Sermon: They Want to Know

Worship Services for July 27, 2014

Invocation
O God, creator of all humankind, I bring to You the cares and concerns of all Your creatures. Look now to those who cry for help from every corner of the earth, for You alone are able to satisfy our deepest desires. Amen.

Prayers for the church of Christ, for others, for yourself.

Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to his disciples,“ The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Sermon: They Want to Know
By Pastor Ed Evans

There are so many things we don’t know about. We learn first from our parents, from people who teach us, from circumstances, and we learn from seeking to learn. Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense under President Gerald Ford, once confused a lot of people at a NATO Press conference in Brussels, Belgium, when he said, “There are no "knowns." There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.”

There are things we do not know we don't know. But Jesus told us that if we seek, we shall find.

There is a lot of discussion right now throughout the Christian world, and among others, about the “End Times.” We know about the Biblical End Times, and yet, we don’t know. Many of us are afraid it is one of those things we do not know we don’t know, so we collect every bit of information we can about it, and we obsess over it.

For example, do you know about the four blood moons?

Had you heard about the rivers turning to tomato-soup red?

According to ABC News, the Wenzhou River in Xinmeizhou village in eastern China’s Zhejiang province turned completely red over about an hour’s time. Residents say that the river was normal around 5 a.m., but an hour later, the water had changed color.
Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/1374633/china-river-turns-red-locals-baffled-after-river-turns-blood-red-pollution-blamed/#QQ2FX9UZ2GlO4HlX.99

It happened before, on Sept. 6, 2012, in the city of Chongqing, where the Yangtze River runs through thi city in southwestern China. You can read more about it at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2199800/The-river-DID-run-red-Residents-Chinese-city-left-baffled-Yangtze-turns-scarlet.html#ixzz38csRfyBz

And it happened in Exodus 7:17, “17 Thus says the LORD, ‘By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.’”

In the Book of Revelation there comes a time when the angels pour out six bowls of wrath on the world, and in chapter 16, verse 4 we read, “Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.”

The matter of four blood moons refers to the verse in Joel 3:21, “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes”, and the verse in Rev. 6:12, “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood”.

The sequence of four consecutive blood moons (known as a tetrad) has occurred several times before, in 1909-10, 1927-28, 1949-50, 1967-68, 1985-86, and 2003-04.
This cycle, the four blood moons will all take place on religiously significant dates for the Jewish people.

The first comes April 15, 2014, the second day of Passover. The second will come on October 8, 2014, during the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles. The third will come on April 5, 2015, during next year's Passover celebration, and the fourth will arrive on September 28, 2015, another Feast of the Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot.

History shows that blood moon cycles in the past have occurred at momentous events in Jewish history. For example, in 1493, just as Jews were being expelled from Spain; then in 1949 when the state of Israel was founded; and again in 1967 during the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab attackers.

And yet, as much as these occurrences are factual, we must wonder. Upon what day of time is something momentous not happening in this world? Something is always happening, blood moon, blood river or not.

Jesus reminded us, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

Even the Apostle Paul wrote about signs of the End Times, but scholars believe his intent was not to establish a calendar, but rather to comfort those Christians who thought death would deprive them of seeing Jesus’ Second Coming.

As war and terror, greed and hunger, disorder and natural calamities sweep through mankind, widespread insecurity and uncertainty lead people to fear what they don’t know and what they do know. At the same time, there are those who will exploit the circumstances, claiming secret knowledge amidst the disorder.

You might remember the hysteria about Y2K at the turn of the century in 2000, and about the “Mayan Apocalypse on Dec. 21 just two years ago. Now we are surrounded by war, terrorists, and social mayhem. In such times people are looking for answers, they are looking for hope and a promise of tomorrow. All those things are found in Jesus Christ.

Why so much hate, social disruption, calamitous weather occurrences in America, in Europe, China, terror and revolution in the Middle East and around the world? Is it the End Times? What’s going on? The world wants to know. You can tell them; be the laborer of His harvest.

Give them Jesus. Give them heaven. Give them the peace of God.

