From Humble Beginnings

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 25th of December, 2016, Christmas morning.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last night at our Christmas Eve service, I read of the birth of our Lord Jesus as told by the Apostle Luke.  I’d like to read the same passage this morning, this time from the New King James Version.  And I’d like to read it again because it is a story we should not forget or take for granted or, worse, think of as not being entirely true.  I’d like to read it again because we need a constant reminder of how the long-awaited Messiah entered this world to live among men.  We need to remember how He wants us to live.

Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 through 20…

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” 

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

--Luke 2:1-20 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You showed just how much You love Your creation – mankind in particular – by giving us Your own Son.  He could have come as a conquering hero, but instead was born into humble surroundings and lived a humble life, serving us with His very last breath.  Help us, Father, understand what it means to be humble.  Speak Your message directly into our hearts that we might better hear Your word.  In the glorious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Do you remember in the movie, “The Lion King”, when Simba was born and his father, Mufasa, held him up for all the jungle animals to see and cheer?  Throughout history and still today, when royalty gives birth it’s a huge event.

When King Edward the 7th was born, the news was greeted with a 41-gun salute, a tradition that continues in England.  When Prince Charles was born the water in Trafalgar Square’s fountains was colored blue.  Some 3,000 people were waiting outside Buckingham Palace for the news, and struck up a chorus of “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow”.  And millions of people eagerly sat glued to their TV sets as Prince George was born to Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Yes, the progression of royalty is often big news.


This is the day we celebrate the birth of a King!  The Messiah promised so long ago has now come to earth in all His glory!  When the Christ was born, the whole world stopped what it was doing and raised a great cheer!

Except it didn’t really happen that way, did it.  Bells didn’t ring across the land.  There was no huge celebration, no great fanfare, no 41-gun salutes.

The only witnesses were a few animals and the tired parents.  Some nearby shepherds, watching over their sheep in the night, did receive the news, and it came from none other than an angel of the Lord God, accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying…  “Glory to God in the highest!  And on earth, peace - goodwill toward men.”

No, this news of the birth of a King did not rattle the world and its nations.  Instead, a gentle peace and serenity settled upon the earth on that good night.  If only that peace had endured, if only mankind still held goodwill toward one another.


Throughout our history, royal births have been magnificent affairs.  The birth of our Lord and Savior could not have been in lowlier circumstances.  His parents were forced along with many others to travel a long distance over harsh terrain just to be counted and taxed.  When they arrived in Bethlehem, Mary’s time to deliver her baby came, but there were no rooms available for them, nowhere for her to comfortably bring her Son into the world.  A crude stable had to suffice, complete, I’m sure, with all the animal smells and waste.  They had no crib, so they had to lay their little One on a bed of hay in the manger used to feed the cattle.

These simple, lowly, humble surroundings served as the birthplace for the only begotten Son of God Almighty, the Creator of all there is, the Sovereign Ruler of all the universe.  Humble beginnings that set the stage for a life lived.  Jesus was always humble, and He taught us to be humble also, warning that we were in for a fall if we did otherwise.  Listen to the word of our Lord Jesus as recorded in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 23, verses 11 and 12…

11 “[But] He who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

--Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)

God views things differently than man.  What God deems important, man too often thinks of as insignificant or beneath him.  Man thinks greatness is heralded like the birth of royalty.  God says greatness is defined by service, to Him and to others in His name.

If we want to be exalted, lifted up in the eyes of God, we will humble ourselves and serve Him.  James, the half-brother of Jesus, encourages us to live as Jesus taught, as seen in the 4th chapter of his letter, verse 10, when he says…

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

--James 4:10 (NKJV)

Humble ourselves, and our Father God will lift us up.  Ignore all the trappings of mankind’s royalty and serve the Lord of lords.  Put ourselves last and the needs of others first.

The world says that the humble go unnoticed, and are mostly ignored.  But look again at the day Jesus was born, the place where He lay down to sleep, those in attendance.  From these so very humble beginnings, from these barely noticed ripples upon the pond of time, the entire course of humanity was altered.

Never in human history has one Man had such an impact over all of mankind.  Ignoring the Bible for a moment and just looking at ancient historical texts, Pontius Pilate can be found mentioned four times, while the man Jesus of Nazareth is seen seven times.  Based on that alone, who would the world consider the more important of the two?

But we can’t ignore the Bible can we.  For without it - without Jesus - who would even remember the name Pontius Pilate, let alone anything he did?!  Would anyone remember a simple carpenter named Joseph or his young wife Mary?  Yet relatively few people in this world of billions have not at least heard of the name “Jesus”, even if they don’t know His story and what He truly means to them.  Sadly, too many refuse to believe Him.  And too few, even among His followers, live humbly as He taught we should.


From humble beginnings, everything changed.  In humble surroundings, the King of kings was born to little fanfare, glorified by only a few.  Yet some day, our King will return.  This time it will be the coming of royalty.  This time the whole earth will notice.

And after He conquers evil, then the angel’s proclamation will be fulfilled and peace and goodwill toward man will settle upon the earth.  The Prince of Peace will take His rightful place upon His throne.

Jesus lived a humble life serving God, and He was lifted up - first at His resurrection and soon when He comes again to fulfill God’s plan.  He calls us to live humbly as well, so that we will be lifted up with Him into the glory of God.  And it all springs… from humble beginnings.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, Your ways are higher than our ways, Your thoughts higher than our thoughts.  We think we need to be noticed, to stand out among others, to always strive to be first in all things.   You tell us that the only thing that truly matters is to believe in Your Son and obey Your voice.  Forgive us, please Father, when we fail to show humility.  Forgive us when we think Jesus to be less important than some earthly king just because of the place and surroundings of His birth.  Thank You for the great impact Jesus made for all of mankind.  Thank You for loving us that much.  Please help us share this with the world.

