Moving Forward

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 31st of July, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

What is most important to us?  Whatever it is that we place the greatest value on, that is generally where we make our greatest investment.  That is what we give the most time and resources to.  That is where we start our list of priorities.  And sadly, that is why the church all across America is struggling so much - because more and more people place greater value on attaining wealth and popularity than on serving Jesus and God.

Not everyone follows this trend, though.  Many still understand what really matters in this life.  They try their best to pattern their lives based on the Apostle Paul’s teachings.

Listen and follow along as I read what Paul says about all this in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 3 verses 8 through 21, from The Living Bible…

8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have Christ, 9 and become one with Him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting Christ to save me; for God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith — counting on Christ alone.  10 Now I have given up everything else — I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought Him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with Him.  11 So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead.

12 I don’t mean to say I am perfect.  I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.

13 No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing:  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.

15 I hope all of you who are mature Christians will see eye-to-eye with me on these things, and if you disagree on some point, I believe that God will make it plain to you — 16 if you fully obey the truth you have.

17 Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example.  18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ.  19 Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth.  20 But our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is; and we are looking forward to His return from there.  21 When He comes back, He will take these dying bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer all else everywhere.

--Philippians 3:8-21 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, You have provided us with a guide through this life by giving us Your word in our Holy Bible.  Help us, Father, to understand Your message and to apply it to our everyday life.  Open our eyes, our ears, our minds, and our hearts to Your Holy Spirit that He might speak to us today.  In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


The Coat of Arms of Australia bears a picture of an emu and a kangaroo.  These animals were chosen because they share a characteristic that appealed to the Australian forefathers: both the emu and kangaroo can only move forward, not back.  The emu’s three-toed foot causes it to fall if it tries to go backwards, and the kangaroo is prevented from moving in reverse by its large tail.  Those who truly choose to follow Jesus become like the emu and the kangaroo, moving only forward, never back.


Rev. Paul Barreca of Faith Bible Church writes:

In today's world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can "know."  If someone asks the questions, "How long is the Verrazano Bridge," a nimble person with a 4G connection and an iPhone can repeat the question to Siri and they will get an almost instantaneous response.  But if we had sitting here an 85 year old retired construction worker who spent 2 years of his life in his 20s building the Verrazano bridge, we would get the correct information, but we would get it with great passion.

That's what it means to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.  It involves much more than repeating facts concerning Christ or the Bible.  Knowing Christ is an intimate relationship with Him that changes your life.


How well do we know our Christ?  How do we get to know anyone?  We spend time with them, right?  We talk to them and ask questions - we study them.  And if we consider them a friend, we build a good, solid relationship with them.

That’s all Jesus wants: a good, personal relationship with us.  He wants us to really know Him.  And when we do, we’ll understand that He does not want us to worry about yesterday.  He does not want us to look back, but to focus on what lies ahead.

We’re not like the emu or the kangaroo.  We’re perfectly capable of going backwards if we so choose.  But that’s not what our Lord wants.  In Proverbs chapter 4 verse 27 we receive a very important instruction…

27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

--Proverbs 4:27 (NKJV)

Our Lord Jesus emphasized this point a number of times during His ministry.  Once, a man came up to Jesus and promised to follow Him, after first going back home to say his good-byes.  Listen to our Lord’s response, from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 9, verse 62…

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

--Luke 9:62 (TLB)

Now I know that sometimes we do look back, and often think fondly on how things were in the past and how much we wish they could still be like that now.  But looking back, fondly or otherwise, is a distraction.  If we’re looking back, or worse, if we’re moving backwards, then we’re allowing ourselves to be distracted from the work Jesus has for us.  Of course, there are other ways to be distracted.  We can get all caught up in maintaining the status quo that we lose sight of the instructions Jesus gave us.

We learned last week that our mission as a church is to go out into the world making disciples of Christ Jesus.  Are we, the church, moving forward... or standing still?  Are we making progress, or just treading water?


Of course, there is an aspect to moving forward that might be a little unsettling.  Because moving forward also involves stepping into a new, unknown world: tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a mysterious place, filled with all kinds of wonders, and all kinds of horrors.  No matter how well we might plan out our day, everything can change in the blink of an eye.  Tomorrow can be exciting, or scary.

