Perspectives from the Pulpit

Walking and Evangelism

2010-01-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday morning, my postman delivered a padded manila envelope. I suspect that many of my pastoral colleagues have or soon will receive similar packages. Inside was a fancy pedometer and a USB cable. As part of the East Ohio Conference’s effort to reduce health care costs and improve the health of its clergy, they have joined with Virgin Health Miles, allowing pastors to earn cash incentives for keeping track of their daily steps.

As it arrived, I was working on my sermon for the week on rethinking evangelism. My guess is that at least a few of you have read Bill Hybels’ book, Just Walk Across the Room. The book challenges the reader to think about how they define evangelism. What if evangelism was as simple as walking across the room and introducing yourself to someone you don’t know? Rev. Hybels suggests if -10 is used to describe someone living for themselves and 0 is the point of salvation, then success in evangelism is any movement towards the right (towards 0). The average person takes about 10,000 steps every day. My pedometer is a constant reminder of that fact. But what if just a few of those steps could be used to make an eternal difference in the life of someone else’s life?

That, says Bill, is what Christ did. He left his circle of comfort (i.e., heaven) and, walking across the cosmos, He was born on earth so He could lead us to eternal life. Romans 5:8 sums it up pretty well. Like the adulterous woman in John 8, Jesus finds us in sin, deserving death, and instead he gives us new life as He says to us, “You are forgiven. Go and sin no more.”

There is one other point that needs to be stated. “The single greatest value in any evangelistic endeavor is to be in tune to and cooperating with the work of the Holy Spirit.” We need to walk when he prompts and stay put when he is silent. We speak when we feel so directed and remain silent when we don’t feel his guidance. To stay in tune, we need to be in prayer and carefully listen so we may discern that still small voice.

So as I count my steps and strive to be more intentional about my health, I pray that some of those steps will help others move towards spiritual life that will last forever. Maybe you will be challenged to do the same.

Communicating for Change

2009-05-17T21:02:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I've had a substantial post on this blog, but I just had to get this out.

Two pastors recently recommended a book. If you've been a pastor for very long, then you realize that this is a common occurrence. But the subject matter was something that had been on my mind recently. While I usually just nod and go on, this time I felt led to order the book. I am glad I did.

The book is Communicating for Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. The book challenges the reader to rethink their approach to sermon preparation and delivery. The book is divided into two parts. The first is a parable/story that hit me right in the soul. The second half is a more scholarly discussion of the seven imperatives and how they can be applied.

When the book arrived on Friday, I was already in the middle of a couple of things. When I picked it up later in the day, I intended to read the introduction and maybe the first chapter. I am by nature a slow reader. So imagine my surprise when I go so sucked in that I read the entire first half of the book in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down.

By the time I put it down, I wanted to go rework my sermon. Unfortunately, this weekend was my daughter's dance recital and the church's spring cleaning day, which meant there just wasn't time to rework the sermon and do the process justice. However, I did try to apply some of what the book talked about in terms of delivery.

So how did it go? It was an amazing experience. There was a sense of connection that was stronger than usual and I was able to leave my extensive notes untouched. What this book teaches is changing how I approach preaching (something I've done well for the last 14 years).

My thanks to Rev. J. Williams and Rev. R. Hendrix

Moving

2009-04-13T08:45:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I posted (over a year). I have been busy here in Adamsville, and hadn't really given this blog much thought until someone posted a comment last week. I took a couple of minutes and published all the comments that were pending.

If you enjoy the sermons, you can find more (Nov. 2006 to present) at www.adamsvilleumc.com. I don't know if the blogging bug will bite again, so I'm leaving this site up, but right now, there won't be regular updates. I will be posting every couple of weeks on the adamsvilleumc site under the pastor's blog.

Blessings to you all

Pastor Tom

From the Pastor's Pen - October

2007-10-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

From the Pastor’s Pen

A missionary sat on the patio watching a black ant crawl up a table leg until it reached some spilled sugar. It seemed to eat, then crawled back down the table leg. Soon the two black ants crawled up the table leg to the sugar. They ate and left. Soon a steady steam of black ants moved up and down the table leg to enjoy the sugar. The missionary thought to himself, "They must have some system by which they communicate, 'I have found something good and I want to share it!'"

Last month I wrote about finding the authentic Jesus, that is, one who is both relevant today and true to the record of scripture. When we find that authentic Jesus, we need to share that knowledge with others. This is the essence of evangelism. And that is the word that best describes our activities this October. Consider the following:

· This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we will be holding Revival. Revival should serve two purposes: it encourages and mobilizes those already in the church, and it provides an opportunity for us to bring unchurched persons to meet Christ.

· This Thursday we will kick off our Fall Kid’s Church program. For six weeks, the church will open and invite the children of the congregation and the community to come and learn about the truth the Bible has for us today. Through this program, we not only impact these children, but their families as well.

· At the end of the month, we look forward opening the church during “Trick or Treat Night.” While the world celebrates Halloween, the church celebrates All Saints Eve (or All Hallowed Eve), where we celebrate the life and testimony of the saints that came before us. Our theme for this night will be “Fishers of Men.”
By providing the light of God’s word and some goodies for the kids, we also have the chance to share with the families of our community the love of Christ.

It will be a full month, and there are a lot of other activities going on this month. As you read this, take a moment to reflect on how you can share God’s word with others this month.

~ Pastor Tom

Revival: Misconceptions, conditions, and marks of true revival

2007-10-01T06:51:00.000-04:00

Misconceptions:

Not earthly source. True revival comes from God.

Not emotionalism and enthusiasm. Not about feelings and hype.

Not evangelism. More than telling others about Christ. That's only part.

Not education. It’s more than knowledge. We're already educated beyond our level of obedience.

Not enlargement. A church does not necessarily grow in numbers during revival.

Conditions

Consciousness of need. (Rev. 3.14-18 "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God's creation: "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.' You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ) Do we like the Laodicean church fail to see the need for revival.
Firm belief in revival (Matt. 21.22 Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.") Have we asked for revival?
Recognize that God desires revival (Is. 48.18 O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea) God’s desire for us is for us to prosper.
Strong sense of urgency (Rev. 3.20 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.)
Earnest desire to be revived (Look at the day of Pentecost. They were gathered together in prayer seeking God’s revival. Do we desire revival so much that we go to prayer to pursue it?)
Willingness to pay the price (Earnestly following God will cost you something. Are you willing to count the cost? Are you willing to give up all that you have, all that you are, all your aspirations and desires, to be revived by the power of God? It is not something that is lightly undertaken.)

Marks of (2 Chor. 7.14)

1. Brokenness (confessed Sin, Humility)

2. Beseeching (pray, meditate on word, seek God’s face)

3. Burden (will of God, needs of community, desire to reach lost)

4. Behavior (obedience to God’s commands, turn from sins)

John Wesley, “Give me 100 Christians who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen. They alone will shake the very gates of Hell and set the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth”

I feel like Abraham talking to God: If we don't have 100, God, is 50 enough? What if we have 20? How about 5? Do we have five people who will seek God's face with everything in them, and resist sin with the same? God, can you start with one? Here I am, Lord, use me.

Catching up

2007-09-24T08:36:00.000-04:00

It has been nearly a month since I last posted, and I just wanted to take a few minutes to drop a few lines. I've been teaching on the Lord's prayer for the last five weeks, using material from one of my mentors and good friends. Since it was almost entirely someone else's material, I did not feel right about putting it up online.

I'll be posting my newsletter later this week, and hope to begin posting my sermons again next Monday.

Blessings.

September Newsletter

2007-08-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

“Who is this Jesus?”

I have heard this question asked with increasing frequency in
recent days.  The most poignant time was when I heard Bishop
Bruce Ough (from the West Ohio Annual Conference) tell a story
about his son and now daughter-in-law.  At the time, his son
was engaged, and on a certain Sunday,his son and his fiancé
went to church with the family.  As they sat in church and
listened to the pastor speak about Jesus, the bishop overheard
the young lady leaned over and asked his son, “Who is this
Jesus that the pastor is talking about?”  The reality of the
world we live in is that something like eighty percent of
all people under the age of twenty-five have never stepped
foot in a church, and most of these are not familiar with
the Biblical stories as the previous generations were.

Before we can begin to answer this question for others,
however, we must answer this question for ourselves.  We
need to figure out who Jesus is and what he means to us
before we try to tell others about him.  The Jesus often
portrayed in churches is a meek and mild-mannered man who is
nice to everyone and never gave offensive.  This Jesus is not
only pretty dull, but also seems too unrealistic to a
generation that is slow to trust what seems too good to be
true.  The good news is that the Jesus depicted in the Bible
is very different from this image. Jesus is depicted in
Scripture and history as a dynamic leader, who spoke the
truth of the Kingdom of God even when it was offensive.

The Jesus of Scripture wove together rope into a whip and drove
the money-changers from the temple courts (John 2:14-16).  He
is the same Jesus who referred to the Pharisees as a brood of
vipers (Mt. 12:34),and he is the same Jesus who told the crowd
gathering to stone the woman found in adultery that whoever
was without sin could cast the first stone (John 8:7). The
Jesus of Scripture and history was (and is) a radical whose
interest lay in telling truth. The church can learn from his
example.  While we should never go out of our way to be
offensive,we should also never gloss over the truth of the
Gospel in order to avoid giving offense.  Jesus calls us to
be salt and light in the world; sometimes the world doesn’t
like that.

The church needs to offer the world the “real” Jesus, who people can identify with, and who raised the standard at which we aim. This is a Jesus who younger people and older people alike will want to know and follow. note: the ideas in this newsletter borrow largely from my good friend, Pastor Jared, with some minor editorial changes.

How Hot Are You?

2007-08-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

It’s good to be back from vacation. Several people have asked how our time away was, and I guess you could sum it up in one word: HOT! As I thought about that this week, I wondered if there were a thermometer to measure our spiritual intensity, how hot would you and I be? The Bible word for being hot is zeal (literally translated “to boil”). If 1 is cold and 10 is hot, what number describes your relationship with Jesus Christ? If you are 5 and below, then you are lukewarm.

Jesus, David, and the heroes of faith were eaten up with zeal for the Lord. They were earnest and zealous for the God, having a fervent mind, an indignantce towards the devil, a warmth towards one another, and an energetic pursuit of the things of God.

John Wesley said, “If you’ll get on fire, people will come and watch you burn.” When I read that, my first thought was a picture in one of my college textbooks of a Buddhist monk who had set himself on fire in the street as a protest. That picture will forever be burnt onto my mind. Are you and I willing to be so sold out for God that our acts of loving kindness burn a permanent image on the minds of others?

When we have that zeal within us, we’ll find that we are so grieved for those who lacks the good things of God in their life that we have to act and share with them. The Bible says those who don’t have a zeal for God are poor, wretched, naked, blind. . . Have you ever seen a picture of a homeless person? There are people who are very well off physically, but spiritually, the are that homeless person. There are many people in churches this morning who have every outward appearance of zeal, but inwardly are starving for something.

In Revelation 3, John writes (beginning in verse 14): 14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

What does this have to say to us today? First, we all fall into one of three categories: cold, hot, or lukewarm (v. 15). Second, the lukewarm person is not easy to spot. They have the outward appearance of a Christian. They say of themselves “I’m rich, I don’t need anything. I’m satisfied.” That sounds a lot like the mantra of today’s American.

Now the Devil comes to deceive us in 2 ways. If we are cold, he tells us that we will never amount to anything. That forms within us a defeatist attitude. We begin to say over ourselves, “ I am a worthless little person. I can not get ahead. I know I will fail.” This type of attitude will keep us from fulfilling the potential that God sees in us. If we are lukewarm, the devil whispers in our ear, “everything is fine, you can take it easy. You have arrived.” The lukewarm Christian looks at those in the world and says to him or herself, “I’m not so bad. I’m better than they are.” Be wary of that voice, for God’s voice will never tell you that you’re better than someone else.

For someone who is lukewarm, God offers the following advice:

1. Buy gold of God that has been tried by fire. I heard the same thing on the radio this week. Buy gold. What does that mean. There are so many things in our lives that have no lasting value. The story is told about Dr. Dobson when he had heart surgery. He honestly thought he was going to die as he lay on that table. And he said at that moment, it did not matter how many books he had written, how many academic and professional awards he had won, how much money and possessions he had amassed. In that moment where he faced the prospect of his life ending there were only three things that mattered: who he loved, who loved him, and what he had done for Christ. 1 Corinthians 13 says in the end of it all only these three remain: faith, hope, and love. To buy gold means to infuse your life with those things that have an eternal value. Scripture reading, quality time with family, time spent in praise and worship as you draw closer to Christ. How much time today will you whittle away with trivial pursuits that have no lasting value? Buy Gold.

2. Get white raiment. This speaks of the blood of Jesus and the righteousness of Jesus. I looked hard for a picture for the power point this week. It’s hard to find a picture of a person wearing white. Most of those I found had a cigarette in their hand, needed more clothes, or had something spilled on their white clothes. As I thought about it, those very problems plague us as well. We can’t trust our own works to justify us, for our doubtful habits continue to ruin the picture; nor can we trust the law to justify us, for our goodness under the law never quite covers enough of us. In both instances, our sinful nature tends to stain our righteousness before we get very far. Only the holiness of Jesus that he gives to us through the cleansing of the blood can make us spotless before God. When God looks at us, he doesn’t see us, but he sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is like a great big robe that covers us.

3. Get some Eyesalve. If I were to update this, I would say, we need to get glasses to correct our vision. We need to see as God sees, to have vision for lost souls in our area. We need to refocus our vision off of ourselves and look for what God is calling us to do around us. During his ministry, Jesus healed a blind man. (see Mark 8:22-26) He spit in the man’s eyes and laid hands on him then he said, “Do you see anything?” The man replied, “I see people as trees that are walking.” This scripture illustrates the problem with our vision, and it is two-fold. First, we tend to focus only on ourselves, unable to see beyond our needs and wants to consider others. After an encounter with Christ, however, the man could see others, just not as they were. One commentator says of this passage that we often treat people as trees. We look to see what good they can be to us. When I served at Stafford, the trustees had three trees taken out. They were pretty scrawny trees, giving no shade. They were fruit trees, but they remained fruitless. So they were cut down. Too often, we look at other people that way. We ask ourselves what the person can do for us. We fail to realize that every person is of sacred worth to God, regardless of their past, their present, or their future. If we saw the lost as Christ sees them, then we could not help but improve our witness to those who are lost, for they are priceless to God.

The passage concludes with two pretty amazing verses. In verse 19, the Spirit tells John that God doesn’t bring this rebuke because he’s mad at us, but because he loves us. He just wants to see us be everything he’s made us to be. So in the next verse, he extends an invitation to us. If you are lukewarm, Christ is standing at the door to your heart this morning. He says to us, “Open the door, and I will come in and live within you. And you can live in me.”

HOW HOT ARE YOU THIS MORNING? Are you full of zeal for God? If not, then I invite you to come and ask God for gold, for white clothes, and for better vision. He loves you this morning and wants to see you full of zeal for him.

Back from Vacation

2007-08-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

I am back in the office after a week-long vacation. We took in some shopping, the Columbus Zoo, friends in Marion, Wooster, Columbus, New Philadelphia, and Cambridge, as well as a stop in Shreve for a Bible Study. We popped in on Rev. Walsh yesterday and enjoyed great worship and a powerful sermon, then went to lunch with some friends from the valley. It was a very full and refreshing time.

Still, it feels good to be back home. This week is our county fair, so I don't expect to be posting much before Sunday.

Catching Up in the Pulpit

2007-07-30T22:50:00.000-04:00

July has been a wild and crazy month. With the holiday at the beginning, a community service and our town's festival in the middle, and VBS at the end, I am just now catching my breath. For those who are wondering, we had the biggest VBS in recent memory, averaging between 103 and 104. Our offering was also ten times what was typical. God has blessed in so many ways.

For the sake of those who read regularly, I wanted to do this post and link July's sermons in one post, so that you don't have to dig through them all.

July 1: Answers in Abundance
July 8 (Community Service - I did not preach)
July 15 Dog Faith (posted last year, but still a great sermon)
July 22 Take the Plunge
July 29 Six Things To Do When Going On A Road Trip

I also put up the July and August Newsletter articles.

I'm sorry it took so long to get caught up. I will (with God's help) do better in August.

Pastor Tom

August Newsletter

2007-07-30T11:26:00.002-04:00

From the Pastor’s Pen

Vacation Bible School is over, the county fair is only a few weeks away, and before we know it, the children will be headed back to school. It’s hard to believe how fast the Summer has gone by! As we look ahead to Fall, there’s Charge Conference, revival, our cook out, and many other activities. So as I considered how I ought to spend the last few weeks of Summer, I asked myself, “What is the most important thing I ought to do?”

As I thought about it, I realized how easily we become distracted by all of the activity around us and lose sight of the main thing. If we identify ourselves as followers of Christ, then we find the answer in scripture – Jesus told us to share the Good News with others. (Matt. 28:19-20)

This really jumped out at me this week. In a class of roughly 30 children, only one was in church with us last week. Two more regularly attend church with us. Only 10 kids had a regular church home--that means that 2 out of every 3 do not! Jesus told his disciples that the harvest was very great. The problem is that the laborers are too few. (Luke 10:2)

Many of us do not share our faith with others because we simply do not know how. So I want to offer a few practical suggestions that can help us share our faith.

· Build friendships with one or two unchurched people. Many Christians isolate themselves from all non-believers, but in doing so, the cut themselves off from their mission field.

· Don’t force the conversation to faith. Get to know them and be an active listener.

· Ask them questions. Where do you work? How old are your kids? What activities are you involved in? The more you know about the person, the better you will understand them.

