Choices

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 26th of March, 2017, the fourth Sunday in Lent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Each week of Lent we come closer and closer on our journey that leads to the cruel cross.  And each step along this trip we have choices to make.  I don’t just mean the biggest choice, of deciding whether to believe in and follow Jesus as Lord or not.  There are also a lot of little decisions, little choices, we must make along the way.  Little choices, perhaps, but their consequences are huge.

Jesus often tried to give us suggestions and warnings about just how we should live our lives, and what should direct our decision making processes.  Listen and follow along to the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, from chapter 25, verses 31 through 46, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

--Matthew 25:31-46 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we can read in our Bible where Jesus told us time and again how to live, what to do, how to act, so that we might be granted entry into Your kingdom of heaven and then rewarded once there.  We read, but we don’t always understand, nor do we always follow what we do understand.  We need Your guidance, Father.  Let Your Holy Spirit speak directly into our hearts the message You would have us hear this morning.  In the beloved name of Jesus we pray.   Amen.


While walking down the street one day, a corrupt Senator was tragically hit by a car and died.  His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.  "Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem.  We seldom see a high ranking official around these parts, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the Senator.  "Well, I'd like to," responds St. Peter, "but I have orders from higher up.  What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven.  Then you can choose where to spend eternity."  "Oh, I've already decided that one.  I want to be in heaven", says the Senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules", and with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.  The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a beautiful green golf course.  In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians he had worked with over the years.  Everyone is very happy and in evening dress.  They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.  They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.  Also present is the devil, who seems to be a very friendly guy, going around dancing and telling jokes.  They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it’s time to go.  Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him and says, "Now it's time to visit heaven.”  Twenty-four hours pass with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing.  They have a good time and before he knows it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."  The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers, "Well, I would never have said it before - I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."  So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

This time when the doors of the elevator open, he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.  All his friends are dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls to the ground.  The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around the Senator's shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammers the Senator.  "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time!  Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable.  What happened?"  The devil smiles at him and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning.  Today, you voted."


While that little is humorous and maybe hits a little too close to home in our present age, it does point out that we need to be very careful in our decision making processes.  Our decisions carry consequences, whether we’re willing to accept responsibility for them or not.

Columbia researcher Sheena Iyengar determined that the average person makes about 70 decisions every day.  That works out to 25,500 decisions a year.  Over a 70 year lifetime, that's 1,788,500 decisions!  20th century philosopher Albert Camus once said that, "Life is a sum of all your choices."

We could say that if we put all those thousands of choices together, we’d have a picture of who we are right now.  Each one of those decisions represents a fork in the road of our lives, where we went one direction or the other.  Put them all together and we end up here.  But Jesus says there’s more to it than that.  Much more.


Jesus says that when He returns, everyone who is alive or who ever lived will be brought to stand before Him.  And then He will separate us, just like a shepherd separates the goats from the sheep.  The prophet Ezekiel foresaw this judgment, as we can read in the 34th chapter of his book, verse 17…

17 "‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats."'"

--Ezekiel 34:17 (NKJV)

When separating the sheep – those who followed Jesus – from the goats – those who rebelled against Him – He will place the sheep to His right side, which is symbolic of high honor and worthiness.  Remember in the Apostles’ Creed where we say that Jesus ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty?  Being at God’s right hand is a good thing.

And did you hear in Ezekiel’s words that God called us His flock?  As we just learned in Bible Study recently, Jesus called us that, too.  This comes from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 12, verses 29 through 32…

29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

--Luke 12:29-32 (NKJV)

“Little flock.”  If we seek God first and don’t worry about what we eat or drink or wear, but trust in Him to provide, then those at least become choices we don’t have to make.  And that means those become choices we don’t have to worry about messing up.

Last Sunday evening at Memorial, I read from the Apostle John’s Gospel account, which includes the most famous of all Bible verses: John 3:16.  I spoke of how, ultimately, we have the decision to make of whether we want to be saved, or condemned.

Saying it like that, the choice would be easy, wouldn’t it?  Like the Senator in our story first said, we’d rather be saved and go to heaven.  But it isn’t that easy, as the Senator learned.  Satan wants to make sure it isn’t easy.

So it doesn’t just come down to that one simple question, of being saved or condemned, of choosing to believe in Jesus or deny Him.  Every one of those 70 decisions we make each day is an opportunity to do something to please the Lord, or to sadden Him.  Every choice we make reflects our true heart, and tells the truth of whether we have fully accepted Jesus as Lord or not.  The TV shows and movies we choose to watch, the books and magazines we choose to read, the music we choose to listen to…  The list goes on and on, but in each of those choices we declare where our heart is.  Do we allow Satan to tempt us to watch or read something trashy, or something wholesome that will help us in our Christian walk?

In our scripture reading from Matthew, Jesus clearly tells us that even the little choices we make will ultimately determine our fate.  When we help feed the homeless, like we did last night, Jesus sees that as feeding Him when He was hungry.  When we try to help make clean drinking water available to those who do not have ready access to it, Jesus considers that as giving Him water when He was thirsty.  When we provide for the needs of those who are not one of us, not like us; when we visit the institutionalized, the lonely, the sick; when we go to those in jail and prison and carry the Good News to them and offer them love and support – in all these acts, it is just as if we were doing them for Jesus as for other people.  For just as we do to the least of God’s children, we do for Jesus, God’s Son!


We have some tough choices to make in life.  We can choose to give up a few hours here and there to take an active role and help see to the needs of others in a meaningful way, or we can ignore them and do the kind of activities we enjoy most.  We can show the love of Jesus to everyone we come across, or we can save our love for ourselves and our families.