People say we don’t know what the future holds, but in a way, we do.  Listen to what the Apostle John relates to us from his Book of Revelation, chapter 4, verse 1…

1 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before, which sounded like a mighty trumpet blast, spoke to me and said, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen in the future!”

--Revelation 4:1 (TLB)

Notice that the voice didn’t say he would tell us what might happen, but what must happen!  These things we read of in Jesus’ Revelation to John must happen because that is God’s plan, and indeed they will happen.  For those who don’t believe, who don’t put all their trust and faith and belief in the Lord Jesus, the worst is yet to come!  Revelation chapter 6 verse 17 shows us there will come a day after Jesus takes His church home when those left behind will finally understand what they’ve done to themselves, they will know God’s wrath, and they will shout out…

17 “That terrible day has come! God and the Lamb will show their anger, and who can face it?”

--Revelation 6:17 (CEV)

So yes, moving forward can be scary.  But that is what Jesus would have us do.  To “go and make disciples” is moving forward.  “Advancing God’s kingdom” is moving forward.  Leaving things behind, turning neither to the right nor to the left, but walking straight ahead toward Jesus is moving forward.  Going beyond where we’re at is moving forward.  As our choir sang, beyond the cross is a tomb that is empty.  Beyond the cross is life everlasting, and hope forever more.

Paul says that things don’t matter, money doesn’t matter, fame and popularity don’t matter.  The only thing that matters is having faith in Jesus, counting on Christ alone.  Forget the past, look forward to what lies ahead.  Strain ahead to reach the end of the race, for the prize we will receive from God is beyond our wildest imaginings.  Be like Paul.  Make him your personal role model.  Follow our Lord and continue moving forward.  All in the name of Jesus.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, it’s so easy for us to stop and look back, too often wishing life could be like it once was rather than looking ahead and following Your Son to make life better than it ever was.  Father, in so many ways and in so many places in our Bible, You have provided a clear path for us to follow.  Help us, please Father, to not stray from that path.

Hear us now, Father, as we lift our personal prayers to You in the silence, coming straight from our hearts…

Lord Jesus, You have commissioned us to go into the world making disciples, baptizing them in Your name and teaching them all You have commanded.  You warn us not to turn from this goal, not to look back, not to allow ourselves to be distracted by anything in this life but to move forward and carry out our mission.  Help us do just that, please Jesus.  Help us rededicate ourselves to serving You and following Your will.  Help us run this race to the very end.  For we know that the day of God’s wrath, the day of Your return, is rapidly approaching, and we want to be safely at Your side when that day comes.  Help us, Lord Jesus.

This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the one true Son of God.  Amen.

Our Mission...

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 24th of July, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

What is the purpose of the church?  Have you ever given that any thought?  Rick Warren wrote a whole book on what our purpose is, as individuals, but what about the church itself?

Our scripture passage this morning is one you’ve heard me read before, and one I’ll very likely read again.  Because it carries a critically important message, for us as individuals but more for the church family – for the body of Christ.  It’s the last thing Jesus said to us before ascending into heaven, according to Matthew’s Gospel account.  And it addresses that question of the church’s purpose.

Listen and follow along as I read the ending of the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 28 verses 16 through 20, from The Living Bible…

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find Him.  17 There they met Him and worshiped Him — but some of them weren’t sure it really was Jesus!

18 He told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth.  19 Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this — that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

--Matthew 28:16-20 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come before You this morning to hear Your word and listen for Your voice to guide us.  Speak to us that we might understand what You have to tell us today.  Help us better discern Your will for each of us.  In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A man is walking his dog along a beach when they come upon another visitor to the shore.  The dog’s owner is proud of a new trick his pup had learned and was eager to show him off.  So he tells the other man, “Watch this!”, and tosses a piece of driftwood as far out into the ocean as he can.  Immediately, the dog jumps up and runs across the top of the waves to fetch the stick, and then runs back on top of the water to bring it to his owner.  The observer merely shakes his head in disbelief.  Smiling, the owner repeats this performance two more times.  Finally, he dryly asks the other man, “Did you notice anything unusual there?”  The observer responds, “Your dog can’t swim, can he?”


