The Sermon in a Nutshell: October 25

This week we finished our time in the book of Ephesians by looking at Ephesians 5:21-6:9. The sermon drawn from this text was called “The Church & Me: Called Out To Heal.” This Passage in Ephesians is one of the more controversial passages in the New Testament today. The phrases “wives submit to your husbands” (5:22), “children obey your parents,”(6:1) and “slaves obey your masters” (6:5) have been and are misused to justify women being treated as somehow “less human” than men, parents stifling their children's individuality, and the exploitation of people's labor for the benefit of the few. When we come to a controversial section of Scripture like this, it is important that we dig our heels in and take a fresh look at it so that we can see what it is really trying to teach us. As we take a closer look at this passage, it becomes clear that this passage is essential to our growth in our Christian walks. You see, this passage isn't about Paul telling women, children, and workers that they exist for the benefit of the men in their lives. Rather, this passage speaks to all of the most basic social relationships we find ourselves in.
In Ephesians 5:21-6:9 Paul speaks to wives and husbands, children and parents, employees and employers and supervisors and tells all of them to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (5:21). The passage goes on to show what this looks like in the lives of husbands, wives, etc. To summarize Paul's teaching, submitting to one another means keeping Christ in the center of all of our relationships. So wives aren't blindly commanded to submit to their husbands, rather they are to follow their lead just as the church follows Christ's lead (5:24). Husbands aren't to simply love their wives, they are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (5:25). Parents aren't given free reign over their children, they are commanded to raise their children to know the Lord (6:4). It is in the context of parents raising children in the knowledge of Christ that children are commanded to obey their parents. Finally, both slaves and masters, employees and employers are reminded that they share a common master to whom they must both submit and give their obedience.
The reason God gives us this teaching through Paul in Ephesians is that sin has made a mess of our relationships. Sin drives a wedge between people where God intended for them to be united in love. Part of the good news of the salvation offered in Jesus Christ is that God is healing all the relationships that sin has broken and in this process, the church is called out to heal. So as husbands follow Christ's example of self-giving love, marriages are healed. As wives follow Christ's example of freely chosen submission to the Father, marriages are healed. As parents raise their children to know Jesus and as children follow this instruction, families are healed. As employees do their work in a way that honors their Heavenly Boss, the workplace is healed. As employers and supervisors lead by example, just as Christ did, and treat their employees with integrity, the workplace is healed.
My prayer for you this week is that your eyes would be firmly fixed on Christ so that you not only obey His commands but that you also follow His example. As you do this, know that you are taking part in God's healing ministry of salvation. Amen.

Haiku

I wrote this to honor all the poor dead skunks I see on the roads down here. It's like a skunk Apocalypse. Seriously people, please stop running those poor things over! Just because an animal can spray stink on things doesn't make that animal less entitled to a decent life!

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So many dead skunks
Flattened, drying on the road
Await redemption
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LONG LIVE THE SKUNK KING!!!!

