You are here: Home / Archives for Sermons

May 16, 2010

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Jonah 2.

# 2. ‘Preacher on the Run.’

Read- Jonah 1:3 – 12.

‘One of the worst train disasters in history occurred in the El Toro Tunnel in Leon, Spain, on January 3, 1944. Over five hundred people died.
The train was on of those long passenger trains with an engine on both ends. On this particular day, when the train went into the El Toro Tunnel, the engine on the front end stalled. When the engine stopped, the engineer on the back engine started up his engine to back the train out of the tunnel. At the same time, however, the front engineer managed to get the front engine started again and attempted to continue the journey. Neither engineer had any way of communicating with the other. Both engineers thought they simply needed more power. They continued to pull in both directions for several minutes. Hundreds of passengers on the train in the tunnel died of carbon monoxide poisoning because the train could not make up its mind which way to go.’
(From Hot Illustrations.)

Jonah the Prophet was like that engineer at the back of the train trying to take it in the opposite direction when he fled from the presence of God. Let’s take up the story where we left off the last time.

We have been looking at the story of Jonah the Prophet under the title ‘Forty Days to save a City.’ Forty days was the amount of time Jonah was give to preach the message to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria – Jonah 3:4.
In our study last week we saw Jonah as a ‘Man of Destiny,’ that is, a man whom God specially selected for a specific purpose in life; a man chosen for a mission to bring the message of God’s judgment to the city of Nineveh.
Like Jonah, we too have been called to a special purpose, a destiny. We are to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the doomed people of this world. But we too, like Jonah, find it difficult to break away from the safety and security of our comfortable congregations and move into the darkness and wickedness of the world around us and share the message of God’s love and mercy to them. Jonah has many applications to us. Today we are going to look at the ongoing story and what it says to us.

Chapter 1:3 begins with the statement, ‘But Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord.’

I think we can assume that Jonah was a man who was normally obedient to the Lord, but in this case he wasn’t. Somewhere in the experience of Jonah there was a place where Jonah would sense the presence of God and receive messages from God for his own life and for the people of Israel. That was the way in which Old Testament prophets functioned. Moses, for example, would feel God’s presence and hear Him speak whenever he entered the Tabernacle. Jonah had his place too.
On this particular occasion Jonah went to ‘his place’ and God spoke clearly and powerfully to Jonah, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its great wickedness has come before me.” And Jonah, instead of doing what God had commanded, ran from the presence of the Lord. Jonah is guilty of two sins here.

a. He refused to obey the word of the Lord, and

b. He rejected the presence of the Lord.

Unlike us today, Jonah did not have the Bible in his hand. There was no Bible to read except for some protected manuscripts of some Old Testament books kept in the Temple (when there was a Temple).

Where do we hear God today?

Technology has brought us the complete Bible in many ways today. For the last several hundred years since the Protestant Reformation the Bible has been the World’s Best Seller and continues to be. And if you and I want to truly hear the Word of God all we have to do is grab the book out of the library or bring it up on our computers, Ipods, Ipads, Iphones, etc., and read it. We can have it read to us if we wish.

But then, there is this other thing – ‘the presence of God.’

Where do we Feel God today?

Some of us feel it in church and that’s why we love going every Sunday. Some of us have our ‘secret places’ where we go to pray. Others of us like to move away from the busy areas of life and find solitude, and so on. But when we profess faith in Jesus Christ we all have our places where we feel and sense the presence of God.
But when we deliberately disobey God that is exactly the place we don’t want to be. We don’t want to hear His word and we don’t want to feel His presence. And so, like Jonah we run away from those places. We run away from anywhere where we are brought face to face with the truth that God wants us to hear and where there is prayer and a sense of God’s presence with us. Are you doing that today?

So then, the other thing we are told here is that ‘Jonah headed for Tarshish.’ He went down to the port of Joppa, and guess what? There just happens to be a ship going to Tarshish. Now, we do know where Joppa is for the town still exists today. We know nothing about Tarshish as it is not to be found on any ancient maps.
What I want us to see, however, is that a certain spiritual disintegration begins to take place in Jonah’s life once he disobeyed God and ran from His presence. It is the same kind of spiritual disintegration that will take place in your life and mine if we allow the same thing to happen to us. Follow me as we examine what happens at this point in Jonah’s life.

1. Jonah is being guided by Circumstances rather than by the Word Of God.

Once Jonah made up his mind to disobey God he found exactly what he wanted. He wanted a ship and he found a ship. That is the way life works. Whenever we are running away from God we begin to lose our spiritual perspective and all of a sudden things seem to fit into our lives which we once considered quite unacceptable and even downright horrible.
“But,” someone will ask, “doesn’t God lead us by circumstances?” And the answer is that He does, but there is a principle involved and it is this: God will not guide us by circumstances when we refuse to be guided by His word. When God’s will is clearly revealed in His written word and we consciously disobey it, we cannot expect the circumstances to come together for us. And the circumstances today that may seem favourable to you may be the very thing that is blocking the full blessing of God upon your life if you are disobeying His word and running from the place of prayer.
The next thing you will notice in the story here is that:

2. Jonah became Powerless in a time of Crisis – v. 4 – 5.

A storm had risen at sea and the ship was about to be destroyed. On that ship was a Prophet of God, but he had no word of hope for the captain or the crew. The truth is he didn’t even notice that there was a storm. He was fast asleep below the deck.
That is precisely what happens to us when we run away from God. We become powerless. Have you ever found yourself saying, “Well, I guess there isn’t really anything I can do here”? Listen, if you are a Christian there is always something you can do – read Romans 15:14. When we are hearing the word of God and sensing the presence of God, the competency is not of us; it’s of the Lord. And His word in us creates faith to do things we couldn’t do otherwise. So, let’s not throw in the towel and say there is nothing we can do. Those are the words of a defeated Christian who has allowed disobedience to dictate the terms of his or her life.

God will not give us His Power where we refuse His Presence.

Here is the next thing:

3. Jonah became Ashamed of who he was – v. 8 – 9.

Jonah had been discovered. The captain of the ship was a pagan and when all this storm and turmoil began he suspected that it had something to do with the stranger on the ship. So he sought out Jonah and began to question him:
• Who is responsible?
• What do you do?
• Where are you from?
• What is your country?
• Who are your people?
Five questions, and in one simple sentence Jonah answered four of the five questions – v.9. But did you notice which question was left unanswered? ‘What do you do?’ Jonah could no longer say, “I am a Prophet of Jehovah the one true and living God.” His witnessed had been silenced.
Here is the principle for you and me:

God will silence our Witness when we Shut-out His Will for us.

Conscious disobedience to God leads inevitably to a loss of ability to share one’s faith in Jesus Christ effectively with others around us.
And finally, please note that:

4. Jonah despaired of Future Service for God – v. 11 – 12.

Here is the sequence of principles so far in this chapter in Jonah’s life.

• Disobedience made Jonah take his eyes off the Lord.

• Following circumstances left him powerless in a time of crisis.

• When questioned he became ashamed of his calling.

• And now, he despairs at the thought of any future ministry.

Jonah was now sure that God had no future work for him and so he was ready to die.
I really believe you would have had to experience an overwhelming sense of God’s call and anointing and power in your life to understand what Jonah was going through. For him prophesying was not a profession in the way much preaching has become a profession today. For him, as it was for the prophets of Israel, prophesying was a mighty inner constraining call of the Spirit of God. It was, as Ezekiel said, ‘fire in my bones.’ Or, as Habakkuk said, ‘the oracle of God.’ Or, as Amos said, it was ‘the roar of the lion.’ Perhaps the Apostle Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians 9:16, ‘Necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.’ It was a sad day in the life of Jonah when he felt that his ministry was over.
And I think it is a sad day in the life of a Christian when we think that God has nothing left for us to do or say; when we think that He can no longer use us in His service.
Here then is the principle:

God will use us again in spite of our disobedience, if we repent and return to Him.

