[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…
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…
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…
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.
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)
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.
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