way out…it feels like God has abandoned you…King Jehoshaphat was in s similar situation (2 Chronicles 20). The Moabites, Ammonites and some of the Meunites banded together to make war on Jehoshaphat. Upon hearing the news Jehoshaphat called for the nation to pray and fast.
After praying the prophet Zechariah tells Jehoshaphat ‘do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’ (2 Chronicles 20:15) The next day the armies where destroyed by others factions. The battle was already won and Jehoshaphat’s people gathered the plunder.
I love this story because you see how Jehoshaphat’s heart worked…when faced with the situation he prayed. When given the answer from the prophet, he worshiped. Before facing the battle he gave thanks…he never wavered in his faith. So I hope your like me and draw strength from such stories. I have to put my faith in God and trust he has already fought the battle…the battle has been won. We can sing praises to the King “give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever.”
So give thank to the Lord…
-ps
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Great Expectations
Go get your Bible I’ll wait….
Open it to Acts chapter 12. King Herod has just arrested some of the early Christians including James, the Apostle John’s brother. King Herod has James killed and arrest Peter with the same intent. Now it get very interesting…Peter is put into prison guarded by four squads of guards…four soldiers for each watch. So Peter is guard by four soldiers at all times. Herod is going to use Peter as the after Passover ‘entertainment’, by putting him on public trial.
Key verse….verse 5: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
I would think praying for him would involve praying for Peters release, that nothing would happen to him.
Here is the thought I have about all this…many times we pray in church without ‘expectations’…we pray for something and don’t expect it to happen…we lack faith. No don’t take that line of thought out to the fringe…the idea being through faith we can wield some kind of holy ‘force’ aka Star Wars. But I think many times we don’t expect God to hear us or answer us. Some with argue with me, but from my experience we don’t have ‘great expectations’ when it come to answered prayer.
So back to Peter….
v.6 he is sound to sleep the night before his trial and execution. He is sleeping so well the angel has to ‘strike’ him to wake him up. In that just woke fog, Peter stumbles out of the prison thinking he was dreaming…
v.11 Peter finally wakes up and realizes God had rescued him and he runs to place the church is praying. Here is where it is gets good…
v.13 Peter knocks on the door and the young lady named Rhoda comes to the door. She recognizes Peters voice and is so overwhelmed she forgets to open the door….and runs yelling “Peter is at the door”.
The group tells her, “You’re out of your mind”…
They didn’t believe Rhoda because they never expected Peter to be released. It wasn’t possible, James died and we prayed for him…Peter is going to die also. So they prayed with no expectations…
How many of us have a set back, God doesn’t answer our prayer about something and we lose all expectations.
Peters release by the angel would greatly encourage peter and the early church; it spurred them on to greater faith.
So the next time you have a set back in prayer…remember all the times God has answered your prayers and them pray with “Great Expectations”…God is Good!
-ps
Open it to Acts chapter 12. King Herod has just arrested some of the early Christians including James, the Apostle John’s brother. King Herod has James killed and arrest Peter with the same intent. Now it get very interesting…Peter is put into prison guarded by four squads of guards…four soldiers for each watch. So Peter is guard by four soldiers at all times. Herod is going to use Peter as the after Passover ‘entertainment’, by putting him on public trial.
Key verse….verse 5: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
I would think praying for him would involve praying for Peters release, that nothing would happen to him.
Here is the thought I have about all this…many times we pray in church without ‘expectations’…we pray for something and don’t expect it to happen…we lack faith. No don’t take that line of thought out to the fringe…the idea being through faith we can wield some kind of holy ‘force’ aka Star Wars. But I think many times we don’t expect God to hear us or answer us. Some with argue with me, but from my experience we don’t have ‘great expectations’ when it come to answered prayer.
So back to Peter….
v.6 he is sound to sleep the night before his trial and execution. He is sleeping so well the angel has to ‘strike’ him to wake him up. In that just woke fog, Peter stumbles out of the prison thinking he was dreaming…
v.11 Peter finally wakes up and realizes God had rescued him and he runs to place the church is praying. Here is where it is gets good…
v.13 Peter knocks on the door and the young lady named Rhoda comes to the door. She recognizes Peters voice and is so overwhelmed she forgets to open the door….and runs yelling “Peter is at the door”.
The group tells her, “You’re out of your mind”…
They didn’t believe Rhoda because they never expected Peter to be released. It wasn’t possible, James died and we prayed for him…Peter is going to die also. So they prayed with no expectations…
How many of us have a set back, God doesn’t answer our prayer about something and we lose all expectations.