Close:

I don’t know where you are in your relationship to God today, but I do know this – that, from time to time, you will find a little bit of Jonah in each of us. We all have those times when we turn away from God’s Word, God’s Will and God’s Presence.
The result of all that is that we no longer hear Him when He speaks to us therefore we turn to circumstances of life for our guidance and suddenly the ways of the world around us seem so convenient than hearing God speak to us. And when that happens, eventually we forget who we are, ‘Christians – Anointed Ones,’ and we begin to think that God can never use us again.
The happy ending is this, that you and I really can’t run from His Word or His Presence. If we are truly His children He will always be with us. He will follow us everywhere. As David said,
‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there?
Even there your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:7 -8.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , ,

May 9 2010 – Four Friends

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

True Friendship – Mark 2:1 – 12

We’re going to look today at true friendship.

1. Hindrances:

In this story we find that as Jesus was preaching there was such a huge crowd that a man in desperate need of seeing Jesus couldn’t get near Him.This man was paralyzed. This probably meant palsy – uncontrollable spasms.
The people we need to bring to Christ may be paralysed by drugs, alcohol, immorality and any kind of sin. Sometimes these people are not pleasant people to be around.  And when it comes to us bringing people in need to Jesus there are usually impediments or hindrances of some kind.

2. Inventive Solutions

In this story the crowd was the first big hindrance. One of the friends came up with a radical idea. Let’s get him up onto the roof above this crowd. It seems that none of the friends argued or disagreed with this plan but they went ahead and worked together to carry out their plan.

3. Hard Work

It would involve a lot of hard work to get him up on the roof to begin with. Most houses in the east had outside stairs so they might have struggled up those stairs with him. Or perhaps they pulled him up by ropes on his bed along a side of the roof. Either ways it was tricky, hard work.
But, when they got him on the roof, there was another hindrance. The roof itself. They had to remove tiles to make an opening. Luke 5:19 a parallel passage mentions these tiles. All of this effort represents work, dirty hands, danger, dust, ridicule.

4. Opposition

Probably the people who had come ‘properly’ into the home were not happy having dirt and dust showering down on them, nor a man being lowered down right in front of Jesus, the preferred spot that they had managed to be in! Others may oppose our inventive, costly solutions to these friendships.
For us we’re probably not going to be taking up roof tiles, but to be involved in bringing people to Jesus there is going to be some hard work, much prayer and probably some inconveniences.
Roof tiles might mean visiting someone in prison, helping some kid who hasn’t got a Dad, taking a meal to someone who needs some help.
It might mean we have to get rid of some personal ‘roof tiles’ – busyness, shyness, awkwardness, laziness. To have that faith and love to win souls, any method is good. We always need to be thinking outside the box to find creative ways to bring the spiritually paralysed to Christ.

5. Cost

When working with people who have not yet come to Jesus – there will be a cost. That roof had to be repaired. For us it may cost time, a day’s pay, helping, befriending with no agenda.
The world is inventive, Let’s let faith be inventive. Let’s always leave room for the paralysed. If we can’t get them to Jesus by ordinary means we have to be creative.

6. Rewards

Verse 5 -When Jesus saw THEIR FAITH he said to the paralytic – ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’
I can’t emphasize enough how important our part is when God calls us to be part of people’s lives.

Personally I remember quite a while ago when we were trying to reach out to young people in Stouffville.  We had prayed and were to go out and try to engage people in conversation trusting the Lord to enable us to have a chance to share Jesus.  A girl named Sue was walking along the main street when she passed a tough looking young fellow and kept on walking.  She felt really compelled to turn around and go back to try to talk to this guy – so she went back.  That fellow, Ted came to know Jesus about a week later, thanks to her turning back to talk to him.
Our prayers are very, very important. God hears them. Don’t lose hope or get discouraged.
Verse 6 – These religious people probably knew the man, and knew him well from his begging on the streets. Probably counselled him, taken his offering, probably one about whom Jesus said you won’t lift a finger to help or make their burden lighter. They were THINKING ‘who can forgive sins but God alone?’ They were totally negative about what Jesus could do. As Christians, we need to keep positive about Christ’s power to change lives.
Verse 8 – Jesus asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’
To the paralytic he said, ‘Get up take your mat and walk?’ So Jesus has just verified to these religious leaders who he was!
Their friendship for the paralytic meant HIS healing. They got nothing solid from all that they did, except the satisfaction of bringing a friend to Jesus – and what an intangible reward that is in itself!
Be inventive bringing those in need to Christ.
Be willing to be inconvenienced.
Be sympathetic.
Be cooperative.
Be persistent.

(Note:  Due to Pastor Neville being ill, a lay speaker, Gary Paisley shared this at Talbot Creek.)

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , ,

May 2, 2010 – Forty Days to Save a Nation

May 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(A study on evangelism from the book of Jonah).

I still recall with great clarity the time in my life when God called me to ministry. I had only been a Christian for a few months when I began to sense that God was calling me to be an evangelist, but it was the last thing I wanted to be. I wanted to be a doctor and I was saving up my money so that I could go to university and become a doctor. But I had gotten involved with ‘Child Evangelism Fellowship’ and was helping to conduct back-yard Bible clubs for little children. I received great blessings from these and was especially excited when some little child would give his heart to Jesus that I could hardly sleep at night. The first time I led a child to Christ I was so happy that I could not sleep. I went for a long walk that night just praising and thanking God for the privilege. I thought I could do this all my life.
Then one day a Canadian missionary working in Haiti came to speak at our church in Jamaica. Her name was Mildred Warner and she was from Kitchener. She spoke of the needs in Haiti and challenged us to pray for Haiti and support the work in Haiti. I was touched. I got me a big map of Haiti, tacked it to my wall and began to pray for Haiti. I began to think that God wanted me to be a missionary to Haiti but that was not his plan.
Several months later I read the book ‘Shadow of the Almighty,’ telling the story of Jim Elliot and the five missionaries who were martyred in Ecuador when they tried to reach a stone-age tribe called the Aucas. The sense that God was calling me to evangelism and mission became even stronger. After completing the book I was having my quiet time one morning and I had prayed that God would show me what He wanted me to do. That morning the little devotional book I was reading centered its message on one verse, 1st Corinthians 9:16. Let me read that for you from the KJV as I read it then some 50 years ago:

‘For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel!’

After reading those words I knelt by me bed and surrendered myself to the will of God and the work of evangelism.
I don’t think there is anything in life more uplifting and more important than knowing what your purpose in life is – knowing why you were born into this world and knowing that there is something I stand for that can change the world. For me that something is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the Olympians who went to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, you find yourself gripped with a passion, not merely for a medal to hang around your neck, but a passion to make a difference. That’s what it means to have a sense of destiny.
The man whose life we are going to look at over the next few weeks was such a man. His name was Jonah and we are going to look at three aspects of his life today – Who he was, What he was called to do, and How he responded. But before we get into these three things, let me say something about the features of this book.

a. This is not a story about a big fish.

The story of the fish is fascinating and causes all kinds of interesting arguments among friends, but that is not what the book is all about. This is a book about the sovereignty of God in a man’s life and in the life of a nation. Jonah was a man who understood God in one way but who, through experience, came to discover the true nature and character of God.

b. This is a story about God’s love for lost people.

The people of Nineveh were some of the most wicked people of their time yet God in mercy and love reached out to them and brought many of them to faith in Him.

c. This is a story about the Church and every individual Christian.

We are called to involvement in sharing the Gospel with the world – sometimes to good people and sometimes to bad people – that is our mission. We are called to lay aside our reluctance and disobedience and fulfill the Lord’s commission to ‘go into all the world and preach the Gospel.’

d. This is a story about human weakness and inadequacy.

We all know what the commission is but we all feel inadequate to do the task. Jonah teaches us that our adequacy is not in ourselves but in the One who called us and sent us into the world.
So then, with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Jonah.