The Sermon in a Nutshell: October 18

This week our sermon was called “The Church & Me: Called Out In Unity.” Our Scripture text was Ephesians 4:1-16. One thing that has baffled me, and I'm sure it's baffled many of you as well, is how in the world the church has come to be fractured into so many thousands of denominations today. The estimates range from 20,000 – 30,000 different denominations in the world today, each one of them calling themselves “Christian”! This is a long way from Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17 when He prayed that the church would be brought to “complete unity” (John 17:23).
In order to try to begin to make sense of this situation, we turned to Paul's words in Ephesians 4 this week. This passage begins with Paul encouraging the Ephesian believers to “live a life worthy of the calling [you'all] have received.” What is this calling Paul is talking about and how are we to live in a worthy manner? Well, the calling Paul is talking about is the way God has called all believers to be part of His chosen people, the church. The church is called out in unity as one chosen people. God didn't call out multiple churches, but the church as a whole. The rest of this passage tells us how we are to live lives worthy of this call to unity.
First, in verses 2-3 we see that being called out in unity depends on our actions. This means that even though we do not all meet in one building on Sunday morning, we can still show the unity of the church in the way we treat other Christians.
Next, in verses 4-6 we see that being called out in unity is rooted in who God is. Perhaps the greatest mystery of the Christian faith is the doctrine of the Trinity. When we talk about Trinity we talk about the way that God is three persons and yet one God all at once. God has existed from all eternity in a relationship of love as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Verses 4-6 echo this notion of Trinity when Paul says “there...is one Spirit...one Lord [Jesus Christ]...one God and Father of all...” (Eph 4:4-6). So God is our example of how we can have unity out of diversity.
Thirdly, verses 7-12 tell us that being called out in unity is enriched by the diversity of our gifts. This means that unity is NOT uniformity; the goal of evangelism is not to smash people into a cookie-cutter mold to make them look just like everyone else in the church. Rather, when individuals, each with his or her own unique gifts, find salvation in Christ and become a part of the church, God uses these people's gifts to build up the Church.
Finally, in verses 13-16 Paul tells us that being called out in unity demands our growth in maturity. Verse 14 hints at false teachers that were deceiving immature Christians with lies about the Gospel. These lies, 2,000 years ago as well as today, went something like “We have a secret knowledge that other Christians don't have, listen to us and you can be a 'super-Christian'” or “Those other people in church who call themselves 'Christians' live like a bunch of heathens, but if you follow these rules we will tell you about, you can show that you are one of the 'real' Christians.” Both of these lies divide the church. However, when we grow in maturity in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we appreciate more and more God's calling of the church in unity.
While this study in Ephesians does not give us a definitive answer to the problem of denominational disunity in the church (this is a wound that is being healed but it will take a long, long time as well as a lot of work by the Holy Spirit), this passage does give us a way to move forward to advance the unity of the church. Because the church is called out in unity, we must take this call seriously! We need to treat other Christians as family, both in our own congregation as well as in other denominations, because we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. More than that, as Christians of different denominations, we need to talk to each other about the way we interpret the Bible. This can be an enriching experience for all of us as we will learn things about Christ and Scripture from our brother and sisters of other denominations while at the same time teaching them things about Christ and Scripture which we have learned from our own denomination. None of this goes to say that denominational differences can't be significant or that we should abandon our dedication to pursuing God's truth in Scripture. However, in our dedication to Scripture, we must not be blind to the inescapable fact that Scripture tells us the church is called out in unity. Amen.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: October 11

This week was the second week of our sermon series, “The Church & Me.” This week's sermon was titled “The Church & Me: Called Out To Live.” The Scripture text was taken from the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2 verses 1-10. In this rich passage, Paul is telling the Ephesian church that there were two ways a person can walk. There is the way of the world (Eph 2:2), and there is God's way which is the way of good works (Eph 2:10). In this passage, Paul describes for us the characteristics of each of these ways of walking. The way of the world is marked by death, slavery, and condemnation. Paul says, “You all were dead in your transgressions and sins...when you walked in the ways of this world” (2:1-2). The way of the world is the way of slavery, both to “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” who is the devil, and to our flesh which we can think of as all of our selfish impulses to gratify ourselves (2:2-3). This life of death and slavery can end only in condemnation as God created us for life and freedom in obedience but in following the way of the world, we became “objects of wrath” (2:3). This whole passage hinges on one word in verse 4, the word “but”. The way of the world is death, slavery and condemnation BUT there is a different way, God's way. In contrast to the way of the world, the church is called out to live. God has called the church out from among the world and “made us alive with Christ” (2:5). Not only that, but God has “raised us up with Christ” (2:6) just as He raised Christ when Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11). And, having “raised us up with Christ,” God has “seated us with him [God the Father] in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). Lest we, as the church, let all that God has done for us go to our heads, Paul goes on in this passage to explain why God has called the church to live. God has called the church to live because God, in His love, mercy, and faithfulness is at work to redeem this world which has turned its back on Him. In redeeming the world through Christ and working through the church do it, God shows us just how gracious He is (2:7). In fact, one of the clearest ways that non-believers can see God's grace is when it is expressed to them through the church. This is why the church is called to walk in the way of good works, which is God's way (2:10). “Good works” has nothing to do with “earning our salvation” and everything to do with God using the church to shower His world with the love of Jesus Christ. The church is called out to live but if we are going to truly live up to our calling (no pun intended), we need to own the power which is at work in our lives. The same power by which God raised Jesus Christ from the dead 2,000 years ago is still at work in the church today! We have been “made alive,” “raised up,” and “seated with [God]” (2:5-6). This means there is nothing we cannot overcome, both as a church and as individuals who make up that church! There is no sin, no addiction, no temptation, no God dishonoring habit or behavior pattern that we cannot overcome by the power of God in our lives because God has called us to live and He will use us to glorify His name as we partner with Him in redeeming His world. Amen.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: October 4