We can be as sheep, heeding our Master’s voice, obeying His commands, following Him in our daily walk, to later share in all the glory of the kingdom of God forever and ever.  Or we can be like the goats our Lord will separate off to His left and send to the everlasting fire with the condemnation, “Depart from Me, you cursed”.

The choice is ours, and we make that big choice with each little choice.  Earlier I noted that philosopher Albert Camus said, "Life is a sum of all your choices."  Well, family, little flock, our final choice is a sum of all the choices we have made in our lifetime.  Remember this the next time you have to make a decision, any decision, regardless of how small or trivial it may seem.  Every choice matters.  Choose wisely.

All in the blessed name of our Redeemer Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, Your love and Your mercy knows no bounds.  You love us so much that You sent Your only Son to us so that we can be saved from the consequences of all our bad decisions if we would only believe in Him.  Even then You give us a choice.  We can believe in Jesus and receive everlasting life with You in heaven, or we can deny Him as Lord and be doomed for all eternity.  May our love for You, Father, and for Your Son Jesus, be reflected in everything we think, do, and say.

Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, acknowledging our belief in Your Son Jesus and our acceptance of Him as our Master, rededicating ourselves to His service, promising to repent of our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…

Lord Jesus, we do believe in You.  You are the one true Son of God, sent by the Father to offer us the gift of everlasting life.  We recognize You as our Savior - now please help us accept You as our Master, as the One who rules over us, Whose will we have sworn to obey.

Gracious Lord, we do not want to be culled out and sent to the left with the goats.  You have made it very clear what we must do to be counted among Your sheep.  First and foremost we must believe in You and accept You as our Lord, our Master.  Precious Jesus, if there is one present this morning who does not know You or who is unsure in their belief, then please lead them to me that together we might bring them to You.

And then Lord You show us that we must love each other, no matter what.  We must show that love in tangible ways, put that love into practice by helping others when they are helpless.  We must understand that You consider us to be ignoring You when we ignore others in their time of need.  Lord, may we never ignore You.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing us the way we must walk.

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

Saved or Condemned?

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday evening, the 19th of March, 2017, during our joint Lenten service held at Memorial Evangelical and Reformed Church.]

A little over two weeks ago, on Ash Wednesday we stepped out on a journey known as Lent.  This is a long, arduous journey that carries us from the wilderness where Jesus was tempted by Satan and drops us off at the foot of the cruel cross where our Lord was crucified.

Folks that really love the Lord hate that He had to suffer so much, and they often ask why?  Why did He have to go through this?  Why did it have to be this way?

I believe Jesus Himself answered that for us.  Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel Account of the Apostle John, chapter 3, verses 1 through 18, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  2 He came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God.  For no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can this be?”

10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, but you do not know these things?  11 Truly, truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and bear witness of what We have seen, but you do not receive Our testimony.  12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  13 No one has ascended to heaven except He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven.  14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  18 He who believes in Him is not condemned.  But he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

--John 3:1-18 (MEV)

Let us pray…

Father God, we try to follow Your Son Jesus, but sometimes we just don’t completely grasp what He is trying to tell us or what He has done for us.  Speak directly to our hearts, Father, that we might better understand the message Jesus has for us, that we might better discern Your will for our lives.  In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Just before they were married, a husband and wife decided that he would make all the major decisions during their life together and she would make the minor ones.  After 20 years of marriage, he was asked how this arrangement had worked out for them.  "Great!”, he replied.  “In all these years I've never had to make a major decision."


Speaking of decisions, while it may be true that there are two sides to every question, it is also true that there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper.  It makes a very big difference to the fly which side he chooses.


We all face choices in this life, and on a daily basis.  We choose what we want to dress in each morning, what we want for dinner, what book to read, what TV show to watch after supper.

Some of those choices, while they may seem innocent enough, can reflect on the greater choices we make.  Are the clothes we put on a little too revealing or risqué?  Is our menu choice healthy, good for our body?  Is that book we’re reading something that will help us in our Christian walk, or is it more akin to “Fifty Shades of Grey”?  Does that TV show promote good moral living or gain laughs and viewership by filling the time with sexual innuendo or worse?

In other words, do the choices we make on a daily basis reflect our full acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, following the path He laid and the instructions He gave?  Or do they show that we are still too closely aligned with the world and its value system?


Our scripture reading tonight includes the one Bible verse that more people are familiar with than any other – even people who don’t know the Bible and those who claim no religious beliefs or who don’t believe in Christ.  We don’t even have to say the words.  All we need to do is mention “John 3:16” and people know exactly what we’re talking about.  But while this passage tells of the full depth of God’s love for mankind and for all His creation, it also speaks of choices.

Nicodemus just didn’t get it.  He recognized that Jesus was God sent, but he could not see past the flesh of the man to recognize God standing before him.  Nor could he understand what Jesus was trying to get across to him regarding the path he must follow for salvation, to “see the kingdom of God”, as Jesus put it.

At least Nicodemus was trying to understand, for he kept asking our Lord for explanations to all He said.  And can’t you just feel the exasperation Jesus must have experienced.  Here is a teacher of the people of Israel, a religious leader, someone who is well versed in the Law of Moses and the books we know as the Old Testament, yet he failed to grasp that God is Spirit and must be worshiped in the spirit, that man must be born again of the Spirit, of God’s Holy Spirit.