Hear us now, Father, as we reach out to You in the silence, praying directly from our hearts, asking for Your forgiveness, offering our repentance, our thanks, and our love…

Lord Jesus, You could not have been born into lowlier surroundings, nor could there be a more humble birth for a King.  You entered this world as a helpless baby, but from that humble beginning You proved to be our Savior, bringing us salvation and eternal life with You and our Father God in heaven.  You laid the pattern of humbleness in Your life and You call us to be humble as well, putting the needs of others ahead of our own, serving You by being a servant to them.  Help us, please Lord, to humbly obey Your voice, to truly accept You as our Master and joyfully do everything You would have us do, that we might share with You in God’s glory.

This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

It's All About Love

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 18th of December, 2016, the 4th Sunday in Advent.  Today’s service included the installation of a new Elder and Deacon.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The day we’ve waited so long for is drawing closer and closer.  The Messiah promised way back when mankind first disobeyed God is coming soon.  But He’s not coming as man expects, as a mighty conqueror to do battle with Rome.  He’s coming as a mere baby, born of a young virgin, in the poorest of settings.  He’s coming to us like one of us, because it’s all about love – God’s love.

The Apostle Matthew tells us of the days leading up to the coming of our Savior.  Listen and follow along to Matthew’s Gospel account, the 1st chapter, verses 18 through 25…

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

--Matthew 1:18-25 (NKJV)

This was all foretold to us by the prophet Isaiah, speaking the words God gave him, in the 9th chapter of his book of prophecy, verse 2 and verses 6 and 7…

2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

--Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, in just seven days we will be celebrating the birth of Your Son and our Savior Jesus.  Some of us are still in the rush of the season, buying and wrapping last minute gifts, finishing the decorations, preparing meals, getting ready for relatives and friends to come visit.  Settle us now, Father God, so that we might better hear Your message this morning.  Calm our hearts and minds and remove all distracting thoughts.  Speak to us through Your most Holy Spirit.  In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A wealthy old man was very enthusiastic about his lovely young bride, but sometimes wondered whether she might have just married him for his money, so he asked, “If I lost all my money, would you still love me?”

She retorted, “Don’t be silly!  Of course I’d still love you!  But I would miss you.”


Last week I mentioned a word about worship from author James Packer.  Here’s what he has to say about love, from his book, Your Father Loves You:

One of the Greek words for love, agape, seems to have been virtually a Christian invention -- a new word for a new thing.  Apart from about twenty occurrences in the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is almost non-existent before the New Testament.  Agape draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God in Christ.  It is not a form of natural affection, however intense, but a supernatural fruit of the Holy Spirit.  It is a matter of will rather than feeling, for Christians must love even those they dislike.  It is the basic element in Christ-likeness.


I want us to think about that…  The kind of love that Jesus commands His followers to show and give is the love that takes it meaning directly from God revealing Himself in Jesus!

Unto us a Child is born!  Unto us a Son is given!  The people who for so long have walked in darkness can now see a great light!  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!  And of His rule, and of His peace, there will be no end.


Joseph and Mary were betrothed.  In Jewish tradition, they were married in every way except that they had no sexual relations together.  Mary was a virgin and was expected to stay that way until the actual day of their wedding.  But then Mary showed up pregnant.  Joseph knew that he had nothing to do with the baby growing inside her!  Under Jewish custom and law, he had every right to denounce her and demand she be punished.

But Joseph was a good man and he loved Mary, so he wanted to spare her the humiliation and the punishment.  He decided to have her sent away instead, where she could have her baby in a place no one would know or question her, and he could go on with life there in his village.  But an angel came to him in a dream and told Joseph not to be afraid to accept Mary as his wife.  This meant he’d also have to accept the child as his own!  In fact, the angel even told Joseph what name to give the child: Jesus.

Since all this came in a dream, Joseph could easily have ignored the message and gone on with his original plans.  But no, he did just as the angel commanded and took Mary as his wife, staying chaste with her until Jesus was born.  For Joseph, it was all about love.


A quick digital search of the New King James Version of our Bible shows that the word “love” is mentioned over 500 times and in both the Old and New Testaments.  In the Old Testament, the vast majority of those mentions are of the type of love between husband and wife, between parents and children, between relatives and close friends, or sometimes just as a showing of intense pleasure or liking, such as for food.

But in the New Testament, the word love takes on a whole new meaning.  Now it expresses more than caring about those who care about us.  Now it isn’t concerned any with things, but with people.  Now it is about how God revealed Himself to us, how He showed His great love for us.

Love: unconditional, sacrificial, given not that love might be returned, but that the love of God might be revealed!  God so loved the world that He didn’t want to see any of us perish, so He gave us His only Son, that we might be saved if we only believe in Him!


It’s all about love.  And especially this time of year when love is seemingly in the air and in everyone’s hearts.  We’ll be spending more time with family and friends that we love so much.  We’ll open gifts that were picked out with love and eat meals that were prepared with love.  We’ll love on each other here at church and especially during our Fellowship time and at our concert tonight and our candlelight service on Christmas Eve.  And when someone breaks in line ahead of us at Walmart or stalls the “12 items or less” line at the grocery store with their buggy full or cuts us off in traffic as we rush to get all the last minute things done…  well, we’ll love on them too, won’t we.  Won’t we?

It’s easy to love those who love us in return, but not so easy to love those who aren’t considerate of us or others around them.  But that is exactly what Jesus commands.  We are to love everyone, even those who hate us and would prefer to do us harm than to do us good.  No matter their background, no matter their skin color, no matter their place of birth or political leanings or religious beliefs, we are to love them with the same love that Jesus loves us.  Because He loved them all, and in doing so showed that God loves us all.  And it’s all about love.


Love one another as God loves us.  Love unconditionally, sacrificially, on Christmas Day and every day.  For unto us a Child is born, a Son is given, and we have seen a great light.  Because it’s all about love.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You revealed Yourself to us through Your Son Jesus.  Through Him, You let us see and experience Your love.  Because You love us so much, You sent Jesus to earth as our Messiah, to offer us eternal salvation if we would only repent of our sinful ways, believe in Him, and follow His commands as our Lord.  Thank You, Father, for keeping Your promise made so long ago.  Thank You for loving us that much.