The first part of our seven week sermon series, “The Church & Me” was “The Church & Me: Called Out To Stand Out.” Our Scripture text this week was taken from Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 1-14. As we begin to ask the question, “What's the point? Why bother going to church?” Ephesians is a great place to start because in this letter Paul talks about how God is working to redeem the world by working through the church. Although Paul doesn't come right out and use the word, in Ephesians 1:1-14 he is talking about the church. Nine times in these fourteen verses, Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” or “in Him.” This phrase is always used to describe “we” or “us” or “our.” Who are “we” or “us” who are “in Christ”? “We” are the church! Paul sets up an unspoken contrast in these fourteen verses between the church which is “in Christ” and the world which is “in Adam.” You see, in Adam (the first man) the world sinned and turned away from God. In Adam, the world is under a curse (Gen 3). In Adam, the world lives in the promise of death and condemnation. In contrast to the world in Adam, there is the church, which is in Christ (the perfect man). In Christ we, the church are “blessed...with every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3). In Christ we, the church, have “redemption” and “forgiveness” (Eph 1:7). In Christ we, the church, look forward to an inheritance when God brings His plan of redemption to completeness when “the times will have reached their fulfillment” (Eph 1:10). So what's the point in going to/being the church? The point is that the church is called out to stand out from the world around it! While the world lives in sin, darkness, and death, the church is called to be a beacon of light, forgiveness, and life! As if this were not enough to inspire us to participate in the church, Paul makes a grand statement about God's plan for calling out the church. In Ephesians 1:4-6 Paul tells us that the church was “chosen in [Christ] before the creation of the world...” This means that the church was called out to stand out in the past, even before God created the universe! In the present, as Ephesians 1:5-8 tells us, the church is called out to stand out as we now have “redemption” and “forgiveness” as we are adopted as sons and daughters of God. This calling goes beyond the present age and into eternity as Ephesians 1:9-10, and 14 Paul tells us that the church will be called out to stand out in the future as well as we are “God's possession – to the praise of His glory.” So what's the point? The point is that from eternity past to eternity future, the church has been called out to stand out by God Himself AND WE GET TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CALLING! May the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, give Christ's View Christian Church the guidance, strength, and faithfulness to stand out here in Christopher and may that standing out create ripples by which God will change the world. Amen.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: September 27