Jesus even points to an incident in the Jewish people’s history, when Moses raised up a serpent made from bronze on a pole while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness.  Do you remember that story?  The people were questioning God as they had done so many times before, in effect rebelling against His authority.  So God sent fiery serpents throughout the camp, biting people and making them ill, many dying from the bites.  To be healed, they needed to show their faith by simply looking upon the bronze serpent that Moses raised up on a pole over them, according to God’s instructions.

That serpent served as a symbol of the people’s sin and judgment, raised from the earth and hung on a tree.  Jesus not only serves as a symbol of our sin, He takes our sin upon Himself so that we have the chance to be judged fit to enter heaven, that we not perish for all eternity in the lake of fire if we only believe in Him!  He took our sins, and our judgment will be from Him.  Nicodemus didn’t understand this.  Do we?

And then we get to the part everyone knows, the part that’s all about God’s love.  God does not want us to perish.  He wants us to have everlasting life with Him in heaven.  That’s why He sent Jesus to atone for our sins.  That’s why He signed a new covenant with us, sealed by the blood of His only Son.

People have a little more trouble grasping what comes next.  God didn’t send Jesus to condemn us, but to save us!  Jesus came to us and sacrificed Himself for us that we might be saved from eternal damnation!  If we would only believe, and in believing, follow Him.  If we don’t believe, we’re already condemned.


Choices.  Do we really believe?  Do we truly try our best to follow Jesus?  Or are we a little too comfortable in the world?  Do our daily decisions accurately reflect doing what Jesus commands us to do, following the example He set?  Or are we too often more consumed with what we desire in this life, with what we want from the world, with what other people are doing and saying and thinking?  Do we fully and completely believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God, that Jesus will judge us in the end, that He is our Master whose every command we should follow without question?

God gave us the choice: believe or not, commit or not - be saved or be condemned.


Christian writer C.S. Lewis once offered this cautionary piece of advice:

“When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over.  God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in?  This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.  It will be too late then to choose your side.  That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not.  Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”


Right now, tonight, right here in this place may be the last chance we have to choose exactly which side we serve.  Do we choose God and fully commit ourselves to His Son Jesus, or do we choose to remain in the world and enjoy all it has to offer with little thought of what comes tomorrow?  If we take our last breath on this earth tonight in our sleep and awake to see the face of God, it will be too late.  If the final trumpet sounds as we leave this building, it will be too late.

I know this isn’t a revival service, but we might not have time before revival comes around.  So I am going to ask my brother Pastors gathered here tonight to join me down front as we sing our closing hymn.

If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior, now is the time to come forward and accept Him as Lord.  If you are not fully committed to following and serving Him, now is the time to rededicate your life to Him.  Come lay your burdens at the foot of His cross.  Come and let us pray together.

Are we saved, or condemned already?  The choice is ours.  Choose wisely.  Believe, and be saved.

In the glorious name of Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to just how much You love us.  But sadly, Father, there are many who don’t understand that love.  Nor do they see just how important it is that they accept Your love by accepting Your Son Jesus as Lord.  Please, Father, help us fully grasp just what sending Your Son means to us.  Help us realize the full significance of His atoning sacrifice on our behalf.  Open our eyes, that we might see, Father.  Open our minds that we might know.  Open our hearts that we might love as You love.  Please hear us now, Lord God, as we come to you in the silence, praying straight from our hearts…

Lord Jesus, we have failed You in so many ways.  We claim to love You and follow Your words, yet we just can’t seem to pull ourselves away from the temptations of the world.  We try to obey You, but there are just people who we can’t stand, who press all our hot buttons, who scare us, who embarrass us, who we simply cannot find it within ourselves to love as You would have us love.  Forgive us, Jesus.  We hear the words that there can be no atonement of sin without a sacrifice of blood, we read that You allowed Your own blood to be shed that we might be washed clean, we know that the choice is ours to believe and be saved or not believe and be condemned, yet we struggle to give evidence of our belief by fully obeying Your commands.

Father God, we repent of our rebellion!  We want to believe and show our belief by obeying Your Son.  Help us to turn fully from our sin, help us to ignore the world and all its trappings when it conflicts with what Jesus would have us do.  Help us make the right choice so that we can have life everlasting with You and Jesus in heaven.

This we pray, in the righteous name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Look, Here Is Water!

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 19th of March, 2017, the second Sunday in Lent.  Today’s service included adult baptisms and receiving new members, all toward the end of the message.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Jesus was tried, executed, pronounced dead, then buried and sealed within a tomb.  His followers were lost, confused, heart-broken.  But then He rose from the grave and came back to them, giving them some final instructions before ascending back into heaven.  His disciples found new hope.

Unfortunately, a Pharisee named Saul was wreaking havoc among the ranks of believers, having countless numbers arrested and imprisoned.  Many of the disciples scattered, leaving Jerusalem for fear of their lives, but they spread the Good News of Jesus as they went.

Philip was among those who left.  Listen and follow along to his experience as recorded in the Apostle Luke’s account of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses 26 through 40, and I’ll be reading from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise up and go toward the south on the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  This is desert.  27 So he rose up and went.  And there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in command of her entire treasury.  He had come to Jerusalem to worship.  28 He was returning, sitting in his chariot and reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.  29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to this chariot and stay with it.” 

30 Then Philip ran to him, and heard him read the book of Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?" 

31 He said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”  So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 

32 The passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: 

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation justice was denied Him;
who will speak of His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.” 

34 The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or of someone else?”  35 Then Philip spoke, beginning with the same Scripture, and preached Jesus to him. 