Hear us now, Father, as we come before You in silence, crying out from our hearts, offering our repentance, our thanks, our love to You…

Lord Jesus, we will very soon now celebrate Your birth, when You came to this earth as a mere baby, yet as our Savior, bringing us salvation from the second death and everlasting torment.  In You, all that You said, all that You did, all that You continue to do, we can see our heavenly Father God and His great and ever abiding love.  Help us, please Lord, to do His will, to obey Your voice, to truly accept You as our Lord and Master and joyfully do everything You would have us do.  Help us show others God’s love by loving them.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

The Glory of the Lord

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 11th of December, 2016, the 3rd Sunday in Advent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The last few weeks, we have been looking at the prophecy of Isaiah where he foretells of the coming of the Messiah, clearly describing Jesus.  Today I’d like to look at the words of encouragement Isaiah offers as we await the coming of our Savior, not only His birth here at Christmas but also His return.  Through the prophet, God tells of a few things that will come to pass when our Lord comes.

Listen and follow along as I read from Isaiah chapter 35, verses 1 through 6, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,
And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;
2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,
Even with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
The excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.

--Isaiah 35:1-6 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we have come together this morning to worship You, and to listen for Your voice speaking quietly to us.  Help us to hear and to understand Your word and Your will for each of us, that we might better honor You and glorify Your name.  In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Preacher and author A. W. Tozer once wrote:  “What is worship?  Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call ‘Our Father Which Art in Heaven’.”


Author James Packer adds this about worship:  “To worship God is to recognize his worth or worthiness; to look God-ward, and to acknowledge in all appropriate ways the value of what we see.  The Bible calls this activity ‘glorifying God’ or ‘giving glory to God’, and views it as the ultimate end, and from one point of view, the whole duty of man.

“Scripture views the glorifying of God as a six-fold activity: praising God for all that he is and all his achievements; thanking him for his gifts and his goodness to us; asking him to meet our own and others' needs; offering him our gifts, our service, and ourselves; learning of him from his word, read and preached, and obeying his voice; telling others of his worth, both by public confession and testimony to what he has done for us.  Thus we might say that the basic formulas of worship are these: ‘Lord, you are wonderful’; ‘Thank you, Lord’; ‘Please Lord’; ‘Take this, Lord’; ‘Yes, Lord’; ‘Listen everybody!’”


Tozer said that our worship of God is not only what we feel in our heart, but what we express outwardly, in some appropriate manner.  Packer views glorifying God as our whole duty.  And he gives us six ways to express our worship:  By praising God for what He has done for us; by thanking Him for all He has given us; by asking for His help for ourselves and for others; by giving back to Him of our resources, our talents, and our time; by studying His word and learning all we can about Him and His Son Jesus, so that we can build an ever stronger relationship with Him; and by sharing the Good News of our salvation through Jesus Christ with everyone we encounter.  How many of us consider Bible Study a form of worship?  Packer lists it right up there with singing praises to God on Sunday mornings.


We worship God because we understand and acknowledge exactly who He is and what He has done.  As Isaiah says in the 2nd verse of our scripture reading, we have seen the glory of the Lord.  But for most of the people who came to believe in Jesus while He walked this earth, and for all believers since that time, our seeing the glory of the Lord only comes from hindsight.

There are exceptions of course.  Do you remember the visit Mary, the soon-to-be mother of Jesus, made to her relative Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s reaction upon seeing Mary?  Elizabeth, and the child within her that we know became John the Baptist, they immediately recognized that Mary was pregnant with the Son of God.

And Mary herself knew she was blessed, and she related her feelings in the beautiful song we call the Magnificat.  Listen to part of that song, from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 1, verses 46 and 47 and 50 through 53…

46 And Mary said: 

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” 

50 “And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.”

--Luke 1:46-47, 50-53 (NKJV)

Mary has seen the glory of the Lord, and she magnifies that glory through her own soul.  She acknowledges all that God has done for His people through the ages.  And she recognizes He will continue to show His great mercy to all those who fear Him, who love and respect Him and His word.

Mary and Elizabeth easily saw God’s glory, but others needed a little more convincing.  Such was the case for two followers of the imprisoned John the Baptist.  Listen to a brief exchange between them and Jesus, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in his Gospel account, chapter 11, verses 2 through 6…

2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

--Matthew 11:2-6 (NKJV)

Did you recognize some of what Jesus said there?  We heard part of His list of accomplishments in our reading from Isaiah, and even from Mary’s declaration.  When those two disciples of John the Baptist left Jesus, I bet they better understood the glory of the Lord.


As I said, not everyone in Jesus’ day nor anyone since saw the glory of our Lord Jesus first hand.  Mary and Elizabeth knew immediately, John’s two disciples probably got it, those who followed Jesus during His walk on earth eventually caught on.  But so very many more never saw the glory of the Lord while He lived among them.

And those of us since He ascended back into heaven can only see His glory in our studies and readings of God’s word.  We can only see His glory through what He has done in our lives.  We cannot really see Him, face to face.  But if we take Isaiah’s words literally, then we shall see Him, in all His glory, with our own eyes.  In verse 5 he promises that even the eyes of the blind will be opened so that they too can see Him.

Isaiah also foretells that the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, the tongue of the mute will be released so they can sing, the lame will leap like a deer, and all will share in the glory of the Lord.  The waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams shall flow in the desert, all to glorify the Lord.


Can we honestly say that all of what Isaiah foretold has happened yet?  Some of it sure, some of the time.  Especially the parts where the prophet spoke of Jesus, our Messiah, and His coming to us as a baby, born of a virgin, who came to serve rather than be served.  And yes, some folks who were blinded have been given sight and some who were deaf can now hear.

But not all blind can see, not all deaf can hear, not all mute can talk, not all lame can walk.  Not yet, at any rate.  Waters have been known to flow even in the driest desert… for a little while, but certainly not always.  So was Isaiah wrong in his predictions?  Could he have been misguided?

