The Promise of Love - October 28, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg

A man was relaxing on the sofa watching TV when he heard his wife's voice from the kitchen: "Oh sweetheart, what would you like for dinner, my love? Chicken, beef or lamb?"  Calling out to the kitchen, the man replied, "Thank you, darling. I think I'll have chicken."  Angrily, the wife snapped, "You're havin' a peanut butter sandwich. I was talking to the dog!"

Okay.  Someone has anger issues.  Did you know the Bible addresses this sort of behavior?

Speaking through a man named James, the Lord says, “blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”^[1] (James 3:10).  Why are some people so short and cross with others?  Why do they act this way?  Well, over the years I have observed two things: some people are angry because they either don’t know they are loved, or they feel unlovable.  Yes, it’s true; people have anger issues because they have not learned of God’s promise of love.  And over the years I have learned that a deep relationship with God can help you overcome anger.

Speaking of love, John the Apostle wrote, ⁷ “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him” ^[2] (1 John 4:7-9).

These words from John take on a deeper meaning when we learn that at one point in his life, John the Apostle had a difficult time loving others.  According to Luke’s gospel, John once displayed his anger issues when a small village did not want Jesus in their town.  And John – good grief, did this man have a temper – he turns to Jesus and says, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up”^[3] (Luke 9:54)?  Jesus called him a “son of thunder” (Mark 3:17).  John wasn’t always such a nice guy.  However, once John knew the fullness of God’s love, he was finally able to love those around him – even those who were quite difficult to love.  When John knew he was loved, he was finally able to truly love others.

John was not the only person changed by the love of God.  I confess that this was once a very accurate description of me.  I didn’t love myself, and I found it difficult to love those around me.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I said I loved others, but it was mostly for selfish reasons.  I loved other people because of what they could do for me.  I wasn’t able to model Christian love until I came to terms with God’s love for me.

I understand if you struggle with this whole idea of God’s love.  You open your Bible to Isaiah 59, and it’s like looking at yourself in a mirror.  As Isaiah confesses, “¹² We have done many wrong things against our God; our sins show we are wrong. We know we have turned against God; we know the evil things we have done: ¹³ sinning and rejecting the Lord, turning away from our God, planning to hurt others and to disobey God, planning and speaking lies. ¹⁴ So we have driven away justice, and we have kept away from what is right. Truth is not spoken in the streets; what is honest is not allowed to enter the city. ¹⁵ Truth cannot be found anywhere, and people who refuse to do evil are attacked. The Lord looked and could not find any justice, and he was displeased. ¹⁶ He could not find anyone to help the people, and he was surprised that there was no one to help.  But despite the sin and the absence of morality, God decides to step in and take matters into His own hands.  He, “used his own power to save the people; his own goodness gave him strength”^[4] (Isaiah 59:12-16).  Yes, the answer to our sinfulness and immorality was addressed by God.  Even though our sins were piled up between us, God stepped in to solve the problem; He sent Jesus to pay the ransom that sets us free.  His holiness rains down upon us, washing away our wickedness and our worldliness.  The moment we take the outstretched hand of Jesus, we are washed and made new.  Christ pulls us out of the waters of sin, clothes us with garments of salvation and wraps us with a robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).  “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins,” ^[5] says the Lord (Jeremiah 31:34).

God has promised that He will never stop loving you.  You cannot do anything that will make Him love you more, or less.  If you feel you are beyond the reach of God’s love, then you need to hear what the Apostle Paul has said about the love of God.  ⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God^[6] (Romans 5:6-11).  Paul says Jesus died for the powerless and the ungodly (Romans 5:6), for sinners (Romans 5:8), and even for His enemies (Romans 5:10).  God’s hand is not too short to reach you and save (Isaiah 59:1).And, according to John the Apostle, once we fully grasp the concept of God’s love for us, we can then learn to fully love others.

When our relationship with God is restored, and we begin to accept that He does indeed love us, His love should flow from us into the lives of those around us.  This is what it means when we say, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  Those who know God know of His love.  And those who know of His love learn to love others… even their enemies.