· Expect unchristlike behavior. They may have language, habits, and behaviors that offend you.

· If you have the opportunity to invite them to church, offer to meet them at the door and have them sit with you. The unknown of a church service isn’t so scary if there’s someone who knows how it’s done.

· Pray for these people, and ask God to guide you through his Holy Spirit. God can give us the words to say if we let Him. It takes labor in prayer to see a life changed.

As we close out the Summer, I pray that each of us will find ways to enter into the harvest field, so that we can see lives changed forever.

- Pastor Tom

July Newsletter

2007-07-30T11:26:00.001-04:00

From the Pastor’s Pen

As we enter July, I wanted to pause and reflect on the freedom and liberty that we enjoy as Americans. As I stood at the park last week (for Celebrate America Day) and watched the Boy Scouts present the flag, we all joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. Hear again those familiar words that come near the end of that pledge . . . “One nation, under God.”

One of the fundamental questions of our day is whether or not we are truly united as Americans. Today we find our country as divided as it was during the Civil War. We are divided by many things: the war in Iraq, political parties, social outlooks, our views on the hot social issues . . . this space is far too small to list them all.

Likewise, as individuals we find ourselves divided. We know that as Christians, we are called to live as citizens of God’s kingdom, obeying the commands of Christ and embodying the love of God to the world. Often, this puts us at odds with our own will and the norms of our society.

It is with all of this baggage that we come to those words we all learned as children: One Nation, Under God. Are we indeed united as one? Are we a country under God? How can we be?

First, do the commands of Christ affect the day-to-day life I lead? If not, then we need to read the words of Christ again (the red print in many Bibles) and ask ourselves how it applies to our everyday life.

Second, do I allow politics to define me? Instead of drawing lines based upon a party, we need to educate ourselves about the issues and candidates and vote our conscience. And once the elections are over, we need to pray for our leaders, regardless of who he or she might be.

Finally, do I look for ways to use the bounty that God has provided to me to help those who are less fortunate than myself? America has been blessed by God. It is among the richest nations in the world. God has given us an abundance, not for our own pleasure, but as a tool to further His kingdom. Consider John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, who required each family in the societies (similar to our Sunday school classes) to adopt a family less fortunate than themselves. They would look for opportunities to bless that family and embody Christ’s love to them. The Bible makes it clear that if we turn a blind eye on the plight of the poor and powerless that God will bring judgment.

God has richly blessed this country with liberty and prosperity. I pray that we as Americans might be a blessing to God in return.

~ Pastor Tom

Answers in Abundance

2007-07-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

Note: This sermon is based on Chapter 2 of David Jeremiah's book, "The Prayer Matrix"

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

A man went to heaven and saw St. Peter sitting in a room full of filing cabinets. "What’s in the filing cabinets?" asked the man "They are full of all the unclaimed gifts and blessings that God was prepared to give his children, but that they failed to ask for," Peter answered, “and one drawer has your name on it.”

Some of us will be amazed in eternity to realize the potential ministry impact we could have had, and the blessings we could have known, if we’d only asked for them.

After Jesus instructs us to ask, seek, and knock, he gives us some amazing, unconditional promises. Look at what it says: everyone who asks . . . receives! He who seeks. . .finds! And to him who knocks, it will be . . .opened! Do you see any loopholes? Does he say anywhere that God answers some prayers but not others? Does it say that he only hears some prayers? NO!!! God’s guarantee for us is this: he hears and answers every prayer. Ask and receive, seek and find, knock and watch the door open – these are ironclad promises. I know that there are other passages that lay out further guidelines for prayer – things like praying according to God’s will, praying in Jesus’ name, and praying in the Spirit. But the fact remains that in this passage, Jesus strongly teaches the profound effectiveness of simply asking – without weighing down the process with our restrictions.

In his book With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray says it simply and powerfully: “God means prayer to have an answer.” Look at the biblical witness: Prayer opened the Red Sea, brought water from a rock and bread from heaven; prayer made the sun stand still, brought fire from the sky, and overthrew armies; prayer healed the sick, delivered the oppressed, and raised the dead. Things we think are impossible, God does when people pray.

I read the true story of a mother whose young daughter took ill one morning at school. After the mother picked the girl, she called the doctor and described the symptoms. He said that there was a rash of flu-like afflictions. He couldn’t see the girl until the next day, but suggested an over-the-counter medicine that the mother could pick up to help her.

The mother got her daughter to bed, told her she was to the store for the medicine, and hurried from the house.

She rushed to the store, purchased the medication, but when she returned to the parking lot, she discovered that she had locked her keys in the car.

Her first response was to call her daughter and tell her she would be a little longer than she had expected. He daughter told her, “Mommy, get a coat hanger. I’ve seen on TV how they just stick a coat hanger down the window and unlock the car door.”

The mother went back into the store and was able to get a wire hanger, though she had serious doubts about her ability to open the door with it. But being a woman of prayer, she was not put off. She simply lifted her need to God. “I don’t know what to do, Lord. My keys are in the car, the doors are locked, and my daughter is at home sick. I’ve got this hanger, but I have no idea what to do with it. Please send someone to help.

As she finished praying, a car pulled to the curb and dropped off a passenger not five feet from the woman. This must be God’s answer to her prayer. The man didn’t look like the kind of person God would typically send, in his ripped jeans, arms covered in colorful tattoos. But she said, “Sir, can you help me?”

“What’s the problem,” he asked.

“I locked the keys in my car. I got this coat hanger, but I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Lady,” he said, “where’s your car?”

She took him to it, and after bending the hanger, quickly used it to pop the lock. The overwhelmed mother threw her arms around the man and gave him a big hug. “You are such a good man.”

“Lady,” he said, “I’m no good man. I just got out of prison.”

As the man walked away, the mother prayed, “Thank you, Lord. You sent me a professional.”

Why does God answer any of our prayers? Oswald Chambers, in his typically pointed style, writes: “There is only one kind of person who can really pray, and that is the child-like saint, the simple, stupid, supernatural child of God; I do mean stupid.” I don’t want to speak for you, but I guess that means I qualify as someone who can pray! Chambers goes on to say that it is nonsense to try to use mental reasoning to explain why God answers those “stupid” prayers. He answers not because of our earnestness or our suffering, but because of Jesus’ suffering. The mystery of why God answers our prayers is wrapped up in the answer to why he redeems us through the cross – it points to an infinite love that is far beyond any human explanation.

R. A. Torrey has written some of the best books on prayer. He says, “when I realized what real prayer meant, realized that prayer was having an audience with God, actually coming into the presence of god, and asking and getting things from him, it transformed hi s prayer life.

Before that, prayer had been a mere duty, and sometimes a very irksome duty, but from that time on prayer has not been merely a duty but a privilege, one of the most highly esteemed privileges of life.

Before that the thought that I has was, “How much time must I spend in prayer?” The thought that now possesses me is , “How much time may I spend in prayer without neglecting the other privileges and duties of life?”

As we get deeper and deeper into this thing called prayer and begin to experience the presence of God, I hope that you too will begin to find it one of the highest privileges in your life.

Take the Plunge

2007-07-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

John 4:4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." 11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Our VBS this year is called “Take the Plunge”. We’ll be challenged to make a splash with Jesus. The main verse for this theme comes from a familiar story, the woman at the well.

As Jesus traveled south out of Galilee, he crossed through Samaria. And it was the sixth hour (that is, it was high noon.) And as he came to Sychar, he went to Jacob’s well, he found a woman drawing water from the well and he asked her “Are you willing to give me a drink?”

Now the Jews and Samaritans got along about as well as the McCoy’s and the Hatfields. The Jews refused to recognize the Samaritans as Jews because they had intermarried with other peoples during the exile. Because of this, they cut them off from worshipping in the temple. So the Samaritans build their own temple area in Samaria. A war of words ensued until, during the time between the OT and NT, the Jews raised and army and destroyed the Samaritan temple. So here is Jesus, a Jew, asking a Samaritan for a drink at a well dug by their common ancestor, Jacob.

And it was worse than that. According to the Jewish tradition, a man did not speak to a woman in public, especially not one to whom he was not related. By asking for a drink, Jesus was violating cultural rules that had been in place for centuries.

The woman was so taken aback, that all she could do was ask him, “How can you be asking me for a drink? I am a Samaritan and a woman.” (v. 9)

Jesus answered, “If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would be asking me for the living water. For everyone who drinks of it will never be thirst again. The water I give will spring up to everlasting life.”

The woman answered, “Sir, I want a drink of this water.”

I want to make a couple of quick points about this story and how it relates to us today.

First, this week, we’ll have the opportunity to welcome into this church many children and parents who like this woman are thirsty. They may have some church background, they many come for Kid’s church, but they don’t have any real grasp of the Love God has for them.

Second, though many of them are looked down on by culture and society, we can follow the example of Christ and cross over those cultural boundaries to show them we genuinely care about them. It amazes me that it is those who are the most unchristlike that most desperately desire to hear the good news and are most impacted by it.

How can we be like Christ? There are three things we need to do:

1. Listen. The Unchurched so desperately want someone to listen to them and really hear what they are saying. This week there will be times that we have to tell the kids to be quiet and listen to what we have to say, and there that is fine, but we also need to take the time to listen.

2. Love. Find the ones who don’t fit in and love on them. Find the ones who are the worst behaved and love on them. Find the ones who act like they don’t care and love on them. You see, if we want them to see Christ, we have to show them His love. And Christ’s love is unconditional.

3. Pray. Now I know there are some who can’t be here this week. I want you all to be praying. Pray over the kids, the teachers, the helpers, the games and crafts, and food, the music. Pray that God will open the hearts and minds of all those that are there that we may have an eternal impact on the lives of these children. Those who are here can be Praying too. Pray for God to prepare hearts to hear the word and to respond. Pray for the words to say, for the patience to listen, and for Christ’s love to so fill you to overflowing that it can spill out on those who are here. You see, prayer and work have to go hand in hand. Without prayer, we’ll have a good program, but that’s all it will be.

So Adamsville, what do you think? Can we take the plunge and make a Splash with Jesus?

Six Things To Do When Going On A Road Trip

2007-07-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

As Christians, we all want to be at the center of God’s will for our lives. As I began to reflect, I came back to this verse. To understand the will of God, we are to renew our minds. How? Prayer and Scripture. But too often, this leads to frustration. How many of you have ever made a New Year’s Resolution to read the entire bible in a year or to pray for one hour every day? What happens? We get up an hour earlier, and we do really well for a while. But then we miss a day. So we do twice as much to catch up. Eventually, it becomes an immense burden.

And that’s where the frustration comes in. That is when I realized that we are coming at the whole thing wrongly. Where in the bible does it tell us we are to read the bible in a year or pray for an hour every day? You see, when we use that approach, prayer and study of Scripture become burdens that the enemy uses against us, making us feel inadequate. Instead, we need them to be there to empower us...to transform us. The problem comes from our view of prayer and scripture. We need to realize that prayer and scripture reading is really two parts of a single conversation. Read Word, (find out what God is saying) then pray! How do I start to pray? It’s easy. Just let him start the conversation in the word. To do this, we need to approach reading the bible differently also. We need to quit reading for distance and begin to read for depth. To illustrate this, let's look at the analogy of a road trip.

Six things to do when going on a road trip

1. Fill up your tank. You need gas to get where you’re going. Spiritually, that means asking the Holy Spirit to guide us and teach us while we read. Without his guidance, it just won't make sense. Begin with a short prayer: God, let your Holy Spirit teach me from Your word today. Amen.

2. Choose your road. If you want to go to New York, you might want to go East instead of West. In the same way, you need to be intentional about picking your starting place in scripture. The story is told about one man who used the “Point and read method” He let the Bible fall open and pointed – it said, “Judas hung himself” Well, he tried again – “go and do likewise.” We need to read the Bible in context and to do that we need a starting point. If you don’t have a favorite book to start in, try starting with a gospel like Mark or John.

3. Slow down and take in the scenery. Too often, we miss the scenery in a hurry to reach our destination. When we read scripture, don't worry about getting to the end of the chapter or even the end of the verse. Read slowly and look at the scenery. Use your imagination a little bit. Can you hear the crowd? Can you smell the fish on the sea shore? Can you see the crowd pressing in on Christ? Try to engage your senses when you read and look at the scenery.

4. Pull off at a scenic viewpoint. On a road trip, these Historical markers or particularly stunning part of nature. When a particular verse or phrase really grabs your attention, stop. Focus on that verse or phrase. Try putting the emphasis on different words and see how the meaning changes. Try putting it in your own words.

5. Take a picture of yourself. What does this particular passage or verse seem to say to you today? Is it speaking to you? What is it saying? Write it down so you can preserve it, just as a picture preserves a moment on a trip.

6. Send a postcard home--Move into prayer. God spoke, now just tell him what you heard, where you've been, and what you saw. As things come to mind, put them into the prayer. Again, it doesn’t have to be a long prayer; rather, it should just be a natural extension of your study.

(Actually there is a step 7.) When you've said all you need to say, go on to the next scenic viewpoint. Go back to step 3 and continue reading until you get there. When a verse or phrase speaks to you, move into prayer and tell God about it.)

When you begin to read like you take a road trip, you will quit worrying about how much you read or how long you pray. Instead, you begin to bring the joy back into the time you spend with God. This type of reading not only allows us to discern God's will, but it also brings about pronounced changes. Thought-life changes, passions change, outlook changes, motivation changes, in fact, if we renew our minds, we will be transformed.

Apologies and Good Intentions

2007-07-25T07:44:00.000-04:00

I know that it has been several weeks since I have posted. There were two weeks that I eitgher used an old sermon which was already up on my blog or did not preach, last week we had guests Sunday through Wednesday, and homecoming here in Adamsville (our community festival) Wednesday through Saturday. Sunday we kicked off our Vacation Bible School. God has been so gracious and so faithful to our prayers. Even though we traditionally average 70-80 children, we've been averaging just over 101. I also have to travel South today to conduct the funeral services for a dear friend. To top it off, all four of us (my wife and two kids) are physically under the weather. Hopefully, I'll kick this bug and get back to the keyboard with my sermons and other posts next week and if all goes well, I may post some of what I've missed!!

Thank you all for your patience, your prayers, and for reading the ramblings of this pastor.

God Bless

Tom

Creative Evangelism

2007-06-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

The story is told of a famous Christian evangelist who was on a flight back from a major pastor's conference. Exhausted from his week, he was looking forward to the long flight from the west coast back to New York. He had with him the latest book by his favorite author and was hoping to finish the book by the end of the flight. As he sat down in the middle seat of three, he noticed that the window seat was occupied by a businessman, who was intently reading a magazine, and the aisle seat was open. Just before the plane took off, a young, teenage girl sat down next to him. As the plane taxied for takeoff, he began to read his book, ignoring everyone else. He had just finished the forward and began the first chapter when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning, he found the teenage girl staring at him intently. “Did you brush your teeth this morning?” she asked. “Yes I did,” replied the evangelist. “That’s good, ‘cause it's important.” Just a little confused, the evangelist went back to his chapter. He finished the first paragraph when he felt the tug again. “Do you smoke?” “No I do not,” the evangelist said. That’s good, ‘cause smoking will kill you.” Once again befuddled, the evangelist began his first chapter again. He finished the first page before he felt another tug. “Mister, do you know Jesus?” The evangelist smiled as he told her that he did indeed know Christ. The girl replied, “That’s good, ‘cause only Jesus can save you.” The evangelist smiled as he turned back to his book. However, he had barely found his place again when he felt yet another pull on sleeve. Pointing to the businessman, the girl said, “Ask him.” “Ask him what?” “Ask him if he brushed his teeth this morning.” The evangelist slid a bookmark into his book, turned to the businessman, and said, “Excuse me, my young friend here wanted to know if you brushed your teeth this morning?” The businessman looked a little confused, as he answered he had. The girl leaned across and said, “That’s good ‘cause it’s important.” The evangelist knew what was coming, but he waited for the familiar tug. The process repeated through the smoking, and to the most important question. “Sir, my friend here wanted to know just one more thing. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” The businessman looked genuinely surprised. “I don't,” he said, “but I've wanted to for some time.” Church, that famous evangelist, who has taught thousands upon thousands to lead people to Jesus was going to waste the whole trip in his book, but because of the courage of a young girl with a plan to share her faith, the evangelist had the privilege of leading that man to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Do you have a plan for leading people into a relationship with Jesus? It was simple, but this young lady had a plan to tell people about Christ.

This last week at Annual Conference, Bishop Hopkins challenged us to share our own faith stories. He did it in a creative way. He had a runner come in with a relay baton, and share his own faith story—how God had changed his life. At the conclusion of the message, we were given our own baton, so we could each share with others how God has changed our own life! That is creative evangelism.

Before Christ left, he gave the church a great commission. He said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28.19-20) This has become the great omission in many churches today.

At Adamsville, we have a mission statement. To paraphrase it, we are to:

Know Christ,

Grow like Christ, and

Show Christ to others.

Beneath every mission statement, there are core values, that is, those essentials upon which we refuse to compromise. We have a core value of Evangelism. When we evangelize, that is, show Christ to others, we are then to teach them how to go back out and evangelize others. The fact is, if the church were to grasps this concept, it necessitates steady, long-term growth.

How do we go about doing this?

1. Pray. The most important thing that we can do is to pray. This is not an excuse for inaction, but a necessary part as we ask God to prepare the soil of the person’s heart. (see the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

2. Learn the basics. I am amazed how many people don't know how to lead someone to Christ. This morning, I want to offer a very basic approach that we all can learn called the Roman Road. Write down these verses and put them in the front of your Bible. Put them in your wallet. Better yet, memorize them, so that you could use them to lead someone to Christ. (Rom 3.23 all sinned, 6.23 wages of sin and God’s gift, 10.9 confess and believe to be saved, 8.1 not condemned, 8.38-9 nothing can separate us from God’s love.)