This week's sermon was the last one in our “Finding Ourselves In God's Story Series.” Since we were at the end of the Story this week, our sermon text was taken out of the book of Revelation, chapter 21:1-8. The sermon was called “The End is Just the Beginning” and the main idea was that when we find ourselves in God's Story, we find ourselves playing for keeps. We live in a throwaway society where almost everything is disposable. Our food comes in disposable aluminum cans and plastic wrap. We wash it down with water or coke out of disposable plastic bottles. We bring this food home from the store in disposable plastic bags. Then after dinner we brush our teeth with disposable toothbrushes. When the clothes we wear start to get worn out, most of us throw them away rather than have them clutter up our closets. Even if we give away our old clothes, they will be thrown away by someone else down the line. I'm not saying that all this throwing away is good or bad, but as Christians it does present us with a special challenge when it comes to our faith. You see, living in a world where so much is disposable can leave us with the mindset that everything is disposable, including our faith. This attitude towards faith finds people using Christianity when it “works” for them and throwing it away when it no longer “works” or “feels good.” By looking at the book of Revelation, we see that Christianity is one thing that is not disposable. Because we look forward to a time when Christ will return and all things will be made new (Rev 21:5), when we find ourselves in God's Story, we find ourselves playing for keeps. This future hope we have, this hope of heaven, is given to us to motivate us towards living lives of faithful discipleship in this life (Rev 21:6-8). This can be really important as life has a way of getting us down sometimes and we all know how sometimes it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My prayer for you this week is that you will find encouragement and even refreshment in the promise of heaven.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: September 20

This week our sermon was titled “Jesus Fulfills the Deal” and it came out of Hebrews 1:1-4. We found that the whole book of Hebrews shows us how Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant by offering Himself as a better sacrifice and becoming a better high priest. For us this means that when we find ourselves in God's story, we find ourselves being led. Unlike the people in the Old Testament though, we find ourselves being led by God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was 100% human, He experienced all of the same life situations and temptations that we face in our lives but He was faithful to God and didn't sin. This means that when we find ourselves being led by Jesus, we have a leader who can relate to us; Jesus leads by example. Because Jesus was also 100% God, the sacrifice He made on the cross made it possible to take down the barrier between God and people that sin had put between us. Now, when we follow Jesus, we can follow Him right in to the very throne room of God. Although the book of Hebrews can come across as being packed full of theological language that doesn't seem to really relate to life, we found that looking at it in terms of Christ being our leader makes it very practical for our daily lives. We can follow Jesus in any and all life situations by keeping our eyes focused on Him and the example He sat for us in His life of obedience.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: September 13

This week's sermon was titled “God's People Break the Deal.” As we've been finding ourselves in God's story, I've tried to paint a picture of that story using broad brush strokes. In our first two weeks, we covered all of God's story from the beginning of time up through the call of Abraham when God made a deal with him almost 4,000 years ago. This week I tried to cover the rest of the Old Testament story from God's deal with His people through Moses up until the time when their rejection of that deal had become apparent in the 6th century BC. We learned this week that when we find ourselves in God's story, we have a choice. When God made a deal with His people in the Old Testament, He gave them a choice: either they could choose to obey His instruction and find life or they could choose to turn away from God by disobedience and face death (Deuteronomy 28; 30:11-20). Sadly, as we looked at the way the rest of God's story unfolded in the Old Testament, we saw His people consistently and persistently choosing disobedience. All this disobedience came to a head when Babylon invaded Judah, destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, and carried most of the Israelites away into captivity in the year 586 BC. Although this was a very dark point in God's story, the light of hope still burned because God is a faithful God. His people continued to look to Him to act in His plans to redeem His creation. This redemption came when God came to live amongst us as Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God. You see, Jesus, being fully human, also had a choice when He found Himself in God's story. Whereas Adam and Eve chose to disobey God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and whereas God's chosen people, Israel, had chosen to disobey Him by worshiping false gods and oppressing the poor, Jesus chose to obey God by living a life without sin and submitting to death on a Roman cross. It was and is through this death and subsequent resurrection that God brought salvation and redemption to all of His creation through Jesus' obedience. Now today, we too have a choice when we find ourselves in God's story. Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that we can either enter through the narrow gate, walk the narrow road of obedience and find life, or we can enter through the broad gate, walk the wide road of disobedience and find destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). By God's grace, may we all enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow road!