1. Who is Jonah?

Read – Jonah 1:1. Look with me for a moment at 2nd kings 14:25. here Jonah is called God’s ‘servant.’ Now that term ‘servant’ is frequently used in the Old Testament as a technical term to describe someone who was specifically set apart by God for a unique purpose (Cp. Isaiah 52:13; 53:11; Amos 3:7).
Jonah was a man who had heard a clear call from God to proclaim His message and who had been specially empowered to carryout this mission. According to 2nd Kings 14:24 Jonah lived in an evil day. He was to preach God’s message to an evil generation. His call and his empowerment gave him a sense of destiny.
One of the most important thing for a Christian today is to have a sense of destiny, a sense of purpose. We live in a generation when people are purpose driven. That is perhaps why Rick Warren’s two books, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ and ‘The Purpose Driven Church’ has had such an impact upon the Church around the world.
Looking back at the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I recall athletes talking about their sense of destiny in relation to winning medal for their country. Sometimes people mistake ‘fame’ for a ‘sense of destiny,’ but fame is of little importance in the eyes of God.
Destiny has to do with what we stand for and what we do with what we stand for. In other words, the big question that every Christian needs to face is, ‘Why in the world am I here?’ Our usefulness in this world is directly related to our understanding to our purpose in life. We are most effective in what we do when we understand that we are doing exactly what God has called us to do.
Francis of Assisi was once asked what he would do if he were to learn that Christ was returning to earth tomorrow. He replied that he would do exactly what he was doing now. He had a sense that he was doing exactly what God had called him to do and that is all that was expected of him. That is having a sense of purpose and living it out.
This brings me to my next point.

2. What was Jonah called to do?

Jonah was directed by God to preach in Nineveh. The situation in Nineveh was historically well known. Nineveh was the capital city of the mighty Assyrian Empire. In fact it was the last capital of Assyria. It was situated in what is today called Iraq. It existed for 4500 years before Christ. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times and the last person to rebuild it was the famous Assyrian warrior Sennacherib. The population at the time of Jonah was estimated at 170,000 persons. To this city Jonah was called to go and preach. Note three things about this call.

a. It was absolutely clear – ‘Go to Nineveh.’

There was to be no doubt in Jonah’s mind as to where God was sending him. It was to the capital of the empire, not to the outskirts or to the little villages but to the capital city.

b. It was amazingly challenging – ‘the great city.’

Sending Jonah to preach in Nineveh was like sending someone today to plant a church in Tokyo or in Paris. It was challenging. Doing work in the inner city is never easy. Cities all have their own cultures and even more so in the inner city. Cities are usually full of crime and other threats to life, so it is hard work and this is what Jonah was been sent to do.

c. It was arrestingly frightful – ‘preach against it.’

Jonah’s message was not to be an easy one or a nice one. It was to be a message that was harsh – see Jonah 3:2 – 4. Such a message would upset people and as we will see later, one people you didn’t want to upset were the Assyrians.
This bring me to the third thing today:

3. How did Jonah respond?

‘Jonah ran away from the Lord and fled…v.3. Jonah obviously had a problem with the call.

a. It was not an intellectual problem for the call was absolutely clear.

Jonah had been told exactly where to go and what to do. Sometimes when we don’t understand what we are to do, we disobey out of ignorance, but that is not very often. Jonah knew and understood his call.

b. The problem was that God’s will clashed with Jonah’s will.

Jonah knew he had been called of God to preach and he had founded a little congregation on the outskirts of Israel not far from the seaport town of Joppa. He was comfortable preaching God’s message to this small group of people who were receiving it well. Now God calls him to the most difficult challenge of his life – God to Nineveh; preach against it. And Jonah simply runs away. This was not what he had in mind when he first answered the call and he is not about to commit suicide. Jonah had his own plans to fulfill when God stepped in and changed it all, and Jonah opted for his own plans.
What do you do with God’s will when God steps in and points you to a different pathway? If we want the continued blessing of God in our lives and we want to be useful and successful for God, we have to be willing to say, “Lord, not my will but your will be done.”
It is not just in the area of been called to preach that we face these decisions. Sometimes we face them in relationships like, who should I marry, should I accept this job, should I do what my friends are doing, should I spend this money, should I move to another city, should confront my friend on his lifestyle? And it goes on and on and on. In all of these things the important question is, what does God want me to do and am I willing to do it.
We had a term for that in the old days. We called it ‘full surrender.’ We used to sing in church ‘All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.’ But we rebel and run the other way primarily because God’s will clashes with our will and we do not trust Him to see us through to the end.

4. Why did Jonah run away?

Look at Jonah 4:2. Nineveh was the capital of an enemy empire. They hated the Jews and not only harassed them but was extremely cruel to them and to all their enemies. Let me read for you a little historical insight into the wickedness of the Assyrians.
‘As long as a town resisted the besieging Assyrians, all the inhabitant who fell into their hands were subjected to the most cruel tortures; they were cut to pieces, or impaled alive on stakes just in front of the lines so the besieged should enjoy full view of the sufferings of their comrades. Even during the course of a short siege this line of stakes would be prolonged till it formed a bloody fence between the two armies. When a town surrendered many people were thrown from the tops of the towers, or their ears and noses cut off, or their hands and feet amputated, or they and their children were roasted over a slow fire, or skinned alive, or decapitated and their heads piled in great pyramids.’
You can be sure that Jonah had seen some of these atrocities and knew exactly what the Ninevites were like. Yet, in the back of his mind was this fact, that God was a God of mercy and might indeed show grace to the Assyrians. If Jonah went into Nineveh and preached and God caused a great revival, what would become of Jonah? What would happen to his reputation as a prophet? Jonah would become known as ‘The Traitor prophet.’ Was God asking Jonah to sacrifice his reputation for this evil empire, for these ‘gentile dogs?’ As far as Jonah was concerned they deserved neither mercy nor grace from God. God might save them but not at Jonah’s expense.
The desire to maintain a reputation has always been a problem for many of God’s people. Think of the Christian who sits and listens to a dirty joke and laughs at it because he doesn’t want others to think of him as a wet blanket. Or the person indulges in heavy drinking with his friends because she doesn’t want them to think she is a Christian fanatic. Or the person who never invites his neighbour to church because he doesn’t want them to think he makes too much of religion. Each person is trying to preserve a part of a reputation which is the least part of one’s life. And in so doing we often neglect to carry out the purpose of God for our lives.
There is one more thing I want you to observe in this passage. Verse 3 says, ‘Jonah ran away from the Lord…’ In the KJV it says, ‘Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord…’ There is a slight change in meaning here but an important one. What the passage is really saying is that Jonah fled from the place where God was present, the place where His presence was felt. God is present everywhere but His presence is not always felt everywhere.
Where do we feel the presence of God? We feel it primarily in two places. We feel it in the place of prayer and in the place of worship. When we set aside time to pray and seek God and we find ourselves a ‘secret place’ to talk to Him, it is there we often experience His ‘felt’ presence. When we come to group worship with open hearts and minds to praise God it is there we feel His presence. Never neglect the place of prayer or the place of worship.

Lessons:

I have given you many lessons from these opening verses in the book of Jonah. I just want to re-emphasize three of these.

a. Seek to discover God’s purpose for your life and give yourself to it passionately.

b. Give yourself to obedience now. Past privilege and past fruitfulness can never substitute for present obedience.

c. Watch your heart for there is a little bit of Jonah in each of us.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , , ,

Haiti Trip Report Sunday, April 25

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A Member of Talbot Creek Community Church, Peter Meuhlegg, recently traveled to Haiti where he observed the devastation caused by the earthquakes.  He was able to offer practical assistance and encouragement to the workers and people of Haiti.

Peter gave a Power Point presentation and was then interviewed by Pastor Cowan.   Just a couple of images from his Presentation.

Being  pilot he was greatly encouraged to see the activity of MAF in flying people and materials in this devastated country.

School

A four story school

When the School to the Left collapsed in on itself, miraculously no one was in it.

Below:  The children began to sing ‘This is the Day the Lord Has Made’ when Peter entered the dining room of their damaged orphanage.

Filed Under: News, Sermons Tagged With: , ,

Sermon Sunday April 11 Pastor Adam Worship

April 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Unwrapping Worship Part 1

Read psalm 100 NIV

What do we think of when we hear the word Worship?

-Music.

Often times when we hear ‘Worship’ it is often being referred to the music part of a Sunday morning service or a CD full of songs we would sing on a Sunday morning.