3. Be Creative. Take time to use your imagination and see what unique ways you can find to broach the subject of Jesus with others. Consider your hobbies, your unique gifts and talents, and formulate your own plan of attack.

4. Don't be afraid of telling the truth. Non-believers often ask tough questions for which we have no answer. Be real. Don't try to act more holy than you are. Just be yourself. Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know, but I would like find out." Then resource. Ask your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, the saints that have been in the church for years. The truth is, we don’t have to have all the answers to be effective evangelists.

5. Offer them community. Remember, salvation is only the beginning of the faith journey. Invite them to church, to a bible study, or even offer to meet with them to read the Bible together. New believers do not automatically become disciples, they need to be in community!

6. Don't be afraid to fail. If we read scriptures carefully, Christ only had a 1-in-10 success rate. Don't become discouraged. Share your disappointments with others, as well as your successes. The testimony of the community will keep us from becoming "weary in well doing". 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal. 6:9). Further, you don’t know how your effort may have broken up the ground for someone else’s seed. What we often deem a failure, heaven sees as a major victory. (see Walk Across the Room, observation #3)

Can we lead people into personal, vital, and growing relationship with Jesus? Are we ourselves becoming disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the Good news with others? Let us find new and creative ways to share the good news with others.

A People in Exile

2007-06-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

Ezekiel 11:14-25

I want to begin by saying that this sermon is does not originate with me. It comes from the notes I took a few years ago, when Rev. Chip Freed preached for the cabinet address at the East Ohio Annual Conference. The sermon is fitting, because in light of last week’s sermon, I have been asked why I think that we need to study the exiles and passages like Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones.

Have you ever gone from exaltation to exile? There was a story in the New York Times a few years ago that illustrates this feeling. David Anderson was checking out the full score for Handle’s Messiah. However, an input error occurred, and the library was left with no record of where the music had gone. November came, and with it, many requests for the music. A frantic search was launched, but the music was not found. You can imagine Mr. Anderson’s shock upon returning the music. The head librarian, who was standing at the desk began to yell at the top of her lungs, “The Messiah is here, the Messiah is here. . .” A New York Times writer was at the library and witnessed the event. He wrote, “Everyone looked with great expectancy, but after a few moments, it was back to business as usual.”

The Prophet Ezekiel understood this experience. After the golden age of Israel, the nation was in spiritual decline. The Northern kingdom went into exile, while Judah, under the leadership of young King Josiah, underwent a revival. Ezekiel was a revival priest! Yet as quickly as it came, the revival left. Josiah was killed at the hand of the Egyptians, and after a few years of exaltation, it was back to business as usual. Idols, fruitless tradition, and spiritual decline replaced the religious fervor. Then came the exile at the hands of the armies of Babylon.

Have you ever experienced this journey from exaltation to exile? Maybe it occurred from the church house to the car, or from the weekend into the work week. The exile for the children of Israel was not only exile from a place, but also an exile in spirit. The nation felt defeated: God has left us, we are without hope, and we have lost our very identity. It was more than temporary homesickness, as the psalmist points out in the 137^th psalm, giving us a sense of what was going on: by the rivers of Babylon . . . we sat and wept. We hung up our harps. how could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?

I think a strong case can be made that we as a church are a people in exile. Oh, I know we aren’t living in a foreign land, but just ponder the possibility with me for a few moments. Walter Brueggemann, the great scholar of the exiles lists six qualities of a people in exile. See if any of these apply.

1. They are a community of honest sadness over the loss of what used-to-be. The glory years are remembered and romanticized. We remember the best of those times and forget most of the bad. Have you ever caught yourself remembering back to the good old days of church? Or maybe for you, it is remembering one particular pastor who you wish were still here. And we say things like, “Oh, those were the days!”

2. They have lost the old family place. They have lost their distinctiveness. Some here today are here because the family church closed. For others, it is a sense of familiarity slipping away--what ever happened to all the old hymns, the old church traditions, even what we used to call Christian morality?

3. People in exile are keenly aware of the power of despair. They wonder if their efforts make any difference at all. Are we moving forward or just spinning our wheels. I was shocked when I read recently of a pastoral councilor when asked about the problem with clergy depression remarked, “What problem. Depression is a normal and expected condition in pastors today.”

4. They question the absence of God. Have you noticed how we conduct ourselves at conference, at meetings, even in our church as though we do not need the presence of God to validate our ministry? If we simply have the right techniques, the proper approach, the appropriate attitudes, a reasonable study, then we can fix it all on our own. I recently talked to a pastor who was brought in to “rebuild” and re-grow a declining church. After talking to him about it, he shared about the techniques, strategies, and human effort that was going to be used, but he never mentioned God. Does God have to show up before we can have church?!? I hope so. . .

5. Blame games, finger pointing, and a great quest to find out who’s at fault emerges in light of the current circumstances. This doesn’t happen in the church, does it? Ask someone why Sunday School is in decline across the United States, and you will hear about busy families, mass media, apathy, impotent programs, hurt feelings, youth sports leagues, and any number of other excuses. That is not to say that any and all of these might not be contributing factors. But we always seem to want to point a finger away from ourselves. The source of the problem must be outside the church, we reason, since we, as the body of Christ, are nearly perfect.

6. There is an intensified preoccupation with self and self-concern. What we need, hope for, and want become the central concerns. God’s will is always secondary. We pray, “Thy Will Be Done,” and then wait to see if it fits our plans. Why is it that people leave a church? Is it because they are concerned with reaching the unchurched in the mission fields, because they see their gifts and graces needed to help a struggling congregation do effective ministry, or because their own personal, ego-based needs have not been met. Do we come to church for us or for God?

So here we find Ezekiel, a disenfranchised temple priest. What good is a priest without a temple? The temple is thousands of miles away, and Ezekiel is feeling worthless. Yet God showed up and declares “I want you to be my prophet to the exiles.” Megan McKenna writes, “Ezekiel was called to generate confidence in a people empties of life and breath fresh air into a people who had been crushed by history.” Oh Please, Bishop, appoint me!

What does God have to say to the exiles?

1. The first incredible word is that God goes with us into exile. God is our sanctuary in exile. Consider the Great Commission -- go into all the world. The last verse of that passage says Lo I am with you ALWAYS even to the end of the age. God does not live in a house of stone, but in the hearts and lives of believers. God joins us in our times of exile and we find that we don’t go to a place to experience God, but in God we find our place.

You see, like Israel, we sometimes think God’s in trouble. God is not in trouble. He doesn’t need our help to change the world. God does not need the vote of our council or PPRC to bless whomever God wants to bless whenever God wants to bless them. God has a lock on the position of Creator of the Universe and Author and Finisher of our faith. . .

Yet God allows us to participate if we are willing. He goes into exile with us, for in exile, we can minister the love of Christ to others who are lost in exile.

2. The second great truth God speaks through Ezekiel to the exiles is that if God is in exile with us, he can show us the way out of it! So don’t be afraid, Joseph, when your brothers stuff you down a well. I am with you. I’ll get you home. And David, when the odds are stacked against you and you have to face a giant with a bit of rag and five stones, don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Daniel, don’t worry about the lion’s roar; Shadrech, Meshach, and Abednego, don’t fret when Nebuchadnezzar throws you into the fiery furnace. . .Paul don’t be disheartened when you get thrown in jail for your preaching. I am with you, and I’ll bring you out! Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you are in the depths of despair, don’t lose hope. The Psalmist wrote “even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. . .for you are WITH ME.” God is with you, and He will bring you out!

How does God bring us out? It is not an outward activity, but an inward reality. God said to Ezekiel, I will give you a NEW HEART. Not just how we feel, but who we are. To the Hebrew people, the heart was the very center of your being and who you are. God says I’m going to give you a new heart. The way out isn’t cosmetic surgery. It isn’t a tummy tuck or a facelift -- it’s transplant surgery. God is not interested in just adjusting our activities, God is seeking to adjust our identities. God compares us to a house, and we often think God is just going to make us into a cute little cottage, but the reality is God’s building a palace and he intends to live there himself.

This is the real problem in the church. We want to make minor adjustments and revisions. We want to fix things. If we fix it they will come. Church it isn’t about what we do, but about who WE are. Kirbyjon Caldwell says, the number one reason people don’t come to church is because of those who do! If that’s true, then the only way to get those people in is to allow God to change those we already have. God says I’ll take your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Our heart of stone is first our inability to let go. For it is not by anything we do that we get this heart of flesh. It is not by any work we do that God transforms us. Rather, to receive this new heart, there is much that must be taken way. God will not take it, though, until we are willing to let it go. The second part of the heart of stone is our lack of passion. What happened to the passion in the church? Are we having a difficult time singing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? One secular writer visited a church where the congregation began the service singing “The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.” The writer’s only comment was, “Somebody needed to notify their faces.” Another story told of a church that had no children. Then a young family joined. Suddenly the services became noisy. So the elders of the church came to the pastor and said, “You need to tell them to keep their kids quiet!” So not wanting to offend the family, the pastor decided to address it in his weekly children’s chat message. Looking at those three small faces, the pastor asked, “Children, why should we be quiet during church?” The youngest looked up and said, “It’s because the people are sleeping.” What has happened to our enthusiasm? The story is told of Tony Campolo going to a meeting in a large city. His meeting was on 80th floor. And as he looked around the elevator, he saw a bunch of businessmen in their three-piece suits, looking like some of our congregations. So he said, “Lets sing.” And here’s the crazy part -- they did. He got off the elevator and was followed off by a famous CEO. Tony looked at him and said, “Are you going to the meeting on this floor?” “No,” the man replied. “My meeting is down a couple of floors. I just wanted to finish the song.” Church, God did the hard part for us through Christ on the cross. We just have to finish the song.

And as we close, I want you to see the results. What happens when we get this new heart? The glory of the Lord ascends from us. That is simply AMAZING. Every other biblical witness shows the glory of the Lord descending from heaven, but when we find the joy of God and allow Him to give us a new heart, then God is here with us. His glory is housed within US!

Friends we may be a people in exile, but with God, we can find our way out. All we need it to allow God to give us a new heart.

June Newsletter

2007-06-01T11:12:00.000-04:00

With Memorial Day come and gone, the summer is fully upon us. With it comes a whole host of busyness, ministry, and life. Annual Conference will soon be here, followed by homecoming, VBS, and fair week. Add to this the family vacations, reunions, conditioning for fall sports, and a host of other activities, and our summers are already full to the point of bursting.

For Michelle and I, the activities of summer include several of our close friends who are moving. As we gather boxes to send to them, we are also rejoicing that we are not moving. We are truly looking forward to another year full of ministry with all of you.

In the midst of the comings and goings this summer, take time to find periods of Sabbath rest, both physical and mental, as well as spiritual. Here are just a few ways you can do that:

1. When on vacation, find a church to worship with. It can be a great opportunity to worship with other believers and to experience how others worship.

2. Take a few hours to slow down and enjoy yourself. Take a nap, read a book, sit outside and just watch the world go by.

3. Spend some quality time with your family. Kids and grandkids grow up so fast. Find an activity that you can all do together.

Remember, in whatever you do this summer, that you witness to others through your actions as much as by your words. May God give you the opportunity this summer to share His love with others; may He grant you a blessed, safe, and fulfilling summer.

- Pastor Tom

The Valley of Dry Bones

2007-05-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

Ezekiel 37:1-14:

1. The hand of the Lord was upon me and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord; and he set me in the midst of a certain plain. It was very full, covered in bones. 2. And he caused me to pass over them, all around; and I beheld the bones were very many upon the plain and they were very dry! 3. And he said to me, “Human, can these bones live?” And I said, “Lord GOD, only you know.” 4. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of GOD; 5. this is what the Lord GOD says to you dry bones: See! I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. 6. And I will lay sinews and flesh upon you and I will spread skin upon you, and I will put breath-spirit into you and you will live again. Then you will know that I am GOD’.”

7. So I prophesied as he had commanded me; as I prophesied, there was a noise , and I beheld a rattling and the bones came together bone to bone. 8. And I looked again, and I saw sinews upon them and flesh had come upon them and he has covered them with skin, but there was no breath in them. 9. And he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath-spirit. Prophesy, human, and say to the breath-spirit, “Thus says the Lord GOD: come from the four winds, O breath-spirit, and breathe into these who were slain and they shall live.” 10. And I prophesied as he had commanded me. And the breath-spirit came into them and they lived. And they stood up on their feet, a very great army.

11. And he said to me, “Human, these bones are all the house of Israel. See! They are saying, ‘our bones are dried up and our hope is lost, for we are cut off.’ 12. Therefore, prophesy to them and say, “Thus says the Lord GOD: See! I have opened your graves and I will raise you from your graves, my people; Then I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13. And you will know that I am GOD, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14. And I will put my breath-spirit within you and you shall live. Then I will place you in your land and you will know that I GOD have spoken and have done it, says the Lord.”

Ezekiel was an exile in Babylon. And the passage begins, “The hand of the Lord was upon me.” This is an idiomatic expression for a trance-like state where God showed him the vision. In this vision, he is transported to a wide, full plain. Bones cover the ground for as far as the eye can see. And the prophet probably thought, God, why have you brought me to this unclean place? (A dead body is unclean and contact with one would make the person unclean.) Then God causes him to pass over them. The Hebrew translated around about is literally around, around. This gives the sense of a whirlwind, like Elijah, who was taken up in the whirlwind and a fiery chariot. As he cycles his way around this vast plain, he discovers two things about the bones: 1-- they are very many and 2-- they are very dry!

Then, God speaks. “Human. . .” “Can these bones live?” God is quick to remind Ezekiel of his role as creation. Ezekiel is pretty sharp, so he turns the question back on God. “God, only you knows." God isn’t about to let Ezekiel off that easily; he replies, Human, prophesy! “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: this is what the Lord GOD says to you dry bones: See! I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. 6. And I will lay sinews and flesh upon you and I will spread skin upon you, and I will put breath-spirit into you and you will live again. Then you will know that I am GOD’.”

So Ezekiel prophesied. I looked up the word prophesy, and I made an interesting discovery. While it can mean the act of a prophet in word or vision, it can also mean anyone who speaks the word of the Lord. As he began to declare the words of the Lord, there was a noise -- a rattling -- a shaking -- and the bones came together BONE TO BONE! Can you see Ezekiel still spinning 35’ up in the air around the valley and suddenly the whole ground seems to heave? As he looks down, there is row after row of perfect skeletons. The foot bones are at the leg bones the leg bones connected to the knee bone . . . Have any of you ever sung that song? “The knee bones connected to the ______ bone, . . . them bones, them bones, them dry bones, now hear the word of the Lord.” And he looks again. Maybe he blinked, but suddenly the skeletons are covered with tendons and muscles and skin. As he looks, he makes this observation: there was no (ruah) in them. The Hebrew word ruah is translated as breath, wind, or spirit. The valley was full of perfectly formed bodies that lacked the breath of God that gives us life. If the vision stopped right here, those bodies would have decayed, the bones would have again been scattered, covering the ground, but God wasn’t through with them yet! Aren’t you glad that God finishes his work?

So God said to Ezekiel, “Prophesy to the ruah.” It came upon them, and they lived. And they stood up on their feet - a great army! This is all the house of Israel. But, there was still a problem. They were saying about themselves, “our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” So God says, “Speak to them and tell them I am raising them up from a pile of bones to a great army and I will bring them back into the Land of Promise!”

I want to quote this to you, because it sheds some light on this passage and I can’t say it any better than he did:

“The promises of their restoration and deliverance, which we have here in the latter part of the book, are for the encouraging of a humble faith. God had assured them that he would gather the house of Israel, even all of it, and return them to their own land; but there were two things that rendered this very unlikely:— I. That they were so dispersed among their enemies, and so dispirited likewise in their own minds; they are here, in vision, compared to a valley full of the dry bones of dead men. . . II. That they were so divided among themselves, too much of the old enmity between Judah and Ephraim remaining even in their captivity.” -Matthew Henry

If you're a student of the Old Testament, you know who Ephraim and Judah are. Judah was Israel’s second oldest son who was made the son of inheritance after Israel wrote Reuben out of that part of the will, and Ephraim was the oldest son of Joseph (Israel’s favorite son). Yet despite all the obstacles, God restored Israel.

What does this passage have to say to us? I’ve been in pastoral ministry for almost ten years. In that time, I’ve heard some say, “It’s dry times. We just don’t have the numbers we used to. Maybe it’s just time to close down.” I’ve heard others say, “We don’t seem to be gaining ground, our hope is gone.” I want to echo the words of my God--We aren’t heading for a pile of dry bones, but an exceedingly great army! But like the children of Israel, we are so divided among our enemies, so dispirited, and so divided among ourselves that we fail to live as the body of Christ in the larger context of the world. Often there is a long way to go from piles of bones we find to the great army God sees. So what does Ezekiel tell us about how to get there?

First, before anything else happened, the vision came. Without a vision the people perish. (Proverbs 29:18a) What does God want to do here?

Second, someone has to begin to speak what God has said. We need to understand the power of the tongue. We need to be confessing over ourselves what God has shown us; that “God is restoring the years the locust have eaten.” “People are lining up to hear the word preached at Adamsville United Methodist Church.” Speak it with faith!

Once we have the vision and the faith, the restoration can begin. I see four steps that the passage lays out, and they show us the way to restoration.

1. Bone to bone. Eph. 3:16 says we are to be jointly fitted together. Look at the person sitting on either side of you. How well do you know them? What are they going through? What part of the body are they--what are their spiritual gifts? Bone to bone speaks of unity in the body of Christ. We need to come together to accomplish the ministries God has for us.

