A Popular Preacher Angers Religious People

Here is my sermon from August 24, 2008.

A Popular Preacher Angers Religious People – Acts 13:13-52

Knowing the Books

I am sitting here in class, disappointed that high school students in a Christian School cannot write out the books of Bible in order and spelled correctly.  They have had a couple od days notice on this.  They had to learn them in my class last year as well.  It is an unfortunate thing to have a graduate of a Christian School who could not find Hebrews or Isaiah!

Every believer should memorize the order of the books.  It is discouraging as a Pastor to announce your passage of Scripture on Sunday morning and 5 minutes later there are still pages been rustled as people look for the book.  Especially when you have been preaching a series in that bok for 2 months!!

Ethiopia Here We Come

We have our next Mission Team meeting tonight.  Lord willing we will be leaving for Ethiopia in less than 14 weeks!  It will be here soon.  Preparing for this meeting has been a good process for me, except for the vaccinations.  We read a “Warriors of Ethiopia“, book written by a former missionary in Ethiopia.  The book tells the stories of cozens of Ethiopian believers and how the Lord used them.  This was a compelling read.  We also read 2 Corinthians in one sittting 3 times.  We memorized 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.  Finally we summarized each paragraph of 2 Corinthians by answering the question, “what does Paul say here about ministry?”  It has been a good time of study.

Blinding Bar-Jesus Leads One To Jesus

Blinding Bar-Jesus Leads One To Jesus – Acts 13:4-12

Here is my sermon from 8-17-08.  God Bless.

Dwelling on the Messiah

Paul writes in Ephesians 3:16-19 that he prays for the Ephesians to allow the Messiah to dwell in their hearts. He is writing to believers. The Messiah is “in their hearts” already. So what could he mean?

In John 15 Jesus teaches us to abide in Him, to remain in Him. Jesus does not mean that one could lose his salvation and no longer be in Christ. This is the same idea that Paul picks up on in Ephesians 3. As we dwell on Jesus we will be able to “comprehend…the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge.” That is his point. As we dwell on Jesus in our thinking and living we will know His love.

The Christian life is about a relationship with Jesus. If we don’t stay connected to Him, we quickly forget about is love for us. Too many Christians dwell on themselves. This happens in one of two ways. Either they think only of what they like and what they want and follow their desires disregarding Christ. Or they focus on their sinfulness and failures to the point of handicapping their service to Christ. The solution is to dwell on Jesus. Acknowledge your sin, confess it, and remember the height, depth, width, and length of His love! When you understand Him more in this way you can serve Him as He desires. You will begin to understand that all you have is found in Jesus. Without Him there would be no life. It gives you the freedom to follow His desires.

It all comes back to dwelling. Is Jesus dwelling in your heart, are thinking about Him?

Dark Knight and Truth

As I promised on Friday, here are my thoughts on The Dark Knight. I have seen it 3 times and enjoyed it each time. If you have not seen it and want to…STOP READING THIS POST. I would recommend the movie to anyone over the age of about 11 or 12. Some of the themes would be troubling for younger kids.
In the Joker I see similarities with Satan. For him, terrorism and chaos are not a means to an end, but rather an end in themselves. Joker looks for every opportunity to arouse the evil and bad behavior in each person he meets. By the way, Heath Ledger did a great job as an actor in this movie.

I see commentary on Man in Harvey Dent’s character. He never really leaves himself a choice until he is aroused and awakened to do evil. In a similar way, the Bible says we can only sin prior to coming to faith in Christ, we really don’t have much of a choice. Once a person is a follower of Jesus, we still sin but now it is by our choice to sin. In the crowds of people on the boats, It is evident that man can do the right thing, if given the right example to follow. We have an example to follow in the person of Jesus Christ. Instead of following what we want, or what we think would be best, we can follow Christ.

I see some parallels in Jesus in Batman. Now be sure, this movie is no Christian Allegory. But Batman sets a worthy example to follow for people to stand up for truth and what is right. Batman also sacrifices himself for the good of Gotham. Jesus gave His very life so that we could have our sins forgiven and the opportunity for a relationship with Him.

Again, not pushing the analogy too far, but some thoughts of a believer who has seen the same movie 3 times within 2 weeks!

Living Your Calling

Here is my sermon from August 10, 2008

Living Your Calling – Acts 12:25-13:3

The Dark Knight

I am going today to see “The Dark Knight” for the third time (yes it is that good). I plan to post later on some parallels between the characters and Jesus, Satan, and man. Don’t worry, I won’t be pushing the analogy too far

He gets the glory

I love how Paul concludes Philippians with the phrase, “Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever, Amen.” Paul ends this beautiful letter word a word pf praise to the Father. The church could have been quick to praise Paul for this letter and the guidance it contains. Paul wants the glory to go to the Father. It amazes me that God allows us any part of His work. He calls us to salvation, gives us gifts to serve Him, empowers us for service, opens opportunities for service, produces fruit from our labors, and adds to our rewards from our faithfulness. Can you see it’s all about Him? How gracious He is to allow us a part in His work. All that He asks of us is faithfulness. In 1 Corinthians 4:2 Paul says, “It is expected of managers that each one be found faithful.”

God’s pleasure in our service for Him is not about what we do or what we accomplish. It is measured upon faithfulness. He calls some to more noticeable tasks, others to less public service. In the Father’s books, rewards are given for faithfulness. It is all His work. It is all for His glory.

As you are serving

I am preaching this week from Acts 12:25-13:3 where Paul and Barnabas are set apart for their first missionary journey.  I have been struck by this idea…God won’t use you for something else until you are done what He has called you to do.  This is what I mean; in this passage Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch after they had completed their relief mission to Jerusalem.  It goes without saying they could not be sent out from Antioch until they returned from their previous assignment.  Verse 2 goes on to say while they were ministering the Holy Spirit spoke to them about their next assignment.  You see, they were working faithfully in what they had been called to do and then the Holy Spirit calls them to something else.

Everyone else probably understands this already.  To me it was like a fresh perspective this morning.  God calls us to serve Him in various ways and at various times.  We don’t get the next assignment until we have faithfully completed the first one.  Wherever we are, we must be serving Christ.  To do any less may keep the Holy Spirit from revealing His will for us.  I guess here is a bottom line…keep doing what God has called you to right now and keep doing it faithfully until He calls you to something else!