-We often think of a Sunday service as a whole.

“We are going to Sunday Worship” is a term people often use, or even “join us for Sunday morning Worship.”

-’An Experience’

A trend that has been around for say the last 5 – 10 years is the advertising of a ‘Worship Experience’ whether it be a retreat weekend or a ‘Worship concert’.  Again we get the idea that we go to Worship.

-Art as Worship.

In the Modern Church there are all kinds of Media and Art involved in a Sunday morning service. These Arts most often fall under the jurisdiction of the Worship Ministry, and we associate art with ‘Worship.’

Now are these ideas of worship wrong? Absolutely not, however they are just aspects of the bigger picture of worship so first let’s go back to the word itself.

Worship comes from Worth Ship – To attribute worth to something.

So our Worship quite simply is to attribute worth to God.

Over the Next few Weeks we are going to look at the Five E’s of Worship.
I did not come up with these myself I heard them while at a Worship conference and liked the idea so much I though of digging into them a bit.

The Five E’s are

Exaltation
Expression
Encounter
Event
Everyday

Today we are going to take a bit of a look at the first two: Exaltation and Expression.

Exaltation

When looking at Worship or any aspect of Christian life it is a good practice to look for the first example found in the Bible.

For Worship the first example is found in Genesis 22:5.

Read Genesis Chapter 22

We see the ultimate example of obedience by Abraham who is willing to take his son’s life to be in obedience of God. We also see great blessings and peace coming from being in obedient to God.

Can a parent think of a more uplifting or honoring feeling then when a child (of any age) blindly obeys? Has this ever even happened? Just kidding, but the act of obedience is such a powerful act of reverence and yet we really struggle with it. We obey God’s Word on the big stuff and when it’s convenient, but are great at putting our desires first and also justifying our actions when not in obedience. Just think how much trouble,  pain and even heartache our kids would avoid if they obeyed their parents more often.

If we want to truly Worship God we need to practice obedience. It is not always easy but the blessings and peace of obedience are immeasurable. The obedience and exaltation of God is the Root of Worship.

Expression

Read Psalm 62

It is one thing to stand while a worship team leads in song; it is another thing to actively join in and sing aloud. We must physically and verbally express what’s in our hearts in Worship as a response to God’s creation and love.

When I think about Worship as a response to God’s creation and love I cannot help but think of Christmas this year with my son Grayson.  He turned two in February so is still just a little guy but this Christmas unlike last year he really had a grasp on what was going on and when he came downstairs to see the tree at his Mema and Papa’s house on Christmas morning packed with presents he could not contain his joy. His reaction was not put on it was not a mimicry of something he had seen. It was a totally natural reaction.

This is what Worship of God should look like. We need to physically experience God through all our senses, and that is not hard when we look around at the creation he has made for us, the blessings he gives us in our lives, the freedom he gives us and the love and salvation he offers to us freely through his Son. If and when we look at these gifts from God and truly realize what he has done for us our natural reaction needs to be unleashed and proclaimed. The mere act of expressing what one is feeling is so freeing but also so foreign to us. Hollywood has really cashed in on this with films that fit the romantic comedy genre. Every one of these movies has this plot.

Man likes Girl or Girl likes Man.
Man or Girl does not tell his/her feelings.
Funny stuff happens because of this.
There is a crucial make or break situation.
Man or Girl tells of feelings.
Happily ever after.

Why is it so foreign to us to hide what we truly feel? The freedom that comes with openly proclaiming the majesty and love for God is a freeing process that brings us closer to his presence.

Psalm 62:8
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge

So what does all this mean to us in our practical day to day living?

We need to practice worship just like we would anything else. We need to get our heads around the fact we need to worship all week not just on Sunday or at a worship concert. We need to be prepared that as our day to day lifestyle becomes one of worship, people will notice a change and then we need to be ready to explain why, in a simple way, we have changed.

So this week:

1. -Set aside time either on Sunday night or Monday morning , whatever fits your schedule better, to pray for the coming week that we would have an attitude and heart of worship in all we do.

2. -Prepare a short simple Gospel explanation to share when people notice the difference in your day-to-day lifestyle.

Tune in Next week same Bat Time same Bat Channel for the conclusion of the 5 E’s of worship.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , , , ,

March 21 The Agony of the Cross

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Easter 2010, No. 2.

The Agony of the Cross.

Introduction:

 Readings – Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:22 & 24; Luke 23:33 & John 19:17.
 Elements that led to His agony:

1. The scourging:

 Matthew 20:19
 The stripping
 The whipping
 The effect

2. The Mocking:

 ‘…make sport of Him…’
 They stripped Him
 They crowned Him
 The robed Him
 They spat on Him

3. The Procession to Calvary:

 The surrender – Luke 23:25
 The walk
 The charge or inscription
 The route
 The Cross – mark 15:22

4. The Crucifixion:

 Luke 23:33
 The medicated wine
 The saddle
 Stripped again
 The nails

5. On the Cross:

 He watched, they gambled
 Mary watched, He saw her agony
 The crowd watched, they taunted Him
 He was thirsty and could hardly breathe, they gave him vinegar

6. What the crowd did not see:

 The courage of Jesus
 The humanity of Jesus – John 19:5
 The identification with sinners
 The selflessness of Jesus
 The forgiveness of Jesus
 The loneliness of Jesus
 The sovereignty of Jesus

7. The Triumph of the Cross:

 John 19:30
 Redemption – to set free
 Propitiation – to turn away wrath
 Reconciliation – to come home after a quarrel
 Justification – to declare not guilty
 Sacrifice – to have a substitute for sin.

‘Why did they nail Him to Calvary’s tree?
Why, tell me why was He there?
Jesus the Helper, the Healer the Friend,
Why, tell me why, was He there?
All my iniquities on Him were laid,
He nailed them all to the tree;
Jesus the debt of my sin fully paid,
He gave the ransom for me.’

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , ,

March 14 Who Killed Jesus

March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Easter 2010

# 1. Who Killed Jesus?

Read – John 19:17 – 30.

The Mel Gibson film, ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ created quite a stir in North America when it was released back in 2003. According to news reports at the time, this film had created more discussion than any other film that Hollywood had ever produced. The film portrays the last ten hours in the life of Jesus and a short segment on the Resurrection.
Some people contended that the film was not historically accurate since, in their opinion, Mel Gibson stuck too closely to the Biblical record and, in their view, the Bible is inaccurate. But since it is the only ‘historical’ record we have of the crucifixion of Jesus the question hardly warrants a debate.
Others said that the film was too violent because it shows the gory side of the crucifixion of Jesus – the scourging, the nails been driven into His hands, the blood – all this, and this is wrong. It seems that with many it is alright to show films on war and crime and include all the gory stuff, but when it comes to religious film, it’s wrong. Again, the point is not worth debating.
However, the main opposition to the film at the time of its release was the view that some held that the film was anti-Semitic, that is, that it portrayed the Jewish people as responsible for the death of Jesus and that could in turn, incite people against the Jews.
Here then is a question that seems to return to us every time the subject of the death and Resurrection of Jesus is discussed, ‘Who killed Jesus?

’
‘Who killed Jesus?’ That was the title of an old Gospel song way back in the seventies. The song posed the question this was:
Was it Roman soldiers with their tools of war,
Driving nails through hands that did no wrong?
Mocking and abusing, crowing Him with thorns –
All the evidence is very strong!
Was it Pontius Pilate? He was governor,
Trying to decide the case that day;
Finding that the Saviour had no fault His own,
Was he guilty when he turned away?
Was it Hebrew children, proud of who they were?
Shouting “Crucify Him” at their King;
Trading their Messiah for a common thief,
Turning down the kingdom He could bring.

Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die?
What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus?
I would like to know.