2. Sinews and Flesh. This is the ability to move--muscles and tendons. It speaks of our doing the work of the kingdom. As God shows us ways to reach outside the church to the community, it will take people willing to do the work. Not salvation through work, but our faith brings about our work.

3. Skin. The skin layer is an amazing thing. First, it protects us from the physical wear and tear that our bodies endure. Have you ever had a bruise? That is your skin protecting the organs, sinews and flesh of your body. The second thing that our skin does is it protects us from all the airborne germs and viruses. Most of these maladies are stopped before they ever have a chance to affect our bodies because of our skin. (We also look a lot better with skin. A person without it would be pretty ugly). In the body of Christ, the skin layer is our prayer covering. We need to continually pray for each other. As we begin to move ahead in the work of the church, we can expect the enemy to try to thwart our effort with spiritual attacks. If we don’t pray, we’ll become prey for the enemy.

4. Ruah. On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the third person of the Trinity. We need to allow his spirit to be Lord and to empower us. Jesus told his disciples that they were to wait until they had the power...ruah.

There is an order to the restoration. One comes before _____, two comes before _________, . . . There is an order to restoration. Step one needs to come first. I’ve seen churches where the congregation can’t get along well enough to sit on the same side of the church, but they continually pray for the ruah to empower them. If the bones come after the skin, the body won’t be formed correctly; if the breath comes before the body is complete, it can not live.

So as we conclude, I want to ask you, “Can our church live?” Only you know, GOD. He says to us, “Prophesy - Speak my word, find your place in the body, exercise your faith and the talents I’ve placed within you, pray for one another, and allow my Spirit to breathe new life into you.” We are a great army waiting to happen. Are you ready to rise up and be restored?

The Hand of God, the Face of God

2007-05-21T10:31:00.000-04:00

As we begin this morning, I’d like to share a verse of scripture that we studied in some detail during our National Day of Prayer Bible Study. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, called by my name (that’s us as Christians) will humble themselves and pray, and will seek my face, and turn from their sin. . .” This morning, I spend some time looking at the face of God.

Ex. 33.7-11: What an awesome scripture. We begin with the image of the Tent of Meeting, which was a place consecrated for divine communication. Look with me again at verse 10. When God showed up, people worshipped. And get this -- Moses talked to God face to face. We often talk about the presence of God, but we can only experience the presence when we are seeking the face of God.

During the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced. When Douglas finished, Lincoln got up and began his rebuttal. “My opponent has accused me of being two-faced; but you’d think if I had another one, do you think I’d be wearing this one?”

We often say we see the hand of God at work around us, but how often do we see the FACE of God? This morning I’d like to share with you five principles about God’s face.

1. As Christians, we are called to seek the face of God, not just his hand (i.e., not just what he does for us or gives to us, but who he is.) It’s his face that truly matters! David wrote “you fill me with joy in your presence” (Ps. 16.11) and “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Think about our own language for a minute. Have you ever looked at something at face-value or put a good face on a situation? Faces reveal the nature of a person or a thing.

Without the face of God, we can not know his unique nature. In Deut. 4, Moses asks “Has there ever been a God like this?” I love the great cathedrals. When I was in Rome, I remember standing in the Sistine Chapel and looking up at that marvelous ceiling; it was so massive, so wonderful, and I was so small. That is how they were built -- to resize us and help us see how big and awesome our God is and how insignificant we are in relation. And that is precisely how we feel when we get into the presence of God -- when we seek his face, he has a way of overwhelming us. God shows us our worth and worthlessness, and yet it’s OK, because there is a peace and a rightness; despite who I am, God still loves me.

2. God’s face is beautiful. A few years ago, I spent a week in Atlanta with Pastor Williams. You know, nothing made me miss my wife more than waking up every morning to be greeted by his ugly mug. He cleans up nice, but he looks rough in the morning! How many of you remember when you first met you sweetheart. I remember our first date -- walking hand-in-hand down the midway at the county fair and being captivated by her. And I remember that hot June day when I was standing in the front of a church and watched the most beautiful woman in the world walk down that aisle with her grandfather, and I could not take my eyes off her. . .I was so captivated by her beauty. When we see the face of God, we’ll be captivated by his beauty. And his face will keep us from sin. The hand of God doesn’t keep us from sin, but his face does. You see, I don’t want to do anything that will bring pain to the face of God; I don’t want to do anything to put tears in his eyes or make him turn his face from me. I pray that God never has to turn his face from me!

3. Faces speak. Only when we begin to seek the face of God can he begin to speak to us. Hands don’t talk, they only do. The sign of ordination in the OT was that God spoke to that person. In the NT, we are all priests and ministers, and therefore, to be effective in the charge that Christ has given to us, we must hear the voice of God.

4. Faces smile, hands don’t smile. Only when we seek God’s face can we see how much pleasure God takes in us. And that smile is the favor of God. There was a story some time back about a man who was deep in debt, struggling to pay all the bills, and one night, while trying to do the figures, his son came up with his piggy bank in hand and said, “Dad will this help?” And the father, with tears in his eyes could only smile. We don’t do anything or have anything to offer for that favor; God just gives it to us.

5. Faces laugh, hands don’t laugh. We need to get rid of some of the rigidness and pomp in the church and realize that God has a sense of humor (he made us, didn’t he) and that God laughs. We tend to take ourselves so seriously. When was the last time you just loosened up and laughed? Laughter is contagious. And if we want to reach the lost, we need to show them the laughter of God, not just the judgment.

Look with me one more time at the passage in Exodus. When we find God’s face and meet with him in his presence -- the neighborhood will take notice. When we begin to love God, we’ll love people and they can meet God. How do we start? It’s really very simple. Get on you face before God and begin to pray. Prayer is the antidote for self-sufficiency, and when we realize our need for God and press in during our times of prayer, we will begin to experience God’s face.

I want to close where I began. If my people, called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and will seek my face, and turn from their sins, then I will hear in heaven, I will forgive their sins, and I will heal their land. America needs God’s forgiveness and God’s healing, but it will only happen when his people begin to turn from their own sins and seek the face of God. Can that move of God begin in you today?

Lessons from Ruth (Sermon)

2007-05-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

As we celebrate Mother's Day, I wondered: how do we live a life to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren? To answer that question, let us examine the story of Ruth, to see what it has to teach us about this important question.

Ruth 1:1-17

The book begins with a tragic story. Naomi and her husband leave Israel because of a famine, along with their two sons. When Naomi’s husband dies, the two boys marry two Moabite girls. In the course of time, the two sons also die, leaving Naomi alone with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.

Finally, news came that the famine was over. Naomi returned home, but bade her daughters to stay. She knew the persecution that they would face as foreigners. Orpah listened to Naomi’s pleas and returned home, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi.

Life for the poor and widowed in Israel was hard. Ruth went to the fields to glean barley behind the reapers. The law said that whatever dropped to the ground when the grain was gathered was to be left for the poor. Ruth was fortunate to begin her gleaning in the fields of Boaz. Ruth did not know that he was a kinsman, nor that he was a kind and godly man. When Boaz saw Ruth gleaning in his fields, he enquired about her. He asked her to only glean in his fields, so that he could protect her from being accosted. He also instructed the reapers to allow a little extra to fall so that Ruth could provide for Naomi. Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz through the barley and wheat season.

As the harvest drew to a close, Naomi noticed that Ruth was smitten with Boaz. So she instructed her daughter-in-law in how to make her intentions known. Though Boaz returned her feelings, he also knew he was not her nearest kinsman. So Boaz went to the city gate and greeted the man who was the nearest kinsman.

Boaz: Did you hear that Naomi has returned?
Kinsman: Yes. I had heard.
Boaz: Well, I wondered if you were going to buy her fields. You are a nearer kinsman than I am, so you have the first right to them.
Kinsman: Yes, of course I want the land. I’ll go buy the land immediately.
Boaz: You know, of course, that with the land comes the hand of the Moabite woman, Ruth. You’ll have to marry her to continue the family’s line.
Kinsman: I can’t do that. Why don’t you go buy the land, Boaz?

And so Boaz redeemed Ruth. Ruth 4:13-17. Ruth became the great grandmother of King David. What lessons do we learn from the story of Ruth? There are three:

1. Earthy Spirituality: Ruth had a faith that directly impacted her everyday life and how she lived. Through Naomi, Ruth had learned enough to say “Your God will be my God.” We often fail to react to the ordinary, everyday events of life in light of the Love of God and what we believe? The two have become separated, so that what we believe and how we live don’t have to be related. It should not be this way. Instead, we need to look at our faith through practical eyes and ask ourselves how what we believe should impact how we live.

2.Obedience. The pattern of obedience we find in Ruth’s example is embodied in the statement, “All that you tell me I will do.” Such unswerving obedience is a model of faith for every Christian. What would our church be like if we could make the same statement to God? How great could we become?

Our society has become obsessed with greatness. But what is greatness? How do we define it? Greatness does not mean that we are great people; instead, greatness is found by being obedient to a God who is great. To be great, we only need to be obedient. If we are obedient, we appear great because the greatness of God shines through us. The spiritual giants we look up to are the same. The are simply obedient to God.

3. Love your neighbor. Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Boaz looked at a foreign woman whose people were sworn enemies of Israel, and he said, she is my neighbor. And he didn’t just say this. He showed it through simple acts of kindness

William Wordsworth said, “The best portion of a good man’s life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and love.”

Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what doest the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

God does not look for big, external displays. What is required? Slow down and look at the list again: To do Justice . . . To love kindness. . . . and to walk humbly with your God. Period.

Ruth teaches us that we need to have a practical theology, that we need to be obedient, and that above all, we need to love our neighbor in tangible ways, through simple acts of kindness. If we do, we also will leave a legacy that will have a lasting impact.

Church vs. Soccer on Sunday Morning

2007-05-07T10:50:00.000-04:00

The newspaper was just full of good stuff today. My wife pointed out this column, which is just one more piece of the puzzle when it comes to reaching this generation of youth.

By BETSY HART
Scripps Howard News Service
2007-05-03 00:00:00

Now that it's getting warm, look for church attendance to drop even more.

That's the implication of an article in the current issue of the Baptist Press. Why? Because as Erin Roach reports, sports and other activities for families often trump church time for families, even for those who "regularly" attend church. The trend is most pronounced when it comes to church activities during the week. But as anyone who has driven past a busy soccer field on a Sunday morning knows, the trend affects the fullness of the pews on that day, too.

The Baptist Press looked at a survey of almost 500 pastors done for Leadership Magazine, a publication of Christianity Today. It found that family commitments and kids' activities are definitely bringing down church attendance. It seems that families are looking for more time together. But, ironically, on the menu of things to choose from, church is becoming one more option, even for Christian families. It's an "option" they often find is just not as relevant to them as sports or other events.

Pastors and other church leaders rightly bemoan the trend. I feel their pain, especially when I have to tell my kids they can't go to a Sunday-morning birthday party or Saturday-night sleepover, for instance.

But having watched this trend for some time, I also think the church too often enables parents. As at least one church leader and many parents noted in the Baptist Press piece, too often churches themselves split families up when they come in the door: kids here, adults there, teens in that program around the corner.

Youth programs are great, but historically families worshipped together on Sunday mornings. The age-divided worship programs (versus Sunday school after a church service, for instance) are new to the last half century. Interestingly, in his book "Intergenerational Religious Education," James White reports on studies showing that children who attend worship with their parents are more likely to regularly worship as adults than children who exclusively attend "children's church."

If families want together time, and they don't get it at church, that's one less reason to go. There's evidence, though, that the pendulum on segregating families may be swinging back again, as more and more churches seem to be realizing that as wonderful as their kids programs are, they've got to find ways to build on that and get families worshipping together, so that church becomes a family activity.

But I don't think even that vision will help reverse the trend toward lower church attendance by families if another trend not mentioned in the Baptist Press isn't addressed: Too often today, when it comes to the religious education of their kids, parents seem to think it's up to the "church experts" to handle it, and the church too often enables parents in their thinking.

When it comes to our kids, we are an expert-obsessed culture. We'll hire or find or read or rely on experts for almost every aspect of our kids' lives. Parents may too often think, "I'll let the church handle my child's religious life and give them what they need in that one hour a week."

But parents, by design, are the ones who have the time and intimacy with a child, over time, which is most likely to impact them with religious values. One hour a week, no matter how devoted the teachers. can do little if the parents aren't leading the way. Few people know this better than children's-ministry workers, who typically report that one of their biggest frustrations is that parents aren't more involved in the child's religious upbringing.

If churches communicated to moms and dads (the biblical pattern) that parents are the ones primarily responsible for their child's religious education and growth, might that refill those pews on Sunday mornings? I'm not sure. But I do know that if the church doesn't communicate that message, the church has little chance of winning families to worship before today's generation of youngsters are taking their own kids to soccer practice on Sunday morning.

(Betsy Hart hosts the "It Takes a Parent" radio show on WYLL-AM 1160 in Chicago. She can be reached at www.BetsyHart.net.)

Dear Abby - Is this for real?

2007-05-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

For any of you with small children in the home, this letter to "Abby" is absolutely hilarious as well as disturbing. It is no wonder that our society is having problems dealing with children and violence. Read on.

DEAR ABBY: I have a 4-year-old who tends to act up from time to time. I have tried "time-outs" and even soft spanking and have taken his privileges away. Nothing seems to work. However, I have found that smashing one of his small toys with a hammer works well. Do you see any danger in this form of punishment? -- YOUNG MOM IN OKLAHOMA

OK, dry your eyes, quit laughing, and stop saying, "Do I see a DANGER?!" It is sad that she had to write a columnist to get an answer to this question. While I often have a problem with Abby's liberal viewpoint, she is right on this time.

DEAR YOUNG MOM: I certainly do. Smashing a child's toy with a hammer carries the same message that an abusive husband delivers when he smashes his fist through a wall. It implies, "You're next!" If you continue punishing your child in this way, he could begin modeling his behavior after yours and destroy other people's property -- including yours -- when he's angry.

Take the toy away if that's the only way to get through to your son. Tell him that it will be given to a child who has no toys to play with. But do not destroy the toy in front of your child.

The Keys of the Kingdom

2007-05-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

Mt. 16: 13-19

Today’s text opens with a familiar scene: Jesus is walking with his disciples, and he asks them, “Who do men say that I am?” John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah -- Positive, but erroneous, or positively wrong! Jesus was pointing out that the culture was misinformed about who he was.

Then, Jesus changed the question. And this is important, look carefully at the question – Who do all of you say that I am? The question is addressed to all of them, but Peter, as the unofficial leader, answers. "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Wow! Then Christ defines the church. This is the only place in Gospels where the church is defined. You are Peter, a stone, on this rock I will build my church.

Not on a stone (Petro –piece of rock), but upon the larger rock (Petra, a mass of rocks). The Greek distinguishes between these two. The word rock can also mean a collection of stones that have been cobbled together to form a larger rock as a foundation. (in 1Pe. 2:5 – we are called living stones, and in Eph 2:20 – the church is said to be built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles.) The Old Testament heroes and the 12 apostles were the foundation of the church, and you and I are the building blocks God uses to build his eternal Kingdom.

What does this mean today? First, the church can not be what God wants it to be unless we come together (cobbled together by God) to fulfill God’s purpose. It is that process of stones (petro) being turned into rocks (petra). Now notice what the rest of the text says, “Christ will build upon it, and the gates of Hell can not overcome it.” Gates of Hell . . . a gate was a symbol of authority or power. Look carefully this morning; Hell is trying to stop us, not the other way around. WE (the church) are SUPPOSED TO BE ON the OFFENSIVE! We waste far too much time in the church trying to react to Hell, when we are supposed to be building up the Kingdom. If we are building the Kingdom, then Hell’s kingdom will dwindle.

And we’re not talking about God verses the Devil. That battle has already been fought, and it didn’t last long. The battle today is between Satan and God’s Church, or to put it another way, between the Gates of hell and the Church. Eph. 6 tells us that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” Battle is between the fallen angels and man.

Angels are spiritual beings. Their primary task was to reflect back to God his nature. There were three Archangels. They were the only angels named in the Bible: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Lucifer’s job was to lead all of the universe in praise to God, but Lucifer had an ego problem. He wanted the praise for himself. What he wanted was to become like God – not answering to anybody. So he created his own kingdom, leading a third of the angels in rebellion. Problem: how do you overthrow God? He was quickly caught and tried for treason. Judgment was passed, but then God shocked everyone and declared that the judgment would be delayed. You see, the rebellion created an opportunity for God to be glorified. How? (Ps. 8, Heb 2:6,7) He created man a little lower than the angels, that is, constitutionally inferior, and he gave us Lucifer’s job. We are told in Luke 10:18 Satan was cast down to earth, and the earth was flooded. He was no longer called Lucifer, but Satan, which means deceiver. God changes names to reflect character. Why did God do this? To show he could do more with less, and be glorified by our dependence upon him as we do even greater things (see John 14:12).

That’s why the Bible opens with a garbage dump. The earth is dark and lifeless, with the Holy Spirit hovering over the deep. Then, God begins the first extreme-home-makeover for man. He created a beautiful garden and placed man in it. And here’s the great part – there was only one rule – don’t mess with the tree in the middle. In that rule, Man was given God’s word. We all know what happened. Satan twisted, distorted, dismissed and diluted that word, because Satan is powerless against the word. He said, “"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman, "for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 1:4b-5) Satan, that deceiver, twisted the word. What he didn’t tell them was that all they got out of the fruit was evil. They already knew what was good.