If we take a somewhat worldly approach to Isaiah’s writings, we would be amazed at just how accurate he was at predicting hundreds of years into the future.  But we have far better than a worldly view into Isaiah’s prophecy, for we know that he was simply relaying the words God gave him to share with His chosen people.  Isaiah himself didn’t just predict all these things would happen – God told him they would!

God can see across the centuries pretty much like we can see across the room, except with 20-20 vision.  He knows what will happen to in our future.  If all that Isaiah foretold hasn’t happened yet, it will, because God said it would.  And as King Hezekiah observed, what God says is good.  We shall see the glory of our Lord, with our own eyes, when He returns to reclaim His church and bring true peace on earth!


In Advent, we not only await the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the first coming of our Messiah, we also anticipate His return, the second coming of our Lord.  The trouble is, we don’t have any idea how long that wait might be.  Isaiah foretold the coming of the Baby Jesus over 700 years before that momentous birth.  And now, nearly 2000 years have passed since His death, resurrection, and ascension.  Yet still we await His triumphant return and His great victory over the forces of evil.  How much longer must we wait?  When will God’s promise finally be fulfilled?

We don’t know.  We’re not supposed to know.  That’s what faith is all about: trusting in God’s word.  James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, offers us encouragement as we wait, in chapter 5 of his epistle, verses 7 through 10…

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

--James 5:7-10 (NKJV)

Be patient, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  And I love his analogy… look at how a farmer patiently waits for the precious fruit to emerge from the earth.

But James also cautions that while we wait, we must not grumble, either at God or against one another.  For when Jesus returns, He will not only come as a Conqueror over all that is evil, He will also stand as Judge over every one of us – over all of mankind.


In this third week of Advent, we’re starting to get fully into all the excitement of Christmas and the birth of our King.  And that’s good, because the birth of Jesus and all that event represents is truly worthy of our celebration!  Just as Jesus is worthy of our worship.

But let’s also celebrate that event which has yet to come, that has been promised for so long.  Let’s wait joyfully, patiently, for what God says will come to pass.  And while we wait, let’s not grumble or complain.  For soon, we shall see the glory of the Lord.

Let all the earth rejoice.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, Your word is good.  Everything You ever promised has come to pass.  We have no reason to doubt that the words You spoke through Your prophet Isaiah won’t come true.  We truly believe that someday soon, we shall behold Your full glory, in all its magnificence.  Someday soon all You have promised will be fulfilled when You send Your Son back to this earth.

Hear us now, Father, here in the silence of this holy place, as we raise our heartfelt prayers to You as part of our worship, speaking through Your Holy Spirit, repenting of our disobedience to You, seeking Your help and Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, You came to us as a helpless little baby, born into the lowliest of settings.  Some were able to understand the truth and see You in all Your glory.  The rest of us will have to wait until Your return to see the glory of our Lord with our own eyes.  Until that wonderful day, Lord, help us be patient.  Gently remind us when we grumble or complain that a far better tomorrow awaits us if we only remain faithful and true.  Help us be gracious to one another, as we await Your second coming as joyfully as we await the celebration of Your birth.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

A Servant Comes

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 4th of December, 2016, the 2nd Sunday in Advent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the second Sunday in Advent, and we still anxiously await the coming of our Messiah, promised so long ago.  Last week we looked at a passage in the Book of Isaiah where that great prophet told of Jesus’ coming over 700 years before His birth!  If there is any doubt that Isaiah was indeed referring to Jesus, even if not by name, we can dispel that doubt by examining another passage in Isaiah’s prophecy where he very clearly describes our Lord.

Listen and follow along as I read from Isaiah chapter 42, verses 1 through 5, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
5 Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it.

--Isaiah 42:1-5 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we have come together this morning to worship You, and to listen as You speak quietly to us in our innermost heart.  Help us to more clearly understand Your word and Your will for each of us, that we might better serve You.  In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A young woman in New York held what was considered to be a great position in a school attended by children from wealthy homes.  Suddenly she gave it all up and went to teach in one of the most squalid districts on the East Side.

"These East Side kids have so little," she explained.  "School is the one bright spot in their lives.  I feel almost like a fairy godmother when in their midst.  The children in my other school had everything.  They even were conveyed to the schoolroom door by nurses and chauffeurs.  There was no 'kick' in it for me."

A trained nurse was asked if she didn’t grow weary of her work.  She replied: "Yes, when I have to attend to rich patients who might hire someone else to wait on them; then my head aches and my hands are heavy.  But give me my basket of foods and medicines, and let me go among the poor who can pay me only with their eyes, and I can imagine no greater happiness.  Heaven!  There I ask the Lord of Paradise to give me at least August vacation that I may spend the dog days in the slums.  I am sure He will, for did not Christ find it His calling to do the will of His Father in just such places?"


True-life testimonies such as these prove that Jesus was right when He stressed the fact that the joy that comes from helping others is the richest reward one can experience in life.  Both the teacher and the nurse found their greatest reward in helping others, and specifically in helping those who needed it the most.  They were servants- of the people in need, and of God.


As we ponder today’s passage from Isaiah, we need to understand that the words are coming from God.  The first 4 verses are all God, speaking to us through His prophet, and He tells His people that a Servant comes.  God is talking about His Servant, His Elect One, and those words are all capitalized in my version, which means that God is speaking of His Son Jesus!

A servant serves, plain and simple.  In ancient times, during the life of Isaiah and still while Jesus walked this earth, being a servant was not an enviable position.  It was far worse than what the teacher and the nurse described when working for the wealthier folks.  But this is the role God willed for Jesus, and the role our Lord gladly accepted.