Some anonymous person who either had a very dry sense of humor or an extremely keen insight into the current state of the church, or perhaps a bit of both, once observed that the church today is raising a whole generation of mules.  They know how to sweat and to work, but they don’t know how to reproduce themselves.


That’s quite humorous, but also quite true, isn’t it.  We know how to work, here in this Pilgrim family.  We’re no strangers to labors and sweat.  But we don’t seem to have a clue as to how to make more members just like us, more good, hard-working believers of Jesus Christ.  We don’t know how to reproduce.  And we’re not alone.  Churches all across our nation share this affliction.  That’s why our numbers are dwindling, the church shrinking.

I can’t help but wonder if we’re not like the man watching the dog run on top of the water and surmising only that the pooch can’t swim.  Are we missing a blatantly obvious truth?


Last week I mentioned that I was kind of picking up where I’d left off the week before.  Well, I’m doing it again this week.  I didn’t mean for this to become a mini-series, but it looks like maybe God had other ideas.

We began by recognizing and admitting that without God, we can do nothing.  Then realizing that simple truth, we decided that we needed to work on our prayer life, to spend more time with our Father God and our Savior Jesus, to build a closer relationship with them.  And that leads us to what I think is the next natural step: helping others do the same things.

First we help them understand that none of us amount to a hill of beans without God.  Without Him we would have nothing, we could do nothing, we would be nothing.  Then we impress upon them the need to build a close, personal relationship with God and with Jesus.  We work with them, nourishing them, praying with them, sharing with them, showing them Jesus at every step along the way.  And then someday, we show them how to do the same things we just did.

This is called discipleship.  And this is our mission, should we choose to accept it.  This is what the church is called to do.  This is our Great Commission, given by Jesus before He left this earth.  And this is what we are to carry out until He returns to call His church home.

Family, this is the purpose of the church, what we are charged to do: to go into the world making disciples.  If we do as Jesus commanded, we will no longer have to worry about raising a generation of mules!


Now this passage from the end of Matthew’s Gospel isn’t the first time Jesus called us to discipleship.  It all began at the start of His ministry on earth, when He personally chose and called those who would follow Him in that ministry.  In chapter 4 of Matthew’s book, verse 19, Jesus walked up to Simon and Andrew, tending to their fishing nets…

19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

--Matthew 4:19 (NKJV)

The next verse tells us they immediately left everything behind and followed Him.  But the last part of verse 19 is the important piece for us.  “I will make you fishers of men.”  Jesus established the model for making disciples.  He took these men and made disciples of them, so that they could go out and make disciples of others!

Fishers of men, bringing more people to Jesus!  It’s a self-perpetuating process.  Kind of like a pyramid scheme, except that it actually does good and it truly pays off in the end.  Following this model of a disciple making disciples will allow the truth and the Good News to eventually spread all across the face of the earth, just as Jesus wanted!


Of course, as with any time we try to do what is good and right in this world, discipleship won’t be easy – neither for us or for those we are trying to mentor.  There is a cost to discipleship, to following Jesus.  Our Lord even warned His followers of this, such as in the 16th chapter of Matthew, verses 24 through 27…

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

--Matthew 16:24-27 (NKJV)

We need to understand that Jesus isn’t talking about a physical cross, or necessarily our physical lives.  The crosses we may have to bear could include public ridicule for our belief, or worse.  We may lose some friends even as we gain others.  Some of our own family may shun us.

And that leads into the part about losing our life and finding it.  Again, this is not necessarily about our physical life, our mortal life.  This is more about our spiritual life, our soul.  It’s getting back to what Paul says about giving up the old person, our old way of life, and becoming the new person through Jesus.

The thrust of this is that discipleship is not going to be easy, and could indeed be physically dangerous as well as emotionally so.  But, if we stay the course, if we do as Jesus commands, the benefits will far outweigh the costs!  “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”  There’s your profit, and it has nothing to do with earthly gains.


Jesus invited His disciples by saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  We can issue our own invitation by saying, “Follow me, and I will help you follow Him.”

Does that scare you?  It should.  How many of us would be comfortable having someone else follow us so that they can learn about Christ?  How many of us are perfect and can be the example Jesus was?  I don’t know about you, but I’m sure not!  Yet if you are willing to follow me, I will show you how to not only be a disciple, but also to make disciples.  And together we will follow Him.

