5/24/15-Empowered by God’s Spirit0-Acts 3:1-10

I know that I do not have much time left with you brothers and sisters here, and so I thought we could take a journey together through the book of Acts

 

This final sermon series of mine is a gift to you, to get us to look at God empowering His church to do His work in the world, to be His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We are to be holy ambassadors of that Kingdom, because if you are a believer, your eternal life starts right now, not when you die.

 

We are to live as if we are living in the Kingdom of God, today, right now. Today is Pentecost, the church’s birthday, and Acts 2 is where we read last year of the Holy Spirit’s coming mightily down on the apostles and other believers, about 120 of them.

 

Immediately, the disciples move out into the world to fulfill the grand yet simple command, “Tell the whole world about Jesus.” It did not take a huge PR firm or a campaign, only the willing hearts of those who were empowered by the Holy Spirit. It was those who simply said, “Yes” to Jesus and took Him at his word.

 

Peter, the impetuous, forthright and bold, loudmouth. John the more quiet, retiring, tender and compassionate. YET these two different guys were bonded in brotherhood with chords that could not be broken. This is an example of the chains of love and unity among these diverse believers.

 

We too are different here, different ages, different jobs, different hobbies, yet we should always remember, that what, or rather WHO, unites us is stronger that he who tries to divide us.

 

We should not only be thankful for that undeserved gift of grace, but should be asking “what does grace require of me?” We often ask God to solve a small problem, but He wants to give us a whole new life and help for all our problems. When we ask God for help, he may say, “I’ve got something even better for you” You may ask God for what you want, but don’t be surprised when He gives you what you really need.

 

Friends, the same Spirit given to them to do this great work, this miracle, is given to you as well. If you are a Christian, you are a spirit-anointed powerhouse!, destined to do God’s work in the world.

 

What does God’s grace require of me? To continue His work of redemption in the world. What started at the cross of Calvary finds its continuing here, among us. The book of Acts may end at chapter 28 but we are Acts 29. We are the church called to do His work in the world.

 

So what does it mean to be empowered by God’s Holy Spirit? How do we get it? Ask, and ask sincerely, with a willing heart and mind. But brother Craig, I can’t perform miracles, I can’t heal anyone.

 

Neither could Peter, but God worked through Him and can do the same through you, and even if you never see anyone healed, All of you have a story, just tell people what Jesus did for you. You have Jesus, that is all you need.

 

You demonstrate Jesus in the world by your actions and how you live. It is a responsibility, but it is a joyful one.

 

And brothers and sisters, when the Spirit of the Lord is given full reign in a congregation, there will be healings of people’s spiritual, psychological, and physical needs. When a person turns aside from sin and decides to follow Jesus, that is the greatest miracle, and when stuff like that happens, congregations, communities, and the outside world begin to sit up and take notice.

 

The same power that called the earth into existence is what is inside you when you have Jesus in your life, and it is for the lame of the world—the lame in body, in mind, and in spirit. God blesses you and then calls you to be a blessing to others, and repeat, and repeat. What you have been given by God, share with others.

 

The power of Pentecost faith is for people in need. It is for our joy, but never for private enjoyment. Instead, it is so that the things Jesus did for people, we can do them too by continuing His work.

 

God used Peter to lift this man up and get him to walk, Jesus took us by the hand and raised us up to life, and now that same Jesus calls us and gives us His Spirit to reach out to others, and lift them up to life as well

 

What does grace require of me? to be Jesus to people in your everyday lives, and through Him, To free people from the fear of sin and death, to show them that through Jesus they can have life!

 

Mother’s Day Sermon: Persistence in Prayer: Luke 18:1-8: 5/10/15

I thought this Mother’s Day that we ought to turn to a woman whom Jesus uses to demonstrate two important Christian truths.

 

One, that God is ultimately more powerful and more good than we give Him credit for, and two, that faithfulness in prayer is a virtue we should continue to strive.

 

It is because our God is good all the time and all the time He is good, that this should draw forth from our souls this loving desire to be in constant prayer with Him.

 

Whether it is in repentance over our own wrongs, bringing requests before Him on behalf of others, thanking Him for His many blessings, drawing spiritual strength in our daily lives, crying out to Him in need, and so much more.

 

The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer life as well, and we must take advantage of that.

