Return to Your First Love, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: John 20:1-18

20:1  Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.
20:2  So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
20:3  Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.
20:4  The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
20:5  He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
20:6  Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,
20:7  and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.
20:8  Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;
20:9  for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
20:10  Then the disciples returned to their homes.
20:11  But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb;
20:12  and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.
20:13  They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"  She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
20:14  When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
20:15  Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
20:16  Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
20:17  Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'"
20:18  Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that He had said these things to her.

          Perhaps you remember those tender moments of your first love, not really knowing what love was all about, but feeling filled with emotion and desire to be known to the object of your affection, to know them better, to be with them always.  Then to lose that love, so hurtful.  That was the injured feeling of the women who came to Jesus' tomb that morning.  They had put all their hopes in Him as the One who would make all things right, Israel's promised Messiah.  They had given Him all their love and devotion, and now He was dead.  Where was the love?

          The great love of God, so difficult for us to understand, and equally difficult for us to make a part of our own daily life with others, was made manifest in Jesus at the cross there on Golgotha.  Oswald Chambers rightly says, "There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross -- He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God.  He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God."  Our God loved us, and loves us now, so very much.

          Much of the world wants to ignore His crucifixion as a myth, a fairy tale to make people feel better.  But John Piper in his "The Great Offense: Was Jesus Really Crucified?" describes how the Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome in order to deflect rumors that it was he who started the blaze, alluding to a fact no one disputed, that Christ had been crucified under Pontius Pilate.

          Piper added, "It was common and undisputed knowledge in the second half of the first century that Jesus Christ had been crucified. If there were any question that He had died in this way, it would have been eagerly disputed wherever Christians preached. But it wasn't. The fact of His death by crucifixion was not questioned."

          Even the enemies of God, those who say Jesus was not the Christ, must admit to the testimony of history.  And since they cannot refute His crucifixion, then men of power attempt to use it in their own behalf.

          On April 4, 2012, Pres. Barack Hussein Obama spoke to a room full of pastors at the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast, quoting John 16:33 -- "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." 

          Joe Kovacs, executive news editor for WND writes of that event, quoting the President: "So the struggle to fathom that unfathomable sacrifice makes Easter all the more meaningful to all of us. It helps us to provide an eternal perspective to whatever temporal challenges we face. It puts in perspective our small problems relative to the big problems He was dealing with. And it gives us courage and it gives us hope.

          “We all have experiences that shake our faith. There are times where we have questions for God’s plan relative to us – (laughter) – but that’s precisely when we should remember Christ’s own doubts and eventually his own triumph. Jesus told us as much in the book of John, when He said, ‘In this world you will have trouble.’  I heard an amen. (Laughter.) Let me repeat. ‘In this world, you will have trouble.’”

          “Amen!” the audience exclaimed.

          “But take heart!”, Obama said to laughter. “I have overcome the world,” as he received applause."

          Allow me to quote Pastor David Jeremiah about this very Biblical quote from his book "Until Christ Returns."  Writes Jeremiah, "Throughout that chapter Jesus talks about the future and what is about to happen.  He warns His disciples about His imminent death, about the persecution to come, about the sorrow and pain and hardship lying just ahead.  But after predicting all these frightful events He says, in effect, 'Don't get caught up in that.  Make sure that in the midst of these tumultuous times you place your trust wholly in Me.'"

          Pastor Jeremiah goes on to say that we should spend more time getting to know Jesus better, and less time worrying about what others predict about the future.  If anything, pay attention to what Jesus says about the future.  The Pastor ends with, "Then when the future becomes the present, you will enjoy a wondrously close relationship with almighty God and you can be walking with the Lord Jesus Christ in strength.  No matter what happens."  That's what Pastor Jeremiah says about it.

          Unfortunately, this is the President who when he was not talking up his Christianity, said, in fact, during a Chicago Sun Times interview that Jesus was just a teacher and prophet, and that there were many paths to Heaven.