Would you like to know? Let’s go to the Gospels and hear what they have to say about this. To find an answer we must begin with:

1. The Lord Jesus Himself.

Read – John 10:14 – 18. Notice that Jesus predicted His death but He didn’t point the finger at anyone as planning or causing it. Sure there were many people who had a part to play in the death of Jesus – Judas, Pontius Pilate, the Jews, the Romans – but if Jesus had not allowed them to put Him to death, He would not have been killed. He had the power over life and death. He had authority over His own life. He said that He could lay it down anytime He wished and He could take it up again. That is why, throughout His public life and ministry, Jesus did not shy away from death. He actually did things which could have led to His death. For instance, early in His ministry He went to the Temple in Jerusalem and caused a ruckus. He drove out the money changers, whipped those who sold doves and got rid of the market placed there. Didn’t He know that this would make Him the enemy of the Jewish leaders who earned a good income from those things? Of course He knew it. And He knew that when He addressed God as His ‘Daddy’ (Hebrew ‘Abba’), it would have been considered blasphemy which was punishable by death.
The Gospels makes it very clear in the record of His arrest in the Garden – Read Matthew 26:47 – 54. Jesus did not try to prevent His arrest and He continued to talk of God as His Father. On one occasion He told His disciples that He was going to suffer and die and when it came time to die He would not resist but willingly give Himself up.
I think we can say without the shadow of a doubt that, before anything else, the death of Jesus was something He came to do and in fact, rather than avoiding it, He allowed it to happen. It was central to His purpose in life and He lived it out.

I think we can say, secondly, that,

2. Jewish Leaders of that Day had a part to play in the death of Jesus.

Members of several Jewish religious groups had a play in it. The Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Priests, were involved. Not all of them agreed with it, but certainly the most influential of their leaders. They viewed Jesus as a very dangerous man, one who was propagating a growing religious cult and attracting many people into what had become a national movement.
Now prior to this the Jewish people had experienced the presence of prophets who preached harsh messages condemning their practices and many of these prophets were recognized as such. With Jesus it was different. While the prophets of old followed the orthodox teachings of traditional Judaism, Jesus broke the rules. He re-interpreted Judaism. To Jewish leaders this seemed like blasphemy. Publicly they accused Him of blasphemy, which, as was known then, was punishable by death – Read John 5:18; 10:31 – 33.
Besides all this, at that time in the history of the nation of Israel, the Jews had a very fragile relationship with Rome, and it wouldn’t take much to bring the Roman authorities down on the Jewish leaders if they thought there was a bona fide religious Messiah in their mid’st. The Jewish leaders knew this and they knew that it was their responsibility to see that it didn’t happen. They wanted to get rid of Jesus to avoid a conflict with Rome. So, with the help of Judas, a disciple of Jesus, and some false witnesses, they had Jesus arrested and petitioned the Roman authorities to execute Him.
But, having said all that, we have to remember that this was a small group of men working underhand to do this. This was not everyone on the Jewish Council. And it was not the whole nation that gathered in Pilate’s court to cry “Crucify Him,” but a small group of people who gathered to destroy Him. In fact, most of the people in Jerusalem at the time had no idea that all this was happening. And don’t forget, that there were those who opposed this action and many of them wept as He was led to Mount Calvary to be crucified – Read Luke 23:27.
No one today should blame the Jewish people of our time for what a few disgruntled Jewish leaders did two thousand years ago, especially when we recall that Jesus was a Jew and Christianity had its birth in Judaism. All the early Christians and Christian leaders were Jews. Every Apostle that Jesus appointed was a Jew. We cannot lay a charge upon a nation because a handful of people chose to do something wrong.

3. The third group that is often blamed is the Romans.

The Romans, of course, are no longer around, so it is easy to blame them. However, they really represent the Gentiles in general. After all, they ruled the Gentile world. It was a representative of the Roman government that signed the order that put Jesus to death and he did so after declaring publicly, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” He had the authority to set Jesus free, but he chose to protect himself from any charge of disloyalty to Rome or to Caesar. He was not about to risk his political future for the life of an obscure Galilean carpenter turned prophet, so he gave the order to execute Jesus.
Roman soldiers carried out that order. The Bible does not tell us why they used Roman soldiers, for this was not part of their duty. It was probably done to prevent any kind of Jewish uprising against the act. Whatever the case, the Romans added to agony of Jesus by mocking Him, torturing Him, and in the end, nailing Him to a cross.
But again, we must ask ourselves the question: ‘Can we blame the whole nation of Rome for the action of one Roman bureaucrat in a colony on the outskirts of Rome itself? Can we blame the whole Gentile world for that matter when hardly anyone outside of Jerusalem knew what happened that day? I don’t think so.

So the question remains, ‘Who killed Jesus?’ Back before this film came to the screen the producer Mel Gibson had an interview with Diane Sawyers on ABC’s ‘Prime Time.’ In her interview she asked Gibson point blank, “Who killed Jesus?” I believe his answer was right. He said,

4. “We all did.’

An old Negro spiritual asks the question, ‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?’ And, according to Peter Marshall, “Yes, we were there.’ In principle all of us were at the cross because, when Jesus died, it was our sins that nailed Him there. The Bible says, “He was wounded for our transgression, He was bruised for our iniquity.” We were there.
In his sermon titled ‘Were you there?’ Dr. Peter Marshall writes, ‘When we are honest with ourselves, we know that we were there too and that we helped to put Christ there. Because every attitude present on that hilltop that day is present with us now. Every emotion that tugged at human hearts then, tugs at human hearts still. Every human being was represented at Calvary, every sin was in a nail, or a spear, or the needle-like-thorns, and pardon for them all was in the blood that was shed.’
One of the words that Jesus spoke from the cross was, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” His words remind us that what they did that day, whether it was Jewish leaders, or false witnesses, or Pontius Pilate, or Roman soldiers, or the whole Jewish and Gentile world, what they did they did in ignorance. They were blind to the truth that this was the Son of God in human flesh come to save us from our sins. Many people today remain blind to that truth. And many today are blind to this truth, that the greatest need in our world is to be forgiven for our sins.

‘Who killed Jesus?’ The important thing about this question is that you and I see our part and our guilt in the whole thing and that we come seeking the forgiveness that He offered from the cross. Unless we come we remain guilty, because, you see, the guilt for the death of Jesus is not something national that can be blamed on the Jews or the Romans or Gentiles in general.
No. The guilt for the death of Jesus is something personal and individual that must be laid on my heart and your heart. I am the guilty one. You are the guilty one. The guilt lies not with our nationality but with our depravity. It lies with our sin. Anyone one who has sinned against God has a part in the death of Jesus and the Bible says ‘All have sinned.’
What can we do about it? We can open our hearts to Him, ask His forgiveness, accept His grace, and offer our lives to live for Him.

Who killed Jesus many years ago?
Who is guilty of a crime so low?
Why did He have to die?
What is the reason why?
Who killed Jesus? I would like to know.

When I think of Jesus and the way He died –
How upon Him all my sins were laid;
All the other people fade away from view –
It’s for me the sacrifice was made!

I no longer wonder anymore –
I have found what I’ve been searching for!
My sins demanded hell –
On Him the judgment fell,
I am guilty –
Now it’s plain to see.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With:

March 7, 2010 – Getting Your Marriage Right

March 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Getting It Right Every Day

# 7. Getting Your Marriage Right.

Read – Psalm 127.

There is an Old Russian proverb that gives this advice:
Before going to war – pray once.
Before going to sea – pray twice.
Before getting married – pray three times.

It is reported that Plato, the Greek philosopher, once said, ‘By all means marry. If you get a good wife you’ll be twice happy. If you get a bad one you’ll be a philosopher.

My favourite marriage saying, however, comes from something I read in Readers Digest some years ago. Directed to men, it said, ‘The best gift you can give your children is to love their mother.’