And instead of looking to mystical stars and moons, signs and wonders to predict the future, focus on the promise of the gospel message. We need to reflect Christ in our words and actions as we avoid the shadows of mysticism, rumor and innuendo. For our God doesn’t operate on the basis of those, and just as no one keeps promises like He does, we can be assured that He is going to do what He has said He will do. In His own good time.

What is left for we who follow the Living God is to continue sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. People want to know. They want answers. Everything He has promised will come to pass, in His own good time. And finally, for each of us to keep enjoying the fullness of our relationship with the God who created the sun, the stars, and yes, even the blood moons.

Amen.


Hymn: “By Gracious Powers”, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1944), translated by Fred Pratt Green; copyright Words @ 1991 Stainer & Bell Ltd.; provided here for educational purposes only

1 By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
And confidently waiting, come what may,
We know that God is with us night and morning
And never fails to greet us each new day.

2 Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
Still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
O give our frightened souls the sure salvation
For which, O Lord, You taught us to prepare.

3 And when this cup You give is filled to brimming
With bitter suffering, hard to understand,
We take it thankfully and without trembling,
Out of so good and so beloved a hand.

4 Yet when again in this same world You give us
The joy we had, the brightness of Your sun,
We shall remember all the days we lived through,
And our whole life shall then be Yours alone.


Communion
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and He broke it, saying this is My body, given for you. After supper He took the cup, saying this cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you do it, in remembrance of Me.

Benediction
And now, our God, as we go to our places in the world, go with us. May the peace of sin forgiven and the power of Your Holy Spirit work in us and through us to Your glory Amen.

As we close the worship services today, always remember that while some have called you servants, He has called you friends.

Closing Hymn
God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again
By Jeremiah E. Rankin
Public Domain

God be with you till we meet again,
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you,
God be with you till we meet again.
Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

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Daily Scripture Readings for July 28 – August 3, 2014
Monday – Genesis 22:1-14
Tuesday – 1st Timothy 6:11-19
Wednesday – Psalm 68:1-10
Thursday – John 10:1-18
Friday – Matthew 7:1-12
Saturday – 1st Peter 5:1-11
Sunday – Exodus 3:13-20; Romans 8:26-30; Psalm 105:1-11; Matthew 14:44-52

Worship Services for Sunday, July 20, 2014

Invocation

O merciful God, help us to live always in the realization of the account we must one day give.  May we pray right, listen keenly, and live as faithful stewards of Your good gifts.  With the assistance of Your Spirit.  Amen. 

Prayers for the church of Christ, for others, for yourself.

Scripture: 1^st Corinthians 10:1-22

“1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

^“6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷ Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ ⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, ¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. ¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

^“14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁶ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. ¹⁸ Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? ¹⁹ What do I imply then?  That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? ²⁰ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.  I do not want you to be participants with demons.²¹ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.  You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. ²² Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?  Are we stronger than He?”

Sermon: Overcoming Temptation

By Pastor Ed Evan

Let me begin here by pointing that while we don’t have religious idols on every street corner, tempting us to bow down to them, we make idols of things and events in our life when they become more important than obedience to Almighty God.  When we ignore what God has said about something, when we allow something to dictate our actions, when we set aside God’s love for the things WE want to do – we have created an idol.

There is a story told by Charles Swindoll about a boy caught swimming in a canal, where his father told him not to swim.  The boy admitted to giving in to temptation.  However, the only reason the boy could go swimming there was because he brought his swim suit … just in case he was tempted.

Do we ever find ourselves doing this?  We don’t intend to give into temptation, but it seems like we are prepared for it.  We put ourselves into situations where we know we are going to be tempted.  Why do we do that to ourselves?  To God?   

The comedian from the 1970’s, Flip Wilson, had a comedy sketch about that.  Anyone remember Flip Wilson?  He also had a sketch about being the Pastor of The Church of What’s Happening Now, in Las Vegas where they had a lot of fallen women that he needed to “pick up.”  But we’re not going there.

The sketch I had in mind was about a fellow whose wife had this phobia about new dresses.  She loved them!  In fact, he was going broke because she kept buying new dresses.  And when he told her she had to stop, she told him, “The devil made me do it!”

And he told her that next time she was to tell devil, “Get thee behind me, devil!”  So she very contritely agreed she would do that.