          This is the President who wrote in his book that in a crisis, he will stand with the Muslims.

          This is the President who told foreign audiences that America is no longer a Christian nation, and that America is the largest Muslim nation in the world.  Both of those assertions are factually incorrect.

          Those who blame Pres. Obama for our current national troubles are legion.  It's been revealed that even some in his own political party, who will undoubtedly vote for him in November, still blame him.  But I want to assure everyone that Barack Hussein Obama is not the enemy, not the cause of America's fallen state, of its pending demise.  He is part of it, but not the cause of it.  And yes, if we continue on our current course, history indicates it will be the demise of this greatest experiment in the human experience.

          We the People, as we are termed in our own Constitution, We the People are the cause.  It is our turning from God, it is our arrogance in believing we can overcome of our own spirit and physical might, that we can conquer all on our own, that we are the captains of our fate, the masters of our own destiny.

          Given the warnings we have experienced as God lifted His protection so there were breaches in our security and we were attacked as never before, instead of heeding His warnings, we vowed to do better, to do more, to take charge of the situation and change ourselves and the world.  Instead of turning back to God -- Whom we have removed from our public gatherings, from our schools, from our buildings and literature and daily lives -- in our own self-absorption and self-confidence we build the wall between ourselves and God bigger, wider, stronger, and seal the fate of the nation.

          Instead of returning to our first love we cut Him off vowing to do His job for and by ourselves.  He Who was there when this nation was formed, upon Whom our forefathers called, Whom they worshipped and to Whom they gave thanks for our freedoms -- Who was called upon to consecrate the very ground in America's first capitol, New York City, the very ground we now call Ground Zero because of the almost unbelievable attack on this nation on Sept. 11, 2001 -- He, Almighty God, was pushed away, walked away from.  He whom we loved, revered, depended upon has been systematically shut out of our lives until He must use terrible warnings to get our attention.  But do we hear?  Do we pay attention?  Do we return to our first love?

          Warnings ignored lead to consequences.  It has all been set into motion.  We have set it into motion by our selfishness, our greed, our demand for more; more for us, more without price, more excess.  All over the world we are seeing the promised signs of the end times of which we read in the New Testament chapter of The Revelation of St. John the Divine.  Just this past week the New York Times newspaper noted the drying up of the Euphrates River in Iraq, with photos of the cracked mud river bottom; something that has never happened before in the history of mankind.  The reporters even went so far as to note that such is mentioned in the Holy Bible as a warning of the end times.

          When do we return to our first love?

          Such a question was asked before and we can read about it in the 24th Chapter of Joshua.  Comfortable in the land God had given them, the people had begun to serve themselves and other gods, doing those things that were wrong before Almighty God.  So He had Joshua gather all the tribes together, and Joshua reminded them of God's involvement in their history since the days of Abraham, how He has cared for them and loved them, and how they had betrayed God's love for them.  In verse 15, Joshua, that great General of God's Armies, answered for himself, saying, "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

          Our own national history, so sketchily taught in our schools now, is a witness against us as the people of America.  For our very freedoms are God-given, not coming from the power of men or the sword.  Our forefathers, in forming this nation, understood His involvement, and paid careful homage to Him, acknowledging His protection, His faith in us, His love for us.  But we have opted for foreign gods of sports, entertainment, pleasure, self, not only flaunting them before Him, but twisting His very inspired word to demand approval.

          Now we find this nation under judgment, ignoring His warnings to us.  To continue to ignore Him will lead to consequences we cannot, of our own might, turn around.  After He has shown us all of His love and devotion, and now we act as if we are dead to Him.  And so we come back to the question, do we return to our first love?  Does the love of God, so manifested in the death, burial and resurrection of His own Son, celebrated this very Easter Day, have any meaning for us at all?  Amen.