There was an incident when the disciples were arguing over which of them was greater in God’s eyes.  The Apostle Matthew recounts it like this, from his Gospel record, chapter 20, verses 25 through 28…

25 [But] Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

--Matthew 20:25-28 (NKJV)

A little further on in Matthew’s Gospel, in chapter 23, verses 11 and 12, Jesus reiterates the importance of service…

11 "[But] he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

--Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV)

The Apostle Mark, ever thrifty in his use of words, records it like this, in the 9th chapter of his Gospel account, verse 35…

35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

--Mark 9:35 (NKJV)

Who is greatest in God’s eyes?  The one who puts themselves last in the eyes of man, the least of us: the servant.  Who will be first to receive their rewards, who will be exalted and lifted up?  The one who puts themselves last here on earth, who puts the needs and well-being of others ahead of even their own.


God called Jesus His Servant.  Jesus said He came to serve, not to be served.  Do you think that maybe God wants us to follow the same example?  If we claim to be followers of Jesus, if we call Him Lord and really mean it, shouldn’t we also serve God by serving others, just as Jesus did?

In the Gospel according to the Apostle John, chapter 12 verse 26, Jesus makes a promise…

26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

--John 12:26 (NKJV)

If we do accept the lowly position of servant, then we will follow Jesus and be where He is.  Where is He?  In the inner city schools attended by the poorest of children.  In the slums, tending to those who can only pay with the look of love and appreciation in their eyes.  In the temples speaking to those who just don’t completely understand, and in the streets with those who do not yet believe.  Among the sinners, the poor, the needy, the overlooked, the ignored, the institutionalized, the marginalized, the invisible.

What is the promise I spoke of?  If we accept the job of servant and serve those like Christ Jesus served, and if in doing so we also serve Him, then His Father will honor us.  Our heavenly Father God will honor us.

Of course, we must be careful to serve only Jesus, for in the Gospel account of Luke, chapter 16 verse 13, our Lord warns…

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

--Luke 16:13 (NKJV)

Now earlier I spoke of rewards we will receive from our heavenly Father for our service to His Son.  But those rewards aren’t all in heaven, are they.  Both the teacher and the nurse spoke of the rewards they receive right here, right now, on earth when they serve Jesus.  Don’t we get a really good feeling inside when we help someone, especially when we expect nothing in return?  Doesn’t it just feel good?!

The Apostle Paul knew this feeling well.  Listen to what he wrote in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 18 and 19…

18 What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more.

--1 Corinthians 9:18-19 (NKJV)

Paul saw the opportunity of being able to share the Good News of Jesus with others as his reward.  For that reason, even though he was a free man, he made himself a servant to everyone, just for the chance of winning more souls for Jesus.

That’s why Jesus served, to show the people His love and bring them in to Himself, giving them the chance at eternal salvation.  That’s why Paul so willingly served, even in the face of hardship and under the constant threat of death.  And that is why we should serve, now, today and every day, all long as we draw breath: so that we might win more souls for Jesus.

Just as Isaiah described Jesus’ service, we should serve humbly, not crying out or speaking loudly so that all around can hear of our wonderful deeds.  We should be gentle with those we help, not treating them like something less than ourselves or like we are helping them out of duty rather than out of love.  We should seek justice and help spread the truth.

This is what God the Lord has spoken for us.  He “who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk it.”

This is what the Lord God Almighty wills for us.  Serve, rather than expect to be served.  Serve in love, out of the abounding love our Father has for us, and in loving show the love of God to others.  Serve others, and in doing so serve Christ.  And we will receive rewards now, here on earth, and some beautiful tomorrow, when we go home to live with our beloved Father God.

Let all the world know that a Servant comes.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, Your chosen people expected a conquering hero, but You sent our Messiah Jesus as Your Servant, to serve us with His healing touch and His offer of salvation.  You tells us often in our Bible, Your holy word, of just how pleased You are with Jesus and the work He did and continues to do.  Thank You, Father, for not only sending Him to see to our current needs, but more importantly to provide for our eternal souls.  Thank You for Your wonderful, saving grace.

Hear us now, Father, as we lift up our most personal prayers to You, straight from our hearts, speaking through the voice of Your Holy Spirit, repenting of our disobedience, seeking Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, even though You could have commanded heaven’s mighty armies to carry out Your every desire, You lowered Yourself to be a servant to all mankind.  You came to live among us knowing Your role and Your fate, knowing full well how it would all turn out.  But still You came, because it was Your Father’s will that You do so.  You gave of Yourself for us.  You died that we might not suffered the second death of eternal damnation and torment.  You gave Your all for us.  Lord may we never forget Your selfless act.  May we never take for granted how much You blessed us, how much You offer.  May we always believe, stay faithful, and obey Your commands.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

Prepare

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 27th of November, 2016, the first Sunday in Advent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, which is our time to get ready for Christmas.  I’m not talking about doing our shopping and getting everything set out for Santa, the way the world goes about it all this time of year.  I mean this is the time for us to ready ourselves for the holy birth and the coming of our Savior into the world.

Of course we know all about the birth of Jesus and how He grew up and began His ministry, how He was tried and beaten and hung on a cross to die, how He was buried and then rose again from the grave and ascended into heaven.  But the people long ago didn’t know any of that, because it hadn’t happened yet.

Fortunately, they had prophets, speaking for God, who told them what would happen someday.  One of the greatest of these was Isaiah, who told of Jesus’ coming over 700 years before it happened, even if he didn’t call Him by name.  Listen and follow along to one of the first passages where we can see Jesus clearly described by Isaiah,  in chapter 40 of his book of prophecy, verses 1 through 5 and 10 and 11, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Bible…

1 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

10 Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.

--Isaiah 40:1-5, 10-11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we have come together this morning to worship You, and to listen for Your voice.  We anticipate the coming of our Savior, who You promised so long ago.  Help us prepare for His advent, Father.  Speak Your message into our hearts and our lives.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A professional football coach was hired to manage a team that had been experiencing a bad season.  As with all football teams, if they didn't win, the coach is replaced.  To succeed in football you must win.

On his first day after accepting the team offer, the new coach was given two sealed envelopes.  He was told that if he got into difficulty he should open the first envelope.  If things didn't get better later on, he should open the second envelope.