So, how come Satan is loose? Well, God gave mankind the keys to the earth, the authority to manage it, and that included our enemy. He can’t overcome the word in us, but when we cross the word or allow it to be twisted, diluted, or distorted, Satan wins. When Adam sinned, he forfeited the keys, but when Christ died on the cross, he took back the keys and gave them to the church.

Here is the simple truth of the keys of the Kingdom: If we keep God’s word, we win. If we don’t keep God’s word, we’ll lose. Are we prevailing today? Is the Kingdom of God tearing down the kingdom of darkness in such a way that it is impacting the day to day life of those who have yet to realize what’s going on? The sad reality is, we are not. And we must ask ourselves what can stop hell from winning?

In verse 19, Christ says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” (This is in the future tense, because Christ had not yet died.) They are not the church’s keys. They’re heaven’s keys. Notice the keys are plural, and that’s because the gates of verse 18 are plural. You see the gates are the obstacles that Satan raises up against what God is trying to do through the church. The keys are God’s divine response to those gates, so we can lock the door. The problem is that we are not using the keys because we’ve misplaced the keys. Have you ever been in a hurry and can’t find your car keys? What do you do? Panic! Search frantically, and the reality is you’re going no where until they are found! We need to find the keys. We aren’t seeking God’s divine response to the problems that we are facing and as a result, we are powerless to stop the enemy. When is the last time in an council meeting that a problem was addressed with, “Let’s pray and see what God would have us do.”?

There is another problem -- the keys are God’s divine response, but often, we twist and dilute it. We mix our own brand of theology and religion, which cancels out the power of the key. When you mix the human with the divine, the divine is canceled. How do we apply the key? Pray. For “whatever you bind on earth – what ever you loose on earth.”

The church does not exist for itself. It exists for the sake of the Kingdom of God. The church is supposed to house the kingdom values so that they can be translated into the community and into the culture outside the church. I’ve read that the US Embassy, or any country’s embassy, is a little bit of that country a long way from home. Embassies operate under the values and laws of their own country Is our church like that? Are we a little piece of heaven a long way from home? Do our families operate on Kingdom principles or on the cultural norms of the society we find ourselves in?

Church, I want to go back to the scripture, as we close. Christ said, “upon this Rock I will build my church.” Are we willing to stand firm and prevail against the gates of hell? What obstacles have you been facing? Are we willing to pray for God’s divine response? In what ways can we begin to build the Kingdom this week?

One Day Silence

2007-05-01T09:41:00.001-04:00

In Remembrance

Ours for the Asking

2007-04-27T15:13:00.000-04:00

pastor's note: this sermon is based on Chapter one of David Jeremiah’s book, The Prayer Matrix

My daughter turned five this past November, shortly after we moved. I remember the conversations that began months earlier:

"Marissa, what do you want for your birthday?"

"Dora chutes and ladders."

"What else would you like for your birthday?"

"Just Dora chutes and ladders."

Well, her birthday came around and she was sitting on the floor at Grandma's house, opening her presents. She spotted a long, thin box and tore into it—just clothes. Another, similar box—just clothes. Then my wife, Michelle, handed her a box. Her eyes lit up as she tore away the paper and squealed with delight. Mommy, Mommy, it’s Dora’s chutes and ladders.

That’s the way it is for prayer. Somehow, we get the idea in the back of our minds that prayer is breaking down God’s reluctance to do something for us, and when our prayers are answered, we act as if something extraordinary has happened. But that is contrary to what the Bible teaches. James tells us that God “gives to all liberally and without reproach.” (1:5) James 4:2 tells us that “you do not have because you do not ask.” You see God is in no way dragging his feet about providing what we need. Instead, He’s in heaven wondering primarily why we don’t ask more often.

Consider our main text (read Matt. 7.7-11). Through prayer, God has given us an open door not only into his presence, but also into His rich blessings, for He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above (what does that say?) All that we ask! (Eph. 3.20)

Jesus teaching at the end of the sermon on the mount contains three small but powerful words: ask, seek, and knock. These words are in the imperative, i.e., they are commands. Jesus didn’t say, “If you feel like it, ask.” He didn’t say, “When you’re in the mood, seek.” And he didn’t tell us, “If you get around to it, you might want to try knocking.” Instead, he commands us to ask, seek, and knock.

Whatever it is that we need, we must learn to ask for it. When we don’t, we’re disobeying Christ’s command to us. But it’s much more than a matter of obedience and disobedience; our heavenly Father wants to hear us express what we truly want and need.

The three powerful words are not only commands, but in the original Greek, they are in a tense that gives a sense of repeated action. These words translate, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Don’t ever stop.

There is a story that’s told about a father who was getting his son to bed. After tucking him in, his son said, “Daddy, I need a drink of water.” A short time later, he heard, “Daddy, I need to go potty.” It continued like that for about thirty minutes until, finally exasperated, the father said, “Son, you are fine. Lie down and go to sleep. If I hear one more sound from you, I’m coming up and giving you a spanking!” All was silent for about five minutes. Then a little voice called down the stairs, “Daddy, when you come up to spank me, could you bring me a drink of water?”

That’s just how children are. They never quit. It doesn’t matter how many times they’ve asked before; they just keep on asking. They ask and ask and ask. Yet we, who are God’s children, seem to think that we shouldn’t ask, despite what the Bible actually says!

The continual commands of Matt. 7 also have a sense of progression. Ask is strong enough, but seek is even stronger, and knock is even more intense. Most of the time, we just ask, but there are times when we must begin to seek or even knock for the answer we need; asking just isn’t enough. This progression is illustrated and reinforced by simply writing down the commands in a row. What are we to do? A..S..K!

Finally, we must make prayer our first resort. Oswald Chambers wrote, “We pray when there’s nothing else to do, but Jesus wants us to pray before we do anything at all.” I’ve been amazed in my ministry by how often people have come to me to ask advice when facing some big life choice. Even more amazing to me, however, is that when I ask, “Have you prayed about this yet?” the answer is more often than not, “I guess I really haven’t thought about that.” Why would anybody come to me, especially before they went to almighty God, who created the universe? I mean, God has all the blessings of heaven at his disposal. What do I have that compares to that?

So ask God for whatever it is you need. Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, Knock and keep on knocking. And as you do, just watch how wonderful our God is as he answers again and again and again.

From the Pastor's Pen - May

2007-04-26T11:22:00.000-04:00

As we prepare to celebrate the National Day of Prayer this week, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to reflect on prayer. E. M. Bounds says, “We can do nothing without prayer.” Therefore, if we want to see something happen, we must begin to pray.

In prayer, we are invited to petition the creator of the universe, who in turn moves on our behalf. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools that God has ever given to the Church – and it is one that we rarely use to its full potential. So here are a few thoughts on prayer:

1. When we pray, we need to pray specifics. When we pray in broad, general terms, there i no real way to measure if God has answered our prayer. Instead, we need to pray for the specific needs that we see around us.

2. We need to recapture the idea of praying the promises. Consider for a moment the implications of the promise of John 14:12. As one pastor said, we simply need to read the red and pray for the power. There are many more promises; we just need to get them in our heart and on our lips.

3. There are many types of prayer, and we need to pray all types of prayer. a. Arrow/breath prayers – a quick prayer for someone we see in passing. b. Need prayers –both for you and for others. c. Regular daily prayer time. (these three are by no means an exhaustive list.)

4. Don’t pray later when you can pray now. When someone asks for prayer, pray now. You might not remember to pray later.

5. There is greater power when prayer is tied to fasting and self-denial.

6. Prayer is conversation. Don’t make it single-sided; take time to be quiet before the Lord and listen for his voice.

7. Pray as you are, not as you are not. Just be yourself.

Battle Cry - Rise Up!

2007-04-23T09:28:00.000-04:00

Matthew 3:1-6 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

I want to begin this morning with a statistic that is absolutely frightening. Only 4% of this current generation of youth has a personal relationship with Jesus. That is what Battle Cry is about. It is the decision on the part of believers to declare war on the culture that is stealing away these youth, filling their minds with perversion and lusts, with greed and envy, with every type of sin and imagination that exalts itself above God in our lives. The Battle Cry is a call to the local churches to rise up and proclaim the holy standard of Christ!

Ron Luce shared with us about John B., who serves to show us what is required if we are going to carry out this plan of attack. Consider for a minute this strange character we know as John the Baptist. Dressed in camel’s hair clothing, bound with a leather belt, he was eating locusts and wild honey. (Living on the bitter made bearable by a touch of the sweet) And John was not just strange looking – he was totally sold out for God. And I would submit to you this morning that if we are going to be effective in reaching this generation for Christ, we are going to have to be willing to become as sold out as John was, willing to be considered a freak for the sake of God’s kingdom.

Notice what was said here about John by the prophet Isaiah: (verse 3)he was “The voice. . .” The first thing you learn about being in a culture war is that the loudest voice wins. Consider, for example, the decision this week by CBS, a powerful media network, to fire their long-time employee, Imus. Now the record is pretty clear that Imus said some pretty stupid things, and CBS did what they thought was right—they placed him on two weeks of unpaid leave. But there were some voices (say voices) that began to say, it’s not enough. And the voices grew louder and louder. And because of those voices, some of CBS’s sponsors began to pull out. And because of those voices, this major network changed its mind and fired this man.

Now back to our main point, here. In a culture war, the loudest voice wins. And this got me to thinking—what is the church’s voice like? Are we a dominating, loud voice in our society? I would suggest that because of political correctness, because we don’t want to be considered freaks, we’ve allowed our voice to become a whisper. In an interview in Detroit, some of our youth were asked if what type of animal this move of God needed to be like. Some of our kids were there and got interviewed. And what did you guys say? (A Tiger) A ferocious, hungry, stalking tiger. But the church today looks more like tigger than a tiger. We’re bouncy, trouncy, bouncy, trouncy, fun-fun-fun-fun-fun!

Church we need to rediscover our voice! I want to go back to verse 3 again. John was a voice crying . . . He wasn’t just talking in whispers, he was belting it out at the top of his lungs. He was saying I have something important to tell you and I am going to make sure you hear. . . picture Ty Pennington, of Exterme Home Makeover, yelling through the megaphone!

So John was a voice, crying in the wilderness. . . Why is it appropriate to compare this culture to a barren wilderness? Consider for just a moment the statistics:

What was John yelling out there in the desert? 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' I want you to consider why John was out there. He wasn’t preaching the Gospel; he was preparing folks to hear the Gospel message. Today the church does a good job most of the time proclaiming the Gospel, but we aren’t very good at preparing the way for those seekers who are not yet ready to hear and believe. Am I willing to pray for that person every day, to listen to them, to their questions and concerns without pushing my own beliefs or an agenda? Can I just be a friend and a voice of reason for someone who is full of There are a lot of paths that need straightened, a lot of preparation that has not taken place.

I’ve said it before, but it needs to be said again—we need to move people towards the cross; from -10 to 0 and beyond. God is looking for people who are willing to use their talents, their hands, their life, to be like John—a Jesus Freak who is preparing the way for the Kingdom of God to come in the lives of those around them. We need people who will rise up and move beyond the casual Christianity of our culture to be authentically empowered people who can join the ranks and join in the battle. The battle cry has been sounded. Will you answer?

Catching up

2007-04-19T17:09:00.000-04:00

It's been a very full two weeks! I apologize to those who read this blog regularly; it's been two weeks since I posted. I was on vacation for a couple of days, ending with a stop by my previous charge for calling hours. My family spent the night with a couple from that charge; he died unexpectedly the next day (Thur.) after an outpatient procedure on his shoulder. Friday morning I left with the church group for Battle Cry Detroit. It was an awesome event. We got home at 3 am on Sunday. Since it was UMW Sunday, I didn't preach, hence, no new post this week. Right after service, we drove back down to the valley for calling hours. The next day I was one of two pastors at the funeral, and I arrived home in time to leave for the church softball game (an 8:30 double-header every Monday night). I will be preaching this Sunday, so look for a new post Monday or Tuesday (4/23 or 4/24).

Peace and blessings

-Pastor Tom

The Palm Sunday Revolution

2007-04-03T09:20:00.000-04:00

Luke 19:26-40 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'" 28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.'" 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 34They replied, "The Lord needs it." 35They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day, he was not just rallying his followers. He was symbolically making a bold statement—I’m starting a revolution. You see, when a conquering hero returned from battle, he would ride his horse into the city and the people would go out to greet him in much the same manner they welcomed Jesus that day. It was such a radical display that the Pharisees demanded that Jesus rebuke the disciples, but he ignored their plea. “If they keep silent, the very rocks will cry out.” Jesus was publicly declaring his intentions to establish his revolution and his kingdom. But we must ask the question: What was this revolution about?

1. Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill. “Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) Jesus never lost sight of the goal: the coming of the kingdom of God into the lives of men and women. He was positive, not negative; he built up instead of tearing down.

2. Jesus placed humanity and their welfare at the center of His mission. Not the institution, nor a ridged set of rules and laws, but men and women. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) Our modern leaders would be wise to weigh their own agendas against the simple rule of Christ: What will be best for people from the greatest to the smallest?

3. The revolution of Jesus was seen within the framework of God’s will, and not as some scheme to put a crown on man that he might rule instead. Man is a poor substitute for God. Granted that we need an ever-larger understanding of God, but what changes is our understanding, not God Himself. What made the Palm Sunday revolution so authentic was that it was led by God.

4. Jesus’ actions deeply upset people, but he proceeds because He loved humanity—He loved the very people He was upsetting. We see the same thing happen to Paul, and with every brother or sister who decides to live their life according to the revolutionary standard that Christ proclaimed, who stand against the status quo of our society, and who are willing to uphold the commands of God, not out of spite or pride, but out of genuine love for God and man. We have no right to mess with the status quo unless we have a genuine, Christ-like love for them. We must love the capitalist and the communist, the liberal and the conservative, for persons of every color, race, and creed, for we are all made in the image of God! Only then can we look at the cross. For in the cross of Good Friday we see the beginnings of the revolution. It is still the sign of the revolution that we call the Kingdom of God.

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, are we willing to take the radical, revolutionary steps that Christ asks us to? Are we willing to stand up and be counted as citizens of the Kingdom, even when it goes against the grain? Are we willing to look beyond the institution and the status quo to see people in the light of the cross of Christ?

Coming out of Lo Debar

2007-03-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

Scripture 2 Samuel 9.1-9
David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2 Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" "Your servant," he replied. 3 The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?" Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet." (:1-3, NIV)

King David has just finished battling to secure his throne. Saul, the former king and his son Jonathan had been killed by the Philistines. You may remember David killing Goliath or David’s anointing by Samuel. He had been brought to the palace to play his harp when Saul would be taken by a fit of madness. And David and Jonathan became fast friends. They made a covenant, or more accurately they cut a covenant. You see, a covenant required the shedding of blood. They would have cut their arms and sprinkled crushed rock in the wound so it wouldn’t heal cleanly. It would leave a mark that would be a reminder of their pledge to look out for each other. As Saul watched the friendship blossom, his madness drove him to seek David’s life. David became a fugitive.

But now Saul was dead, and Jonathan with him. As David sat back in the throne for the first time in a long while, he catches his reflection in one of the finely polished bronze mirrors that hung on one of the palace walls. In that mirror he catches a glimpse of the mark on his forearm, and the tears begin to flow down David’s cheeks as he morns for Jonathan. He calls for Ziba, the servant of Saul’s household. “Is there no one left of Jonathan’s family?” Ziba replied, “There is one . . .”

When news reached the capital of Saul’s death and David’s rise to power, a panic swept the city. The boys nanny grabbed the boy and fled from the palace, but in her haste, she fell, crushing the legs of little Mephibosheth. He was a cripple . . .

Where is he? Lo Debar- the howling wilderness, the most decrepit of the Samaritan slums. It was a place where the rejected of society came to live and where the outlaws hide. The boys name means despised one. Can you see him? People mocking him--this Jewish prince on his crutches. His name became painful in his own ears as people mocked him. I can see some of the men, as they would kick his crutches out from under his feet and laugh as he crashed to the filthy street. When they passed the boy would haul himself back up onto his crutches. Children would shout as he made his way slowly down the dirty street, “Here comes the king.” At first he would fight back, but over the years, his pride had been crushed, his will so defeated that he wanted nothing more than to die in the howling wilderness.

So David sent for him. His royal guard rode out of the palace, out of the city and into the howling wilderness of Lo Debar. It was like and episode of COPS. People stuck their heads out the door to watch the horsemen thunder down the street, and the whispers started. Who have they come for this time? Whose life would be forfeit? Who was it that they had come hunting? And the answer followed . . .it’s that little cripple boy, Mephibosheth.

The captain of the guard reined in his horse and swung down off his horse. His men kicked in the door of the little hovel. His boots seemed to resound on the hardened dirt floor as he searched the house. He looked around the room . . . a simple cot and a dirty pile of straw in the corner for a bed, a crude table and stool, no cripple, and then he looked under the table. There was the crippled, downtrodden little man with his withered legs pulled under him and his crude wooden crutches clutched tight against his chest. He knew it was the end.

But instead of reaching for his sword, the guard reached under the table and pulled the boy to his feet. “Stand up, boy. The king desires an audience!” Mephibosheth’s heart dropped even lower. They had decided to have some sport and humiliate him before he died. As they through him across the horse, the boy searched his mind for a way out, knowing full well that he was helpless.

They rode into the palace and hurried him before the king. Mephibosheth did the only thing he could think of. He threw himself to the floor, in his tattered rags, and cried out for mercy. “Behold your servant Mephibosheth”.

David replied, “Don’t be afraid . . .” Mephibosheth didn’t even wait for the king to finish. He bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?" (:9, NIV) Not a dog, friends, but a dead dog. He was so defeated that he saw himself as being of no earthly worth.