Peters release by the angel would greatly encourage peter and the early church; it spurred them on to greater faith.
So the next time you have a set back in prayer…remember all the times God has answered your prayers and them pray with “Great Expectations”…God is Good!
-ps
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Sermon: The Supremacy of Christ
We are in Colossians again continuing our conversation…this time we are looking at the Supremacy of Christ….
We are in Chapter 1:15-23
In these verses you will see four things about Christ….
1. His relationship with God (v.15)
2. His relationship with creation (v.16,17)
3. His relationship with the church (v.18)
4. His relationship with us (v.19-23)
His Relationship with God
“He is the image of the invisible God” (v.15)
Image carries two ideas, the first being reflection…
-Jesus allows us to see what God is like….
-God is spirit and therefore invisible—but in the person of Jesus—God became visible.
“Thus He is the image of the invisible God”
Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9)
But the word can also mean “representative”
-God put Adam on the earth to represent Him but Adam failed…So God would send his Only Son into the world to show his love to all of mankind.
-So the image is both a reflection of God to us and a representation of God’s love towards us—both are embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
“He is the ‘firstborn’ over all of creation” (v.15)
-What does this mean?
-Through the years false teachers have used this verse to suggest Jesus was created, that he was the first person created by God. J.W. used this on me once….
-But nothing could be further from the truth!
-Firstborn has three different meanings in the Bible…
1. The literal sense—in that Jesus was born to Mary, her firstborn…
2. Exodus 4:22 says, “Then say to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn Son….
-God isn’t talking about a literal birth, but he is describing Israel’s place in God’s plans…
3. Psalm 89:27 says, “I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth”…
-This is a place of ‘superiority’ of supremacy—the idea being there isn’t a higher position…
-God was talking about King David, he would raise David higher than any other king…God decided to give David a “unique position’
-Isn’t this the very thought in this verse…’the firstborn over all creation’
Jesus the unique Son—He existed before all of creation and supremacy over everything!
-So this verse has nothing to do with actual birth—but shows Jesus eternal relationship with the God the Father—It’s a title of position.
His Relationship to Creation
v.16 “For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him”
We see Paul further stating “Jesus as the creator”
-We learn in this verse “all things” the whole universe—were created—by Him—through Him and for Him.
-He was the architect—creation took place because of him and everything was created for him…He is the one goal of creation….creation was for the glory of Christ.
-We also we Paul closing all the loopholes…he closes out all other possibilities…Jesus wasn’t the created—He was the creator.
v.17 “He is before all things and in him all things hold together”.
Jesus is before all things but also is the ‘sustainer’ of the universe…He controls the stars, the sun and moon…everything that exist is sustained by Christ…
His Relationship with the Church
Jesus dominion covers the natural universe—but also extends to the spiritual realm…
v.18 “He is the head of the body: the church”
-All believers in Jesus make up the body of Christ—the church.
-It is the way God has chosen to express himself in the world—Jesus is the head, the director…He controls the church!
“He is the beginning”
-Everything spiritual starts with him…he is the source of all spiritual life.
He is “The first born from among the dead”
-Some will say Jesus wasn’t the first in the Bible to be resurrected, which is true…but Jesus is the first to rise and never die again!
-He rose with a glorified body, He is the head of the ‘new creation’—and everyone who puts their trust in Him will also rise!
Jesus is first in everything…nothing is second to Christ…
So the question we have to ask ourselves—is Jesus first in my life?
His Relationship with Us
v.19,20 We see God is pleased to see all his fullness dwell in Christ.
Through the blood shed on the cross we see Jesus reconciling ‘all things’…
-to reconcile means to restore to a right relationship or standard—or to make peace with an enemy.
- when sin entered the world…we became separated from God…man became hostile towards God…and this needed to be reconciled
-everything has been affected by sin…
-the spiritual realms…
-creation itself…animals suffer sickness and pain…
-the ground is cursed…
-we can only be ‘reconciled’ by putting our trust in Christ—by believing in Jesus Christ and entering into a relationship with Him
v.22 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death—to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation”
How…
v.23 “If you continue in the faith, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel”…
The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ…if you put your faith in him you can have a central relationship with him…
Maybe your sitting here this morning and a thought has ran across your mind…Jesus isn’t first in my life….