‘For better or for worse.’ Those are words from a traditional marriage ceremony, and frequently, as I have gone over those words with young brides and grooms to be, I have seen them wince at the thought of having them as a part of their ceremony. Some see those words as just a part of tradition with no relevance to life today. Others find them quite inappropriate and unwelcome in today’s success oriented society.
When couples object to having these words in their ceremony I’ll sometimes say to them, “There are no perfect marriages, you know.” Then I stop and look for a moment as the bride-to-be looks at the groom-to-be as if to say, “Well, that was before we fell in love.” But it is really very true that there are no perfect marriages because there are no perfect persons. One man said, “The only perfect person I have ever met was my wife’s first husband.”
Our subject today is ‘Getting Your Marriage Right.’ If you are single don’t leave. Your time may yet come. I ran into an elderly lady in her eighties two Christmases ago. I knew her husband had died sometime that year and I asked her how she was getting on. She said just fine. She had met a ninety year old man and they were married six months after the death of her first husband. I saw her again last week and asked how they were doing. She told me he died six months ago and she didn’t think she would consider a third husband. So ‘singles’ don’t run away. There may be something in this message for you.
Here is what we really face in life today. All around us we can see marriages falling apart and homes breaking up faster than we can imagine. In Colonial days there was one divorce for every 500 marriages. Today there is one divorce for every 3 marriages. And divorce, as those of you who have experienced it knows, brings with it tragedy, anger, bitterness, grief, frustration and a sense of failure.
Divorce, at best, is an admission that two people have failed in their original purpose and have destroyed something precious to God. Marriage is something that is holy in God’s sight, and divorce, even when it is unavoidable, is still the breaking of something infinitely holy and meaningful in the sight of God.
As Christians, therefore, you and I need to do everything we can to maintain our marriage, for marriages often die of neglect. Marriages die when two persons who once loved and cared for each other have come to take each other for granted and they begin to grow apart until one day the find they have lost admiration and affection for each other and have developed intimate relations with others leading to a crisis of trust and love. And it usually happens because one spouse took the other for granted.
What can we do to keep this from happening to us? How can we maintain our marriage on a day to day basis so that we get the best out of it?
Please read with me Psalm 127, verses 1 & 2. There are two major ideas conveyed in these two verses.

1. The Lord Himself Is To Be The Center Of Our Homes.

When two people commit themselves to a marriage, the idea is that they build a home together. The text reads, ‘Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labour in vain.’ Then the poet repeats the words ‘unless the Lord…’ In Hebrew repetition is used to emphasize an important fact. The idea is not that the Lord uses a hammer and some nails and erects a building, but rather that He must be the Foundation upon which married couples build their homes. He must be the Guardian of their relationship, the One to whom they turn in times of trouble and need.
And the Psalmist is telling us that people who build their marriage relationships on other foundations are labouring in vain. I have had people say to me, “Pastor, I would like to come to church more often and do more for the church, but I have to spend all my extra time working at my marriage.” I tell them that is good, but I also remind them that, if the Lord is not at the center of their marriage, it is likely to fail. I sometimes tell them that ‘the people who pray together, stay together and also the people who worship together stay together.’ God must be at the center of the marriage.
Now, before God can be at the centre of the marriage, He must first be at the centre of our lives. That is the starting point. If you are going to build your marriage upon the foundation of God then you must first place Jesus Christ at the center of your life. Not only do you need Him as your Saviour from sin, but you also need Him to form and direct your attitudes and actions toward your spouse.
All of us come to our marriages with attitudes, ideas and habits which we bring from our past, things we learned and developed in the environment of the homes, the communities and friendship we had when we were growing up. We like to call that ‘our cultural baggage.’ The problem is that often the husband’s cultural baggage clashes with the wife’s cultural baggage and neither can understand why his or her spouse can’t just do things ‘my way.’
When Christ is at the center of a marriage relationship a spouse’s first response to marriage conflict is always to meet the needs of his or her partner in life. A man learns that he is to ‘love his wife as Christ loves the church,’ that is, unconditionally and sacrificially. And a woman discovers that she can ‘submit’ to a husband who loves her unconditionally and he will never harm her.
With Christ at the center of her life and Christ at the center of his life, they can discover together the principles of a happy marriage and a happy home, and can enjoy a life time of love, trust and true companionship. They can be each other’s best friend.
Is Jesus Christ at the center of your life? If He isn’t then you need to surrender to Him now and make that happen. And this leads to the second idea in this text.

2. Building Character is Essential to Building a Good Marriage.

While we may build a house with mortar and bricks and wood and nail, a marriage is built with good character traits. Now favourite list of character traits are given in Colossians 3:12 – 14. I find these are character traits that apply not only to marriage but to any personal relationships in life. Let’s look at these individually.

A. Compassion.

Compassion is tender heartedness for someone who is hurting. Compassion sees when someone is feeling lonely and steps in to give them time. Compassion knows when someone is feeling empty and reaches out to fill his cup. Compassion simply learns what the needs of a spouse are and reaches out to fill that need, and again I add the word ‘unconditionally.’ It does so without asking for anything in return. That kind of compassion is an outflow of your life in Christ. It is not natural to us. We get it from Him. Are you aware of the needs of your spouse and are your reaching out to meet them?

B. Kindness.

Kindness, like compassion, is love in action. Kindness is coming home from a long hard day at the office and noticing that the sink is full of dirty dishes and washing them for your spouse even though you know she was home all day.
Kindness is sometimes risky. You might be misunderstood when you do something kind for her. She may be thinking, “Why is he being so nice to me? What is it he wants? What’s in it for him?” This will be true especially if you’ve never been that kind before. Listen to Proverbs 11:17, ‘A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself” (NIV). And listen to this great promise from Proverbs 21:21, ‘Be kind and honest and you will live a long life; others will respect you and treat you fairly” (GNT).
How can you be kind to your spouse? I’ll just mention these I stole from Rick Warren, without developing them:
 Be sensitive to his/her needs.
 Be supportive to his/her ideas and ideals.
 Be sympathetic when he or she is moody.
 Be straightforward (honest, candid).
 Be spontaneous – seize the moment, use your opportunity.

C. Humility.

There is an old story of a snake that went to an optometrist for a pair of glasses. “You can’t wear glasses,” said the optometrist. “You don’t have a nose or ears on which to hang them. And besides your eyes are in the wrong place. Let’s try some contact lenses.”
“All right,” the snake agreed.” So he was fitted with contact lenses.
Several weeks later the snake returned to the doctor. “Have you been able to see better?” the doctor inquired.
Yes, I can see fine. But I’m extremely depressed,” the snake complained.
“Why is that? The doctor asked.
“I’ve just discovered that I have been living with a water hose!”
What is the point? The point is this, that clear vision can be very painful.
Humility is seeing ourselves as we really are and being willing to admit it. Humility understands when I am wrong and is willing to say, “I was wrong and I am sorry.” Some people find that difficult to handle.

D. Gentleness.

Gentleness is power under control. Many spouses know when they have the upper hand on their partner. Quite often there is one member in the marriage who, for one reason or another has power over the other partner. Such a person needs to learn about this character trait called Gentleness and built it into his/her life.
Gentleness is understanding, not demanding. It learns to see things from a spouse’s point of view.
Gentleness is gracious, not judgemental. It does not pretend to be holier than the other person. It never says, “I told you so,” or “It serves you right.”
And gentleness is tender without surrender. In other words, it learns to disagree without being disagreeable. Again I admit that I borrowed these from Rick Warren’s sermons on the Fruit of the Spirit.

E. Patience.

Patience means that, in a marriage, you have to put up with a lot of things which are beyond your control. Our partners have different ideas on what is right, what is appropriate, different habits and patterns of doing things and it isn’t right that we should expect one partner to conform to all the standards and patterns of behaviour to which the other holds. Life doesn’t work that way.
‘Suppose the world doesn’t please you,
And the things that others do;
Do you think the whole creation
Should be altered just for you?’
At all cost avoid the temptation to have complete control over your spouse and if he or she needs changing, then leave the changing to God and learn to love your spouse totally and unconditionally.

I will leave you with these two things today in regard to getting it right in your marriage.

a. Build your marriage relationship upon God by putting Jesus at the center of your life.

b. Build character traits which are essential to building a good marriage.

Begin today to build into your family the character traits that will bless you for a life time. Commit yourself first to God through Jesus Christ His Son, and secondly to your spouse above all other relationships in life. Get it right with your marriage and you are likely to get it right in everything else.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , , ,

February 28, 2010 How to Deal with Doubt

March 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Getting It Right No. 6.

How to deal with Doubt.

Read – James 1:5 – 8.