That night he comes home, and there’s a brand new dress!  He’s really angry and says to her, “I thought you said you were going to say, ‘Get thee behind me, devil!”

She said, “Oh honey, I love you, and that’s exactly what I did.  But the devil said, ‘It surrrre looks good from back here!’”

If we find ourselves constantly giving in to temptations, it’s may be because we are not keeping our eyes on the prize.  The prize is worship.  Whether we do it here or in glory, the prize is the worship of God.  Worship is not just our praise and obedience to God, but His response to us, as well.  It’s joining into a lifestyle that lasts for an eternity and beyond.

So, if we acknowledge that one reason to avoid giving in to temptation is so we don’t cut ourselves off from God’s love, what might be another big reason to avoid giving in to temptation?

Let’s think the unthinkable for a moment.  Suppose Jesus had given in to the temptations of Satan?  Satan tempted Jesus to prove who He was by turning stones into bread, by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple, and to fall down and worship Satan in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

 If He had thrown Himself off that temple to the ground below, would He have been hurt?  No.  If He had given in to Satan, the whole world might have recognized Him as the Son of God and worshipped Him.  But what else would have been impacted?  Could He have bought your salvation and mine on the cross with a sinless life?  No.

So who would have been hurt?  Others.  You and I.  Others.  And that’s where I would like us to focus this morning on the subject of temptation.  But on the way to focusing on how our giving in to temptation would affect others, let’s take a side trip into baseball history.

Who can tell me about “Tinker to Evers to Chance”?

We’re talking about Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance.

Are you one who likes to root for the underdog?  So you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, right?  These three guys played for the Chicago Cubs between 1902 and 1913, when the Cubbies could still win the pennant.

First, let me define some terms.    For those who don’t follow baseball, a double play refers to getting two outs on a single play.  And the way that happens most commonly is by a ground ball hit to the shortstop (Tinker) thrown to the second baseman (Evers) to force the runner out who had been on first base and then thrown to first base (Chance) to complete the play.

This trio first appeared on the field Sept. 13, 1902, and two days later turned their first double play against their nemesis, the New York Giants.  From 1906 through 1910, the "Tinker, to Evers, to Chance" double play happened 54 times.  Wap-wap-wap, you can almost hear that baseball hitting the mitt until it comes to rest in the glove of first baseman Frank Chance, and the guy racing to first is out~!  Wap!  Wap!  Wap!

They were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and immortalized by a poem, written by New York sportswriter Franklin Pierce Adams, who was a Giants fan.  You can read that poem below, but you need to know one unfamiliar word in there, and that word is “gonfalon”.  A gonfalon is a pennant or flag, referring in this context to the National League title.  The poem is titled:

Baseball's Sad Lexicon

These are the saddest of possible words:

"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,

Tinker and Evers and Chance.

Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,

Making a Giant hit into a double –

Words that  are heavy with nothing but trouble:

"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

Okay, enough nostalgia, guys and gals.  Stop mentally throwing that baseball into your mitt, and set that glove aside so we can get back to talking about temptation.

Oh, and for those who might question our side trip into baseball, I would point out that baseball is already in the Bible, from the very beginning.  For in the first verse of the very first chapter of Genesis, it starts out: “In the big-inning, God created the Heavens and the Earth….”  Isn’t that how you read it?

Why do I tell you all this?  I share it with you because I want you to think about the salvation and eternal life God has, how He threw it to Jesus on the cross, and Jesus threw it to you to complete the play.  Perhaps we can see the Holy Spirit as both shortstop, backing you up, and as coach, helping you with insights and understanding of what’s really going on.

God to Jesus to you.  And if you get sidetracked by temptation – by that cute redhead in the front row, or the sweet smell of what the hot dog man is selling -- you’ve dropped the ball.

If you recall, we started out talking about others, about what it might have meant to others if Jesus had given in to temptation.

The Bible tells us, in Isaiah 43:7, that the meaning and purpose of life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  But focusing on ourselves will never bring the manifestation of the purpose of our life.  In fact, 1^st Cor. 12, verse 1 starts out, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  And it ends in verses 24-27 with, “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

It’s not just about you, it’s about others.  We are individual members of Christ’s body, and yet we are all in this together.