Jesus is the firstborn of all creation…nothing is ahead of Jesus, no position is higher than Jesus…but for some reason Jesus has dropped form your top five…
This morning take the opportunity to make Jesus first…
-ps
NOTE: This is written in the form I use it to preach from...it's an extended outline. If you see the ... in the sermon...are places I can add my own words...explain it in detail based off of the reaction of the congregation.
We are in Chapter 1:15-23
In these verses you will see four things about Christ….
1. His relationship with God (v.15)
2. His relationship with creation (v.16,17)
3. His relationship with the church (v.18)
4. His relationship with us (v.19-23)
His Relationship with God
“He is the image of the invisible God” (v.15)
Image carries two ideas, the first being reflection…
-Jesus allows us to see what God is like….
-God is spirit and therefore invisible—but in the person of Jesus—God became visible.
“Thus He is the image of the invisible God”
Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the father” (John 14:9)
But the word can also mean “representative”
-God put Adam on the earth to represent Him but Adam failed…So God would send his Only Son into the world to show his love to all of mankind.
-So the image is both a reflection of God to us and a representation of God’s love towards us—both are embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
“He is the ‘firstborn’ over all of creation” (v.15)
-What does this mean?
-Through the years false teachers have used this verse to suggest Jesus was created, that he was the first person created by God. J.W. used this on me once….
-But nothing could be further from the truth!
-Firstborn has three different meanings in the Bible…
1. The literal sense—in that Jesus was born to Mary, her firstborn…
2. Exodus 4:22 says, “Then say to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn Son….
-God isn’t talking about a literal birth, but he is describing Israel’s place in God’s plans…
3. Psalm 89:27 says, “I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth”…
-This is a place of ‘superiority’ of supremacy—the idea being there isn’t a higher position…
-God was talking about King David, he would raise David higher than any other king…God decided to give David a “unique position’
-Isn’t this the very thought in this verse…’the firstborn over all creation’
Jesus the unique Son—He existed before all of creation and supremacy over everything!
-So this verse has nothing to do with actual birth—but shows Jesus eternal relationship with the God the Father—It’s a title of position.
His Relationship to Creation
v.16 “For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or power or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him”
We see Paul further stating “Jesus as the creator”
-We learn in this verse “all things” the whole universe—were created—by Him—through Him and for Him.
-He was the architect—creation took place because of him and everything was created for him…He is the one goal of creation….creation was for the glory of Christ.
-We also we Paul closing all the loopholes…he closes out all other possibilities…Jesus wasn’t the created—He was the creator.
v.17 “He is before all things and in him all things hold together”.
Jesus is before all things but also is the ‘sustainer’ of the universe…He controls the stars, the sun and moon…everything that exist is sustained by Christ…
His Relationship with the Church
Jesus dominion covers the natural universe—but also extends to the spiritual realm…
v.18 “He is the head of the body: the church”
-All believers in Jesus make up the body of Christ—the church.
-It is the way God has chosen to express himself in the world—Jesus is the head, the director…He controls the church!
“He is the beginning”
-Everything spiritual starts with him…he is the source of all spiritual life.
He is “The first born from among the dead”
-Some will say Jesus wasn’t the first in the Bible to be resurrected, which is true…but Jesus is the first to rise and never die again!
-He rose with a glorified body, He is the head of the ‘new creation’—and everyone who puts their trust in Him will also rise!
Jesus is first in everything…nothing is second to Christ…
So the question we have to ask ourselves—is Jesus first in my life?
His Relationship with Us
v.19,20 We see God is pleased to see all his fullness dwell in Christ.
Through the blood shed on the cross we see Jesus reconciling ‘all things’…
-to reconcile means to restore to a right relationship or standard—or to make peace with an enemy.
- when sin entered the world…we became separated from God…man became hostile towards God…and this needed to be reconciled
-everything has been affected by sin…
-the spiritual realms…
-creation itself…animals suffer sickness and pain…
-the ground is cursed…
-we can only be ‘reconciled’ by putting our trust in Christ—by believing in Jesus Christ and entering into a relationship with Him
v.22 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ physical body through death—to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation”
How…
v.23 “If you continue in the faith, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel”…
The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ…if you put your faith in him you can have a central relationship with him…
Maybe your sitting here this morning and a thought has ran across your mind…Jesus isn’t first in my life….