Week of Worship

April 8, 2012

Invocation:  O God, Whose Son You declared to be the resurrection and the life, give me now a sense of the presence of the One Who is alive forever more.  I pray.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 23

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Acts 3:11-16

Tuesday               Acts 4:1-12

Wednesday          Acts 5:17-32
Thursday              Acts 2:22-36

Friday                   Ephesians 1:15-23

Saturday               2nd Corinthians 4:7-18

Sunday                 Isaiah 25:6-9; Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:14-24; Mark 16:1-8

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "Ascended Christ, Who Gained the Glory"

Benediction:  Lord Jesus, I have heard Your knocking at the door of my life.  Come in and abide with me.  I throw open the door to you, my Lord.  Come in!  And never leave me.  Amen.

That Cross. Why That Cross? by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Mark 15:8-25

15:8  So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom.
15:9  Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?"
15:10  For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed Him over.
15:11  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
15:12  Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?"
15:13  They shouted back, "Crucify Him!"
15:14  Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify Him!"
15:15  So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed Him over to be crucified.
15:16  Then the soldiers led Him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.
15:17  And they clothed Him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on Him.
15:18  And they began saluting Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
15:19  They struck His head with a reed, spat upon Him, and knelt down in homage to Him.
15:20  After mocking Him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify him.
15:21  They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry His cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
15:22  Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).
15:23  And they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.
15:24  And they crucified Him, and divided His clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
15:25  It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified Him.

          George Beverly Shea once sang a song titled "I saw a Man" that spoke of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  You don't hear that old song anymore, but the refrain stays with me ... "He said 'If I be lifted up I'll draw all men to me..."  And so He did.

          They nailed His arms and legs with great spikes to a rude cross, then lifted it up and dropped the foot of it into a hole so it would stand upright.

          The pain, the shock of the pain as it was dropped into that hole, the humiliation, the helplessness of those who loved Him, what agony He must have endured, and yet, He went willingly.  Not without concern, for He had checked with the Father one more time, as we see in Luke 22:42 and Matthew 26:42, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

          Why that terrible death on the cross?  Why not merely a peaceful death in His sleep, giving up His spirit without all the beatings, the whippings, without the crown of thorns jammed down into the flesh of his head, without the humiliation of dragging that heavy cross, the instrument of His death, through the crowds in the streets.  Why was this gentle man of peace treated in this way?

          There were so many reasons, so many implications for the Jews, for the High Council, for the Pharisees, for His disciples, for the crowds in the street who only a short time before had shouted "Give us Barabbas!", and of Jesus, "Crucify Him!"  Implications for His mother Mary, for others who knew and loved Him, and even implications for all those down through the centuries, down through the dusty ages who learned of Him and either loved Him or rejected Him, even implications for you and for me right at this moment.

          Why that cross?

          Our knowledge of the penalty of crucifixion goes back to ancient civilizations, thought to have begun with the Persians (today's Iran), along with the Assyrians, the Scythians, and other cruel regimes.  Execution by the cross, usually reserved for traitors, captives, slaves and the worst of criminals, became common under Alexander the Great, and later under the Roman Empire.  It was so cruel and ghastly as to send waves of fear, and compliance, through captive civilizations.  Even the Jews were known to have used it once; Josephus reports the Jewish high priest Alexander Jannaeus, who lived during 103-76 B.C., ordered the crucifixion of 800 enemy Pharisees.

          Yet for all the thousands crucified, the world has never been able to wipe away or wear away the memory of that man on the cross.  But why that man?  So many, by the hundreds, were crucified.  At one point in history, the Roman Emperor Nero crucified hundreds of men along the road to Rome, had them covered with pitch and set on fire to light the road to Rome.  But no one remembers any of their names.  Still the world has never been able to forget the name of Jesus Christ, and the events leading to, and following, His death on that old, rugged cross.