This hate-filled world doesn’t need sensitivity training; people need to learn that they are loved.  They need to grasp the depth of God’s love for them; they need to realize that God’s hand reaches through their sinfulness and their immorality; His fingers touch the muck and mire of their life… of your life.  You struggle to love because you feel unlovable.  Hate fills your heart because you feel hated, not loved.  But, you are loved.  The God of all creation chooses to reach past your sin and offer to save you… to love you.  And the moment you realize this, your life begins to change.  Moment by moment, bit by bit, God washes the hate and anger from your heart and fills it with love.

The promise of God’s love is this: you learn to love when you finally realize you are loved.  Love flows from a heart that knows it is loved.  And by this love, the world will know that you are one of God’s children (John 13:35).It is my prayer that God’s promise of love would wash away the anger and hate in your heart.

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^[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Jas 3:10). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (1 Jn 4:7–9). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

^[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Lk 9:54). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[4] The Everyday Bible: New Century Version. (2005). (Is 59:12–16). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

^[5] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Je 31:34). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[6] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ro 5:6–11). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

The Promises of Salvation - October 7, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg...

A man was seen walking through town carrying a laptop, a printer under one arm, a wastebasket under the other, and a desk strapped to his back.  He was stopped by a policeman and asked what he was doing.  After questioning, he was arrested for replying, "Impersonating an office, sir!"

*groan*

But, on a more serious note, I wonder how many people in a church would be arrested for impersonating a Christian? 

Don’t take this the wrong way.  I know some folks come to church because they are searching for answers or feel remorse; some people are genuinely looking for forgiveness.  But some people think they are a Christian because they go to church or do religious things.  Unfortunately, impersonating a Christian will not save anyone.  And nor will thinking about Jesus.

According to Jesus, a Christian is someone who has been saved.  ¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” ^[1] (John 3:16-17).

Most people are familiar with these words, but what does Salvation mean exactly?  From what are we saved?  In other occasions, Jesus claimed He came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18).  He said that He was offering His life as a ransom (Matthew 20:28).  If that is true, then who holds us captive?  How do we know that we need to be saved in the first place?

To understand this idea of salvation, we first must believe we need to be saved; we need to admit that we are captives; we are held hostage.  This is what makes the message of Jesus so important.  In Christ, a captive can be set free.  But, people don’t like to be reminded they are held captive by sin.  People would rather hear the message that Jesus loves them; that He doesn’t judge them.  And standing on a street corner shouting to people that they are sinners doesn’t make Christianity all that popular.  However, if you look closely at the Lord’s message from John 3:16-17 Jesus actually implies we are sinners needing to be saved.  Did you notice that?

What is it that Jesus said at the end of John 3:17?  Here, Jesus gives us the central message of Christianity: God sent Jesus into the world, not to judge, but to save.  And, if Jesus came to save, then logically people must need to be rescued, right?  Only a hostage needs someone to pay the ransom to set them free.  But, as I said earlier, people tend to reject the idea that they are captives in need of a Savior, and they have been pushing back at this idea for centuries.

For example, notice what the Apostle Paul says to the Christians living in Rome.  To convince these skeptics that humanity is indeed held captive by a sinful nature, Paul describes the symptoms.  In Romans 1:25-31 he mentions homosexual behavior, wickedness, greed, hate, envy, murder, gossip, lying, disobedience, and many more.  Paul covers a lengthy list of symptoms that indicate sin holds humanity captive.  To put it simply, people cannot help themselves; try as they might, they cannot set themselves free from the sinful urges within themselves.  Or, as Paul writes later on, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”^[2] (Romans 7:24).

Paul’s lesson to those in Rome is that, by merely observing human nature, it’s easy to see we are bound by sin.  And there is nothing anyone can do to break free; we cannot change our DNA.  On our own power, we cannot transform ourselves into the kind of person who lives an honorable and good life all the time.  We try to be on our best behavior, but something keeps drawing us back to a life that dishonors God.  We are slaves to the power within us; our urges and desires hold us captive.  And we need someone to set us free.

Which is where the promise of John 3:16 comes into play.

We ARE sinners.  We cannot save ourselves.  And it’s a bit disconcerting when a person feels they are a Christian even though they are unwilling to admit their sinfulness.  However, because God loves us, He sent Jesus to save us from a life dominated by sin and death. 