Jesus is the firstborn of all creation…nothing is ahead of Jesus, no position is higher than Jesus…but for some reason Jesus has dropped form your top five…
This morning take the opportunity to make Jesus first…
-ps
NOTE: This is written in the form I use it to preach from...it's an extended outline. If you see the ... in the sermon...are places I can add my own words...explain it in detail based off of the reaction of the congregation.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Where O Where…
Have you ever lost track of time…its amazing thing to lose a week? One day it is Saturday and like that its Saturday again and you ask yourself, “What happened”. This is what happened to me this week, I didn’t have class because of Memorial Day and my routine changed. Because of the routine changing I lost track of ‘every day normal stuff’…like watering my flowers, reading, studying, praying and blogging. I’m still baffled by the idea I haven’t posted in over a week and in the blog world that is an eternity. This has put a great thought in my head…what if we go through life so busy doing little things…good things…not important things…and then we die. What if we just do enough busy things to keep you busy so you forget about making a difference? Which puts another thought into my head…are we to make a difference?
So two questions are posed “are we to busy to make a difference” and “are we meant to make a difference”? To answer the first question we need to tackle the second question. Are we here to make a difference? As a Christian I am to make a difference. I think there can be little doubt from the teachings of Jesus, we are meant to make a difference…”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nation….he goes further…but you get the idea. Make someone a disciple of Christ is a ‘life changing’ event, it make a huge difference in somebody’s life. So if we are in the world making disciples for Christ…would the world we a different place…of course it would.
So the last question left to be answered is “are we too busy to make a difference”? From my point of view I have to say yes. I am amazed at how busy we have become. We run around doing stuff, but have very little to show for it. Most of us can name a list of stuff we did and it looks ‘good’…but did it further the kingdom of Christ. Did we help some grow, did we build into someone else’s life. I worry about this, because I look around and see division, division that is growing on a huge scale. Everywhere I turn I see the ‘you are either with me or against me attitude’. The lines are being draw everywhere around us and I fear we are losing our opportunity to make a difference.
I am challenging you to make a difference in someone else’s life…take the time to share Christ love with someone you know. Don’t think about being rewarded, just do it because Christ is in you. Work to be a ‘uniter’ and a not a ‘divider’…But most of all slow down…remove the ‘busy’ from your life and make a difference.
-ps
So two questions are posed “are we to busy to make a difference” and “are we meant to make a difference”? To answer the first question we need to tackle the second question. Are we here to make a difference? As a Christian I am to make a difference. I think there can be little doubt from the teachings of Jesus, we are meant to make a difference…”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nation….he goes further…but you get the idea. Make someone a disciple of Christ is a ‘life changing’ event, it make a huge difference in somebody’s life. So if we are in the world making disciples for Christ…would the world we a different place…of course it would.
So the last question left to be answered is “are we too busy to make a difference”? From my point of view I have to say yes. I am amazed at how busy we have become. We run around doing stuff, but have very little to show for it. Most of us can name a list of stuff we did and it looks ‘good’…but did it further the kingdom of Christ. Did we help some grow, did we build into someone else’s life. I worry about this, because I look around and see division, division that is growing on a huge scale. Everywhere I turn I see the ‘you are either with me or against me attitude’. The lines are being draw everywhere around us and I fear we are losing our opportunity to make a difference.
I am challenging you to make a difference in someone else’s life…take the time to share Christ love with someone you know. Don’t think about being rewarded, just do it because Christ is in you. Work to be a ‘uniter’ and a not a ‘divider’…But most of all slow down…remove the ‘busy’ from your life and make a difference.
-ps
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
First of Three: Solitude
This is the first pillar in the building your ‘secret walk’. The idea for this is taken from”Nine Keys to Effective Small Group Leadership, by Carl F. George”. Solitude is something many of us fear…we need time alone away from everyone to truly understand ourselves…to understand what we really want out of life. We see over and over again in the Bible where the central character of the story goes off to be alone. Nehemiah did, Elijah went and got to see God speak to him in a gentle whisper…Jesus made it something he did regularly…going off alone. I think you need to spend time away from all the business, from the T.V., computer…away from music. Time spent getting to know who you are. From this position you can have a meaningful conversation with God, because you know what you need to truly talk about.
Many people go off alone and talk to God, but never take the time to figure out what they need to talk about. We have so many things going on to kept us busy, it takes time to quiet down our souls to be in the position to listen to God. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Until we get quiet enough, we cant hear what God is trying to say.