But David persisted” Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table." (:8, NIV)

You see, Church, it wasn’t who he was; it was who his daddy was. It was about a blood covenant cut before Mephibosheth was even a thought in Jonathan’s mind! The church is often like Mephibosheth. The world is full of people telling us to get to the back of the bus. They don’t like the Church because our standards (or rather God’s standards set forth in the Bible) make them uncomfortable. They want to knock us down and to get us to hide under the table. They say, “You’re nobody! I know what you used to do! I know where you’ve been! And you call yourself a Christian?”

I got news for you. We have a covenant. God didn’t cut one with you or me, because He wanted a covenant that would be incorruptible. So He sent his only son to die on a hill called Mt. Calvary. The blood covenant was cut before I was even a twinkle in my mother’s eye. And the king is sending His Holy Spirit to bring me to Him so I can live in the blessings of my Father’s table. There’s no place like the King’s table to hide a pair of sin-crippled legs.

There are some here today who have been in Lo-debar. You’ve been battling in the howling wilderness, you may even be hiding under the table praying that the problem will pass you by, but God through His Spirit wants to bring you out of the howling wilderness. God wants to pour His blessings out upon us, but we have to choose to come out from under the table. Stand up and be bold in the covenant that Jesus cut for you! Don’t be afraid, for God will surely show kindness for the sake of His son, Jesus. He will restore that which Satan had plotted to steal from you, and He invites you to feast at His table on the blessings of God. Will you come out from under the table? Are you ready to come out of Lo Debar?

The Prodigal Father

2007-03-19T08:50:00.000-04:00

This morning, I want to finish this trilogy of sermons on the prodigals by looking at the story from the perspective of the father. We saw two weeks ago that the younger son was a prodigal in terms of his materialism; last week we was the elder son was a prodigal to duty. The father is a prodigal in love and forgiveness.

The story is familiar to most, by now, and I don’t want to rehash it entirely. First, the father’s heart is broken by the request of the younger son, who demands his share. The father had every right to refuse, but he loved his son so much that he relented, dividing all he had between his two sons.

While the younger son was away, the father was full of grief. The scriptures don’t tell us what happened back home during the younger son’s absence, but I suspect it went something like this: The elder son threw himself into his work, trying to make up for the loss of his brother. As the elder son worked, he became embittered by the father’s grief. Why did he continue to mourn for the loss of his brother? The father should just bury his grief and give his full attention to him. These thoughts began to create barriers between the father and his eldest. At first, it was just an iciness in their conversation, then it became more, until they could hardly communicate at all. The son began to work longer, to avoid his father’s company. That is why he was not around when his brother stumbled up the lane.

And the father, filled with love and forgiveness ran down the lane. He fell upon his son, kissing him. In that instant, the grief was lifted and relationship was restored. What could the father do but welcome back his son with the best robe, the signet ring that had set upon the young man’s bed since he left, sandals for his feet, and the fatted calf prepared for the celebration?

It was a time for making merry, but when the father learned his eldest son had returned and not entered in, the father left the party. He begged him to come into the feast. But in his jealousy and bitterness, the elder son could only see that his irresponsible brother was receiving more attention than he himself, and concluded that he was the less loved of the two. This was not the father’s intention, but the jealousy is there nonetheless. He failed to realize that the father loves all of his children equally, and so there was no thought to delay the celebration of the younger son’s return until the elder son was present. Indeed, the father wishes only that his eldest would enter into the joy he has over his son’s return.

It is very clear from the context of the biblical passage that the father represents our heavenly Father. He loves us each equally, and that becomes very hard for you and I to accept.

In a world that constantly compares people, ranking them as more or less intelligent, more or less attractive, more or less successful, it is not easy to really believe in a love that does not do the same. When I hear someone praised, it is hard not to think of myself as less praiseworthy; when I read about the goodness and kindness of other people, it is hard not to wonder whether I myself am as good and as kind as they; and when I see trophies, rewards, and prizes being handed out to special people, I cannot avoid asking myself why that didn’t happen to me.

The world in which I have grown up is a world so full of grades, scores, and statistics that, consciously or unconsciously, I always try to take my measure against all the others. Much sadness and gladness in life flows directly from my comparing, and most, if not all, of this comparing is useless and a terrible waste of time and energy. (Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 103)

As we move to practical application, it is easy to see aspects of the elder and younger sons in my own spiritual journey. But often, we see the father as “the other, ” a goal and resting place for my journey. But though I am both the younger son and the elder son, I am not to remain them. Instead, I must become the father. Do I really want to become like the father? (Luke 6:36) You see, returning to my father’s house and living there requires me to make that life my own and in doing so, allow myself to be transformed into the father’s image.

So how do I become like the father? As I see it, there are three ways to a truly compassionate fatherhood.

First, I must enter into grief as a means of compassion. Is my heart broken by sin and the brokenness of others around me? When I consider the immense waywardness of God’s children, our lust, our greed, our violence, our anger, our resentment, and when I look at them through the eyes of God’s heart, I cannot help but weep and cry out in grief. This grief leads me to prayer, where I lift not only the sinfulness of culture before God’s throne, but also the individuals who are caught in the grip of this culture. To be like the father, I have to shed countless tears and so prepare my heart to receive anyone who comes, regardless of their journey thus far.

This leads to the second step: I must walk in forgiveness. The forgiveness of the father is unconditional. Unconditional love requires me to step over: “It calls me to step over my arguments that say forgiveness is unwise, unhealthy, and impractical. It challenges me to step over all my needs for gratitude and compliments. Finally, it demands of me that I step over that wounded part of my heart that feels hurt and wronged and that wants to stay in control and put a few conditions between me and the one whom I am asked to forgive.” (Nouwen, 130) Am I willing to step over? During the civil war, Lincoln was asked how he would treat the rebellious southern states when they were defeated and wished to return. His answer was a model of unconditional forgiveness: I will treat them as if they had never been away.

Finally, I can live a life of generosity. In the parable, the father not only gives his departing son everything he asks, but also showers him with gifts on his return. And to his elder son he says, “All I have is yours.” There is nothing the father keeps for himself: He pours himself out for his son. Am I willing to pour myself out for others? Just as the Father gives his very self to his children, so must I be willing to give my very self to my brothers and sisters.

As I become like the father, I have to believe that all that the human heart needs can be found at home. And I can be there as the one who welcomes the wayward child home. As we close, I want to ask you: Are you ready to become like the father?

The Other Prodigal

2007-03-14T15:16:00.000-04:00

I’d like to begin this morning where I left off last week. The story is called the prodigal son – prodigal meaning Recklessly wasteful.

It is a story of homecoming. I don’t need to tell you how the story begins. When we leave home, it is a denial of the spiritual reality that we belong to God with every part of our being. In our leaving, we chose to live as if we do not yet have a home and must seek hard to find one.

The voice of God still calls out to us as his children, “you are my beloved one, upon whom my favor rests.” Yet I can quickly grow deaf to the voice that calls me beloved. I have left the only place I can call home to seek one where none exists.

And then there are other voices: parents, teachers, peers, but most of all the mass media. While these voices seem harmless or even helpful, but when I have forget the voice of my father, the other voices easily begin to dominate my life and pull me into that distant country, a world that rejects everything that was considered holy at home.

For the younger child, the question is simple: to whom do I belong? Do I belong to God, to the World, to myself? The lostness of our contemporary society can only be described by the word “addiction” Our need for home causes us to seek it in the world’s keys to self-fulfillment: the accumulation of wealth and power, attainment of status and admiration, lavish consumption of food and drink, sexual gratification that fails to distinguish between lust and love. These keys are inadequate substitutes for the home we need. Yet as long as we cling to them, we like the younger son will be lost in a fruitless quest for home in that “distant country.” I am the prodigal every time I look for unconditional love where it cannot be found.

Yet there is another prodigal! There was also an older son. How can his story be one of homecoming, for he never left home? While he did all the things a good son was supposed to do, inwardly, he grew farther and farther from his Father.

It is this second prodigal that is the hardest to spot, for he or she looks like a growing, vital Christian. They go through the motions, they look the part, but inside, behind the facade, they are hurting, isolated, and cold.

Outwardly, this person is the model Christian: obedient to both the word and Christian duty, but inwardly, the love and joy that once came from serving has become a yoke of unhappiness and chains of oppression. Service has become slavery, and they are no more at home than the younger child who has wondered away into overt sin.

This person is characterized by judgment and condemnation, anger and resentment, bitterness and jealousy. And the lostness of this older child is harder to find because it is hidden deep behind the elaborate facade they have erected. It is almost impossible to detect because it is so closely wed to the desire to be good and virtuous. Yet the key is the lack of joy.

Unlike the younger son, the fate of the older son’s is an open-ended -- Does he trust in God’s all-forgiving love enough to return home? And if he does, how does he find his way back?

For the younger son, the way home is clear.

1. Come to your senses. The prodigal had to come to his senses. Only when he realized the true poverty of his existence (no money, health, honor, self-respect, reputation . . .) was he willing to consider returning home. For him it was a decision between life and death. (Judas and Peter -- both rejected Christ; one chose death and one chose life.)

2. Seek forgiveness. Whatever you have lost, you are still the Father’s beloved child. The younger child must decide if he or she will allow God’s forgiveness and if they can forgive themselves.

For the older son, the way is equally clear.

1. Allow God to change your heart. See in Luke’s Gospel, the older son cannot return on his own. Unlike the younger son, the father went out to seek him. We cannot change ourselves; we must instead allow God to change us--to soften my heart and make me into his image. And that, saints, requires us to trust. Trust is the deep conviction that the Father truly wants me to come home.

2. Chose to love everyone. The ones to whom we bear resentment are often the marginal of society. Christ taught us in the Beatitudes what God’s attitude was in regards to those who are marginal.

3. Accept the Father’s invitation. The father’s love heals our inner-darkness. Are we willing to step into the light of God’s love and reclaim the rich heritage which is ours to claim? Hear the words of the Father again, “My child, you are always with me, and all I have is yours.” The father divided his goods to them.

4. Beware of the voice of self-rejection. While God calls us home, the darkness within us continues to call out to us. It says, ‘God isn’t really interested in you . . .he just takes you for granted. Besides, you aren’t what you appear to be . . .” At some point, we each must chose to disown that voice and claim for our own the beautiful truth that GOD LOVES ME.

5. Practice the discipline of gratitude. Be thankful for what God gives you. Look for ways to rejoice and praise him. Our gratitude will help us silence the voice of our own darkness and help us focus on the voice of the father that calls out to us . . . can you hear him this morning: You are my beloved. I love you! Won’t you come home?

Will you come home today?

Wild, Crazy Week

2007-03-14T15:12:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to put up a short post to apologize for the lateness of this week's sermon. The last week has been a bit overwhelming. Thursday, my two-year old son came down with a high fever and by the weekend, no one here was feeling too well. I took Monday as my day off to get everyone back on their feet, so my normal Monday morning blogging was delayed, and with our quarterly Kid's Church program yesterday, I spent my time in the office getting things together for that. If you are a regular reader, look for the next post at the normal time on Monday.

Peace and blessings

Pastor Tom

The Prodigal Son

2007-03-03T09:27:00.000-05:00

This morning, I want to share with you a parable that is familiar to many of you. It has been titled with many different names, but the most common is the prodigal son. The word prodigal means recklessly wasteful. It is a term that could very easily be applied to our own society.

Luke 15:11-24 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

There is a sense of self centeredness (Give me that which is mine! – When “I” is the central concern in our lives, it will lead us to our weakness and sinfulness.

Notice also the division of property - (Deut.21.17). An extra portion went to the eldest son.

Although it is not directly discussed in the text, the cultural custom of Ketsatsah – the ceremonial cutting off from a village or family, would have been exercised here. In effect, once the younger son left, he was dead to the family and to the village, cut off forever.

13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

The word that is translated as “wild” is (as-o’-toce). This is the only use of this word in the New Testament and therefore, there is some dispute among scholars as to how it should be correctly translated. According to Strong’s, it can either describe a person who is 1. Given over to dissipation; or a person who is 2. Recklessly wasteful and wildly extravagant. Whether or not the boy was “wild,” he was definitely reckless, being much too free with his money. After a time, the money ran out. But no doubt the prodigal continued to enjoy himself with his new found friends, living off the good will of those he had treated well. Yet such a state of affairs was not to last. The scriptures tell us that:

14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

There is an old song that says, "Into every life a little rain must fall," and for the prodigal, the proverbial rain came at the worst possible time. As his fair-weather friends turned inward, he found himself in need. At first, he still allowed his stubborn pride to rule him. He hired himself out to a citizen of that country, feeding the pigs. Two things that are important here. First, hiring oneself out meant that one became a slave, giving up his or her freedom and social status in exchange for a sum of money. But to understand how far the prodigal had fallen, one must consider the writings of the Talmud, which stated that anyone who fed swine was to be considered cursed. But. . .

17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'

When he came to himself. Thank God we can eventually come to the end of ourselves and realize the desperate need that we have and how foolish we have been. We often fail to realize how desperate the situation had become for the young prodigal. The young man realized that he would die if he remained where he was. What we fail to understand, in our ignorance of that culture, is that returning home was not much better. Having been cut off in Ketsatsah, any servant of the house, any member of the village could stone him on sight. In effect, he said to himself, “I will try to make it to my father, and if he will have me, I’ll live. If he rejects me, at least it will all be over.” It was not a happy journey back home, cold, barefoot, hungry, and wondering if it was all in vain.

Can you see him as he reaches the end of that trip? Thin and frail, weak as a kitten, he stumbles up the lane. As he passes the first field, a few of the servants look up and study him—a beggar, they think; but then one of them catches a glimpse of his dirty face. The cry goes up and the servants drop their tools as they scramble to find rocks. The prodigal breaks into a run, with all the strength he has left, and as he runs, the scripture picks the story back up.

"(20b)But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.:

The prodigal hears someone running towards him, and as he looks up, his father runs right into him, knocking him to the ground. And the father throws himself at the boy. But instead of the punches and kicks the boy expects to receive, the father shields him from the rocks and kisses him. The prodigal fought through the confusion and began his plea. How many times had he fallen to sleep practicing it, weighing each word of his confession?

21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

But the father cut him off before he could finish. He pulled the boy to his feet and began to shout orders to the servants, who stood around in wide-eyed wonder, dropping their stones harmlessly upon the ground.

22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

This is important, for the father’s commands tell us much about the future the prodigal would face, as it does the future of any repentant sinner who comes to the Father for forgiveness.

The best robe-to cover his rags and convey honor upon him. God does not just give us a robe-he insist upon giving us the best.

Next, a ring was set upon his finger-the signet ring, which brought with it the authority of the family. In essence, the giving of the signet restored what had been broken in the ketsatsah. He was again a son, a member of the family, with all the rights and privileges that came with it.

The sandals might seem an afterthought, but they are perhaps the most important, for only free men wore shoes. His freedom was being restored. There is an old Negro spiritual (All Gods Chillun got Wings) that states:

I got shoes, you got shoes
All o' God's chillun got shoes
When I get to heab'n I'm goin' to put on my shoes
I'm goin' to walk all ovah God's Heab'n

Finally, the fatted calf speaks of rejoicing and celebration. It is not with anger, judgment, or condemnation that the prodigal is welcomed back, but with genuine thanksgiving.

There are some here that have wondered far from home. And maybe today God is calling you to come to yourself and to come home. He wants to give you that robe of righteousness, which will cover all your sins. He wants to restore your relationship, giving you the power and authority of a child of God. And he wants to set you free from the slavery of sin, whose chains seem to wrap around us so easily. You see, Jesus is calling you, softly, tenderly, he says, my child, come home.

If you are here today, and God is calling you, I want to ask you come as we close. There may be others that simply need to pray; this alter rail is always open. Won’t you come?

Galatians 2:20 Faith

2007-02-26T09:04:00.000-05:00

I heard the story a couple of years ago about a group of deer hunters, who were standing on back porch, sipping their coffee before they set out. As they stood there, they heard a clatter from the trashcans at the back of the property, and turning, they saw the raccoon that has been causing trouble for months. All ten hunters grabbed their rifles and opened up on the animal, which jumped down a large drainpipe and out of sight. The owner of the house was not going to let the raccoon get away that easily. He got the can of gasoline from the garage and poured it down the drain. Then, standing back, he lit a match and threw it down the drain. It went out after a few feet. He tried again, with the same result. Finally, he lowered himself into the drain, lit a match, and reached his arm as deep into the pipe before letting the match fly. According to the local paper, it was at this point that the homeowner was shot out of the pipe and over his house, with a trail of fire behind him. He landed in the middle of the front lawn, with a few bruises and singed pants. He told the reporter afterwards, I would do it again if I knew I wouldn’t be hurt. When we find ourselves in a tight spot, do we have the fiery power of God behind us to move us beyond life’s obstacles?

Evangelist Reinhart Bonnke said, “Cool, casual Christianity will accomplish nothing. Our nation’s most urgent need is the flaming message of the cross -- now and not at our leisure.”

There was a young boy who was flunking math, so his parents sent him to a special evening class at the local Christian academy. To their amazement, he got straight A’s. Amazed, his mother asked what made the difference. The boy replied, “Those people don’t fool around with math. On the wall, they have a picture of a guy nailed to a plus sign.”

Do we see the cross of Christ as a plus or a minus?

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Do we see the cross of Christ as a positive or a negative? Crucifixion means death, not always in a physical sense, but just as real as a physical crucifixion.

Many would read this passage and conclude that Christianity is not for them; at least not this radical form which calls for such a sacrifice. Isn’t salvation a free gift, they say? I should be able to decide for myself how I will live, for I am a good person. I don’t want to die to anything. I want to live a good life my way.