According to the Lord, salvation is given to those who believe.  Salvation is given to those who accept they are sinners in need of a Savior.  Did you notice that part of God’s promise?  We need to admit we are sinners held captive and believe Jesus paid the ransom for our freedom.  His death pays the ransom, and we believe this by faith.  Still, many refuse to believe they are captives.  Even today, people reject the idea, just as they did in Paul’s day.  They refuse to admit they are a slave to sin.  And because they refuse, they do not receive God’s offer of salvation.  Have you read what John the Apostle says?  He wrote, “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts” ^[3] (1 John 1:10).  To receive God’s promise of salvation, we must admit we are a sinner who needs to be saved.

However, admitting we are a sinner is just the first step in being set free.  Yes, the Apostle Paul wrote “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God”^[4] (Ephesians 2:8).  And indeed, our salvation is not something we earn.  We are not saved by trying to be good and act like a Christian.  Going to church does not guarantee our salvation.  Neither are we saved by merely believing Jesus is the Son of the living God.  No one is saved just by believing they are a sinner.  

There is another step a person must make to receive God’s promise of salvation.

Christ offered His life as a ransom; His death is on the table – so to speak – free for the taking.  However, we must respond to this offer.  ¹⁰ For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”^[5] says Paul (Romans 10:10).  Jesus implies that we need to admit our sin and believe He paid the ransom.  Paul suggests that we must accept the sufficiency of Christ’s death and confess our faith in Jesus.  Please notice that these are action verbs; we are not saved by passively accepting these biblical teachings.

Salvation is much more than merely knowing we are a sinner; it is much more than learning the facts about salvation.  God’s promise of salvation is given to those who admit their sin, confess their sinfulness, believe Jesus is the promised Messiah, accept the fullness of Christ’s work on the cross, and proclaim what God has done in their life.  This gift of Salvation is not thrust upon us; rather, it is offered; it is there for the taking.

We are held captive by a life of sin and death; we are destined to die.  But God, in His mercy, provided a way for us to escape the punishment that awaits us.  Through Jesus, God is offering a way for us to be set free.  Salvation means we are no longer destined to die (to die a spiritual death and to be eternally separated from God).  Through Jesus, we can become the kind of person God intended – where our life honors the LORD God.  But, this Salvation is something we must reach out and accept.  We must admit we need to be saved.

God has made us a promise that “if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” ^[6] (1 John 1:9).  It’s a beautiful promise, but we will not receive this unless we first admit we are sinners in need of a savior.

God’s promise of Salvation is probably the most significant promise He has made.  Rather than face condemnation and punishment for our sin, God sent Christ to be our ransom. Salvation is ours when we confess, accept, believe, repent, and confess.  And the Lord breaks the chains of sin and death that hold us hostage.  We are set free; we are restored and renewed and transformed.  We become the person God intended us to be.

That’s what it means to be saved.

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^[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Jn 3:16–17). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ro 7:24). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Jn 1:10). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Eph 2:8). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[5] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ro 10:10). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[6] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Jn 1:9). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

God’s Promise of Protection - September 30, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg...

John received a letter the other day from his old girlfriend.  She wrote:

Dear John, I have been unable to sleep since I broke off our engagement. Won't you forgive and forget? Your absence is breaking my heart. I was a fool, nobody can take your place. I love you.  All my love, Belinda xxxxoooxxxx

P.S. Congratulations on winning last week's Powerball lottery.

Do you think she really loved John?  What did Belinda really love?  The money, of course.  Poor girl; she was placing her trust in the wealth… something Jesus describes as Mammon.

Jesus calls the earthly things we trust our “Mammon.”  It’s an Aramaic word which means “money, worldly wealth, or worldly resources.”  These are the people who tend to live in the shelter of their retirement fund or their accumulated wealth and possessions; the more they have, the more secure they feel.  Sadly, this doesn’t just happen to non-Christians; even believers tend to find their security in the “treasures of this world” instead of placing their trust in the LORD.

And neither is this a new problem; even the people of Israel struggled to trust in the LORD.  In the Old Testament, God spoke to Israel through the prophets.  Speaking through Isaiah, the LORD said, “without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help.  You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection.  You have tried to hide in his shade” [1] (Isaiah 30:2).  God warns that all who trust in the Pharaoh will be ashamed; he will not help the nation (Isaiah 30:5).  People and empires will disappoint; they are as frail as breath (Isaiah 2:22). 