Bill Hybels several years ago came out with a book titled “Too Busy not to Pray”. He said most of us go through life so fast that we’re revving our engines at 10,000 rpm’s when they are designed for only 5000 rpm’s. He said he had to create a journaling ritual that would help him slow down to the point where he could hear God. For him, he needed to cut back to the spiritual equivalent of 500 rpm’s.
It takes time to get quiet! Can you get earlier? Can you skip on meal a day or week? Can you give up some television? Most people could find 30 extra minutes a day to make space for quiet and solitude. Do you have power in your spiritual life? Check your solitude….Do you know what to ask God? Have you asked God to make a blessing or to bless the people in your life? If this isn’t true how can you expect divine intervention in your life? Your secret walk drive your life…solitude helps develop your secret walk.
Solitude helps us understand who we are…it helps us get away from the clutter and concentrate on what God would have us do in our lives. It when we get to this very point we can enter into a truly meaningful conversation with God and start to understand his will and purpose for our lives. So this long weekend take some time and spend it in solitude…don’t say anything…just be quiet before the Lord.
Two more pillars let….community and simplicity.
-ps
Many people go off alone and talk to God, but never take the time to figure out what they need to talk about. We have so many things going on to kept us busy, it takes time to quiet down our souls to be in the position to listen to God. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Until we get quiet enough, we cant hear what God is trying to say.
Bill Hybels several years ago came out with a book titled “Too Busy not to Pray”. He said most of us go through life so fast that we’re revving our engines at 10,000 rpm’s when they are designed for only 5000 rpm’s. He said he had to create a journaling ritual that would help him slow down to the point where he could hear God. For him, he needed to cut back to the spiritual equivalent of 500 rpm’s.
It takes time to get quiet! Can you get earlier? Can you skip on meal a day or week? Can you give up some television? Most people could find 30 extra minutes a day to make space for quiet and solitude. Do you have power in your spiritual life? Check your solitude….Do you know what to ask God? Have you asked God to make a blessing or to bless the people in your life? If this isn’t true how can you expect divine intervention in your life? Your secret walk drive your life…solitude helps develop your secret walk.
Solitude helps us understand who we are…it helps us get away from the clutter and concentrate on what God would have us do in our lives. It when we get to this very point we can enter into a truly meaningful conversation with God and start to understand his will and purpose for our lives. So this long weekend take some time and spend it in solitude…don’t say anything…just be quiet before the Lord.
Two more pillars let….community and simplicity.
-ps
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Secret Walks...
Carl F. Georges book “Nine Keys to Effective Small Group Leadership” talks about the leaders ‘secret walk’. But when you think about it this is important for all Christians. Here is what he says…
“No matter how little you say publicly about your secret walk, the consequences cannot be hidden over time. It etches itself in your face and shows up in the blessings God brings to your life.”
Here is another quote from Georges…
“In our walk with God, there’s a direct relation between what we do in those ‘secret’ moments and who we become in public.”
Did you ever think how you spent time with God “your secret walk” would affect how you live your life? See we all have a secret walk with God. It might not be where you want it, in fact it might be hard to find at times…but every Christian has one. This walk changes the way we live our lives either for the good or for the bad.
If you’re not walking correctly with God, if you are living in disobedience with God…your life will reflect it. You might think you’re getting away with it, you might fool people for awhile…but sooner or later your true colors will appear. Your ‘secret walk’ will be exposed for what it is. I’ve been in this boat before; I’m not walking with God. I living my life the way I want to live it and when I pull into the church parking lot…I put on the mask…plastic people…in the plastic steeple. Nothing is real and I couldn’t wait to get back home…but no one was the wiser…right.
But as soon as I don’t get my way…something doesn’t go right…boom, I would be cursing and swearing…and saying things aimed at hurting the target.
But when I am walking the way I should…when I take the time to live in obedience with God, things are different. When I take the time to develop my ‘secret walk’ things are really different. Church is no longer ‘hard to get there’; I actually don’t want it to end. I love being around God’s people…even the plastic ones…I don’t get mad as often, I don’t curse or swear. I don’t aim to destroy anyone who opposes me…the list goes on and on.
Here is something else…your secret walk starts to etch itself on your face…it does. I have seen Christians who walk around with the longest faces…their face gets locked into a permanent scowl…they can scare you to death when approached. At the same time I have seen people who have so much joy…they have a permanent smile. You love to just stand next to these people…because you know the ‘joy’ of Christ has captured their hearts.