36 As they went on their way, they came to some water.  And the eunuch said, “Look, here is water.  What hinders me from being baptized?”  37 Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”  He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  38 And he commanded the chariot to halt.  Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.  39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away.  And the eunuch saw him no more, and he went his way rejoicing.  40 But Philip was found at Azotus.  And passing through, he preached the gospel in all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

--Acts 8:26-40 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, many times we can read in our Bible where You spoke to those who believed in you and Your Son Jesus through Your Holy Spirit or one of Your angels.  Speak to us now, Father.  Let Your Holy Spirit speak directly into our hearts the message You would have us hear this day.  In the beloved name of Jesus we pray.   Amen.


Although Susie was raised a Methodist, she started attending a Baptist church when she moved to a new community.  One day she was helping a group of women clean the church kitchen.  She emptied the large electric coffeepot and handed it to the lady washing dishes.

The lady washing dishes asked, “Can this be washed like everything else?”

“No,” Susie replied.  “This is a Methodist coffeepot.  It says right here: ‘DO NOT IMMERSE’.”


Three ministers were discussing the problem of bats in the attic at church and how difficult they were to get rid of.  The first minister said that his congregation had tried "smoking them out", but they still came back.  Another had tried poisoning them, but enough survived to repopulate the attic.  The third minister shared his solution: "I just baptized and confirmed them all, and they NEVER came back!"


There are all kinds of jokes about baptisms out there, but those two are definitely among my favorites.  Of course, I could have substituted many other denominations and churches in place of “Methodist” in the “do not immerse” category.  And I sincerely pray that those being baptized today will indeed return, and not be scared off like the bats.


Why be baptized?  Do we even need to be baptized?  Is it necessary for our salvation?

There are two schools of thought on that.  My personal take is that baptism is an outward sign of my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Master, my obedience to His command.  What command, you might ask?  Why be baptized?  Jesus tells us to, as seen in the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 through 20…

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

--Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

If we are to go and baptize in His name, it only makes sense that we should be baptized ourselves.  One way to look at this is that God signed a covenant agreement with us using the blood of His Son Jesus granting us eternal life in heaven.  We sign our line on that agreement with our baptism.  And we build up the body of Christ, His church on earth, by going out and making new disciples, baptizing them in turn and teaching them what Jesus taught us.

Another way we build up the body of Christ is by welcoming new members into His church.  Now many of you know that I do not care where someone goes to church, as long as they are getting fed the word of God, as long as their spiritual needs are being met.  And I don’t care if someone is an “official” member when they come here to be fed.  I just care that they know Jesus as their personal Savior, that they receive the true word and bread of God, that they know they are loved and welcomed by the church family.

Members are vital to the church, and a church is only vital – alive – when its members come together.  That’s a two part statement.  The first part is exemplified in what I told the kids a little earlier, and as given by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verse 4 through the first half of verse 6…

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.

--Romans 12:4-6a (NKJV)

We have a bunch of different body parts that must all work together for the body to function as intended.  And that is as true for the body of Christ on earth – His church – as it is for our physical bodies.

And that speaks to the second part of my earlier statement, that the church is only vital when its members come together.  God gives us all different gifts, different abilities.  No one of us can do everything that the church needs done to survive and thrive.  There are areas where one person may be terrible at functioning in but that another person may excel at.

We have to come together and work together or the church will die.  Jesus wants us to come together and work together, for He certainly does not want any part of His body to die.  Regular church service attendance is a huge part of that coming together.  Listen to what King David said in the 1st verse of Psalm 122…

122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

--Psalm 122:1 (NKJV)

We should be glad to be able to come to church, to come into the house of our Lord!  Many people in this world today do not have the opportunity or the freedom to do so.  We are blessed!  We should be glad!

And there’s this, from the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 through 25…

19 My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place 20 by a new way that leads to life!  And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.

21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house.  22 So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith.  Let’s keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water.  23 We must hold tightly to the hope that we say is ours.  After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us.  24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things.  25 Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that.  We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.

--Hebrews 10:19-25 (CEV)

We come together to keep our hearts pure, to encourage one another, to be washed clean spiritually.  We must not get out of the habit of meeting for worship, like some do, especially now that the day of the coming of our Lord is closer at hand.

King David knew how important this is, and we read that he was glad to be able to enter into the house of the Lord.  Listen to what he did while in church, from his 40th Psalm, verses 9 and 10…

9 I have proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation;
I have not held back my lips,
Lord, You know.
10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
from the great congregation.

--Psalm 40:9-10 (MEV)

That sounds a lot like what Paul said in his letter to the Romans, that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved.  Believe, and be saved.


The Apostle John, in his first letter to the far-flung church, chapter 1 verse 7, pretty much sums this all up…

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

--1 John 1:7 (NKJV)

Jesus is our light, our guiding light.  When we come together in fellowship with one another, we walk in His light.  His blood has already cleansed us from all sin.  And now look!  [pointing to Baptism font]  Here is water!  What hinders you from being baptized?


God is not dead, and neither is His Son’s church.  We must not let our faith die out.  We must keep our family strong and vital, by joining together on a regular basis, by recommitting ourselves to serving Christ our Lord, by rededicating our hearts to Jesus and to each other.  None of us can keep a church alive on our own.  It takes all of us, working together, combining the gifts and abilities that God gave us to successfully complete our assigned mission on earth.

Come to the water.  Look,   [pointing to the cross]   here is water!  The living water.  All in the blessed name of our Redeemer Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have generously gifted us so that together we can carry on the work of Your Son Jesus on this earth.  You’ve given us all we need.  We just need to come together and work together and make it all happen.  We need to keep our church family vital, alive, and relevant in our greater community.  Please help us do so, Father.