It’s not so much what we say that people will remember.  It’s what we do.  In all things, give God the glory and honor and praise.  Spend time with Him by studying His word and in prayer.  Love unconditionally, remembering that our enemy is not made of flesh and blood, but is Satan, Lucifer, the devil.

Yes, there are evils and sins committed in this world, but those are done by Satan through people who are simply too weak in spirit to resist his temptations.  Those are the ones we need to reach.  Those are folks we need to bring to Jesus and make His disciples.  And we can’t do that by hating them or screaming at them or cursing them or calling them names.  We can only do it by loving them and showing them the love of Christ Jesus.


Follow Him, and become a fisher of men.  Our mission is to go and make disciples for Jesus, teaching them all about Him and to obey His commands by word and by example.  Just remember: we are not alone in this.  Jesus is with us and will remain with us, even to the end of the world.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, by Your great grace and love, You sent Your only Son to earth to offer us salvation and eternal life.  We understand and acknowledge that only through Him, only with Him at our side, can we enter the gates of heaven.  Jesus came and invited us to follow Him as He led us to You.  Thank You, Father, for having mercy on us, for loving us this much.

Hear us now, please Father, as we pause for a moment in the silence of this place and speak to You individually, directly, crying out from our hearts…

Lord Jesus, You invited us to follow You along the path of righteousness.  You promise to stand beside us at our last when we face our Father God, and to claim us as Your own.  Lord, please give us the strength and the courage to help bring others to You.  Help us live Your commandment, Your commission, and to go into the world and make more disciples for You.  Help us help them find the path to salvation.  It is in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Get Up and Pray

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 17th of July, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

In our anthem this morning, our choir encouraged us to take time to be holy.  Speak often with God, feed on His word.  By looking to Jesus, like Him we will be.

Speaking with God is simply praying, talking to Him and listening for His response.  Feeding on His word is accomplished by reading our Holy Bible.  Looking to Jesus is studying His life, His words, His teachings, so that we can get to know Him better and become more and more like Him.

And it all takes time.  It takes time to be holy.  Sadly, we’re not always willing to give up that time.  Not even Jesus’ dearest disciples would always give up the time for something Jesus considered critically important: prayer.  Listen and follow along to one incident when Jesus asked His closest friends to stop and pray, from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 22 verses 39 through 46, from the New Living Translation…

39 Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. 40 There He told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened Him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

45 At last He stood up again and returned to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.”

--Luke 22:39-46 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come before You this morning to worship You and to learn from You and Your word.  Speak to us that we might understand the message You have for us and allow us to better discern Your will.  In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A man took his small son with him to town one day to run some errands.  When lunch time arrived, the pair went to a diner for a sandwich.  The father sat down on one of the stools at the counter and lifted the boy up to the seat beside him.  They ordered lunch, and when the waiter brought the food, the father said, "Son, we'll just have a silent prayer."  Dad got through praying first and waited for the boy to finish his prayer, but the lad just sat with his head bowed for an unusually long time.  When he finally looked up, his father asked him, "What in the world were you praying about all that time?"  With the innocence and honesty of a child, his son replied, "How do I know?  It was a silent prayer."

When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy, he once told his mother matter-of-factly, "Momma, you can't be good without praying."  "How do you know, Robert?" she asked.  "Because I've tried!" he answered.

This is like the young lad who was sent to his room because he’d been bad.  After a short time he came out and said to his mother, "I've been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer."  "I’m glad", she said.  "If you ask God to make you behave, He will help you."  "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me be good," the boy replied.  "I asked Him to help you put up with me."


That’s the thing about prayers…  Sometimes we just don’t ask for the right thing.  We think we know what we want, but God always knows what we need.  When we ask for something, do we give any thought to how it might affect others?  Do we think we can get by without His help, being good on our own?  Should we ask God to help us be less sinful, or should we just pray that He be more forgiving of our sins?

How many of us truly believe in the power of prayer?  How many believe that God not only still listens, but also answers our prayers?  How many are sure that anything we ask in Jesus’ name, He will do for us, if we only truly and fully believe He will?  How many of us can walk on water?

I’d bet most of us would answer in the positive to the first three of those questions, but I’m equally sure we’d say “no can do” to the fourth.