          Dr. James Allan Francis, in one of his sermons during the 1920's, said of Jesus, "Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another village.  He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.  Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

          "He never owned a home.  He never wrote a book.  He never held an office.  He never had a family.  He never went to college.  He never put His foot inside a big city.  He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born.  He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.  He had no credentials but Himself...

          "While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him.  His friends ran away.  One of them denied Him.  He was turned over to His enemies.  He went through the mockery of a trial.  He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.  While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat.  When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

          "Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress."

          Jesus said in John 12:32, "If I be lifted up I'll draw all men to me," and so George Beverly Shea sang.  One day that great baritone voice, so beloved and so well-known at Billy Graham Crusades for Christ, all around the world -- for which he received his second Grammy at age 102 just last year -- one day that voice will fall silent.  But the name of Jesus Christ will continue on, and the image of His death on a wooden cross, for the salvation of the world, will continue.

          That bloody, savage death, impaled on a cruel tree, the inhuman instrument of death plunged into the earth atop a hill named Golgotha -- "the place of the skulls" -- that death will live in the memories of mankind forever, even as Jesus' death, burial and resurrection looks forward to His return for His own in all His glory.

          Why the cross?

          Perhaps because an act so heinous was necessary that we would never forget the terrible price that was paid so we might be reunited with God the Father.  Perhaps so we would never take lightly that Jesus became for us that bridge to the Father, across a chasm of sin we could never cross.

          It's also worth noting that as terrible as it was, this is also a demonstration of God's unconditional love.  Did the grievous suffering that Jesus endure on the cross mean the Father didn't love the Son?  No.  Instead, knowing that God is going to love us regardless, that we have His security and assurance of His unfailing love and care, empowers us to rely on His love, knowing He will never leave us, even when we think we have failed.

          Thank You, Jesus, for what You have done for us, paying a price we could never have paid.  Thank You, for Your sacrifice, an act out of God's unconditional love that has imbedded itself in the generational memory of all mankind.

          Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Week of Worship

April 1, 2012

Invocation:  O god, Whose very presence causes us to choose whom we will serve, help us to joyfully choose always for You.  Let us not be tossed about by conflicting motives but live solely for You.  In the power of Christ's name.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 56

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Acts 14:19

Tuesday               1st Peter 2:21-25

Wednesday          1st Corinthians 1:3-11
Thursday              Isaiah 53:1-6

Friday                   Isaiah 53:7-9

Saturday               Isaiah 53:10-12

Sunday                 Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Psalm 118:19-29; Mark 11:1-11

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "I Want a Principle Within"

Benediction:  As I go now to face the confusion and allurements of the world's systems, help me to separate the precious from the worthless, that i may be Your worthy disciple.  Amen.

Always Here, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 19

19:1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
19:4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
19:5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
19:6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.
19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;
19:8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;
19:9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.
19:11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
19:12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults.
19:13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.
19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

          On this third Sunday in Lent, we again find the world around us in turmoil.  There seems no let up.  And the more we watch TV news, read the newspapers, call up the Internet bloggers, the news just seems to get worse and worse.  Is there to be no peace of mind for us at all?

          While Americans pray for an end to war and conflict, our President bypasses Congress to order 100 Special Forces soldiers to Uganda.

          In El Paso, Texas, Christians who signed a petition against same-sex decisions by their Mayor are now under criminal investigation for signing.

          Those words of our own U.S. Constitution intended to protect the practice of religion from government interference are now being turned upside down to attack the free practice of religion by individual Christians and their churches.

           Interference by government in the traditional free market system in America has crippled our economy, led businesses to move their operations out of America, so that there are no longer enough jobs to go around, too few tax dollars as are needed.

          As jobs are lost, homes are lost, and families are shattered and scattered.

          Foreign nations threaten our economy and our security.

          Those charged by God to share the gospel of Jesus Christ have abandoned the very first commandment and embraced strange gods, even in their sanctuaries of worship.