The Sermon in a Nutshell: September 6

This week's sermon was called “God Makes a Deal.” The sermon text was taken from Genesis 12:1-3, although we also looked at Genesis 22:15 and following and then connected it to the New Testament by looking at 1 Corinthians 12:12 and following. As we looked at the way God made a deal with Abraham whereby He was going to bless all nations and peoples of the world, we saw that when we find ourselves in God's story, we play A major role, but we don't play THE major role. When God called Abraham and told him that He was going to use him in His plan to restore Creation to His intended purpose, God gave Abraham a command as well as a promise. As we looked at the life of Abraham, we saw that everything that happened to Abraham was part of a faith journey that led him to trusting God's promise to him. We then looked at the way that God fulfilled this promise to Abraham by sending Jesus, Abraham's Offspring, to bring redemption in His death and resurrection. Finally, as we connected to the New Testament, we saw that we all, as members of the church which is the Body of Christ, continue to play a major role in God's story as He uses each one of us to work together to fulfill His plan to bring redemption to all peoples. All throughout God's redemption story, He has used individual human beings to work with Him in fulfilling His plans. While this does give us a sense of just how valuable we all are, we are also humbled as we see that God is at work behind the scenes in each of our lives, giving us strength and wisdom and guidance. This is how we can say that although we play a major role in God's story as He works through us, we don't play THE major role precisely because it is Him working through us.

The Sermon in a Nutshell: August 30

Our sermon this week kicked off a five part sermon series entitled, “Finding Ourselves In God's Story.” This week's sermon was called, “The Story Begins.” The Scripture text for our sermon was taken, appropriately enough, from the first three chapters of Genesis. I tried to focus on the way that when we find ourselves in God's story, we find ourselves both broken and mended. In the first two chapters of Genesis we see that God had created the world to function in an orderly, harmonious way. Originally, there was harmony in humankind's relationship with God, with their selves, with others, and with creation. After Adam and Eve sinned against God in Genesis chapter three, disorder entered the world and the harmony God intended for us was broken. We can still see the evidence of these broken relationships today, both in our lives and in the world around us. The Good News about Jesus is that God is restoring these broken relationships through the death and resurrection of Christ! The invitation to move from being broken to being mended is extended to everyone through Christian baptism. After we looked at the beginning of God's story, we considered Jesus' command to make disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 in light of this. Although the thought of evangelism can be intimidating to us, when we think of it in terms of telling God's Story and our story and inviting others to enter in to this Story, some of the intimidation goes away.

The High-Tech Redneck!

The church where I'm serving has a website where I post the audio recording of each week's sermon. You can find it at http://www.christsview.net/id7.html.

I'm not asking for pity or sympathy or anything, but if you listen I will be glad to know that my mom and granmda aren't the only ones who download it each week =D

New Weekly Blog

I like blogging, I really do. And I'm getting to where I miss it too. But I don't have the internets in my house and the only neighbornet I can connect to is password protected. When I'm in the office, I try to keep my non-pastoral internetting to a minimum, so I don't really have the time to blog on the clock either.

However, one thing that I've inhereted with my new job is the responsibility to write our church's weekly update. This is more or less a written recap of the service for those who weren't able to be with us on a given Sunday. I don't mind doing it because a lot of the older people, and just people who weren't able to be at church in general, seem to really enjoy getting it. Also, this is a great way to communicate our upcoming events and stuff to as many people as possible. So I'm not griping :)

But part of this weekly update is a recap I do of each week's sermon. This is also cool because it gives people a chance to revisit the week's sermon and maybe it helps them process it. The Christian Ed major in me is always looking for ways to facilitate learning :)

It hit me this morning that in leu of blogging, I could just start posting my written summary of each week's sermon. I know it probably won't be widely read, but there's no harm in throwing out a virtual "Hail Mary." So from now on, that's what I'm gonna do each Tuesday.