And please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, acknowledging our belief in and acceptance of Your Son and our Master Jesus and rededicating ourselves to His service, promising to turn from our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…

Lord Jesus, You invite us to come to You.  Bless all those who accept Your call.  Please guide us to those who may be hesitating to take You up on Your offer, who may not believe, or who may think themselves unworthy.  Let them see You in our actions.  Let them hear You in our words.  Let them receive that great and wonderful gift of salvation.

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

Come to the Water

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 12th of March, 2017, the second Sunday in Lent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

During Lent, we reflect on the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  We also look at what our response is, or should be, to our Lord’s selfless act.

If nothing happens in the coming week, next Sunday we will be blessed to participate in the baptisms of two adult members of our church family, and with bringing in four new family members!  I want to prepare us a little for this wonderful occasion.  I want us to think about what it means to come to Jesus.  Listen and follow along to the Gospel account of the Apostle John, from chapter 4, verses 1 through 30 and verses 39 through 42, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that He was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself didn’t baptize them — His disciples did). 3 So He left Judea and returned to Galilee. 

4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually He came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give Me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. 

9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are You asking me for a drink?” 

10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living water.” 

11 “But Sir, You don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would You get this living water? 12 And besides, do You think You’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can You offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” 

13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” 

15 “Please, Sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 

16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. 

17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. 

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband — 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” 

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “You must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that You Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

21 Jesus replied, “Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the One you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 

25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming — the one who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 

26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!” 

27 Just then His disciples came back. They were shocked to find Him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do You want with her?” or “Why are You talking to her?” 28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a Man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see Him. 

39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So He stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear His message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.”

--John 4:1-30, 39-42 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, You showed Your boundless love for us by sending Your own Son to live among us on earth.  Jesus offers us the living, eternal water if we will only recognize and accept just who He is.  Help us to understand, Father.  Speak directly into our hearts and our minds the message You need us to hear this day.  In the loving name of Jesus we pray.   Amen.


Young Assistant Pastor Bill was giving his 427th children's sermon.  "Now kids," began Pastor Bill, "What's green, lives in the pond, sits on a lily pad, and hops?"  The children looked at each other with vacant eyes as silence ruled.  "Surely, someone has an idea!", exclaimed Pastor Bill, nearing exasperation.  Finally, little Susie stood up and said, "Well, it sounds like a frog, but it must be Jesus!"


The story is told of a young student who went to his spiritual teacher and asked the question, "Master, how can I truly find God?"  The teacher asked the student to accompany him to the river which ran by the village and invited him to go into the water.  When they got to the middle of the stream, the teacher said, "Please immerse yourself in the water."  The student did as he was instructed, whereupon the teacher put his hands on the young man's head and held him under the water.  Presently the student began to struggle.  The master held him under.  A moment passed and the student was thrashing and beating the water and air with his arms.  Still the master held him under the water.  Finally, the student was released and he shot up from the water, lungs aching and gasping for air.  The teacher waited a few moments then said, "When you desire God as truly as you desired to breathe the air you just breathed, then you shall find God."


The kids were so used to Pastor Bill talking to them about Jesus, they were puzzled to the point of absolute silence by him describing what surely must be a frog.  They just knew he had to mean Jesus, since Jesus is all he ever taught them.

Students depend upon their teachers, and can be confused if the message isn’t clear to them.  Do you think our poor student who was held under the water until he thought he’d drown got the message?  Do you think he understood?

If we desire God as much as our last, gasping breath on this earth, if we seek Him above all things of this world, then we shall surely find Him.  Then we’ll know that it really is all about Jesus… even if we are using a frog in our lesson.


This story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my favorites.  I use it frequently as a Biblical example of the importance of women in our churches.  There are many such examples available, for all the chauvinists out there.  But this one makes it very clear, in verse 39, that many of the Samaritans in that village came to believe and be saved that day only because the woman ran to them and told them to come see this Man that must be the Messiah!  Yes, they truly believed after they had a chance to see and listen to Jesus, but they would not even have gotten that chance had it not been for her.

Another point I like in this message is that God can take anything or anyone and make good come from it or them.  This woman was far from perfect.  Her past was sketchy and her present situation would be frowned upon by many today and certainly the majority of her village neighbors.  But did Jesus accuse her or judge her for any of this?  Did He condemn her for her sins and tell her to repent?  Did He even mention that her life was a mess, other than to say, “That’s right”, when she admitted she had no husband.

No, Jesus did not accuse or judge or condemn the woman.  Instead, He called her “dear woman”.  And He offered her everlasting life if she would accept and believe that He was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world.


One other aspect of this story I like is the comparison Jesus makes of Himself to water.  Water is arguably the most important necessity to life.  Without water, we fairly quickly die.  Without water, we have no chance.  Jesus says that without Him we die, and not necessarily in this earthly existence but in the eternity to come.  Without Him, we have no chance at everlasting life in heaven with God.

And this is far from the only instance that Jesus invokes an image of water when inviting people to believe in Him.  Listen to what He says a little further along in John’s Gospel account, in chapter 7, verses 37 and 38…

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

--John 7:37-38 (NKJV)

Now notice that not only is Jesus comparing Himself to life-giving water, but says that those who believe in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from their hearts!  That means that we can also issue the same invitation He did.  We can invite people to come to the living water that is Jesus Christ!