In verses 6 – 13 of today’s scripture lesson, Paul is attempting to get the Corinthians’ attention in this matter.  The ancient Christian writer Chrysostom wrote, “The Israelites were not in the land of promise when God did those things to them.  Thus it was that He visited them with a double vengeance, because He did not allow them to see the land which had been promised to them, and He punished them severely as well.” 

Of verse 11, Chrysostom wrote, “Paul mentions the end of the ages in order to startle the Corinthians.  For the penalties which come then will not have a time limit, but will be eternal.  Although the punishments in this world end with our present life, those in the next world remain forever.”

So we have one more very good reason to stay away from those temptations.  But I asked you to approach this lesson in terms of others, so let’s continue with that.  But I’m not talking about going out and pointing the finger at people to tell them what they are doing wrong.  I’m talking about our need to keep ourselves from giving in to temptation so we can be an example of Christ’s love for them.

The fact is, people love their sin.  They will go to any lengths to rationalize and defend it.

The popular MTV channel was poking fun at sin and they collected some sound bites from celebrities.  Here are some examples:

Rap singer Queen Latifah said, “Pride is a sin?  I wasn’t aware of that.”

Actress Kirstie Alley agreed, saying, “I don’t think pride is a sin, and I think some idiot made that up.  Who made all these up?”

A rocker from the group Aerosmith stated, “Lust is what I live for.  It’s what I got into the band for – little girls in the front row.”

Rapper Ice-T said of anger, “It’s necessary.  You have to release this tension because life brings tension.  We release our anger when we do records.  When we did “Cop Killer,’ we were angry – and the cops got angry back.”

Then you have the Michael Douglas character from the movie “Wall Street” saying, “Greed is good.”

Now, these people are not representative of the whole world, but a lot of young people look up to them as role models and want to emulate them.

But if these others you are being asked to sacrifice for don’t look at sin the way you do, then what good is it?  Consider that before you knew Jesus Christ, you didn’t look at sin the way He did, either.

I want to head toward wrapping this up by talking about  verse 13 of our scripture, which says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

What does that mean, “a way of escape”?

Augustine writes of this verse, “Why is this written if we are now so endowed that by the strength of our free will we are able to overcome all temptations merely by bearing them?”

Chrysostom comments, “Paul implies that there must be temptations which we cannot bear.  What are these?  Well, all of them in effect.  For the ability to bear them comes from God’s grace, which we obtain by asking for it. 

God give us patience and brings speedy deliverance.  In this way the temptation becomes bearable.”

Now, before I go further, let me say that those who know me also know I have walls and walls of books.  My wife claims that before I can bring another book in the house, I need to take one out.  So I went looking through all my sources for a better way to comment on this verse than the words I might use. 

What is the way of escape?  How do we bear it without going under?  Guess what.   Nobody wanted to touch this verse.  I finally quit looking and was working on something else when I accidentally knocked a whole box of book onto the floor.  The top of the box popped off and there were books all over the floor.  One of them caught my eye: John MacArthur’s “The Vanishing Conscience.”  I picked it up, looked in the back to see by the scripture index if he addressed this verse.  He did!

Apparently God knew I was too lazy and stupid to look through all my books, so He had me throw it on the floor where I would find it.  Thank You, Father.

I want to share with you now how John MacArthur describes this.  He points out the last portion of that verse, where Paul writes that the way of escape is that God “with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”  In other words, the way out is through.  The best way out of our temptation I to endure it as a trial and never let it become a solicitation to evil.

Now, this rang a bell with me because of my time in the U.S. Marine Corps.  For the Marine Corps has a battle stratagem for dealing with an ambush – for a temptation is an unexpected ambush – and that is to move through it.  Lay down a base of fire and keep moving through it.  Don’t set down and engage the enemy.  Move through it.

Let’s say you have been falsely accused.  Maybe you’ve been mistreated or maligned.  Scriptural advice is to accept it and endure it with joy.  James 1:2 tells us “Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds…”   That is the way of escape.  Don’t bother looking for that quick and easy escape route, go with God’s plan for us.  He wants us to count it all joy, as verse 4 says, “and let endurance have its perfect result, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”   God is using our trials to bring us to maturity.  And as He does so, others are watching us to see how Christians handle such situations.