          Across the United States of America, through the medium of the Internet, through social networks and "Twitter" messages limited to 140-words, the message has been spread to pray 2nd Chronicles 7:14, "... if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

          It's not as if those who would follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ are deaf and dumb to what is happening to our nation, and they avail themselves of prayer and fasting on behalf of our beloved nation.

          Nevertheless, the nation seems bent on continuing its economic, moral and ethical downward plunge.  It promises to soon be an issue of damaged security and loss of freedoms and liberties, as well.  The only solace for Christians is the sure knowledge that God is still in charge, He has His own plans, and neither men's machinations nor agendas will disrupt those plans that have stood throughout all time.

          The first four verses of today's scripture reminds us of exactly that.

          There is a verse in Luke 19:40, often repeated by Christians when told by unbelievers that they "talk too much about this Jesus."  It comes from when Jesus rode down past the Mount of Olives on a colt, and "the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”  Jesus replied to them, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

          And so it is with us today, in spite of all our difficulties, if we do not recognize His many blessings and praise His name, one way or another the joy and praises in His holy name will find their way out.  So they may as well come through us.  As Psalm 19 tells us, the heavens are telling the glory of God; and the very earth proclaims His handiwork.  It's all around us, but not understood by everyone.  Throughout our days the words pour forth, night to night declaring knowledge, and yet for many there is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard.  And still the knowledge, the praises of Almighty God goes out through all the earth, even to the very ends of the world.

          If we who follow the Christ would have peace, even as evil and turmoil spins all about us in the world, we would do well to pay attention to verses 7 through 10.  "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb."

          In the same way one descending or ascending steep stairs grips onto the handrail, which the builder has provided, the very creator of all that is has provided a guiding handrail for our spiritual guidance, uplifting, cleansing our mind and heart, keeping us upright and on the proper track.

          It's in contemplating, learning, and appreciating the Lord God, Who is perfect, Whose peace permeates our life and the soul is revived; through understanding of His decrees that wisdom begins to illustrate the simplicity of God's simple plans for us, as we begin to see our own life, and the activities of those around us through enlightened and righteous eyes.  Such a calmed life, beginning to take root in His security, soon becomes more to be desired than the colorful, enticing temptations around us..."more to be desired than much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey."

          Soon, even though we live in the midst of an evil squalor that is touted as the highest of human civilization, and even as the terrible toll of evil around us gives us pause, the confidence of what was once termed "that of a Christian with four aces" begins to take hold in our soul, and we can confidently trust our future to God and concentrate on that which He sets before us to handle.

          Once we have removed the misdeeds of the world from our back, once we have placed in God's hands all that once occupied our life, worried us from day to mishandled day, we can sit in the middle of the storm and enjoy the calm with which God assures us of His involvement.  Sometimes He calms that storm, and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.  But always, He is here.

Week of Worship

March 11, 2012

Invocation:  O God, Whose promises are true, help me never to stagger in disbelief at Your promises but to claim them  as my own. In the name of Christ.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 119:33-48

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                1st Kings 8:22-30

Tuesday               Nehemiah 9:6-25

Wednesday          Romans 4:16-25
Thursday              James 1:1-15

Friday                   2nd Corinthians 1:12-22

Saturday              2nd Peter 3:5-13

Sunday                 Genesis 17:1-10; Romans 4:16-25; Psalm 105:1-11; Mark 8:31-38

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "O God Of Every Nation"

Benediction:  How good it is to know You, my Lord, as the One Who ever lives to make Your promise good.  In this confidence I go now in Your name.  Amen.

Never Alone Again, by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Mark 1:9-15

1:9  In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
1:10  And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
1:11  And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
1:12  And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
1:13  He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
1:14  Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
1:15  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

          The beginning of Lent finds us looking over the solitary, lonely shoulder of Jesus as He comes to John and asks to be baptized.  John, for his part, recognizes the glory of God in Jesus, and though stating that it is Jesus who should be baptizing him, yet for the sake of fulfilling what the Messiah requests, baptizes Jesus with water.  And then almost as if John expected it, for the scriptures indicate no surprise on John's part, there is a voice from heaven and recognition from God Almighty.  The very heavens have opened and the Holy Spirit of God has enwrapped Jesus as He embarks on the very purpose for His being there.  So much is He a part of the will of God that He was "driven" to go into the wilderness, staying there alone for forty days.