Jesus is in us, He flows from us to bless others with salvation.  All they have to do is come to the water.  The prophet Jeremiah, speaking for God, cautions those who do not accept that invitation.  He begins in chapter 17 verse 13 of his prophecy by saying to God…

13 O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who forsake You shall be ashamed.

--Jeremiah 17:13a (NKJV)

And then continues, speaking for God…

“Those who depart from Me
Shall be written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The fountain of living waters.”

--Jeremiah 17:13b (NKJV)

God calls Himself the fountain of living waters.  Jesus is God, He springs from God as His only Son, just as the living waters spring from the fountain that is God.


As I mentioned, next week, if all goes as planned, two of our family will accept Jesus’ call to come to the water and four will be coming into the open arms of our family.  They all chose long ago to follow Jesus, but now they want to openly acknowledge and show their acceptance of the covenant God made with them, sealed by the blood of our Savior.  If you’d like to join them and recommit yourself to Jesus, then simply come forward next week when I extend the invitation.

Come to the water, come to Jesus, and be washed clean.  All in the blessed name of Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You love us so much that You give us every chance in the world to be granted eternal salvation.  All we have to do is believe in Your Son Jesus, accept Him as our Lord and Master, and turn from our sins.  Thank You, Father, for Your faithfulness to us, for Your love that knows no end, for Your infinite mercy and grace.

Please hear us now, Father, as we cry out to You in the quiet of this place, acknowledging our belief in and acceptance of Your Son and our Master Jesus, promising to turn from our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…

Lord Jesus, You tell us to come to You, to come to the Living Water and receive eternal life.  In You we are refreshed in our souls just like clean water refreshes our bodies.  In You we are washed clean of the stains of our sins.  In You we find life everlasting.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming to us when we were lost.  Thank You for sacrificing Yourself so that we might be saved.  Thank You for approaching us, for holding out Your hand to us and saying, “Come.  Come to the water, stand by My side.  I know you are thirsty – you won’t be denied.  I felt every teardrop, when in darkness you cried, and I strove to remind you that for those tears I died.”

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

The Tough Part Starts Here

[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 5th of March, 2017, the first Sunday in Lent.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the first Sunday in Lent, that season of the Christian year when we reflect on the great sacrifice our Lord Jesus made on our behalf.  Part of that reflection involves self-examination into our own lives, our own mortality.

The timeframe of Lent is intended to match the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, but it leads us on a journey from that time shortly after His baptism up to His death on the cross.  We observe this period between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  For Jesus, it was an arduous trek of three years, with a very tough start.

Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Matthew, chapter 3 verse 16 through chapter 4 verse 11, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” 

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ 

and, 

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” 

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” 

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” 

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

--Matthew 3:16-4:11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Son Jesus had a very tough start to His ministry on earth.  For us, every day can be tough.  That’s why we need You so much.  Look into our hearts, Father.  Speak to each of us the message You need us to hear this day.  In the loving name of Jesus we pray.   Amen.


While a man and his wife were shopping at the local mall, they stopped at a kiosk to look at some sunglasses.  A shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress soon strolled by.  The husband's eyes followed her as she passed by and stayed on her as she entered a nearby store.

Without looking up from the item she was examining, the wife asked, "Was it worth the trouble you're in?"


Temptation…  A 1990's survey of readers of the magazine, "Discipleship Journal", ranked areas of their greatest spiritual challenge:

1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness
6. (Tie) Sexual lust
7. Envy
8. Gluttony
9. Lying

Survey respondents noted that temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent).  Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone else (52 percent).


Temptation.  The husband in the mall apparently suffered from the spiritual challenge tied at number 5 on our list: sexual lust.  His wife may have a little trouble with number 2, pride, or number 7, envy.  But the point is, I believe every one of us can find something on that list that does indeed pose a challenge to our spirituality, whether it’s desiring material things or having too much pride, being self-centered or lazy, showing anger and bitterness, sexual lust, envy, or gluttony, or just plain lying.  But we also need to realize we’re not alone in facing these personal challenges.

As we just saw, Jesus also faced temptations, and directly leveled by Satan.  Not only that, but He was led into the wilderness by God’s own Holy Spirit for the sole purpose of being tempted!  Right after God proclaimed how pleased He was with His Son, He put Jesus on the path to temptation.  I think the least God could have done would have been to also say to Jesus, “The tough part starts here, Son.”


Let’s take just a moment to look at the three main temptations Matthew records.  After fasting for 40 days, Jesus – remember: He was fully man as well as fully God – Jesus would have been hungry.  So Satan tempted Him to turn the nearby rocks into bread so He could eat.  In this, and to a degree in the next, the devil is trying to get Jesus to use His divine power to satisfy worldly needs and demands.  How many normal people could resist using the full power of God to our own ends?  Think about something simple, like controlling the weather.  Man would be much more likely to put that ability to use as a weapon, rather than to do good for all mankind.

On the second trial, Satan again tries to get Jesus to use His divine authority for personal reasons, but his attack is more insidious: the devil quotes scripture.  He starts in verse 6 by saying, “For it is written”, and then refers to an old passage.  Listen to the words from Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12…

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

--Psalm 91:11-12 (NKJV)

Satan says, “Prove You’re really God by calling down angels from heaven to protect Your human body.”  The devil is trying to control God, just like he tries to control us.

The third temptation is effectively the same as made to Adam and Eve: to be the same as God.  In this case, the offer is to be owner and master of everything in the world, to take the place of God in the grand order of things.  And all Jesus has to do is to worship Satan as God.  Of course, Jesus will have none of this, and He can quote scripture, too.  He and we must worship God Almighty and God alone.  We must serve only God.