Yet death does not have to be seen as a negative. Consider for a moment what we are called to die to:

1. The very idea that we can be justified, i.e., saved, by the law and our own works. Self-justification is a quicksand trap, for while we try to atone for a sin, we commit countless others. If almighty God were to keep a tab of our good work and our sins, the balance would forever and always run in the red. I must die to the notion that I am good enough and instead rely on the grace of Christ.

2. The world, with it’s applause, it’s treasures, and its gratification. Too many Christians today are caught in the allure of the world’s system, trying to keep up with the Joneses and in doing so, allowing others to dictate their morals, their lifestyle, and their goals. If I am crucified, then the world has no hold on me. Dead people don’t care what they wear, what they have, where they live. I am called by Paul in today’s passage to be dead to the world.

3. To self. Crucifixion was a death that brought terrible suffering. And it is a fitting symbol for our own struggle to surrender our will to the Father, for self will rise up again and again to exert its control over us. It is not only a bitter struggle, but also a daily battle. For when we say self, I am talking about the sinful nature that exists within each and every individual. I am talking about that part of us that continues to pull us away from the Father and our true heavenly home. If I am crucified with Christ, I must die to self.

As we consider what we are to die to, let us also consider what we are called to live in. What is this life that we talk about?

1. It is the assurance in the very depths of my soul that I am God’s and he is mine. It is the knowledge that Christ is living in my soul. It is the peace that I need not fear death or eternity. Do you know that you know that you know? Is there an assurance in your heart today? I have been amazed over the years at the number of Christians who lack that assurance because they have allowed the enemy of their soul to whisper in their ears, questioning who they are in Christ. If you have asked Christ into your heart but you don’t have that assurance, I want to pray with you today and we will ask God to give you that assurance.

2. It is the joy of living. As we walk out this life of faith, we will find joy in the journey we have been called to. God knew us before we were ever born (Jer..1) and God has a plan for our fulfillment. We have been created with a specific plan in mind, and that plan is for our joy, our fulfillment, and our completeness. When we seek God’s will, we will find our purpose in this life, and we’ll find the joy we need so desperately. The Bible tells us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength, and some of us have been on this journey far too long without that strength to help us.

3. In this life of faith, we walk in the promises and blessings of God. There is no greater privilege than to walk in the blessings of God, to have faith that the promises of God are mine, and that I will prosper in whatever I do, so long as I am willing to live for Christ.

It is in the crucifixion that our own faith is given the truest test. Are we willing to allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ so that we may live? Can we die to our works, to this world, to our own selfish nature? In every heart, there is a cross and a throne. Christ will be on one, and self will be on the other. Have I enthroned Christ or self?

May God find in this place men and women who will live Gal. 2.20 faith, who will die to self, so that they may live for Christ.

How do you see the cross today?

God's Valentine's Box

2007-02-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

Acts 1:8: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

If we wait on God as the believers did at Pentecost, we will receive power. The Gr. Word for power is dunamis, meaning miraculous power, strength, violence, and mighty, wonderful works. The word has evolved into the root for words such as dynamite. The power that God gives is not a “poof”, but a BANG! What type of power do we have—do we have a form of godliness, but deny the power, i.e., a power that only looks good or are we filled with the power to begin tearing down the kingdom of darkness and raising up the Kingdom of God?

How do we get this power? This dunamis power comes from the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. The most crucial victory that Satan has ever had was to make the church scared of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit lives in us at salvation, but there distinction of residence and prescience. Many have made the Holy Spirit a passenger, but refuse to allow the Spirit to driver. The Holy Spirit is one person of the trinity. We affirm that God is holy and God is love, so the Spirit of God is holy and works through gentle love.

The rest of the verse is my focus this morning, but I had to put it into perspective. It moves us onto the next step, but I didn’t want to leave out the preparation. God gives the power to be victorious before he sends us out as the church. Too many people are trying to reach the lost without the power that God provided to us.

Now, notice where we go. Our witness needs to be ordered. Jerusalem is first. Jerusalem speaks of our family. Next we witness to Judea. This is our work place or school, our neighborhood, our circle of friends, and our extended family. Samaria, like Judea is not far from us; it’s those people who are outside the bounds of our friendships and social circles. It consists of people who are different from us, socially, economically, etc. Finally, the uttermost parts of the earth show us that we move outwards with our ministry until we reach the ends of the earth. Missions and evangelism ought not start in 3^rd world countries; it ought to begin right here at home in our Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. We’ve sent our best to other countries for years. Now these same countries are sending missionaries over here. The United States is the 3rd largest mission field in the entire globe.

Jesus embodied what he taught. Matthew 10:35-38: And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (36) But when he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having on shepherd. (37) The saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; (38) pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

Notice what Jesus was doing. First he was teaching. The Jewish people loved religious debate. They gathered in the synagogues not for a service as we think of service, but to hear and debate the scriptures (Sunday School, prayer meeting and Bible Study). Jesus was reasoning from the scriptures with them, straightening out their wrong thinking. Next he was preaching the Gospel. He did this in all the cities and villages. Today, He would have stopped by Adamsville, then moved on down the road to Pleasant Grove and on to Zanesville. He preached the Gospel in everything he did. And that preaching produced faith. And then he healed. He didn’t just heal some, but he healed every sickness and disease among the people. And while there are physical sicknesses today, the greatest sickness we face in America today is sin. It is weakening morality, killing our children, and even pulling churches apart.

Then He saw how big the problem was. His description is reflective of the church body today. Faint and scattered…sheep without a shepherd. Every denomination and the churches within it are going there own way. But I want you to see this morning that Jesus looked on them with compassion. Do we see the lost as sinners with condemnation or do we see them with compassion? Too often the church is satisfied with the status-quo, with being the people of God, without embodying the love of God.

What Jesus said next was the key. The harvest is too great for any one man or woman to handle. We must do our part as God leads us; the number one calling is to pray. Pray for laborers. Billy Graham said “nothing is done without prayer.” Prayer for lost souls will release the Holy Spirit to convict them and bring them to salvation. How many of us have loved ones on their way to the pits of Hell for eternity? PRAY. Not just once, but like the saints of old. PUSH. Pray Until Something Happens. And when you pray, pray the promises of God.

A. Promises

Matthew 10:38 – pray for laborers to share the salvation message.

Mark 4:8 – Good Soil. Only God can break up the hard ground, clear out the weeds, and allow the word sown in them to grow.

Acts 16:31 – if we are saved, all house can be.

Is. 59:21. - if word in us, it will be in the mouths of our children and their children to the third and forth generations.

B. Binding and Loosening prayer.

The Bible promises that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. So we bind the spirits of the North, South, East, and West (see Is. 43.5-6), we loose the heavenly angels to draw them in, and then we pray for the Holy Spirit to be loosed upon them, to bring conviction and to lead them to a place of salvation. The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the hound of heaven. Once God begins to pursue you, he just keeps on coming, much like a coon hound who has found the scent. He'll chase us until we reach a place where we are ready to surrender to God.

C. Point of Contact. A physical manifestation of your faith.

Mt. 21:22 “all things . . .ye ask in prayer, believe, ye shall receive.” Let me put it another way. We need to "Believe you receive when we pray."

Valentine’s Day just passed. The sermon's title is God’s Valentine’s Box. What I want you to do is to take the card from your bulletin and write down the name or names of unsaved loved ones. If you need several cards, feel free to take more from the altar. And as we close in prayer, I’m going to ask you to come and place them here on the altar, in the box. This box is a point of contact--a physical manifestation of our faith. As we place these names in the box, we are entrusting them to God and committing ourselves to pray. And as you pray the promises, I want you to pray not just for your names, but for all those names that are in the box. In that way we can multiply the amount of prayer. As you are praying for the loved ones of others, they are praying for yours as well. And as we pray, we believe we are receiving. Amen.

New Blog

2007-02-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

I was talking to Pastor Jared (formerly of New Reality) this week, and he told me he was starting a new blog. I would encourage you to take a look. He is currently working on his D. Min. degree and his posts reflect the large amount of reading he is doing right now. His first post deals with the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church. Make sure you take a few minutes to post a comment.

Paul's Instructions for Marriage

2007-02-12T09:51:00.000-05:00

I'd like to start with a story I read this week.  A man got in car accident,
coma for 2 days. Opening his eyes, he saw that his wife was there.  In tears
he said, Dear, you always by my side through the years:

                 - "At University, failed again and again, you were right there"

                 - She squeezed his hand as he continued.

                 - "All those Job interviews I didn't get, you there clipping
    want ads"

                 - "Then got job with this firm, lost job because of mistake,
    you still here by my side encouraging me.

                Her eyes began to water as he continued.

                 - Then I finally landed this low paying job, but never got
    any promotion, never  recognized,and you stayed right by
    my side.

                 - Now I get in this accident, I wake up and you are right here.

                 - There is something I really want to say to you. . .

                 Sobbing, she threw her arms around him.

         He said, "Honey, I think you bring me bad luck!"
Marriage seems to be devalued these days.  
 Many don't understand it

Divorce statistics bear stark evidence of the toll on marriage in our day.
In this country in 1910, one out of 10 marriages ended in divorce.
By 1980,the figure had grown to one out of two. (62% Divorce in our
county;the national rate is 47.5%.)

     I believe marriage is the crown of God's creation, the final thing he did.

 Paul, as a bachelor did something pretty gutsy and amazing.  He wrote
to the in his letter to the church in Ephesus instructions for marriage.
In a Greek culture that devalued the family unit and focused instead on
pleasure,Paul’s instructions were pretty revolutionary, and I don’t know
that our society is very far behind that of the Greeks. Therefore, there
is good reason to look at what Paul has to say.  Many pastors jump in at
verse 22 of the fifth chapter,but I think we need to begin in the
previous verse.

5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Now one of the biggest stumbling blocks in this passage, especially among women is the subject of submission. In the previous four and a half chapters, Paul has laid out basic instructions for being believers in community. He culminates in this command: submit to one another. If we are talking about two Christians, seeking to live in a Christian marriage, then both the man and woman should already be in submission to each other. Amen?

Now the next few verses are addressed to the wives, so women, listen up. Oh, and husbands, no elbowing your wife. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. The context for the proper relationship comes from the creation story in Genesis. When God made Eve, he didn’t take the bone from Adam’s head, that Eve should be over him; nor did he take a bone from his foot, that she would be under him. Rather, God took the bone from Adam’s side, that the couple would walk side-by-side, supporting one another. Women, it is within this context that Paul says, “submit as to the Lord.” This isn’t addressed to the husband, for it up to the wife to submit of her own will; because of your love for each other, you willingly yield to him. This is not a blanket command to not think for your self. Rather, as a couple, you need to talk about areas of contention and work them out in submission to each other. When you find that no compromise can be reached, then the wife is commanded here to submit, not by force but out of love. And the husband, as the head of the household, will answer to God for that decision.

OK, the majority of the rest of this passage is for the husband, so listen up, guys and wives, no elbowing your spouse. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Wow! Love your wife as Christ loved the Church. How much does Christ love the church? So much that he died for us. In the same way, the husband is called to sacrifice himself for the sake of his wife. (Now the submission thing sounds pretty easy—if the wife is in submission and the husband is sacrificing self for her, there should be very little reason for serious disagreements.) Don’t fight, just have intense fellowship.

Then it starts talking about washing with water and stains and wrinkles. What does this have to do with marriage? As the head of the household, the husband is responsible for setting the spiritual atmosphere of the home. If you as the head of the house are in the word, then you are better able to help the rest of your family remain holy and blameless before God. As was already pointed out to the women, the husband will answer to God for what he allows to happen within his home. Now if setting a good spiritual atmosphere will help the home, the opposite is also true. Why do you think our enemy tries so hard to keep us out of our Bible, out of prayer, and out of fellowship with other believers?

28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—30 for we are members of his body. Love your wife like you love yourself; care for her. This works on three levels: the first is physical, like providing food, clothing, a house, etc. Second, we can see this as mental and relational, i.e., we encourage our spouse, take the time to build the relationship. Guys, we sometimes need to take time out of what we want to do and be willing to sit down and talk to our spouse. Women and men are wired differently. Women tend to want to sit down and talk things through and men tend to want to be doing something. Relationship takes time and effort, and it is worth every second we put in! Finally, we need to support our spouse emotionally. One thing that I always encourage couples to do is to date. Michelle may be my wife, but she’s also my girlfriend. If I don’t continue to pursue her, then I am allowing myself to grow complacent in the relationship.

31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. Here Paul states one of the deepest mysteries that surround marriage. When a couple becomes united in marriage, they are joined as one flesh. This isn’t a very clear statement, but I don’t know how to put it any better. There is a joining that occurs at the deepest level of both persons. Paul, having never experienced this, quickly steps away from the subject by turning the focus back to Christ and the church.

Paul concludes this passage with a final word to husbands and wives. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Husbands, love your wife as yourself. This is repeated here, because it sums up all of the other commands Paul gave. Then he says, Wives, show your husband respect. Again, this is a repetition of what has come before, but it summarizes what Paul has already said.

I know that this was more of a teaching sermon than a preaching sermon, but there is a genuine need for more Christian teaching about how marriage is supposed to work. You see, we have the promise of scripture that God’s word will not return void, but it will bear fruit in the lives of those who hear it. In this case, I pray that you will be encouraged in your relationships.

Who Will Hold the Rope?

2007-02-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

Acts 9:17-25

At Adamsville, we have a mission statement: To Know Christ, to Grow into his likeness, and to Show him to the world. That is just what happened to Saul (better known as Paul.) Saul had been persecuting the church in Jerusalem for some time and he got permission to hunt for Christians in Damascus. On the way there, Christ met him in a blinding flash of light, and Saul was struck blind. We talked last week about Ananias and his conversation with God. And you’ll remember, God’s assurance that Saul had become a believer—behold, he prays. He knew Christ. After being restored to sight, some experts say that Saul spent the next several years in the dessert studying the faith. Whether or not that was the case, however, is irrelevant. At some point, he began to preach to the Jews about Jesus, and he grew bold and powerful (he grew into Christ’s likeness and began to show him to others)—so much so that the Jews in Damascus decided it was time to kill Saul. But some of the other believers found out about the plot and they lowered Saul in a basket during the night, allowing him to escape unharmed. This morning, I want to focus on those other believers. You see, we hear a lot about Paul’s ministry, but it would never have happened if it weren’t for some folks willing to hold the rope for him. If we are going to be engaged in ministry for the Kingdom of God, we need to have a system of support, i.e., people who are willing to hold the rope for us.

When I had the privilege to work at Camp Asbury, I was a facilitator on the high ropes course. For those who don’t know what high ropes are, picture a series of obstacles set 35 to 40 feet up in the air. It was definitely a faith-growing experience for me. When you were getting ready to go up that tree and when you got up there, there was one very important question that became very, very important: Who is holding the rope? In fact, there were a series of verbal commands that the climber and the rope holder would go through to make sure that the climber was safe. I remember one youth group that was on the course over the fall, and they had a guy who played football—a big offensive lineman. And he when he got up to the catwalk, he asked me, “What happens if I step off?” I told him he would drop a little bit and then come to a stop. So he stepped off. And he dropped a few inches, stepped back onto the catwalk, and walked across as calmly as if he were on the ground. You see, he knew someone was holding the rope.

What does it mean to be a rope holder? There are at least three different jobs needed. Some people may have more than one job, but other times, it may take three different people.

The first category of rope holders are Intercessors: Those who will stand in prayer and lift that person, group, or situation up on a daily basis. Gen 18:20-33. Abraham is an intercessor not only for his nephew Lot and his family, but for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. When you read this passage, you can see the spirit of the intercessor. He or she is full of holy boldness. Not timid in the requests. Also, he or she is not irreverent towards God, but has a reverent humility. Finally, the intercessor needs a bit of importunity (to importune is to solicit in a pressing manner; think of a pushy telemarketer). Each time Abraham asks, he pushes a little further. Are we willing to respectfully but boldly press God for the needs of others?

The second type of person needed is someone with the gifts of helps and service. If I were to describe this with one word, it would be support. These are important, since ministry doesn’t come with an easy button. The gift of helps is seen in that person who is able to work behind the scenes to relieve others of detailed or routine jobs. They relieve them so they can focus more fully on their area of ministry. (1 Cor. 12:28, Romans 16:1-2, Acts 9:36, Mark 15:40-41) Service is the ability to see things that need done. This person is a doer, not looking for praise, but just wanting to make sure things are done and ministry can continue. (2 Tim. 1:16-18, Romans 12:7, Acts 6:1-7, Titus 3:14, Galatians 6:2,10). Now I began to ask God, “What is the difference between these two?” And what God showed me is that a person with the gift of helps always works behind the scenes. He or she shies away from any form of public service. On the other hand, the person with a gift of service will do whatever needs done to keep ministry going. They don’t seek out the public eye, but they won’t shy away from it either. I also need to say that these gifts are not mutually exclusive; i.e., you may have both gifts.

Finally, we all need some Encouragers. These are persons with a gift of exhortation, that ability to reassure, strengthen, encourage, and affirm others. This can simply by praising what is already going on, or by helping them move from their problems to a resolution to that problem. (Romans 12:8, Acts 14:21-22, Heb. 10:25)

When this sermon was first suggested to me, it was in terms of supporting our youth and youth leaders as they prepare for Battle Cry. I agree. We need to be supporting them. But in the last several weeks, God has begun to impress upon me the need to have rope holders around all those who are ministering within the church, for without that support, we are much more likely to fall prey to the attacks of the enemy.

So as our praise team comes, as we close this morning, I am looking for rope holders. If you are willing to be an intercessor, a supporter, an encourager, I want you to come forward this morning, and we are going to give you a piece of rope, as a reminder of this vital ministry in our church. In the coming weeks and months, we will do more to formally organize our rope holders, but this morning, we just want to pray for you. If God is calling you in this way, please come as we sing.