We live in a culture that is filled with temptation.  Our society glorifies sin and despises God.  This is not an easy age in which to live.  However, neither was the first century, and remember that we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

Events may yet reach the point when God may test us in a way requiring us to endure physical harm and death – that is happening to Christians in other parts of the world – in our standing against sin.  If that day comes to us, we are assured He will sustain us through it.

So don’t make idols, move through temptations, and trust God to mature you in faith.

Praise God, and amen.

Hymn:  “I Would Be True”, by Howard A. Walter (1906); Copyright: Public Domain.

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare.

I would be friend of all—the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up, and laugh, and love, and lift.

I would be faithful through each passing moment;
I would be constantly in touch with God;
I would be strong to follow where He leads me;
I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod.

Communion

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and He broke it, saying this is My body, given for you.  After supper He took the cup, saying this cup is the new covenant in My blood.  This do, as often as you do it, in remembrance of Me.

Benediction

We have heard Your word for our life today.  We bind it to our heart, pledging our full obedience.  Help us, our Lord, to keep this pledge.  Amen.

As we close the worship services today, always remember that while some have called you servants, He has called you friends.

Closing Hymn

God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again

By Jeremiah E. Rankin

Public Domain

God be with you till we meet again,
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you,
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

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Daily Scripture Readings for July 21 – July 26, 2014
Monday – Mark 9:1-8
Tuesday – James 1:19-27
Wednesday – James 4:1-10
Thursday – Romans 6:15-23
Friday – Philippians 2:12-18
Saturday – John 14:15-24
Sunday – Exodus 3:1-12; Romans 8:18-25; Psalm 103:1-13; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

 S

Love Builds Up - Worship Services for July 13, 2014

Invocation

O Lord Jesus, Who comes always seeking a bride without spot or wrinkle, grant that we may prepare ourselves to welcome You as our faithful groom.  O glorious union.  Amen. 

Prayers for the church of Christ, for others, for yourself.

Scripture: 1^st Corinthians 8

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Sermon for Sunday, July 13, 2014

Love Builds Up

Pastor Ed Evans

            Following church services one morning, as the Pastor stood at the door greeting everyone, he noticed a member he had not seen in a while.  He said, “Mr. Jones, I hope you took to heart my sermon about being a member of God’s army?”

            Mr. Jones replied, “Oh, indeed, I did, Pastor.  I am absolutely a member of God’s army.”

            “Really?” the Pastor responded, “but we haven’t seen much of you lately at Sunday muster.”

            “Well,” Mr. Jones replied, “that’s because I’m in the secret service.”

            Of course, there is no such thing as a secret Christianity; keeping our relationship with Almighty God a secret from everyone else.  That we are God’s man or woman, a disciple of Jesus Christ, will be and should be obvious.  The heart of the church is community in Christ – if we do not have community, we don’t have much of a church.   And yet, it would seem the church has become so enamored with a lust for crowds and the do’s and don’ts that go with it, that we forgotten discipleship is a personal, intimate experience.

            We seem to have gotten lost in the maze that is life, dealing with all its problems, making our own decisions about this and that, dodging the pitfalls and mud puddles of everyday living in a fallen world.

            Perhaps one reason we have so many problems is that He loves us so.  I usually get a very strange look when I tell people, “God must really love you, because He has given you so many problems.”

            But it’s true.  He is our creator, and He is crazy about His creation.  He’s crazy about you.  And He wants us to come to Him constantly.  He loves our company.  And so when we run into difficulties, He welcomes us when we come to Him.  Because He loves us.  Loves us with a love that is so inclusive, so magnanimous, so deep and forgiving that we can hardly understand it.  And yet, it is the thread that pulls the entire gospel together.

            But what is Paul talking to the Corinthians about here?  Is it about eating meat offered to idols?  Is it about having so much religious head knowledge that we have missed out on the spiritual heart knowledge?