After the third temptation Jesus ordered, “Away with you, Satan!”, and the devil left Him and left Him alone.  If only he would leave us alone, too.

Do you remember that list of challenges from earlier?  Just to refresh our memory, they are materialism, pride, self-centeredness, laziness, anger and bitterness, sexual lust, envy, gluttony, and lying.  Those are tough temptations to resist.

But the same survey that pointed out those challenges also gave us a very big hint on how to confront them.  The respondents mentioned that they had the toughest time when they neglected certain aspects of their Christian life.  Based on that survey, we can see that we will be better armed against Satan’s attack when we are accountable to each other, when we avoid compromising situations, and when we get plenty of rest.  More pertinent to those who follow Jesus, we will have a greater chance resisting the devil’s lures by praying more for help, by studying our Bibles, and by spending more time with God.

Jesus showed us a good example we can follow.  And it comes straight from the word of God.  Listen to what the prophet Isaiah tells us in chapter 58, from verse 6 through the first part of verse 9…

6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’"

--Isaiah 58:6-9a (NKJV)

Jesus fasted there in the wilderness, but God shows us that fasting can be symbolic as well as actually doing without food.  What would God have us do to show our obedience to Him, and to help us resist the devil’s temptations?  Loose the bonds of wickedness that hold us and others in slavery to sin.  Help ourselves and others hand our burdens over to Jesus, setting the oppressed free from sin and death.  We are to share what we have with those who have not, feeding them, clothing them, housing them.

And then the light that is Jesus will break forth from us like the dawn of morning.  Then healing can begin.  Then when we cry out to the Lord God, He will answer and say, “Here I am”.


The tough part starts here.  Satan will not give up on trying to lure us away from our Christian walk, to steal us away from Jesus.  Our best defense is to spend more time reading and studying our Bibles, and to spend more time in prayer with our Lord.  Jesus was able to resist Satan, and He will help us resist him, too.  We just need to ask for help.

It won’t be easy.  We can’t let Satan’s attacks lessen our faith.  We need to read our Bible, talk with God, pray to Jesus for ourselves and for others.  Doing good shows our love and obedience.  The more we focus on the kingdom of God and His righteousness, the better able we will be to combat the devil.

All in the blessed name of Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You let the world know that Jesus was Your son and that You were pleased with Him, and then You had Your Holy Spirit take Him to be tempted by Satan.  You could have warned Him, Father, that the really tough part was just beginning.  But You gave Him everything He needed to carry out Your will on this earth, and then You brought Him back from the dead so He could conquer death for us all.  Thank You for helping our Lord, and thank You for helping us.

Please listen and hear us now, Father, as we pray silently from our hearts, repenting of our disobedience and seeking Your forgiveness, asking for Your continued help in resisting Satan’s temptations…

Lord Jesus, as God, You knew what was coming.  You knew what Satan would do and how to resist Him.  You knew what humanity would do, even though You came to offer us all salvation.  When You came up out of the water, You knew the tough part was just beginning.  Yet You went through it all just for us.  You took the punishment we deserve.  You gave everything so that we could gain everlasting life.  And You help us resist the constant onslaught of Satan if we humble ourselves before You and seek Your help.  Help us now, please Jesus – today and every day.

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

Repent and Be Restored

[The following is a manuscript of my Ash Wednesday message delivered on Wednesday evening, the 1st of March, 2017.]

We all know the story of Job, a man of great faith, yet whom God allowed Satan to severely test.  There is a lot of back and forth in this story, with a couple of secondary plotlines going.  Job has a good life until God allows the devil to have at him.  When everything turns upside down and Job loses nearly all he has, his friends all believe it must be because he sinned and God is punishing him.  Even his wife thinks it’s all his own fault, but Job doesn’t believe it, and gets to the point where he blames God for all this torment.

But finally he gets it.  Once God rebukes him and puts him in his place, Job understands.  Listen to the words of Job, from chapter 42, verses 1 through 6 and 16 and 17…

1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

2 “I know that You can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”

16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days.

--Job 42:1-6; 16-17 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, while sometimes we think we know everything, our knowledge pales to a mere shadow in comparison to Yours.  Forgive us, Lord, when we, like Job, question You and what You do with Your creation.  Forgive us when we have doubts, when our faith wavers.  Help us more fully understand the message of the cross, and our need to repent in dust and ashes.  In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our time of Lent, when we, at least symbolically, cover ourselves in ashes as a sign of repentance and a reflection on our own mortality.  Many will leave their churches tonight with the sign of the cross marked in ashes upon their foreheads or the backs of their hands.  And then they’ll go home and wash them off with only their friends having seen them.

But there should be more to Lent than wearing ashes for a few minutes on a Wednesday night.  For this is a time when we should seek to grow closer to our Lord Jesus by trying to experience some small measure of what He went through while He walked this earth.  Ash Wednesday kicks off our observance of the journey Jesus made starting with His 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness and ending at the cross on good Friday.

The ashes are useful, though, as a sign of our own mortality.  In our Invocation earlier, I read to you from chapter 3 verse 19 of the Book of Genesis where God reminds Adam and Eve that they were created and formed from dust and to dust they will return.  Ashes are a form of dust.  They remind us that it is only through God that we even have life.  He gave us life.  And He can take it away at any moment.

A piece of paper, a chunk of wood, a frond from last year’s Palm Sunday service… when anything is completely burned and consumed by fire, it undergoes a total metamorphosis, a full change.  It becomes something new, something we call ashes.  In his 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 5 verse 17, the Apostle Paul tells us…

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

--2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Ashes are the new thing something burned has become once it passes away in fire.  The ashes speak of our restoration in righteousness, of our new life in Christ Jesus.