          It's a solitary purpose, a lonely purpose, and though the angels come and minister to their Lord, the Son of God, He must go through this confrontation with evil on His own, He must go to the cross, alone; He must die, alone.

          It is all according to God's own timetable, in keeping with His plans for mankind, for His Son.

          John the Baptist has set the stage for Jesus' arrival.  He has drawn a line in the sand between good and evil, brought to their attention the idea that there is a need for repentance, the need to recognize who and what they are, and make a decision between good and evil.  Then, suddenly, John is removed from the scene.  He has made his point among the people, he completed the task God set for him.  And right behind him, into that recognition that there is indeed good and evil among them, comes the Messiah.  Jesus comes with a message and with an answer, with a healing answer.

          But just because He is speaking the truth, just because He has answers and is the Son of God, doesn't mean everybody will listen, doesn't mean everyone will believe.

          Even though Jesus is more sociable than the rough-hewn John the Baptist, even though  He speaks of the love of God rather than the fear of God, even though His message is that, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news," there will be those who will not believe.

          Jesus will gather around Him 12 disciples.  They will travel the dusty roads with Him, they will hear His lessons and parables as He shares them with people.  They will watch and see as He heals people, counsels people, casts out demons.  They will see for themselves the miracles He performs in the name of God. 

          Yet, even in the human personage of the son of Joseph and Mary, as they touch His arm, bump up against Him walking along the dirt roads and the grassy hills, they are unable to realize that they rub shoulders with the God of the universe; incarnate deity walking along with them.

          Who is this person who speaks out of the wisdom of the ages, who teaches from the scriptures as no one has ever taught before, who dares to call the Sadducees and Pharisees and false priests for what they are, hypocritical burdens to God's own mankind?  He angers them so that they want Him gone, dead, away from them.  They would like to reach out and snatch Him away from the crowds, but something, something holds them back.

          While Jesus has said, "The time is fulfilled," yet it is not THE time, just yet.  And so even as they hate Him and plot against Him, Jesus continues on, sharing the love of the Father.  But His relationship with the Father is His own, alone.  So that even when He goes to pray with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prays to the Father, alone.  And the disciples sleep.

          Finally, the moment arrives and the Father allows His capture.  Jesus, alone, is mocked, tried and found guilty of trumped up charges, alone, beaten and brutalized, alone, and the disciple Peter who said he would never disavow Jesus, denies Him.

          Bearing the marks and bloody cuts of the whip, head bleeding from the thorny crown they have pushed into His head, patches of His beard pulled out by the roots, He struggles through the jeering crowds on the cobble stone street, only just bearing up beneath the weight of the cross that will be the instrument of His death.  Finally, seeing He may not make it to the site of his death at Golgotha, a Roman soldier pulls a man from the crowd to help the battered Jesus carry the heavy timbers of the cross.  But then at Golgotha, Jesus is again alone.

          And it is alone, even between the two thieves, that He is crucified, nails driven through Him, a sword thrust into His side, until He gives up His life; "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit," and He breathes His last.  Again, alone.

          It has been speculated, in song and narrative, that "ten thousand angels" would have moved at His command to rescue Him.  In Isaiah 37:36 one angel of the Lord killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp.  It would have been nothing, in the blink of an eye, for the angels who loved Him so to destroy all about Him and lift Him lovingly from that cruel cross.  But by His own determination, for you and for me, Jesus went to that cross alone; went to His death alone.