Sure enough, the team continued to struggle, so he opened the first envelope.  Inside was a note of encouragement from the previous coach that ended by saying the new coach should blame everything on him.  So at the post-game press conference, he did just that.  When asked why the team still did so poorly, he stated that their present failures were all due to the former coach and his policies.

As the season progressed and the team still failed to win, the coach went ahead and opened the second sealed envelope.  Inside was a terse note that merely read: "Prepare two envelopes."


The new coach had to quickly prepare for the worst.  I think we do that a lot - preparing for the worst, even while hoping for the best.  Well, Isaiah wanted us to prepare for the best right off the bat.  “Prepare the way of the Lord!”  “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed.”  “And all flesh shall see it together.”  Prepare yourself, for the very best is about to come!


The prophet Isaiah was born into an influential, upper-class family.  He rubbed shoulders with royalty and gave advice regarding foreign affairs.  He was usually scoffed at, though, because he often counseled that the nation of Judah should avoid foreign alliances and instead turn to and trust in the Lord.  But Judah failed to listen and ultimately followed the same path of idolatry and apostasy as did the ten northern tribes of Israel.

Eventually, Babylon conquered Judah, and carried her off into slavery.  But that was not until around 150 years after Isaiah tried to warn Hezekiah, King of Judah.  Here is a short conversation between Isaiah and Hezekiah, from chapter 39 of the prophet’s book, verses 5 through 8…

5 Then Isaiah said to him, “Listen to this message from the Lord Almighty:
6 “The time is coming when everything you have—all the treasures stored up by your fathers—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left. 7 And some of your own sons will become slaves, yes, eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 “All right,” Hezekiah replied. “Whatever the Lord says is good. At least there will be peace during my lifetime!”

--Isaiah 39:5-8 (TLB)

I love what Hezekiah says there, in response to all the gloom and doom Isaiah foresaw:  “Whatever the Lord says is good.”  That is the attitude we all need to share.  Whatever the Lord says is good.  Why?  The Apostle Paul explains it best, in chapter 8 verse 28 of his letter to the Romans…

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

--Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

Whatever the Lord says is good because He works all things together for good to those who love Him and follow His voice.  And we can see by simply reading our Bible that whatever the Lord promises, He fulfills.  He promised us a Messiah, a Savior, and He fulfilled that promise in the person of His Son Jesus, made flesh and given to us to live among us, and then to offer us eternal salvation.  He has also promised that Jesus will come again, to take His church home to be with Him forever.  We have no reason to believe that Jesus will not return, for whatever the Lord says is good.


Isaiah tells us to prepare the way of the Lord.  We are to make straight a highway in the dessert, a highway for our Lord to come in on.  Isaiah was referring to that first coming of our Messiah, Jesus, whose birth we will soon celebrate again.  But God through Isaiah was also telling us to prepare for Jesus to come again.  We need to clear off and straighten out the highway that leads through the dessert of our lives so our Lord will once again have a direct path to our hearts.

Just as Isaiah told King Hezekiah, we can read in the Apostle John’s book of Revelation that the time is coming when we may lose everything we’ve ever owned, everything we may have inherited.  We and our children may be carried off into slavery in some far off land, serving the whims of some other nation’s masters.

But in one interpretation of end-times scriptures, and the one I personally believe in, Jesus will call His church home before these events happen.  Those who He claims as His own will be called up from the clouds to be with Him when He returns.  The Lord has said this, and His word is good.  He has promised it, and His promise will be fulfilled.

But we have our part to fulfill also.  We must prepare for Jesus’ return.  We must get our hearts in order.  We must make sure of exactly where our faith lies, of who or what we truly serve as Master.  If Jesus is not the most important thing in our lives, then we need to make straight that particular highway.  If we do not obey His commands with every thought and every deed, then that is another highway needing repair work.

When John the Baptist echoed Isaiah’s call to “prepare the way of the Lord”, he added, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Repent.  Family, we must turn from our sins and disobedience, turn back to God and seek His forgiveness.  For the Kingdom of heaven is indeed near at hand.

So much happening today can be clearly seen described in our Bible, the things that will occur just before Jesus returns.  We must be prepared for His second coming, even as we recognize and celebrate the first time He came to us, as a mere babe.  This time He will ride in from the clouds as a conquering hero, and we do not want to be on the wrong side of that final battle.

Get ready for it.  Clear out the cobwebs, sweep off the trash, pick up the litter that clutters our lives.  Prepare the way.  Make straight a highway in the dessert, for our Lord Jesus is coming soon.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You directed Your prophet Isaiah to warn Your children that they would be punished if they did not repent of their sinful ways and come back to You.  But You also offered them words of comfort and hope, with the promise that the Messiah they had waited so long for would soon come and walk among them.  You promised their hard times would cease and their sins would be pardoned and forgiven.  You said they had already been punished enough, that their prayers would be answered.  But You also gave them a role to play, in that they needed to make straight a highway through the dessert for their Lord.  They had to straighten out their lives, repent of their disobedience, and return to You as obedient servants.  The Messiah was coming, and they had to get ready in their hearts and in their lives.  The Messiah was coming, and all of Your glory would be revealed, and every person would witness it together.  And Father God, You also gave us this message so we could understand it’s implication today.  For our Messiah is about to return, and we need to get our house in order just as did Your children so long ago.  Help us, please Father, to understand the full impact of Isaiah’s words.

Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, crying out from our hearts for forgiveness, promising our repentance and submission to our Lord Jesus, seeking Your help with our preparations…

Lord Jesus, Isaiah tells us You will come with a strong hand, and Your arm will rule.  You will bring Your rewards for those You have chosen, and You will mete out judgment over those who deny Your sovereignty.  We are nothing more than Your flock, sheep in Your hands.  Carry us in those strong arms, Lord Jesus.  Help us prepare for Your return.  Strengthen us when the world would set itself against us, trying to take us from You.  Forgive us the times we fail to obey You, when we disrespect Your supreme authority.  Have mercy upon us, Lord Jesus.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

Truly Thankful

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Wednesday evening, the 23rd of November, 2016, Thanksgiving Eve, on the occasion of a joint service between Emanuel Reformed, Paul's Chapel, and Pilgrim Reformed Churches, held at Paul's Chapel Church.]