I’m kind of picking up today where I left off last week.  Without God, we are nothing, we can do nothing, we would have nothing.  If we fully comprehend and admit that simple concept, then wouldn’t it be in our best interests to try to get and stay within God’s good graces?  Wouldn’t it make sense for us to be His friend, to stay on His good side?

Why, then, do not more of us try to get to know Him better and build a better, closer relationship with Him and with His Son, Jesus?  Do we think that just because God is a spiritual being that we can’t have a one-on-one connection with Him?  Since Jesus no longer walks the earth, have we no recourse left to get to know Him better?


Family, there are many ways to grow closer to God, to learn more about our Savior Jesus.  One of the best is to study His word – to not just read but really study our Bible.  On Tuesday evenings, we’ll have between 6 to 12 participants in our weekly Bible Study.  Why don’t we have 50, or 100?  Does everyone else already know God well enough, already understand everything Jesus has to teach us?

No, I think it’s more that this particular activity – studying the Bible – takes time, and a good bit of time if we really dig in with both hands.  And you know…  it takes time to be holy.

Fortunately, there is another way to get closer to God, one that doesn’t require a whole lot of time for study.  The simplest thing in the world we can do is pray.  It’s nothing more than talking to God, talking to Jesus.  We know how to talk.  Some of us are very good at it.

But how often do we just take a few moments out of our day to have a good conversation with our heavenly Father or with our Lord and Savior?  If we can spend 30 minutes telling our best friend about the trip we just took, why can’t we do the same with Jesus?  Sure He already knows everything that happened, but He wants to hear our version.  Because He wants to spend time with us.  He loves us and wants to be with us as much as we’ll let Him.


Most folks usually reserve prayer time just for asking for God’s help.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Jesus encouraged us to do so and we do just that right here every week.  There are things that will happen to us in this life that only God can help with.  And Jesus assures us that when we call on our heavenly Father for help, He will answer.

Now He might not always answer the way we would want Him to.  He knows what’s best, even if we don’t have a clue.  He knows what we need.  But Jesus made us a promise, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in chapter 21 verse 22 of his Gospel account…

22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

--Matthew 21:22 (NKJV)

Jesus formed a two part equation in that simple verse: pray, and believe.  First we have to pray.  We have to have a conversation with God and ask for what we want or need.  And then we have to believe that it will be provided.  We must have faith that what we ask will indeed be granted.  And that is a pretty good definition of faith: fully trusting that what we ask for will be granted.


My brothers and sisters, God is good.  He listens to our prayers, and He answers them, although not always in a way we would prefer, or even recognize.  Jesus tried to get His closest friends to stay awake for just a short time and to pray.  He knew that they were mere weak humans who can and do easily fall prey to Satan and his many temptations.  So before He went off to be alone with His Father, He told them to pray to God that they not fall victim to Satan’s traps.  But when He came back, He found them asleep.  They wouldn’t give up those precious few moments to seek God’s help – they wanted to sleep.  “Wake up!”, Jesus probably shouted at them.  “Get up and pray!”

Well, family, it’s time for us to wake up!  It’s time for us to get up and pray!  Pray to God for His help in resisting temptation.  Pray for the well-being of others.  Pray for His divine intervention in a world that seems to be falling apart.  Pray for yourself, for each other, for our loved ones.  And pray…  pray because God loves us and wants to spend some good personal time with us.

Just pray – just get up and pray.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You do so much for us, and ask for so little in return.  You ask that we believe in Jesus as Your Son, our Christ and Savior.  And You ask that we spend a little time in prayer, talking to You, sharing our love with You.  It is just one way that we can grow closer to You each day, and the simplest way we have to interact with You, as often as we wish.  Forgive us, please Father, when we don’t think we can spare the time to spend with You.

Listen now, please Father, as we cry out to You from our hearts in the silence, speaking directly to You without words, giving You our thanks and seeking Your forgiveness, spending just a few moments getting closer to You…

Lord Jesus, You’ve said to us that all we have to do is ask in Your name and have faith that our plea will be answered, and our Father will hear and respond.  You also tell us that we need to wake up from this Satan-induced slumber and pray - pray for God’s help to resist the devil’s temptations.  Forgive us, Lord, when we can’t or won’t take the time to do so.  Help us, please Lord, to make time, to take time to be holy.  Thy will be done, Lord.  Thy will be done.  It is in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Without Him

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 10th of July, 2016.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

What do you think when you watch the nightly news on TV or read about current events in our paper or online?  What crosses your mind as the images of horrific violence flash across the screen or through your brain, from places all around the globe and even right here at home?