So go and think about your secret walk…tomorrow we will go over three things you can do to enhance your ‘secret walk’.
-ps
“No matter how little you say publicly about your secret walk, the consequences cannot be hidden over time. It etches itself in your face and shows up in the blessings God brings to your life.”
Here is another quote from Georges…
“In our walk with God, there’s a direct relation between what we do in those ‘secret’ moments and who we become in public.”
Did you ever think how you spent time with God “your secret walk” would affect how you live your life? See we all have a secret walk with God. It might not be where you want it, in fact it might be hard to find at times…but every Christian has one. This walk changes the way we live our lives either for the good or for the bad.
If you’re not walking correctly with God, if you are living in disobedience with God…your life will reflect it. You might think you’re getting away with it, you might fool people for awhile…but sooner or later your true colors will appear. Your ‘secret walk’ will be exposed for what it is. I’ve been in this boat before; I’m not walking with God. I living my life the way I want to live it and when I pull into the church parking lot…I put on the mask…plastic people…in the plastic steeple. Nothing is real and I couldn’t wait to get back home…but no one was the wiser…right.
But as soon as I don’t get my way…something doesn’t go right…boom, I would be cursing and swearing…and saying things aimed at hurting the target.
But when I am walking the way I should…when I take the time to live in obedience with God, things are different. When I take the time to develop my ‘secret walk’ things are really different. Church is no longer ‘hard to get there’; I actually don’t want it to end. I love being around God’s people…even the plastic ones…I don’t get mad as often, I don’t curse or swear. I don’t aim to destroy anyone who opposes me…the list goes on and on.
Here is something else…your secret walk starts to etch itself on your face…it does. I have seen Christians who walk around with the longest faces…their face gets locked into a permanent scowl…they can scare you to death when approached. At the same time I have seen people who have so much joy…they have a permanent smile. You love to just stand next to these people…because you know the ‘joy’ of Christ has captured their hearts.
So go and think about your secret walk…tomorrow we will go over three things you can do to enhance your ‘secret walk’.
-ps
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Some of the one another’s of the New Testament
Be a peace with one another (Mark 9:50)
Love one another (John 13:34)
Be devoted to one another (Rom 12:10)
Honor one another (Rom 12:10)
Live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16)
Stop passing judgment on one another (Rom 14:13)
Accept one another (Rom 15:7)
Instruct one another (Rom 15:14)
Greet one another (Rom 16:16)
Serve one another (Gal 5:13)
Carry one another’s burden (Gal 6:2)
Be patient, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:2)
Be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph 4:32)
Forgive one another (Eph 4:32)
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)
In humility consider others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3)
Teach one another (Col 3:16)
Admonish one another (Col 3:16)
Encourage one another (1 Thess 4:18)
Build one another up (1 Thess 5:11)
Spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Heb 10:24)
Do not slander one another (James 4:11)
Don’t grumble against one another (James 5:9)
Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Cloth yourself with humility towards one another (1 Peter 5:5)
I wonder if you are to live your Christian faith with other believers? I wonder if I should attend church? I wounder if I can grow in Christ on my own?
only if you consider ME, MYSELF, and I.....One another.....We are made for relationships, we where made to live out our faith in the community of believers.
-ps
Love one another (John 13:34)
Be devoted to one another (Rom 12:10)
Honor one another (Rom 12:10)
Live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:16)
Stop passing judgment on one another (Rom 14:13)
Accept one another (Rom 15:7)
Instruct one another (Rom 15:14)
Greet one another (Rom 16:16)
Serve one another (Gal 5:13)
Carry one another’s burden (Gal 6:2)
Be patient, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:2)
Be kind and compassionate to one another (Eph 4:32)
Forgive one another (Eph 4:32)
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19)
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21)
In humility consider others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3)
Teach one another (Col 3:16)
Admonish one another (Col 3:16)
Encourage one another (1 Thess 4:18)
Build one another up (1 Thess 5:11)
Spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Heb 10:24)
Do not slander one another (James 4:11)
Don’t grumble against one another (James 5:9)
Confess your sins to one another (James 5:16)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Cloth yourself with humility towards one another (1 Peter 5:5)
I wonder if you are to live your Christian faith with other believers? I wonder if I should attend church? I wounder if I can grow in Christ on my own?
only if you consider ME, MYSELF, and I.....One another.....We are made for relationships, we where made to live out our faith in the community of believers.
-ps
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