It's not like God never proved He could be trusted.  In the Old Testament, we read of God rescuing Israel from a whole slew of enemies.  When the Assyrian army was camped right outside the gates of Jerusalem, the LORD struck down 185,000 enemy soldiers in a single night (2 Kings 19:35).  So confident was King Jehoshaphat in the protection of God that Jerusalem’s army marched out against its enemies with the Temple Singers leading the way (2 Chronicles 20:21).  God parted waters, provided food and water, and led Israel into many victories as the nation marched through the wilderness.  Time, and time again, Israel saw the protective shelter of God’s wings.  Jeremiah suggests that people are blessed when they, “trust in the Lord, and have made the Lord their hope and confidence”[2] (Jeremiah 17:7).

Some people of Israel did believe this: they believed God had been protecting and would continue to protect.  For example, with great confidence the author of Psalm 91 says that God alone is a refuge and and a shelter.

¹ “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  ² This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.  ³ For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers.  He will shelter you with his wings.  His faithful promises are your armor and protection.  ⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.  ⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday” [3] (Psalm 91:1-6).

In these verses, the psalmist speaks, with confidence, that God does indeed provide protection and shelter to those who love Him.  Those who make a choice to “dwell in the shelter of the Most High,” will find rest in His shadow.

Does God still do this today? 

Based on current observations, it sure seems that God is either not protecting us, or that His protection is fragile… full of holes and flaws.  Even Christians experience tragedies and loss.  Bad things happen to a lot of good and innocent people.  And we are left to wonder what God was doing while we faced disasters on our own.

But were we really alone?

I know it seems like we face adversity on our own.  I know it feels like God pulled back the shelter of His wings and allowed sickness and sorrow to rain down upon us.  But, were we really alone?  Did we truly face the full force of that misfortune?  Were we really exposed to the full fury of the tragedy, or, did we merely experience the precise amount that God knew we could endure?

I don’t think we will ever know that answer in this life, but we must assume that God intervened in some way.  He, Himself, has promised to watch over us and protect us.  He has said no one will snatch us from His hand.  What is it that Paul said about our LORD?  “But we know that to those who love God all things work together for good” [4] (Romans 8:28).  Either His promise is true, or He is a liar.

I choose to believe God’s promise is true.  I choose to believe that in all of life’s ups and downs, God has covered me with His wings.  And when I feel a few painful drops, I believe God has spared me the full deluge that would have washed me away.  I choose to believe this because God has made a promise.

As Christians, we must understand that God’s goal in our life is not to make us happy but to help us become more like Jesus.  To shape us into someone holy, the Father chisels away at our worldliness.  Sometimes the blows we face can be painful, but they are designed to reshape us and mold us into the kind of person who reflects Jesus in this world.  It’s never an easy process.  But, rather than allow the process to destroy us, God permits just enough affliction to erode away our worldliness… leaving behind someone stronger, refined, and holy – more like Jesus.

To what extent does God protect us and shelter us?  Enough to refine us and shape us, but not so much that we are crushed and destroyed.  And perhaps the blows of His chisel hurt because we resist being molded and reformed; we remain stubborn and stiff-necked.  Our hearts are like stone.  Rather than trusting in the LORD, we tend to build our own shelter – our own “Hedge of protection.”  Perhaps we have given our trust to man-made institutions or have stored up “treasures on earth.” Unfortunately, these are the very things that “moth and rust” destroy (Matthew 6:19).  And when we make something else our Mammon – when we take shelter under something other than God – our relationship with God is damaged.  “No one can serve two masters,” says Jesus.  “He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth”[5] (Matthew 6:24).

I understand that it is difficult to trust in what you cannot see.  It’s difficult to place our worries and concerns into the hands of the Lord – to give Him our fears for tomorrow.  But He has made us a promise.  God has promised to shelter us under His wings.  Either the LORD God was lying when He made this promise, or He was telling the truth.

The author of Psalm 91 was willing to place his very life into the hands of God (verse 2).  In what you trust is a choice you will have to make.  But, remember: you cannot trust in God AND something else; you cannot serve two masters.

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^[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Is 30:2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Je 17:7). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ps 91:1–6). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[4]Newberry, T., & Berry, G. R. (2004). The interlinear literal translation of the Greek New Testament (Ro 8:28). Bellingham, WA.

^[5] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Mt 6:24). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.