Do you wonder what in the world is going on?  Do you suppose that maybe God has now abandoned this land He once smiled upon, has now forsaken us?  Has God left us?  Or did we leave Him?

An Old Testament prophet most folks have never heard of, or don’t remember, answered some of these questions thousands of years ago.  Listen and follow along to a brief account of Azariah, the son of Oded, as recorded by the scribe Ezra in the 2nd Book of Chronicles, chapter 15, verses 1 through 8, from the New Living Translation…

1 Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle.  “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted.  “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin!  The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him!  Whenever you seek Him, you will find Him.  But if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.  3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them.  4 But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought Him out, they found Him.

5 “During those dark times, it was not safe to travel.  Problems troubled the people of every land.  6 Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem.  7 But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

8 When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet, he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim.  And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in front of the entry room of the Lord’s Temple.

--2 Chronicles 15:1-8 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come before You this morning to worship You and to listen to Your word.  Speak to our spirits that we might receive and understand the message You have for us to carry us through the week ahead.  In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


On many levels, the scripture I just read is one of revival.  The Holy Spirit of God came upon Azariah, who went out and effectively shared that Spirit with King Asa.  Asa was so moved that he began taking the land of Judah back for God.  He was revived by the Holy Spirit and he made things happen.

Revival.  A Lutheran bishop once told of visiting a parish church in California and finding a bright red and orange banner on the wall with the inviting words, "Come Holy Spirit.  Hallelujah!"  Above those words was the image of a burning fire. The bishop was somewhat taken aback by a sign posted directly beneath the banner which read, "Fire Extinguisher".  So much for that church's commitment to spiritual renewal.

A lady once asked Evangelist Billy Sunday, "Why do you keep having revivals when it doesn't last?"  Billy responded by asking her, "Why do you keep taking baths?"

The truth is, we need constant revival.  We need to be reminded everyday of just what we have with Jesus, and how lost we would be without Him.  There are fire extinguishers everywhere we look.  So we need to keep Jesus in our sight at all times.  We must not abandon God, for without Him we are nothing.


In our Responsive Reading this morning, we affirmed that we are all weakness, but God is our eternal strength.  And with Him we can walk through this life today and every day.  In our anthem, the choir declared that without Him we could do nothing.  We’d simply be drifting along, like a ship without a sail.  We’d be lost – completely, utterly lost.

The Apostle Paul understood this concept of being lost all too well.  Here’s what he told the Ephesians, in chapter 2 verses 12 and 13, when he describes our time before accepting Jesus as Lord…

12 At that time you did not know about Christ.  You were foreigners to the people of Israel, and you had no part in the promises that God had made to them.  You were living in this world without hope and without God, 13 and you were far from God.  But Christ offered His life’s blood as a sacrifice and brought you near God.

--Ephesians 2:12-13 (CEV)

We were far from God – He was not far from us, but we were far from Him.  Then Jesus brought us near to God once again by His sacrifice on the cross and our acceptance of Him as our Lord and Master.

But just as Azariah alluded to, it is up to us to stay with Jesus.  In the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 15 verses 4 and 5, Jesus cautions us to…

4 “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.”

--John 15:4-5 (HCSB)

Without Him we can do nothing!  John the Baptist even took that a step further, as he answered an accusatory question from the Pharisees about Jesus that the Apostle John recorded in his Gospel account, chapter 3 verse 27…

27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."

--John 3:27 (NKJV)

Not only can we do nothing without Christ, we can get nothing if it hasn’t been given from heaven!  And that makes sense, when we take this all together with what the Apostle John tells us in the opening verses of his Gospel…

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

--John 1:1-3 (NKJV)

Without Jesus, we can do nothing, we can receive nothing, and nothing was even made!  But with Jesus - staying in Him, remaining in Him, abiding with Him – we have everything!  My personal life verse, Philippians 4:13, proclaims…

13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

--Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

I can do nothing without Jesus, but through Him and the strength He gives me, I can do anything!  If I had enough faith, I could even walk on water.