            Yes.  It is, for the Corinthians.  But it has even more applications for you and I in an age where we seldom have to make decisions about eating meat offered to idols.  However, it remains true of some people, as the old preacher said, that they are so spiritually minded they are no earthly good.  For Christianity, the love of Christ, isn’t about religion and rules and rituals.  The world is full of such, societies of every stripe are shot through with them, and they have not made us better, have not saved us.  Only the shed blood of the risen Christ can do that.  And for those of us who claim the name of Christ, others are always watching.  It was the Hindu Ghandi who said, “I love your Christ, but your Christians not so much.

            The greatest need in the world today is the gospel of Jesus Christ based in God’s love.  It is the greatest need of the world because men, women, and children are perishing without a vital knowledge of God through the good news of our Savior, God’s Son, Jesus who is the Christ.

            The god that men talk of today is a cheap, weak version of a god who is your pal; he’s the “man upstairs,” he’s the fellow who will help you out when you’re down and out and in difficulty, and won’t bother you too much when you’re not.

            Many people are in trouble today because their god is a handmade, unobtrusive god who is there to grant wishes and favors; a combination of various theological ideas and stories passed around, lacking the vision and power of the Most High God.

           Let me say it clearly -- Almighty God, who created you and I and the entire universe is neither a wish-granting genie nor Tinkerbell, whispering in our ears.

            David Neff, writing in the Gospel History Blog, as he reviewed a series of volumes titled “Ancient Christian Doctrine“, edited by Tom Oden, points out that “saying ‘I believe’ (Latin: Credo) was a life-endangering act.  Christianity was seen as -- no, it actually was -- subversive in the Roman Empire.  Oden writes, ‘One who says credo without willingness to suffer and, if necessary, die for the faith has not genuinely said credo in its deepest Christian sense as baptism: to die and rise again (Romans 6).’”

            The greatest need in the church today is the gospel that still believes, dangerously, in the sovereignty of God.  The gospel is not only news for a perishing world, it is the message that forms, sustains, and animates the church.   Apart from the gospel, the church has nothing to say; or rather, nothing to say that cannot be said by some other human agency.

            The gospel distinguishes the church from the world, defines her message and mission in the world, and steels her people against the fiery darts of the evil one and the false allurements of a sinful world.  The gospel is absolutely vital to a vibrant, joyous, persevering, hopeful, and healthy Christian, and his or her Christian community.
            The first order of business, then, is to know the gospel.  This seems so obvious I feel silly saying it, but today many professing and believing Christians possess a shallow understanding of the gospel as a result of years of hearing short “gospel presentations” tacked onto the ends of “feel good”, “self-improvement” sermons. Still others, who have heard the message of Christ, and know the message of Christ, feel awkward and unable to share the good news clearly with family and friends.  There exists in this world today a great need to know the gospel with some clarity and depth.

            For the gospel is not just some idea, a holy proposal or suggestion, something to be considered.  Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.”  Powerful words!  Powerful!

            If God’s Word is that alive, that powerful, that searching, then the gospel also carries with it an active life of its own, and it needs to be understood and shared faithfully, not watered down, not contaminated with what we would “like” to be true so it is “acceptable” in a sinful world.

            So, maybe we need to talk briefly about what the gospel is not.  It is not simply that we are okay, or only that God is love, or that Jesus wants to be our friend, or even that we should live right; whatever we think “right” is.

            And the gospel is not simply that all our problems will be fixed if we follow Jesus, or that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.  All of these ideas may be true in some sense, but only in a shadow of a sense and never as an all sufficient statement of what the gospel is.  We fail in understanding the gospel because we do not understand that the Bible is God’s living word.  It’s not something made up by men that we can tweak and adjust here and there to fit our ideas of the changing rights and wrongs of the prevailing culture.

            If you’re not sure of that, read John 1:1-17; for example, verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; verse 14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

            There is such sad misunderstanding of His word.  For example, it’s forever being suggested to me that the phrase “God helps those who help themselves,” is from the Bible.  It’s not.  People who suggest it is, know neither the Gospel nor their Bible.
            The gospel of Jesus Christ is literally “good news.”  As news it contains statements of fact, and truths derived from those facts.  As good news the gospel holds out hope based upon promises of Almighty God and grounded in the historical facts and truths that vindicate those promises.

            Through the perfect obedience of the Son of God and His willing death on the cross as payment for our sins, all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ, following Him as Savior and Lord, will be saved from the wrath of God to come, will be declared just in His sight, have eternal life, and receive the Spirit of God as a foretaste of the glories of heaven with God Himself.

            Yes, the good news is also that God is love, that He will keep His promises to His children, that we are never alone, that His Son has already paid the price that reunites us with Almighty God.  I like to tell people that “God is crazy about you.”  It’s true.  He made us, we are His creation, and He loves us. 

            The Word of God says He knew us even before we were formed in the womb.  He has not known us any the less since then.  When we wake up in the morning, whether we feel good or wish we felt better, He still knows us.  Whether our plans for the day succeed or fail, whether we win or lose, He is still there at the end of the day. 

            What He expects of us is what Jesus asked of us in His Sermon on the Mount. 

            Love one another.  “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

            True love builds up; it is religion, the required adherence to religious laws and rituals that tear down men and women in their search for spiritual truth.  The law does not save, the law only condemns.

            The love Jesus spoke of does no harm to its neighbor.  On the contrary, if we have that kind of love, we will share the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will recognize the presence and the sovereignty of the holy God.

            When we have done that, we can rest upon the advice of Ephesians 6:13, which tells us, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”

            Stand firm.  When we have done everything God has asked of us, then we need to stand firm and rest in God; wait upon Him.  When others stand against us, and we have done what God has asked of us, we can stand firm, and wait on Him.  We and God are a majority.

            His is a love so grand and overwhelming that He spared not His only Son, to ensure our sins were absolved, to make certain we were reunited with Him.  That’s the kind of love we need to share.

            Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, they will keep My word…”, and John wrote in 1^st John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments…”

            True love for the people of God, as taught by the Holy Spirit, will be distinguished from natural kindness, by its being united with the love of God, and obedient to His commands.  Anyone can be kind, but the exercise of God’s love will stand out like a bright and shining sunflower on a dark and cloudy day.  Love one another, as God loves us, and you have done what Jesus asked.  Amen. 

Hymn:  “God the Spirit, Guide and Guardian”, by Carl P. Daw (1987), copyright Words @ 1989 Hope Publishing Co.; provided here for educational purposes only

1 God the Spirit, guide and guardian,
wind-sped flame and hovering dove,
breath of life and voice of prophets,
sign of blessing, power of love:
give to those who lead your people
fresh anointing of your grace;
send them forth as bold apostles
to your church in every place.

2 Christ our Savior, sovereign, shepherd,
Word made flesh, Love crucified,
teacher, healer, suffering servant,
friend of sinners, foe of pride:
in your tending may all *pastors
learn and live a shepherd's care;
grant them courage and compassion
shown through word and deed and prayer.

3 Great Creator, life-bestower,
truth beyond all thought's recall,
fount of wisdom, womb of mercy,
giving and forgiving all:
as you know our strength and weakness,
so may those the church exalts
oversee its life steadfastly,
yet not overlook its faults.

4 Triune God, mysterious being,
undivided and diverse,
deeper than our minds can fathom,
greater than our creeds rehearse:
help us in our varied callings
your full image to proclaim,
that our ministries uniting
may give glory to your name.

Communion

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took bread and He broke it, saying this is My body, given for you.  After supper He took the cup, saying this cup is the new covenant in My blood.  This do, as often as you do it, in remembrance of Me.

Benediction

My Lord, You once said many are called to enter Your kingdom but few are chosen.  Help me today to hear Your call – and to so live as to be numbered among the few who enter into the fullness of Your love.  Amen.

As we close the worship services today, always remember that while some have called you servants, He has called you friends.

Closing Hymn

God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again

By Jeremiah E. Rankin

Public Domain

God be with you till we meet again,
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you,
God be with you till we meet again.

Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.

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Daily Scripture Readings for July 14 – July 20, 2014
Monday – Isaiah 55:1-13
Tuesday – Isaiah 110-17
Wednesday – Isaiah 1:21-26
Thursday – Romans 15:1-13
Friday – Ephesians 4:1-6
Saturday – John 17:20-26

Sunday – Exodus 2:11-22; Romans 8:9-17; Psalm 69:6-15, 15; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23