But I think the most important point the ashes make is as an external sign of our internal repentance.  As an example of what I mean, when I chose to be baptized as an adult, it was an outward sign of my inward acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Master as well as my personal Savior.  You can’t see into my soul, but you could have seen me getting sprinkled one time or dunked in the water the second time, and many people did.  The ashes of Ash Wednesday are like my baptisms.  We can’t peer into a person’s heart to see if they are truly repenting of their sins.  If they are wearing the ashes, it is an outward expression of their internal turning from sin.

And this is strongly evidenced in our Bible, where ashes are often associated with mourning and grief.  If I sin and I know I have sinned and I truly regret my sin, don’t I feel a measure of grief?  Don’t I mourn that loss of righteousness my sin caused me?  In those Biblical passages, most frequently in the Old Testament, people would express their repentance by sprinkling ashes over their heads, by sitting in ashes or rolling around in them, even sometimes by mixing ashes in with their food or drink.  We have one such passage in the scripture I read from Job, where he states that he hates himself, and repents in dust and ashes.  Notice, though, that Job is forgiven of his sin because he repented.  He is forgiven, and all that was lost is restored to him.

Listen also to what the prophet Daniel says in chapter 9 of his book, verses 3 through 5…

3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.

--Daniel 9:3-5 (NKJV)

Daniel goes on to say that while all righteousness belongs to God, shame belongs to us because of our wickedness and disobedience.

Now don’t think that using ashes as a sign of repentance is only an Old Testament ritual, not applicable to life after Jesus.  Our Lord Himself encourages us to do as Daniel and Job and repent in ashes.  When He sent 70 of His disciples out to spread the Gospel, He told them that some towns would not accept their message.  And then He warned those towns, and us also.  Listen to the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 10, verses 13 and 14…

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.”

--Luke 10:13-14 (NKJV)

Jesus is not trying to drive home the need of sitting in sackcloth and ashes, but the need of repenting of our sin.  Sitting in ashes is merely an outward sign of repenting.  It’s the repentance that is crucially important!

So I ask, what good is a sign if no one sees it?  How helpful would it be for others, especially non-believers, if only a few, if any, take note of it and understand what it is trying to say?  How useful are ashes worn on the forehead or hand when they are washed off shortly after being applied?  Worse yet, what if the ashes are only being worn because everyone else is wearing them?  What if the outward sign is really only a mask, hiding the true spirit of an unrepentant heart?

The people of the Old and New Testament times understood what the ashes represented.  And some do today.  But many more have no clue.  They probably wonder why some people are going around with dirt on their foreheads.  What is applied in the form of the cross quickly becomes an oily smudge.  We could take the time to explain it to them, if they asked.  We could tell them what the ashes mean to us, what Jesus means to us, what repenting means to us.  If they asked, and if we shared with them our witness, it just might put them on the road that leads to salvation by accepting Jesus as their Lord.  But they’ll never have the chance, if they don’t see the ashes.


Give something up for Lent, something meaningful, in remembrance of Jesus giving everything up for us.  Take the “ashes” you’ll receive tonight and display them for others to see, but more importantly, truly repent in your heart of your disobedience to God so that the ashes have meaning.  In the name of our Master and Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Our prayer of confession releases us from the tremendous burden of self-importance.  In emptying ourselves, we make room for God’s presence to fill us.  Let us join now in the prayer of confession:

Merciful God, You have called us to be Your people.  You have sought to stimulate our growth with the nurturing of Your Word and the witness of the faithful through the ages.  Yet we have become arid and dry because we have not sought the regular refreshment of the Word and witness.  We have not stood firm in the cause of righteousness and justice because our roots have not sufficiently entwined themselves around the rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ.  O God, wash us clean and water us again to new life by Your Spirit.  Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Amen.


The season of Lent is a time of penitence, discipline, and restoration.  In this Ash Wednesday service we are reminded of our mortality, we confess our sins, and we experience forgiveness through Christ’s death and resurrection.  In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance.  But the way modern services treat ashes today leaves no lasting symbol, for we go home and wash them off with no one else ever seeing them.  We soon forget they were even applied.

So tonight I invite you to come forward, come to the foot of the cross and receive not ashes, but another reminder of the sacrifice our Lord made on our behalf, and of what our response should be.  I have two small bookmarks for each of you.  Use them in your Bible or a book you’re reading.  Carry and use them throughout this season of Lent.  If you get a chance, show them to others and explain what this is all about.  And remember that it really is all about repenting of our disobedience to God.  If we repent, God will forgive us and restore to us what was lost.

Let these little bookmarks be a constant reminder not only of our sin and need to repent, but also of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  Remember the punishment He bore that we deserve.  Remember that God made us from the dust, and without Him we would have no life.  Repent, and be restored.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You created us from the dust of this earth, and someday to dust we will return.  But while we breathe, may we live holy lives, always remembering the sacrifice Your Son Jesus made on our behalf.  May we observe this season of Lent by examining ourselves, by truly repenting of our disobedience and sin, by prayer and fasting, by works of love and service, and by reading and meditating upon Your word.  We repent in dust and ashes, O Lord, and seek Your forgiveness.  This we pray in the blessed name of Jesus our Christ, who gave His all for us.  Amen.


Neither sin nor death is the final word.  We can leave this service with confident assurance and with great thanks.  Jesus took our sins upon Himself.  Our Lord Christ conquered death.  And now nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Go in peace, and in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.