So yes, we look around the world and we have to shake our heads and wonder what is going to become of us all.  Even those of us that have accepted Jesus as Lord and who try our best to follow Him and obey His voice, we still worry about what is going to happen next.

Well, family, we have good reason to worry.  Not about ourselves, unless we are only pretending to be faithful to Jesus.  No, we’re covered by the shadow of the cross and the blood of the Lamb shed on our behalf.

But what of the rest of the world?  What of all those who refuse Jesus as Master, who deny Him as the Son of God?  What of those who only give lip service to being a Christian but live their lives contrary to His commands and teachings?

We see the awful violence everywhere and wonder where will it strike next, who will be its next victim?  A long time ago, the prophet Isaiah tried to warn us, in the 10th chapter of his book of prophecy, verses 1 through 4…

1 You people are in for trouble! You have made cruel and unfair laws 2 that let you cheat the poor and needy and rob widows and orphans. 3 But what will you do when you are fiercely attacked and punished by foreigners? Where will you run for help? Where will you hide your valuables? 4 How will you escape being captured or killed? The Lord is still angry, and he isn’t through with you yet!

--Isaiah 10:1-4 (CEV)

We - the human race – we’re in trouble.  We’ve passed cruel and unfair laws that cheat the poor and needy, robbing from what should go to widows and orphans.  What will we do if God punishes us for our actions and our inactions?  Where can we turn if God is against us, where can we hide that He cannot find us?

Family, the Lord is still angry!  And He’s not done with us yet!


I know I’ve thrown a lot at you this morning.  Only you and God know which parts apply specifically to you.  I’ve quoted more scripture than usual because my words may be meaningless, but the word of God is inerrant and true.  With Jesus, by remaining true and faithful to Him and obeying His voice, we have everything, we can do anything, we are given everlasting life.  Without Him, we’re in deep trouble.

That isn’t to say we will escape all of life’s tribulations and troubles if we stay with Jesus.  There’s no promise of that in this life.  Just because we have to still live in this world, we may fall victim to some of what Isaiah warns us.  We may get caught in a rampage of violence.  Even the innocent still suffer.  But with Jesus, and only with Jesus, we have the promise of unimaginable treasures and everlasting life with God in heaven once our life on this ball of dirt closes and the next begins.

Without Jesus, we have nothing.  With Him, we have everything.  Keep your faith strong, and share the Gospel of Jesus with others so that they too may share in God’s glory.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, if we only stop a moment to realize, we know within our heart of hearts that You are our everything.  We know that all things come from heaven and we would have nothing without You.  Father, please forgive us when we fail to acknowledge this, when we take for granted all that You bestow upon us.  Forgive us especially, Father, when we forget how much Jesus gave us, there upon that cross at Calvary.

Hear us now, Father, as we reaffirm our belief in Your Son, as we speak to You from our hearts in the silence, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, without You, life would be unbearable.  Without You, we would have no hope.  Without You, we would have no reason to take even one more step.  But with You, Lord Jesus, with You we have everything.  Through You we receive the strength to carry on.  Through You we may come to our Father God, who grants us eternal life by His amazing grace.  Thank You, Lord!  It is in Your precious, blessed name, dear Jesus, we pray.  Amen.

Let Freedom Ring

[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 3rd of July, 2016, as we celebrated Independence Day.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

July the 4th, Independence Day, what many consider to be the birthday of this nation.  On July 4th, 1776, we declared our freedom from English rule.  The concept of freedom is not new, of course.  Jesus Himself addressed the issue long ago.

Listen and follow along to a brief discussion He had with some of His Jewish believers as recorded by the Apostle John in the 8th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 36, from the New King James Version of our Bible…

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

--John 8:31-36 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we come before You this morning to worship You and to listen to Your word.  Speak to our spirits that we might receive and understand the message You have for us today.  In the holy name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Rev. Frederick Baker once wrote that Satan was on the side of life’s road with a very large cage.  A man coming towards him noticed that the cage was crammed full of people of every kind – young and old, from every race and every nation.

“Where did you get these people?" the man asked.  “Oh, from all over the world,” Satan replied.  “I lure them with drinking, drugs, lust, lies, anger, hate, love of money, and all manner of things.  I pretend I’m their friend, out to give them a good time, then when I’ve hooked them, into the cage they go.”  “And what are you going to do with them now?”, asked the man.