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a day set aside for feasting and football.  Some people even take a few minutes to give thanks to God.  But we know we should give God thanks for more than just a couple minutes, and definitely more often than one day a year.  After all, we owe God so much, don’t we?  Or do we take too much for granted?

As He so often did, Jesus used an incident that occurred During one of His healings as a teaching moment for us, to provide us with a lesson in gratitude.  It began a few days earlier while in conversation with His disciples.  Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 17, verses 7 through 19, from the New King James Version of our Bible…

7 “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” 

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 

17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

--Luke 17:7-19 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come into Your presence this evening in the name of Your beloved Son and our Savior Jesus, to worship You, to give You our thanks, to praise You, and to listen for Your voice, for the message You wish us to hear.  Speak to us now, Father, that we might better know Your will for us.  In the holiest name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


The food editor of a local newspaper received a telephone call a few days before Thanksgiving from a woman asking how long to cook a 12-pound turkey.  “Just a minute…”, the editor muttered, turning in her chair to consult a cooking chart.  “Thank you very much”, replied the novice cook, and hung up!


Well, at least the lady was thankful for the information she thought she’d received.  But I sure would have hated to dine at her house that evening.

She thanked the editor, and seemed genuinely grateful.  And I believe most of us generally thank someone who is doing something for us, even if we’re paying them to do it.  We thank our server in the restaurant.  We thank the cashier at the grocery store.  We thank the folks who deliver our mail and our paper and our packages, even if only once a year.

But sometimes, especially if we’re paying for it, we expect the service we receive, like the master and the servant in the first few verses of our scripture reading.  We expect them to put us first, and take it for granted when they do so.  We don’t worry about any needs that they may have.  Even if we utter the words, “Thank you”, we may not be truly thankful for what they have done.


Jesus cleansed ten lepers, but nine failed to go back and thank Him.  I wonder what kind of excuses they had ready in case they were asked why not.  Maybe they were waiting to see if the cure was real and would last.  Maybe they were in a hurry to get to the priests and thank them instead.  Maybe they just had somewhere they had to get to before they were late.  Maybe they just figured it was no big deal after all.  I wonder if once they realized they had been healed, they were just so thrilled that all they could do was run off to find their families they had left behind long ago and celebrate with them.

For whatever reason, the nine lepers who showed no gratitude took for granted what Jesus did for them.  They never gave Jesus, or His words, another thought.  In a way, it’s like they expected Him to do what He did.  As if He were the servant in the first few verses, that was only expected to do His job with no thanks necessary.  Even though something great had just happened, these nine seemingly ungrateful but now cured lepers did not take the time to go back and give glory to God – or even to simply say “Thank You, Jesus”.

Sometimes, even when everything is going well for us, we can get so wrapped up in those good times that we forget to thank God for all He provides us.  But that doesn’t excuse us, does it?  Shouldn’t we be like the Samaritan leper who returned and glorified God, thanking Jesus for the healing?

The Apostle Paul certainly thought so.  Listen to his words from his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18…

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

In everything give thanks!  During the good times as well as the bad, in everything give thanks to God.


Thanksgiving Day was first proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789 as a nation-wide day for public thanksgiving and prayer to the Almighty God for His many blessings over this country.  We generally point to an earlier part of our national history that set the precedent for this day of giving thanks.  After a perilous two month Atlantic crossing under miserable, cramped conditions, that group of people from Europe we now call the Pilgrims landed in the New World in November of 1620.  One of their first actions upon arrival  was to be led by William Brewster in the reading of Psalm 100 as a prayer of Thanksgiving.  Let me read that prayer to you now, in what may be the same Bible they read from, the King James Version.  It comes from the 100th Psalm…

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. 

3 Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. 

5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

--Psalm 100 (KJV)

Let me repeat verse 4:  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony landed in November, too late to even think about planting crops.  That first winter proved nearly disastrous.  By the spring of 1621, only 47 colonists survived – the rest having succumbed to either the harshness of the winter or to disease contracted aboard ship.

But they did survive and that fall they celebrated their first harvest alongside their Native American neighbors, without whose help and the blessings of God they most surely would not have lasted the year.  After reaping a successful crop and with their time of desperation behind them, they rejoiced and gave thanks to the Lord.

In everything give thanks.  Enter into God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise.  Be thankful to Him and bless His holy name.  Be truly thankful, for God is good, all the time.  And all the time, God is good.  So give Him thanks all the time.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks - for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Give thanks unto God, in the blessed name of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You give us so much that sometimes we just kind of take your many blessings for granted.  It isn’t that we don’t appreciate all You do for us, Father.  We just get used to everything You provide, and we forget to stop and give You our thanks.  Please forgive us, Father, when we are ungrateful.  Forgive us when we get too wrapped up in our daily lives and fail to thank You for Your great and constant generosity.

Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking directly from our hearts with thanksgiving and praise, repenting of our disobedience and seeking Your forgiveness…

Lord Jesus, You cured ten men of their leprosy but only one returned to thank You.  The ingratitude of the nine made you sad, Lord, just as we must sadden You during our times of failing to give You and our Father the thanks You so rightly deserve.  Forgive us, please, Lord Jesus.  Help us to see our many blessings in the bad times as well as the good.  Help us to remember to stop and give thanks unto God, for He is so good to us.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.

Thanks Giving

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 20th of November, 2016, the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

This Thursday is Thanksgiving, a day originally set aside for giving thanks to God.  Sadly, more folks seem to spend most of the day eating or watching parades and football games.  Or napping in front of the TV after gorging themselves on turkey and mashed potatoes.