 

Friends, I have said this before and I will say it again: Just as our physical bodies are strengthened because we gather nourishment on earthly food, so too our spiritual lives are strengthened because we gather nourishment through spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible and prayer.

 

His grace comes first, and He awaits our response. His faithfulness calls forth our faith. It is important not only that we answer God’s goodness,

 

We ought to take from this story that God is infinitely more good than we can imagine, and He will give mercy and justice, that He will show compassion to us believers who suffer, so we should be encouraged to pray in all kinds of times, lifting our requests before God, and…be ready for Him to answer and sometimes…in ways we would not expect.

 

See, often we think prayer is a one-sided conversation, but any of us who have spouses, family, or close friends know, that to keep a relationship strong, we have to do just as much listening as talking, sometimes even moreso.

 

When we pray, God listens, but we must also listen, for sometimes God wants to show us His view of things, to see things from his perspective.

 

Sometimes, God says “I will not give you this specific request you bring, because I have much better in store for you.”

 

It may not always be the easier way, but it will always be better. To gain wisdom, we must see things the way God sees them.

 

His grace comes first, and He awaits our response. His faithfulness calls forth our faith. It is important not only that we answer God’s goodness, but that we do so consistently…over and over.

 

Pray with your whole heart, passionately, like you mean it. Pray, because I as your pastor and brother in the Lord want all of us, you and me, to hang in there, to be found loyal to the Savior, even to the end. The wicked judge teaches us about the character of our good God, and the widow teaches us about the proper response of we His people. To persist in prayer does not mean endless chanting, or repetition or painfully long prayer sessions. Constant prayer is a relationship.

 

It means keeping God at the center of life, bringing our requests continually before God as we live for him, day-by-day.

 

When we are strengthened in faith, we do not give up. As we persist in prayer, we grow in character, faith, and hope. Prayer grows us. When we accept Jesus Christ, and make Him Lord of our lives, we are given access to the Holy Spirit through prayer. We are given to opportunity to commune with God, our very source of life?

Friends what is stopping us? What are we waiting for? let us pray

Mark 5:21-43-God’s Power: Our Patience-5/3/15

Here is another example of Jesus reaching out to the hopeless, the downtrodden, those that many of us would often pass by if we saw them.

This healing story teaches us about faith, about hope, and really about patience.

We first meet Jarius who was the leader of the local Jewish synagogue, who had close ties to leaders who were probably against Jesus.

So Jarius has a choice to make. Keep his friends and the status quo and risk losing his daughter who is near death, or upset the apple cart, throw his lot in with Jesus as hope the Lord can and will save her.

In a way, it is a choice we all must make. Stick to the safe and familiar or jump to the Son of God and trust Him to save.

When suddenly, Jesus stops and the crowd stops, and Jesus asks, “who touched me?” And it says who, this woman who had a condition for twelve years, who not only suffered the ailment, but seemed to also suffer from the cures!

And here, she thinks “if I just touch His cloak, I’ll be healed.” It is a small act of faith.

This is an example that shows that it is not the amount of faith you have that matters as much as Who you have your faith in.

The amount of faith you have can vary, but the amount of faith is not as important as WHO you are putting your faith in!

After all, you can have a beautiful mansion, but if it is built on a hollow foundation, it won’t last long.

On the other hand, a small house built on a strong foundation is always more secure.

It was a mustard-seed-sized trust in Jesus that led Jarius to seek Him out, that led this woman to reach out to Him, and all it takes is a mustard-sized faith to move mountains 

This woman’s healing was complete, not only did was she healed physically, but was healed spiritually.

She became a believer, and thus was healed of the soul, and saved from sin, all from that small act of trust. This woman teaches us another lesson.

Sometimes we all feel like our problems will keep us away from God, but He is always ready to help, don’t let fear or anything else, stop you from coming to Him. God wants the relationship with you, and it just takes you saying “yes” to Him

So now that the woman is healed, both physically and spiritually, let us go back to the other person, Jarius’ daughter. While all this is happening, Jarius gets the news he feared worst of all. “She’s gone, she’s dead. Don’t bother Jesus anymore.

Yet in this midst of this storm, this punch in the gut Jarius just got, Jesus says to him the same thing He says to all of us.

“Don’t be afraid. Just trust me”-Jesus is saying to Jairus, “trust me, be patient, there is no need to hurry”

Patience is love for the long haul, working hard and not giving up, holding up, delaying gratification, and not lashing out when it’s not instant.