A House of Prayer

2007-01-31T10:36:00.000-05:00

Note: This is not an original sermon. This is based upon a sermon we watched in Seminary. The notes I took from that sermon, along with a few lines from a 707 outline provided the impetus for this sermon. With that disclaimer, enjoy.

I want to share with you one of the strangest pictures of Jesus you will find in the entire New Testament. It is a Picture so out of sync with the children on his knee and the powerful yet peaceful teacher, that it causes one's view of Christ is shaken to the core.

Mark 11.15-18 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? 17 But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

Someone that irate must not be in the spirit, yet this is Jesus we are talking about. And he didn't do it once, but twice. According to the Gospel of John, he had done the same thing three years earlier, making a whip. It was a premeditated act and now he is doing it again. And here is the most amazing thing of all: Jesus drove them out this time without a whip. He used his authority and presence. The disciples were merely spectators. Why did Jesus drive them out? Some say that the animals were prices too high. Others suggest that the money changers were using an unfair standard. Still others have suggested that they were selling animals that were unfit for sacrifice. While all of these may have been happening, the reason is much more simple. They were in the temple, but they were out of sync with the atmosphere of the temple, i.e., they didn't fit with the spirit of sacred worship. We'll all answer to God for what we've done with what is sacred (belongs to him). Are we touching what is sacred in a secular way? Jesus said this is a house of prayer. My father's house--is to be a house of prayer! You see the things of God have an atmosphere and aroma of prayer. Are we a church that belongs to God? Is there an atmosphere of prayer about us? Are we the people of God? Is there an aroma of prayer about us? Does not God say that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are we not then to be houses of prayer?

“I fear this is not a praying age of the church. This is an age of toil and work and bigger, better, faster and more clever.”

When Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, he told them to not be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and petition. . . But, today we have forsaken that command and have replaced prayer with harder work, more education and shining reputations. None of these things were ever meant to supplant prayer!

God's work is often not as we imagine it to be. He doesn't call us the house of preaching and teaching, the house of scripture, or even of praise and worship--rather he chose prayer. What was going on in the upper room when the church was born at Pentecost? Praying. Acts 4--Peter and John before the Jewish council-threats (call a meeting, protest, PPR -- they went to a prayer meeting). When in trouble--Pray. When challenged--Pray. When persecuted--Pray. When you're at the end of your rope--Pray. Prayer is not some little mental thing. When Saul was converted, everyone was afraid of him. Ananias was praying. God spoke to this man about Saul. He replied, this is a dangerous man lord. This is how God said he's mine now -- behold, he prays. He's the real deal. In his instructions to Timothy, Paul said,first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone...and I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. (1Ti. 2.1,8). In Revelation, prayer is likened unto incense, which is kept in bowls before God and gives off a pleasant odor. And in Acts 2. They continued in prayer. Not just an hour on Sunday morning! The church is people who pray. What is the sign of revival and growth? They began to pray. Ask Charles Finney, Ask John Wesley, ask the great revivalist of our day...when the prayer ceases, so does the move of God. The single greatest thing we can learn as Christians is how to pray--to call people into the presence of Almighty God. Call the prayer meeting! Not the revival or a bible study, and how many show up? So there are more people living in sin than being baptized in the church. Today, there are more books on how to save your marriage and more divorces than every before. More books on how to raise children and more problems with kids than ever before. You can blame it on TV, movies, music, peers, or even Satan, but the biggest reason that our society is in such dire straights is that the church has ceased to be a house of prayer. But here is the promise: Let us boldly come before the throne of grace to receive grace and mercy to help us in our hour of need!

We've missed it by creating a religion that emphasizes everything except prayer--the sermon, the music. . .the focus shouldn't be either--it should be upon the alter rail, the places of prayer. The action isn't the sermon--it is bringing people to the throne of grace so God can touch them!

Too often, we speak of what God has done, and what he will do in the future, but the greatest disappointment is living our whole life without seeing God move. Jesus said, “You have not because you ask not.” Stop passively waiting and begin to pray. Not that God gives everything we want. I know the theological arguments, but there are things God wants us to have that we have not yet received. God has laid out a table, spread with all the blessings and graces we need, and all we need to do is pull up to the table. PRAY!

God will make us men and women of prayer if we ask him. He'll order our life so we'll become people of prayer. And he knows we'll say, 'No God, I can do it on my own." God smiles and says, "That's OK, when you hit the wall, I'll be here." If you get nothing else today, get a hold on this Life Lesson: If you beat the devil in prayer, you'll beat him on every level. Why? Because when you pray, God comes. When you can't stand any longer and you’re about to fall, pray and God will come and hold you up! When you call, he delights in answering.

This morning, there is someone here who is standing in the need of prayer. It might be you, it might be a spouse, it might be a child who needs a touch from God. It might be a grandchild who has walked away. As we sing this closing song, this alter is open. God is waiting here to meet you. don't let anything hold you back. If we were honest with God, the alter would be full. Are we willing to be people of prayer?

February Newletter

2007-01-31T10:34:00.000-05:00

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, there has been a lot of talk about love. While we celebrate romantic love during this holiday, God tells us that we need to practice Christian love all year long. The question, then, arises: what is love. To answer this question, let us look into God's cookbook and see God's recipe for love.

Ingredients:

· Begin with 2 heaping cups of patience - love in passiveness. Love does not hurry, but it endures. (See Heb. 13:1)

· Mix in dash of kindness - love in action. We see this type of love in the parable of the sheep and the goats. What will we do for the least of these? (Matt. 25:31-46)

· stir in two handfuls of generosity - love in competition. How does my generosity measure up against those who aren’t saved? Is there a noticeable difference? (Heb.13.1-2)

· Next add a modest helping of Humility - love in hiding. Phil. 2.3

· Toss in a pinch of courtesy - love in society. Are we at home with all classes and cultures? We must treat them with respect, for they too are the creation of the Most High God.

· Sprinkle in a bit of unselfishness - love in essence. It will keep us from being sour or bitter. Putting others first always builds us up.

· Cover the mix with righteousness - love in conduct. Hate sin and aspire to become like Christ.

· Top the whole thing off with a good temper - love in disposition. Do not irritated or resentful.

· And season it with sincerity - love in profession. Don’t try to act perfect, but be real with people.

· Mix all the ingredients in your heart, spread over a lifetime, and serve to anyone you meet.

Have we tasted of God's love for us? Can others find that same love in us? If not, let us go to God's heavenly kitchen and try God's recipe for love. For more information, read 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

- Pastor Tom

Unity of Vision

2007-01-22T08:02:00.000-05:00

Last two weeks we’ve looked at how we find our vision (see Six Keys to Finding our Vision) and what can stop it (see Vision Stoppers).

We’ve seen the last two weeks why vision is important (Proverbs 29:18b) and that it has been promised to us in these last days (Acts 2:17). And I want to say that our visions and our dreams are birthed out of who we are and what we are doing. Or maybe a better way to say it is that vision comes from who God says we are and what He wants us to be doing.

Today’s text comes from the eleventh chapter of Genesis, just after the death of Noah. (Gen 11.1-2) Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Not only was everyone speaking the same language, but they were all of one mind, saying the same things. Now skip down with me to verse 4. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." So arriving at Shinar, this great flat plain, they decided to build a great city where they could all live and to build a tower to heaven, so they could be reunited with God almighty. Now skip back a verse to verse three. 3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Bricks of clay instead of stone and slime instead of mortar. In other words, they did not have the right tools for the job, so they decided to use what was available to them.

Verse 5 and 6: 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.6 The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. God came down to see what was going on, and he discovered two amazing things: First, the people are all of one language and on e speech (i.e., united) and because of that, God says nothing they can imagine and plan will be impossible for them to accomplish. Now, is God a liar? Can God lie? NO! So watch this, church. God says, if I don’t do something, they will build a tower to heaven. With clay bricks for stone and slime for mortar, they will do what we with all of our technology could not even begin to fathom. That’s what God says!

So why is that a problem? Well, in Genesis 9:1,7 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the whole earth. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it." Not suggestions, but commands that God gives to humanity. Instead, humanity decided to reach heaven by their own works. And top what purpose? So they could “make a name for themselves.” Motivated by pride, they sought to undo the loss caused by sin by sinning again. And the crazy thing is, because they had unity, they would have succeeded.

So God came down and confused their languages. Unable to communicate, they lost their unity and their common speech. For that reason, their great tower became known as the tower of Babel.

If we can come together with the visions and dreams that God has placed within us for His church, if we will unite with one language and with one speech (one mind), if we speak our faith over that which God has provided to us and begin with what we have, then church: Nothing that God puts in our heart will be impossible! If sinful, rebellious men could reach heaven with slime and bricks, how much more will we be able to see the kingdom of heaven be established in our community?

One mind. Put aside our differences and look to that which unites us. The things that unite us far outweigh the things that divide us.
One speech. Begin to speak your faith over the vision and your church.
Begin with what we have. No excuses. Whether it is people, money, materials, or expertise, God has already given us everything we need to begin.

God, we thank you for your word, which will not return void. We thank you for the dreams and visions that you are placing upon our hearts. And we thank you for bringing us into unity. Help us to put aside our differences, to speak our faith, and to take those first steps of faith, so your vision may become a reality. Begin this work within us, Lord. Begin it in me. In Christ's name.
Amen.

Vision Stoppers

2007-01-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

Acts 2:17

Proverbs 29:18b

Job 33:14-18

Last week we looked at the six keys to finding our vision (Focused, Faithful, Fruitful, being willing to Fight, Friendly, and having Favor). Yet if vision is so vital, why don’t we already have vision and what is keeping us from fulfilling the vision we already do have? I want to look with you at seven things that will stop the vision of God.

Prayerlessness. There are few things Christians talk about more and do less than praying. Dr. Cho, who pastors the largest church in the world today was asked how his church grew so large. His answer was as profound as it was simple: I pray, then I obey. Billy Graham said, “Nothing happens without prayer.” You see, as the Body of Christ, prayer is our power source. Without prayer, we lack the power to see the vision become more than just a fond dream.

Our Stubbornness and unwillingness to change. In most churches, change is a dirty word. But, if we are growing with Christ, we must change. Growth means change. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll only have what you already have. (and in all reality, you’ll have a little less, because that is the nature of time). Like riding a bicycle up hill. When you stop peddling, you don’t stand still.

Sin. Sin separates us from God. (raised fist and a blow to the face of God) James 4:17 Sin is when you know to do something and you don’t (sin of omission) and Romans 14:23b whatever isn’t of faith is sin.

Religion. Religion is defined as a search for truth. Christianity is not a religion (a search for truth), but a relationship with the one who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Another definition of religion is man’s efforts to please God. Man-made rules often stop the movement of God. We try to put God in a box, but he’ll go elsewhere before he conforms to our way. Are our traditions and rules more important than God’s will for us?

The Church becomes crancktified instead of sanctified. Yes that's a word; I just made it up. Sanctification is that process of growth that God works within us throughout our entire lives. The problem comes when we feel we’ve reached our full potential or when we refuse to let go of an offense. When this happens, we our own disobedience makes us hypersensitive to the sin in others. Instead of loving one another, we become quick to accuse, belittle, and judge one another. We become more interested in fighting one another than in fighting Satan. The good news is that even if we find ourselves in this state, all we have to do is realize our need for Christ and he will begin to soften our hearts and continue the work of sanctification in us. All we have to do is be willing to forgive.

Refuse to leave the old things behind. (Not saying throw away our history) This happens in two ways. First, there are some that allow the past to become an idol. They worship the way things were instead of serving God here and now. Others allow the past to become an anchor. The bad in their past holds them back and keeps them from reaching their full potential for God. It’s sad to think that some folks allow the past to keep them from being part of the vision God has for the future. Don’t let Satan bring up things that are under the blood. He has no right to them. (and if they aren’t under the blood, confess them and get them there)

Walking in fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. And the most often seen type of fear in relation to God’s vision is the fear of failure. We said last week faith was in two places: It is in your heart (your thoughts), and it is in your mouth (what you say). You see if we walk in fear, we stop when we reach the border of what we know. Fear holds us to what we know. But walking by faith allows us to step over the old boundaries and cross borders. There’s this book I read the other day that said we need to walk by faith and not by sight (that which we already know).

What happened when the church in Acts caught hold of this vision (Acts 2.41,46-7)

Church, as God begins to show us the dreams and vision that he has for us, I pray that you would examine your own life. Are there things there that will stop the vision of God? If so, will you come and let God help you overcome them?

Six Keys to Finding our Vision

2007-01-09T08:07:00.000-05:00

Six Steps to Finding our Vision

Acts 2:17 "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

The words 'dream' and 'vision' are similar. Dreams are long-term, and more general while visions are short-term and very specific. Paul, quoting Joel, tells us that in this time, our young people will have vision and our older people will be dreaming dreams. Why is vision important?

Proverbs 29:18b: Without a vision, the people perish

So we'll look at six keys to finding our vision, and to make it easy, they are six f's.

1. Focus on it. Matthew 7:7,8: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

a. Are we looking for God’s vision? If we seek, ask, and knock, then He will give it.

2. Faithful. Faith is in the heart and in the mouth. As God gives us vision, we need first to get it into our very core, our heart. The vision isn't for someone else, but it becomes part of who we are! And once it has done that, we need to get it on our mouth. Can not talk down about the vision, however, and have faith for it at the same time. Too many Christians get God's vision and integrate it, only to be stopped by their mouth when they begin to give voice to all their doubts. We must begin to speak out faith.

3. Fruitful. Our vision will help us grow and bear fruit. Jesus said,(Mt. 7:17-20)Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

a. Personal growth (see Gal. and the fruit of the spirit)

b. Numerical growth (souls for the kingdom, not stealing sheep)

4. willing to Fight (Spiritually)

a. When we begin to ask God to show us His vision and work in us and through us, we can expect the enemy of our souls to everything in his power to stop us. We shouldn't be surprised when that attack comes. Instead, we need to know how to fight the spiritual battle. Our weapon is the Word of God. Read your Bible and learn what it says about the areas of our weakness.

b. And we need to learn about our Defenses: Blood of Christ (plead the blood), prayer covering, spiritual armor (Eph. 6)

5. Friendly (Love one another) Mt. 22.34-40 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

a. Our vision needs to help us love God and our neighbor

6. Favor: Pray for favor with God and with man. Favor will help us overcome every obstacle that will hold back the vision of God.

Walt Disney said, "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." If our church catches God’s vision, what will we be able do?

Snowy Days and Mondays

2007-01-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

Well, the first snow of the season is covering the ground and I am red-eyed and tired. I stayed up too late watching the Buckeyes lose badly to Florida’s Gators. While I could make excuses, the simple fact is that Ohio State didn’t block well on offense, didn’t tackle well on defense, and lost their superstar special teams player on the first offensive series of the game. Any one of these could easily lead to a loss, but all three combined to make the game a total blowout. All I can say is congratulations Florida. You earned the title of National Champions.

Regulars of this blog may notice that the link to New Realities has been taken off the side bar. The two pastors who created the blog have shut it down due to changes in their personal and professional lives. Both Pastor Jared and Pastor Ric are personal friends and you guys are free to post on Pulpit Perspectives anytime you feel the urge and blessings to you both.

Pastor Tom

The Shepherd King (Sermon)

2006-12-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Matthew 2:1-12

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

In leading the magi to Christ, God demonstrated the sincerity of the promise that he would have all men be saved. We rejoice in the visit of the magi, for by it, God enables all of mankind to be included as "the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand."

1. They followed the star

Not following the OT promises, but led by the common expectancy of the star, they came to worship the king.

2. They found the Shepherd King

As a shepherd leads his sheep, so Christ rules and governs over his church, guiding, guarding, sheltering, and feeding. As with a shepherd, he leads the way for us to follow. He lays down his life for the flock. Christ willingly laid down his life as the true king, the perfect high priest, and the savior of all mankind.

3. They offered him gifts

When they found the Christ Child, they offered him their gifts and they worshipped.

gold: the common gift for a king.

frankincense: incense used in worship of God

myrrh: a perfume used in embalming and burial.

4. The departed a different way.

Warned in a dream they returned by another way. Everyone who comes to Christ ought to leave different from the way the came. They need to leave by the way of inner peace, the way to inner strength, the way of joy, and the way of a Chirst-filled life come from leaving different from how we came.

Have you sought the shepherd king, Jesus? Have you found him? Have you been forever changed?

January Newletter

2006-12-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

The wrapping paper has been gathered up, the decorations taken down and put away for another year. The ending of the holidays marks the beginning of a new year. 2006 has come and is almost gone. 2007 is just around the corner.

With the New Year come New Year’s resolutions. Yours may be similar to mine. 1. Lose those extra pounds. 2. Be more organized. 3. Exercise (see goal #1) 4. Be more intentional about balancing work and family. Every year, we set goals ourselves, and the basic pattern remains the same: stop a bad habit, start a good habit, improve our self or our circumstances. I’m sure I missed a few, but you get the idea. As we make our resolutions, should we not ask ourselves what God would like us to do (or not do) this year?

The New Year also means a new beginning—2007 brings with it new hopes and dreams, new challenges, and new opportunities for ministry. As we move into January, I’ll be preaching a series on how we find and sustain our vision as people of God. I pray that both as individuals and as a church, God will place within us a vision—a snapshot of where He would have us go and what He would have us to be doing. Instead of praying for God to bless what we are doing, we need to be seeking out His will for us, so that we will be doing what God is already blessing.

May God grant each of us His vision and blessing as we begin this New Year together - Amen