But we know we should do more than that.  We know we should give God thanks more than for just a couple minutes, and certainly more often than one day a year.  We know how much we owe God, right?

Or do we?  Have we somehow lost sight of all that God does for us?  If so, then we really need to hear what the Apostle Paul has to tell us.  It’s a short message, but it’s wearing combat boots so it can better stomp on our toes.  Listen and follow along as I read from Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 14 through 18, from The Living Bible…

14 Dear brothers, warn those who are lazy, comfort those who are frightened, take tender care of those who are weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else. 16 Always be joyful. 17 Always keep on praying. 18 No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

--1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come into Your presence this morning to worship You, to give You our thanks, to praise You, and to listen for Your voice, for the message You wish us to hear.  Speak to us now, Father, that we might better know Your will for us.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A woman who was shopping took a break for some coffee and cookies.  She sat down in the one unoccupied chair across from a man reading a newspaper.  She sipped her coffee and reached for a cookie, only to see the man across from her also taking a cookie.  She glared at him; he just smiled at her and she resumed her reading.

Moments later she reached for another cookie, just as the man also took one.  Now feeling quite angry, she stared at the one remaining cookie - whereupon the man reached over, broke the cookie in half, and offered her a piece.  She grabbed it and stuffed it into her mouth, as the man smiled at her again, rose, and left.  The woman was really steaming as she angrily opened her purse, her coffee break now ruined, and put her magazine away.  And there she saw her bag of cookies.

All along, she'd unknowingly been helping herself to the cookies belonging to the gracious man whose table she'd shared.


How often do we unknowingly and ungratefully help ourselves to what our gracious Father provides?  How often do we get angry when we think we haven't been given anywhere near enough, or when we think someone else is getting more than us?  How often do we take for granted all the many blessings we receive each and every day?  How often do we pause long enough to say, "Thank You, God… Thank You, Father"?


Look at a few things Paul says in those five short verses.  “Warn those who are lazy”.  Are we sometimes too lazy to stop and give thanks, or do we just not realize we have something to be thankful for?

“Comfort those who are frightened”.  Why might we be frightened?  Do we fear we might lose our possessions or our life or that a loved one might suffer for some reason?  Wouldn’t that mean that we have possessions to lose, that we have a life, that we have loved ones?  Just who do all those come from?  Aren’t those very good reasons to give thanks to God?  Paul certainly seems to think so, because he illustrates Jesus’ commandment to love one another when he tells us to “always try to do good to each other”.

In addition to that, he tells us we should always be joyful, always be praying, always be thankful – no matter what happens!  Always!  Why?  Because this is what God wants all those who belong to His Son Jesus to do!

Always!  Not a few minutes a day, one day a year.  Not whenever it happens to dawn on us.  Not just when we sit down to eat dinner.  Not just when the preacher is praying.  Always!


This simple and specific message was very important to Paul, so important that he repeated it often.  Now, we need to realize that the letters Paul wrote to the individual churches were actually read at most or often all of the churches in the region around the Mediterranean Sea.  His letters to the church in Thessalonica were very likely also read in Philippi and Ephesus and Corinth and the other cities in the region, and quite possibly in Rome and Jerusalem, too.  What he told one church family was probably heard by the rest.  So when we see a theme repeated in letters to different churches, we know it was important to Paul.

Listen to what he wrote to the Philippians, in chapter 4, verse 4…

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice!

--Philippians 4:4 (TLB)

And this comes from his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 20…

20 Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

--Ephesians 5:20 (TLB)

Always rejoice!  Always give thanks for everything!

Give thanks to who?  To God!  Give thanks for what?  Everything!  Give thanks how?  In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!  Our thanks giving should be to God for everything in the name of His Son Jesus.


One of the things from our message text that Paul told us to do always is to keep on praying.  Always be in prayer.  A little further in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul reaffirms this as well…

18 Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.

--Ephesians 6:18 (TLB)

Pray all the time, always.  Notice that Paul says we can ask God for anything that is in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes.  God’s Holy Spirit is within us, guiding us in the right direction.  We know what is right and good, so we should only ask in prayer for what is right and good.

But we shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for what we need, and especially when asking for the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Paul did a lot of both - praying and giving thanks to God.  He often opened and closed his letters doing one or the other.  And it pretty much always had to do with the church family he was writing to.  This is how Paul opened his 2nd letter to the Thessalonians, in chapter 1, verse 3…

3 Dear brothers, giving thanks to God for you is not only the right thing to do, but it is our duty to God because of the really wonderful way your faith has grown and because of your growing love for each other.

--2 Thessalonians 1:3 (TLB)

I can easily relate to what Paul said there.  You’ve heard me say how much I am blessed just being here with you, my Pilgrim family, and how much I thank God for placing me here with you.  It is definitely right that I do so, and Paul says it is also my duty, because of all the truly wonderful things God is doing here.

We’re not perfect – no one is; no church is – but we believe in God and in His Son Jesus.  We study His word and try our best to understand and follow it.  We obey His command to love each other, unconditionally, without expecting anything in return.  We go out into the greater community, helping others as best we can.

Because of you, my faith is growing, and I can see it growing in you, too.  And for all of that, and so much more, my thanks giving is to God, in the name of His Son and our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You pour out Your blessings so abundantly over us that we begin to take them for granted.  It isn’t that we don’t appreciate all that You do for us, Father.  We just get used to everything You provide, and we forget to stop and give You our thanks.  Please forgive us, Father, when we are ungrateful.  Forgive us when we get too caught up in life and fail to thank You for Your great generosity.

Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking directly from our hearts with thanksgiving and praise…

Lord Jesus, You touched Paul and gave him a special insight into God’s kingdom.  In turn, Paul left us with the benefits of that incredible insight, providing us with instructions we need to live by to remain in Your good stead.  Always be joyful, always be in prayer, and always be thankful truly are words to live by.  Lord, please help us to follow Paul’s inspired message and to live as You would have us live.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus, our Lord and Master, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith.  Amen.