There may be a reason God is delaying in answering your prayers. It may be to perform something even more grand that is the better way for you.

Remember friends, when you go to Jesus for help, you get from him far more than you had in mind, and you also end up giving Him far more than you had expected.

Jairus had to give more than he thought.

He came to Jesus with faith for a healing, Jesus wants Him to have that mustard-seed sized faith that will grow into a mighty tall bush, he wants that faith that will grow and recognize Jesus as having the power over death itself.

To have faith even at the eleventh hour. To trust God when you are up the creak, not even without a paddle, but without even a boat. That faith takes practice.

It is to get up say, Yes Lord I’m still going to trust you. If you go to Jesus, he may ask of you more than you think, but he can give you more than you ever dared to dream of as well. This is what we see when the daughter is raised.

Jesus is saying by his actions, “if I have you by the hand, death itself is nothing but sleep” Let Jesus take you by the hand and lead you through all your struggles. When you truly ponder his goodness, why hurry the Master?

He holds you tightly and brings you through the greatest darkness. Don’t ever let the problems you face or your brokenness stop you from coming to Jesus to be healed. Give it all to Him, and wait patiently. He has you by the hand, and will never let go. Amen

4/26/15-Do Good

This particular subject has been a question to Christians since the time of Jesus. Should we keep the Sabbath or not?

Jesus answers here, “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, so do good on the Sabbath”.

So what is exactly one to do on the Sabbath? Well I would say take time to love God and your fellow neighbor.

However you treat the Sabbath, do it as a joy. Here we see Jesus two different times doing what was untraditional on the Sabbath

One time he picks heads of grain to eat. The other time, he heals someone with a withered hand.

The first, Jesus is walking through grain fields on the Sabbath picking the grain and eating it and so were his disciples.

The second, Jesus heals a man in the synagogue, in the church, the one place you would want to be get a divine healing, yet they are against it

Jesus’ disciples are criticized because they are picking grain heads, they were not breaking any Old Testament law though, because they were not harvesting the grain for profit, they were gleaning it to eat.

Harvesting for money was illegal on the Sabbath, but gleaning was not because that is how poor people ate.

So the Pharisees criticize and Jesus comes back at them with another story…about someone all Jews respected, King David.

David was hungry, and he was dependent on an act of mercy to feed him, and so he was fed. This shows something Jesus is trying to tell these guys. The Pharisees desired rule-keeping above mercy.

God desires mercy above rule-keeping.

When following rules overrides mercy and human need, the practice leads us away from God not toward Him. On the other hand, when we look at the next story, we see Jesus doing good on the Sabbath. He is motivated by godly compassion.

I don’t want to make the Sabbath rest a strict requirement, but I also don’t want you to miss out on the great blessing God has given you in rest. Brothers and sisters, God does not want us to run ourselves ragged, you and more than the work you produce. You are more than a paycheck.

The Sabbath is a day to restore what was diminished.To replenish what has been drained, to repair the broken. So when Jesus heals the man’s hand, he is doing exactly what the Sabbath is all about. The word Sabbath means deep rest, a deep peace, a state of wholeness and flourishing in every area of life.

Jesus is the source of that peace. He is our Sabbath, the source of the deep rest that we need.

The one-day-a-week rest that we take is just a taste of the deep divine rest that we need, and Jesus is its source.

Jesus can give us the rest we need, mentally, physically, spiritually.

Don’t go trying to prove yourself to anyone.

Because it is a never-ending battle, because often when we are trying to prove ourselves to others, it is really just trying to prove something to ourselves. Don’t worry about others in this regard.

If they love you, you don’t have to prove anything to them, just show them Who you belong to.

When God finished His work of creation, he said, “it is finished” and he could rest. Jesus died on the cross and said “it is finished” and we could rest.

 

God wants us to have a deep rest of the soul. Rest in Jesus and his love, knowing that that love will never change. Allow that deep rest of the soul to restore you, no matter what day of the week it happens upon. Whatever you do, love God and your neighbor by doing it. Whatever good you do, whether it is family time, alone time, or serving time, whatever day your Sabbath day is, whether Sunday, Saturday, or the Wednesday, treat this rest, as a gift and as a joy, and know and have peace, that God will take care of everything. AMEN