There is an old story that has been around for a while and I’m sure many of you have heard it before. It tells of man who was out hiking when he accidentally fell over a cliff. On his way down he grabbed for anything in sight and was able to hold on to a tree growing out of the side of a rock. As he held on in desperation he was calling out, “Help! Help! Anybody up there, help!” Just then he heard a voice from above him, “I am God. I can help you. All you have to do is just let go and I’ll save you.” He thought about it for a few moments and then he cried out again, “Anybody else up there? Help!”
Now I know that the story was meant to be humorous but it really isn’t if you think about it. How many times have you been in a difficult situation and you call out to God and He seems to be telling you to do something which is even more threatening and uncertain, and you feel like crying out, “Anybody else up there?”
Sometimes faith is formed in the midst of intense doubt or lack of assurance. Alfred Lord Tennyson, the great English poet of another age, wrote,
‘There lies more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.’
There are very few Christians who have not been disturbed by doubt. One such person was the great German Christian, George Mueller, who was primarily responsible for the creation of orphan homes in Bristol, England, for over 2000 destitute children, and did it all by faith. George Mueller never made any public appeals for funds, yet all his needs were met, sometimes at the last moment. Yet, by his faith he maintained schools, distributed literature, and supported missionaries overseas. When someone asked George Mueller if he was ever troubled by doubt, he replied, “Yes, I once doubted for about five minutes.”
How we wish we were more like George Mueller and less like Alfred Tennyson, but few of us are. The truth is, we are, for the most part, doubters. As we consider how the overcome our doubts, we need to begin by :

1. Identifying the Source of our Doubts.

What are the sources of your doubt and my doubt? Where do these uncertainties and perplexities come from to those of us who claim to trust in God as our Father and Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour?

A. Some doubts come from Disappointments.

Quite often when someone who we know and trust in the Lord disappoints us the result is that we begin to lose faith in God and doubt sets in. You see, there is a tendency in each of us to place our faith in God because we have seen someone who is trusting in Him in a strong way. But then, for one reason or another, that person lets us down, disappoints us, fails us or even deceives us, and our faith begins to falter. We ask ourselves, “Where was God when all this was happening? Why didn’t He stop it? Doesn’t He care?” And if my friend or mentor whom I trusted was such a wonderful Christian and he couldn’t make it, how can I?
The truth is however, that we can never really tell what another person’s faith and commitment really is? We hear what they say on the outside but we don’t know what is on the inside. We know little of what troubles his heart and mind and what circumstances in his life might cause him to fail God. So we shouldn’t base our faith upon where others stand but upon our own understanding and insight into the nature of God. When we know God in terms of His love, His mercy, His goodness, and His sovereignty, then our faith does not depend upon what others do but on our understanding of who He is. He is the God who sees, who cares, who loves us and causes all things to work together for good to those who live according to His purposes.

B. Some doubts come from Guilt.

A true Christian cannot live very long in a state of conscious un-forgiven sin without sooner or later beginning to doubt the reality of God or else beginning to think that God no longer hears his prayers. It is a great deal easier to reason faith away than it is to admit our guilt, especially when it involves admitting it to others who are negatively affected by it. How do I go to someone and say to them “I did this behind your back?”
In my ministry of counselling I have had many people come to me for help because there was something they had done to someone else that they were terribly ashamed of but too afraid to face that person and say, “This is what I did to you?” It helped when they found someone they could talk to about it, but when they kept it secret they rationalised it away and did the same to their faith in God. A guilty conscience that refuses to surrender to the living God ends up with a doubting heart.

C. Some come from bitter Suffering.

The best example I know of this is C. S. Lewis, the great English Apologist of the second half of the 2oth Century. C. S. Lewis had spent most of his lifetime defending the Christian faith, especially evangelical Christian faith. In the later years of his life C. S. Lewis married an American woman who had been diagnosed with cancer. They were married for only a year or two when she succumbed to her cancer. You can see the story in the movie ‘Shadowlands.’ Following her death C. S. Lewis went into deep depression and began questioning his faith in God. He said, when he prayed, he felt as though God had slammed a cell door in his face and threw away the key. You can read that story in a little book he wrote called ‘A Grief Observed.’

So there are disappointments, guilt, suffering and we could add to that neglect of our devotional life, disobedience to the known will of God, lack of good stewardship of life, and so on. All these things serve to bring us to a place where we find ourselves doubting God. The big question is, once we have identified the cause or source of this questioning of God,

2. How do I Overcome doubt?

A. Recognize that doubt is not your unique experience.

Everyone, at one time or another, experiences doubt. Peter did this when he walked on the water on the Sea of Galilee. Thomas doubted when He didn’t see the risen Christ for himself. C. S. Lewis, defender of the faith, doubted and even George Mueller did. And we too will face our time of doubting unless we are very unique.
It’s amazing, isn’t it, how we can counsel others to keep the faith when they are in trouble, but when difficulties hit us, it’s a whole new ballgame. We find it hard to exercise the same faith we try to cultivate in others.

B. Know that God’s timing is not the same as ours.

In Matthew 14, there is the story of how Jesus calmed the turbulent sea in which the disciples were caught in a fierce storm. The disciples were crossing the sea from somewhere near Bethsaida to go to Gennesareth, normally a six mile one hour crossing. Instead the disciples were rowing for some eight or nine hours and not getting anywhere. In fact, they were fighting desperately for their lives (Mark 6:48ff). From the shore Jesus saw the disciples struggling for their lives but he remained there praying while they struggled. Eventually he came to them walking on the water when it was almost morning. It was at the last watch of the night, between three and six o’clock, when the storm was at its fiercest, that Jesus came to them and stilled the storm.
A similar thing happened when Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick. Jesus had received a message that his friend Lazarus was sick and near to death, but He waited and only went to the home four days after Lazarus had died and raised him back to life.

There are other similar incidents to this in the Bible. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts and our timing is not necessarily His timing either. But He sees us from where He is and He hears our desperate cry, “Is there anyone up there?” and He comes in His time and His time is never too early or too late.

C. When in doubt, focus on God, not on your problem.

Read – John 20:24 – 28.
Thomas had so many questions about Jesus? Who really was He? Was He truly the Son of God? If so, why did He die upon that accursed Roman cross? Why did He not use His power to save Himself?
Do we not ask the same questions nowadays? Is Jesus real? Why doesn’t he stop this from happening? Can He truly heal the sick? Why doesn’t He heal me?
Jesus came to Thomas and when Thomas focused on Jesus all his doubts were cleared. You and I are called to focus on Jesus, not on the problem. Take the problem to Him, yes, but leave it with Him. Focus on His love for you, His mercy in times past, His provision throughout your life, and above all, His many promises to you – example Isaiah 43:1 – 2.

D. Nothing solves doubt like Obedience.

Remember the words of Jesus to Peter on the water? Peter said, “Lord, if it is you bid me come to you on the water.” Jesus replied, “It is I, come.” And Peter walked on water.
Remember His words to Thomas? Thomas had said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my fingers where the nails were, and put my hand in His side, I will not believe.” Jesus said, “Put your fingers here…stop doubting and start believing.”
The invitation when we doubt is always to come back to Jesus. We come through His word. We come through prayer. When we come back to the place of prayer and His word in our lives, we are in the place of obedience and we find faith again.

E. Let your doubt drive you to the Source of all answers, not away from it.

Jesus Christ is still the answer to all our needs. The promise of God to us is, ‘…God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,’ Philippians 4:19.

‘Sholem Asch in his book Kiddish Ha-Shem tells of an incident that happened during the terrible massacre of Jews in Russian Poland in the Seventeenth Century. Men, women, and children were slain; families were divided and destroyed. Only death seemed active.

One of the survivors was walking down the streets in a denuded, deserted town trying to understand the meaning of it all. As he passed the market place, he saw the merchants with their booths already set up, selling articles of food and clothing.
In one booth an old Jew sat in rags. The strange thing about it was that his booth was completely empty of food or clothing, absolutely nothing to sell.
In amazement the survivor went up to the man and asked, “But your booth is empty. What do you sell?” The old Jew turned and looked at him with a sad smile and said slowly, “I sell faith. I sell faith.”’
(Luther Joe Thompson.)