Satan grinned.  “I’m going to prod them, provoke them, get them to hate and destroy each other; I’ll stir up racial hatred, defiance of law and order; I’ll make people bored, lonely, dissatisfied, confused and restless.  It’s easy.  People will always listen to what I offer them and what’s better, they’ll blame God for the outcome!”  “And then what?”, the man asked.  “Those who do not destroy themselves, I will destroy. None will escape me.”, Satan replied.

The man stepped forward.  “Can I buy these people from you?”, he asked.

Satan snarled, “Yes, but it will cost you your life.”

So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, paid for our release, our freedom from Satan’s trap, with His own life, on the cross at Calvary.  The door is open, and anyone that Satan has deceived and caged can be set free.


Those of us who have been released from that cage understand the full depth of God’s wonderful grace.  Those still trapped in the cage are in desperate need of hearing and accepting the Gospel.  Only then can they receive true freedom.


Tomorrow, we, as a nation, will celebrate our independence from foreign tyranny.  And it is right that we should do so.  In the Book of Leviticus, Moses tells us to “proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants”.  In other words… let freedom ring.

But we must never forget how our liberty was gained.  We fought a long war against incredible odds, doing battle with the greatest military power in the world at that time.  They were well trained and disciplined; we were a ragtag group of poorly armed farmers and clerks.  Anyone who studies this period in our history can only conclude, as did George Washington and others of our forefathers, that we succeeded only by the help of God.

July 4th marks the signing of our Declaration of Independence from England.  And the real purpose of that document was to proclaim to the world our belief in a personal, all-powerful God, who endowed us with certain inalienable rights.  In it we stated truths we hold to be self-evident.  But what is truth?  In our scripture reading Jesus says if we follow His teachings and obey His word then we will know the truth, and it will set us free.

Again, what is truth?  The answer is in our Bible, in the Gospel according to John, chapter 14, verse 6…

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

--John 14:6 (NKJV)

Jesus is the Son and the Truth, and it is only through Him that we are truly set free.  Understand, though, that the freedom Jesus offers is from the chains of sin.  As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, in chapter 8, verses 1 and 2…

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

--Romans 8:1-2 (NKJV)

Now this doesn’t relieve us of worldly responsibilities.  The Apostle Peter reminds us of our obligations in his 1st letter, chapter 2, verses 13 through 17…

13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

--1 Peter 2:13-17 (NKJV)

Notice that Peter cautions us to not use our liberty, our freedom, as some sort of cloak to continue sinning.  Paul reinforces this warning, in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 5 verse 1…

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

--Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

Stay free in Jesus and don’t put on that yoke of slavery to sin ever again!

Our independence as a nation is not a coincidence, in my opinion.  It derives solely from our dependence on God.  But I fear we, as a nation, have not listened to the warnings of Peter and Paul.  We no longer honor all people, or fear God.  Too many Christians hide under the cover of the freedom Jesus provides only to continue their sinful ways.  We have failed to stand fast in our liberty, becoming entangled yet again in the traps Satan constantly sets.

What can we do about this?  The answer is again found in our Bible.  In the 2nd Book of the Chronicles, chapter 7 verse 14, the scribe Ezra writes…

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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.

--2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

As a nation, we need to humble ourselves before God.  We need to repent, turning away from our sinful nature and turning toward Jesus - seeking His ways, following His voice.

If we are truly free then we must be careful not to become entangled once again by Satan’s handiwork.  And we must help others become free by showing them Jesus and sharing His Good News with them.

This is liberty, through Jesus!  This is freedom!

Let freedom ring!

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, 240 years ago You stood beside the peoples of this great land and helped them gain their freedom from foreign rule.  2000 years ago You sent to us Your own Son who gives us true freedom from sin and death.  Thank You, Father.  May we never forget all that You have done for us!

Hear us now, Father, as we give You thanks personally and speak to You from our hearts what words cannot express…

Lord Jesus, through You we are set free from the chains of sin and death.  Without You we can do nothing, but through You we can do anything.  Thank You, Lord, for freeing us – please help us remain free.  It is in Your holy name, dear Jesus, we pray.  Amen.