          Then, He was reunited with the Father through resurrection, setting aside time and space and death.  And He was no longer alone.  Upon His resurrection the Father ensured those for whom Jesus died that they would never be alone, but have the Holy Spirit with them always, guiding them in Jesus' name, for that was what the Son asked for in John 17:21, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

          We have His promise -- and no one keeps promises like Jesus Christ -- His promise that He will never leave us.  Even as described in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me..."

          Never alone, again.  Never alone.  See how He loves us.

          Thank You, Father.  Amen.

Week of Worship

Feb. 27- Mar. 4, 2012

Invocation:  Almighty God, Who created us and Whose we are, help us to number our days and to live them wisely.  Give us Your Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us -- to the end that the world may be a better place because we have passed through it.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 37:1-11 

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Hosea 14:1-9

Tuesday               Micah 6:1-8

Wednesday          Matthew 12:22-37
Thursday              Luke 19:11-27

Friday                   Hebrews 13:1-16

Saturday               Ephesians 2:1-10

Sunday                 Hosea 2:14-20; 2nd Corinthians 3:1-6; Psalm 103:1-13; Mark 2:18-22

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "Forth in Thy Name, O Lord"

Benediction:  My Lord, go with me into this day that I may show faith by my good deeds.  Amen.

It's All About God. Period. by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Isaiah 40:21-31

40:21  Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 
40:22  It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; 
40:23  Who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. 
40:24  Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when He blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 
40:25  To Whom then will you compare Me, or who is My equal? says the Holy One. 
40:26  Lift up your eyes on high and see:  Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because He is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. 
40:27  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"? 
40:28  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. 
40:29  He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 
40:30  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;
40:31  but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

          Again and again I hear people asking the question, and see people posting the same question on internet message boards: "What has happened to us?  How can there be so much discord in politics, so much rudeness in society, in everyday living?  Those who worship Christ are being slaughtered and thrown in prison in nations all over the world.  What has happened to the Christian influence in America, in the world?"

          I'm tempted to respond that Satan is loose in the world, in our nation, in our cities, in our homes, and even in our churches.  But then, he has always been loose.  He was loose in Jesus' time, as well.

          What has changed?  Nothing.  Least of all the sin nature of mankind.  Those of us who have turned our lives over to Jesus Christ stand in the light of the gospel, and we see clearly the crude, devastating and bloody effects of sin in the world around us.  Those who have not accepted Christ stand in the darkness of this world, and they see nothing wrong, even though God has always said it is sin.

          In today's scripture Isaiah is speaking to those Jews in Babylon who were taken there under the power of others.  It's a message of hope, and it is often preached as a sermon of motivation.  But for us today, taken into a downward economy under the power of others, it should be read as a warning of the power of Almighty God, a reminder of who He is to those who know Him.

          But for those who do not have that kind of relationship with Jesus Christ, Isaiah's words may well sound like a threat, for they hold a mirror up to the unbelieving, to the wavering, to the unsure about the supremacy of God Almighty.  And some in the pews of Christ's church today will complain, "That doesn't sound like the love of the gentle Jesus we know.  That's too harsh."  But I submit they say that because they know only one facet of the Christ, of the Jesus, yes, who loves us, but also the Jesus who went willingly through the barbaric, bloody, and finally deadly crucifixion on the cross at Calvary; went through it because of His love for the Father, and for you and me.

          What then, shall we silence Isaiah when he sounds too harsh?  Shall we silence the Jobs among us who decry sin and disobedience to the Father?  Would we then feel better about the things we do in defiance of God, those things that make us feel good, for now?  Shall we instead all join hands and sing "I Believe I Can Fly," and ignore the reality that gravity insists on in this world?

          What we need instead is another Amos.  The prophet Amos wrote in about 750-760 B.C., sent of God to warn the forever wicked Northern Kingdom; sent of God to call them to repentance for their self-righteousness, their sins, their preference for worshipping wooden and stone idols rather than the Living God.  Today the idols we worship are more often made of glass and electronics, and those of flesh tend to be sports, business and entertainment heroes.

          Listen to what the words of Amos addressed and see if these sound familiar.  Amos was both devastated and sickened by the sins of the people, and he didn't half-step in calling out their evil transgressions of self-indulgence, violence, class hatred, indifference to human suffering, ostentatious religion, hatred of righteousness, insincerity, hypocrisy, superstition, filthy immorality, and more.  In warning against their sins before God, Amos was warning them that God was prepared to intervene and punish them, which came to pass as their enemies conquered them and carried them off to exile as slaves.

          Oh, for an Amos today.  For all of these sins, which are boldly present in our America today, bespeak apathy and complacency, otherwise they could not survive among a caring church of Christian worshippers.   Those who allow such illicit, harmful, damning behavior to continue are as guilty as those who indulge in it.

          Isaiah, in chapter 6, verse 5, when he saw the Lord God high and exalted, cried out "Woe is me!  For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips..."

          Like Isaiah, we are a people of unclean lips, and we see and hear it all about us.  In our apathy and our complacency, we allow it to continue without comment.

          Years ago on a certain college campus an "Apathy Club" was formed.  It was advertised and a meeting place and date set.  No one showed up.  Not one soul.  Those who thought it was such a good idea, were too apathetic to attend.

          We can smile at that, and yet a fog of apathy and complacency has descended across the Christian church in this age.  It is usually expressed as "I couldn't care less," or "Live and let live," or, more often, when one's spiritual state is questioned, "I just don't know."  That latter, of course, also translates to "I don't care."  And there you find the basis for the perversion of worship today in what passes for the Christian church.  They do not know the Christ, they don't believe God means what He says in scripture -- the inspired word of God -- and they don't care.  As long as they can continue with their favorite sin and pretend to worship God, they don't care.  But Jesus made it crystal clear in John 14:17-18: “If you love Me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  Yes, it's an imperative ... "If you love Me, you will obey what I command..." but it is also a promise, a promise to believers from the Christ.

          The world we see today, the society in which we live and work and make our way, the governments which govern us at the various city, state and federal levels, have all left their originally intended purpose, and have become the mawkish tools of men and women for their own enrichment, their own good pleasure.  Without the God-given ethical basis upon which they were originally founded, it is no wonder they serve only a few, and no one is willing to sacrifice their promise of success to help those they were selected, elected and/or appointed to serve. 

          Without God we are but a caricature of what was intended.  God's creation has taken it upon himself and herself to design their own future, to feather their own nest, to take care of themselves first and everyone else can have what's left.  Mankind's judgment has superseded God's grace.

          But that is specifically what both Isaiah and Amos were warning against.  There is a God, and regardless of what we think, say or do during our short lifespan on this earth, He is still in charge.  In the end, the end we must all come to, even those who do not believe in Him will see Him ... at the judgment.

          Seek Him now.  He promises if you seek Him you will find Him.  He also promises the unjust will reap their own reward.  And for the record, no one keeps promises like He does.  Amen.

Week of Worship

February 5 - 11, 2012

Invocation:  Almighty God, creator and keeper of the world and all that is in it, help us, we pray, to know the duty You have assigned us and to so live our lives that the world may be a better place for all Your creations.  In the name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Read: Psalm 32

Daily Scripture Readings

Monday                Luke 14:7-14

Tuesday               Luke 9:57-62

Wednesday          Luke 14:25-34
Thursday              John 6:60-71

Friday                   Acts 4:32-37

Saturday               Romans 15: 1-13

Sunday                 Job 7:1-7; 1st Corinthians 9:16-23; Psalm 147:1-11; Mark 1:29-39

Reflection: (silent and written)

Prayers for the church, for others, for yourself.

Hymn: "Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service"

Benediction:  And now as I leave this place of quiet to return to the duties which await me, go with me, my God; and keep me all the day long.  Amen.