There is really only one way to get rid of doubt and that is to increase your faith. And there is only one way to increase your faith and that is to use the faith you have today.
“Is there anybody else up there?” No. The same God who stilled the waters of Galilee, who showed nailed pierced hands to Thomas, who cleared Tennyson’s doubts and healed C. S. Lewis’ broken heart, is the God ‘up there,’ and He is up there for you.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , ,

February 14, 2010 How to Judge Jealousy

February 19, 2010 By 1 Comment

Getting It Right No. 5.

# 5. How To Judge Jealousy.

I want to begin this morning with the story of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Thayer.
‘Mr. Wilson and Mr. Thayer were both very ill men who shared a hospital room. Mr. Thayer had the bed in the corner of the room and Mr. Wilson had the bed next to the window.
Unfortunately for Mr. Thayer, he was not only confined to bed, but he was told not to sit up by himself. Mr. Wilson, on the other hand, was allowed to sit up occasionally for an hour or so.
The two men often spoke to each other about their families, their careers and their adventures. However, whenever Mr. Wilson would sit up in bed he would look out the window and report to Mr. Thayer what was happening on the outside.
He would describe for Mr. Thayer the park nearby where ducks and swans swam in a small lake. He described the children having fun in the park, people throwing bread to the ducks, young lovers holding hands as they strolled by and the stretches of flowers, grass and trees in the park. He made everything sound so beautiful and Mr. Thayer enjoyed his description of all the activities in the park.
But then, one afternoon, Mr. Thayer got to thinking, “Why should Wilson get to be next to the window and have the pleasure of seeing what was going on? Why shouldn’t I have a chance too?” He felt ashamed of thinking that way but he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind. He would do anything for a chance to be by that window. He became envious and jealous of Mr. Wilson’s position by the window and it began to make him sour.
One night as Mr. Thayer was lying there in his bed staring up at the window Mr. Wilson suddenly woke up and started coughing and choking from the fluid congesting in his lungs. His hands groped for the call button to bring the nurse running but he couldn’t reach it. Mr. Thayer sat there and did nothing. Finally Mr. Wilson choked one more time and stopped breathing altogether. Mr. Thayer continued staring at the ceiling.
Next morning the nurse found Mr. Wilson dead. With no fuss they quietly removed the body.
A day or so later Mr. Thayer asked if he could be moved to the bed next to the window. The doctor agreed and they moved him. Once he was left alone, he propped himself up on one elbow, painfully and laboriously, to look out the window.
When he looked out all he saw was a blank wall.’
(Adapted from ‘Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks’ by Wayne Rice.)

Perhaps there is no sin that so reveals the depravity of the human heart as the sin of jealousy and envy. Please note those two words – jealousy and envy. The Bible uses both these words to describe a condition of the human heart which we all face at one time or another.
Jealousy is really a fear that something that one loves may be held or owned or taken away by another.
Envy is discontent at another’s good fortune and wishing it was yours.
Jealousy in itself is a neutral impulse but it may be set in the wrong direction by a carnal thinking heart. It is that negative direction that the Bible calls envy. It was the carnal mind of Mr. Thayer that set him thinking in the wrong direction leading to his failure to help Mr. Wilson.
The Bible sometimes speaks of ‘jealousy’ in a positive way and the best example we have of this is in Exodus 20:5 where God forbids the worship of idols. There He says, ‘You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.’ This kind of jealousy is an attribute of God which you and I are capable of receiving.
The jealousy that is a danger to us in daily living is the carnal, un-Christ-like jealousy that we saw in Mr. Thayer. Let us look at that for a moment.

1. Carnal Jealousy.

Please look at Proverbs 27:4, ‘Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?’
There are two outstanding examples of this kind of jealousy in the Old Testament. The first is in Genesis 4:1 – 8. Here we have the story of Cain and Able, two brothers and one became jealous of the other. Cain’s jealous led to anger and his anger led to murder. Cain slew his brother in an angry rage.
The other story is that of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37. In verse 11 we read, ‘His brothers were jealous of him…’ That jealousy led them to sell their brother into slavery and to lie to his father saying that he had been killed by a wild animal.
Solomon reminds us in the Song of Songs 8:6, that ‘…love is as strong as death, it’s jealousy as unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.’
The reason the translators sometimes substituted the word ‘envy’ for ‘jealousy’ is that the roots of carnal jealousy lie in envy, that is, in discontent with one’s situation. We envy our competitors so we criticize them; then we become angry at them and that leads us to become spiteful and revengeful and vindictive. It is all sinful jealousy.
We see it all the time in life around us. The unpopular person criticizes the popular person’s moral and manners, hoping to bring them down on the ladder of popularity. The weak criticize the strong; the older generation criticize the younger and visa-versa. Even churches criticize one another out of carnal jealousy.
If we are to be Christian everyday of our lives then we have to watch out for carnal jealousy in the workplace, in our recreation, in our social gatherings and wherever we are. We have to learn to recognize it for what it is and judge it. Whenever you get that feeling of wanting to hit back at someone, not because of a wrong dome to you, but simply because of who they are, that is an indication that carnal jealousy is taking over the relationship. That is something you must judge for what it is.
Carnal jealousy arises when we develop an abnormal sense of competition with others. We see this sometimes in sibling rivalry where one child feels he or she is not as loved as the others. We see it in school where one child feels that the teacher is favouring another. We hear it on the job when we think the boss deliberately overlooked me and promoted another, and so on.
We must learn to recognize that these are unhealthy, sinful dispositions which we need to get rid of in ourselves. We must revise our standards and values so that we don’t misjudge others. And above all, we must ask God to fill us with love and grace to overcome carnal jealousy.

Let us turn the pages a little and take a look at:

2. Christ-like Jealousy.

Let me remind you again of the words from the Ten Commandments ‘I the Lord your God is a jealous God…’ Obviously there is a legitimate kind of jealousy spoken of here. Compare this with 2nd Corinthians 11:2, ‘I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy…’ That was Paul speaking of the Corinthian Christians.
In the Ten Commandments we have God being jealous when we run after other Gods and worship other things. Paul was jealous for the purity of the Church. A spouse naturally becomes jealous when he or she discovers that there is someone else who wants his other half.
The jealousy of God is a special kind of jealousy. It is a frame of mind that lays claim to undivided devotion and allows no tolerance of any rivals. That’s the jealousy of God and He has every right to feel this way because it is His due as the Creator of all of us. We owe Him complete surrender and complete allegiance.
Just as there is an exclusive nature in our relationship to God, so there is to be an exclusive nature to the marriage relationship. The marriage relationship is to be protected at all cost. A spouse has every right to be jealous of a flirting partner or a rival. That does not mean that we become paranoid and interpret every minor act of affection as wrong, but we do need to protect our marriage where we see real danger.
Like the Apostle Paul we need to be jealous for the purity of the Church. We live in a time of religious tolerance and we understand that there is a real need for this after centuries of religious battles, sometimes very fierce and leading to wars. People do have the right to worship as they please without infringing on the freedom of others to do the same.
But Christians today have a tendency to embrace every new thing that comes along in the name of Christian unity. We seem to think that if someone faithfully and earnestly believes something then it must be the truth and as Christians we must support it. We can’t do that. We must not do that.
What we have to do is examine these things against the teachings of Scripture to see if this is what the Scripture truly teaches. The scriptures are not really hard to understand. We have to take the time to examine news teachings when they arise and point out wrong teaching in a kind and gentle way.
When we do this we should not be surprised if people call us ‘narrow-minded.’

Remember, Jesus said, “Narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life.” Let us not embrace anything that we cannot legitimately defend from the scriptures.
On the other hand, when we find common ground where great biblical truths are received, then we must learn to work together and in love demonstrate our oneness in Christ, for that too is part of our jealousy for the Church.

Conclusions:

To close our study today, let me point you to a passage of Scripture and simply ask you to hold to the principles given here that you might reject carnal jealousy and embrace Christ-like jealousy –

Colossians 3:1 – 4 & 12 – 14.

Carnal jealousy will tear you apart. Christ-like jealousy will lead to peace.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »