6/17/16-Psalm 1; Titus 1:1-9-Dad We Really Need You

Happy Fathers Day to you!

Like on Mother’s Day, we said, “Mom, We Really Need You”. Today, we now say, “Dad. We really need you”. This sermon is mean to show what holiness planted on the rock of Christ looks like, and it applies to us men.

We live during a time when we see young men and women acting hurtfully toward themselves and others, and we wonder, “What was their home life like?”

We live in a world where often young boys are not taught to act like men, never taught how to properly treat a lady. Brothers, we have work to do.

We as men can be leaders in the lives of others, mentoring them, and giving them someone they can look up to, because this is what “Discipleship” looks like,

When we look back at Gen. 1:26-27 and it says God made mankind in His image. This image is a royal word, used to describe an ambassador of a kingdom.

…and we already know we are Christ’s ambassadors, representing the kingdom of God to the world.

In Christ, we are given new identities as believers, we are disciples and children of our heavenly King (and we can have joy in that!)

Yet, this joyful truth also calls and beckons to our souls to remember who we are. We talked on Mother’s Day about how you ladies are princesses and royalty.

You ladies bear the image of God in your compassion, love, and mystery. Us men also bear His image, but in a different way.

We reflect God’s courage, His desire to protect, His acts of justice and fairness, and safety for our loved ones.

That is exactly part of who Jesus is, what Adam was meant to be, and who we as men are meant to be.

Yet, we do not need to look back at our earthly father, Adam. Rather, we look to our Heavenly Father, who did act,

Culture & media may not give us too many men to look to and admire, so sometimes it can be hard for our young men to know what it means to be good.

That is why we as Christian men must look to Jesus and find guys in our lives who love Jesus, who know how to lead with character and integrity.

…and then we grow to be more like them. We are discipled by them so that we can turn around then disciple others, and it goes on and on. This is how the Christian life is passed from generation to generation.

Let us look at Titus 1:1-9 and examine each of the characteristics of what leaders in the church are to be.

You may be saying “Yes Craig, but this applies specifically to ministers.” And I answer, “Yes, but we are all called to be ministers”

…and these qualities we would all do well to learn and put into practice. All of it leads to verse 9,

Verse 9-Paul says a man of God must know the Bible so he can lead with truth and know where falsehood and lies are in the world.

For we are all called to be a kingdom of ministers for the sake of God and His good news to people.

Maybe you aren’t a teacher in the formal sense, but when we as Christians live in the world, people are watching, and so they are learning about God through us.

If so, we are called to live lives as men, good men, in order that we may thank God and to lead and protect our families, friends,

…even the strangers who may be angels in our midst 😉 But remember this: How you live is a reflection of what you believe about God

Men, to be a good man, you must get right in your relationship with Jesus. He is the only one who can make us into good men.

Good men. Men who continue to love our wives and our families so we will work to make the world better for them.

Men who have hands soft enough to carry the broken, yet hard enough to fight against the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion ready to devour.

God calls us to be men. Whereas the kingdom of the devil tells us to be led by our sinful passions, God calls us to led by His Spirit.

Look at Psalm 1-The righteous man delights in God’s Word. He is like a tree nourished by the Holy Spirit so that everything He does is good.

Dad we really need you. So men, I call upon all of us here to stand together and renew our commitment to following Jesus.

If you have children and/or grandchildren, be a Christian father to them, If not, find those who look to you and lead them to Jesus.

Let us be good men, men our heavenly Father could be proud of, and when we stumble, let us look to Him to shape us into men we need to be. Men who will be lovers of God, leaders in our families and jobs, men who when the world says, “Dad, we need you” we can answer with boldness and say, “in Jesus’ name, I’m here”.

Luke 10:25-37-A Most Unlikely Friend-6/12/16

This particular story may be very familiar to most of us. So familiar in fact, that we sometimes can lose the “thrust” of what Jesus is really showing. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Cain was the unrighteous brother, Abel the righteous one, yet after Cain did such a despicable act and God asked him, “where is your brother?” Cain replied, “Am I responsible to care for him?”

Our world today says “no”, but this parable of Jesus answers that question for the life of a Christian, and it is a clear “yes”.

Let us look at this story, this lawyer comes to Jesus with two purposes: To trick Jesus, and also “to justify himself”. In other words, he wanted to make himself look righteous by his own actions. He wanted his own works to earn him ‘eternal life’.

(If we try to earn righteousness with God by our own works then we are not ready for the gospel, for it is by His gift of love that we are saved, and we must humbly accept it by trusting Him.)

After asking him to answer his own question, Jesus affirms the answer, but the lawyer wants to press the issue and asks, “who then is my neighbor?” This lawyer thought the his neighbor only meant his fellow Israelites, people who were just like him.

We all ask the same question sometimes, “Who is my neighbor?” Is it only those whom I feel comfortable around? My circle of friends? My next-door neighbor? Or is the circle a bit wider to include…everyone?

Let me set the background for this story: Jews and Samaritans hated each other. The Jews saw themselves as pure descendants of Abraham, while the Samaritans were a mixed race produced when Jews from from the norther kingdom of Israel intermarried with other people after the country went into exile. Hence, there were some national and racial tension there.

So when this lawyer questioned Jesus, he would have never thought this “enemy” of the Jews could show love to a Jew, but that is exactly what the Samaritan did. The priest and the Levite, who should have been the first to show mercy, absolutely refused to do so.

Look at the irony here. This lawyer, who was a Jew, answered the question rightly by saying the two greatest commandments: Love God and love your neighbor.

Yet, his fellow Jews (the Priest and the Levite) would rather have obeyed other laws about purity rather than the chief commandments of loving God and loving neighbor.

On the other hand, this is exactly what the Samaritan does. The roles are switched. The “righteous religious leaders” who should have know better failed to act, while the person no one thought could be righteous did act!

Hence, the lawyer has to answer his own question that anyone who acts with love toward their fellow man, even if he be an enemy, acts godly.

Jesus reversed the lawyer’s original question (v. 29). The lawyer assumed it was up to others to prove themselves neighbor to him, not that he ought to go and show himself to be a neighbor to everyone else. Jesus makes it clear that each of us has a responsibility to be a neighbor, especially to those in need.

One commentator says it like this: “The legal expert viewed the wounded man as a topic for discussion; the bandits, as an object to exploit; the priest, as a problem to avoid and the Temple assistant, as an object of curiosity. Only the Samaritan treated him as a person to love.”

We all have those people in our lives with whom we disagree. Yet, we must never let that stop us from remembering they are fellow human beings, created by God (just as we were), broken by sin (just like us), and loved by Him (same as us).

From this story we learn three principles about loving our neighbor.

(1) Lack of love is often easy to justify but it is never right;

(2) our neighbor is anyone of any race, creed, or social background who is in need; and

(3) love means acting to meet the person’s need.

Wherever we live, there are needy people close by. The church grows when we meet the needs of the community.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan occurs only in Luke, and illustrates Jesus’ teaching of who our neighbor is: anyone in immediate need, even a supposed enemy. For what quicker way to turn an enemy into a friend then by loving them. Hatred cannot do that, only love can.

How do we love all men, even our enemies? We cannot on our own, but God fills us with His love by the power of the Holy Spirit, and gives us His love so that we can love others as He does, even if we do not always like them.

To quote Thomas Oden-”Where brokenness is found in the world, the church mends, where hunger, it feeds, where suffering, it heals, the people of God are called to do whatever is at hand to do, act with all their might, and hear their neighbor’s cry and answer it, loving the ones they see.”

Caring for neighbor goes hand in hand with loving God. This truth is repeated many different times in Scripture. God is duly served through service to the neighbor.

How do I love my neighbor? Treat them as Jesus would. Do good to all men at all times in all places under all circumstances. Ask yourself what would produce the maximum good without being in direct contradiction to the Scriptures.

Am I my brother’s keeper? If we claim to be Christians, our answer is YES.

6/5/16-Luke 18:1-8-“Take It to God (Pray Without Ceasing)”

Our life of faith is like a race, and God’s desire for us as Christians is to run this race faithfully. One way we persist in the race in the face of life’s hardships is through prayer.

 

Remember: Prayer is how our redeemed souls are fed spiritually, and it is a constant nourishment. Prayer is how God shapes us like Christ, to live everyday with his Kingdom in our minds.

 

The reason we are to persist is because God desires us to experience Him, His faithfulness, love, and absolute goodness. It is not because we pray that causes God to be good, rather it is because God is good that we pray. It is because God is good that the offer of eternal life is before us to experience.

 

God wants us to grow in grace and loving, becoming more like Jesus, and prayer is one way of how we grow. Just as a parent, while treasuring their child when they are a baby, also wants them to grow up and be mature. So it is with God, who wants us to grow in our faith and understanding of Him.

 

With that, we turn to the story. We have one corrupt judge, and one persistent and faithful widow. One who has all the power and one who is powerless. This judge, who should have shown the most compassion, didn’t care about God or about people. The widow’s odds are slim, but what other choice does she have, and so she goes to plead her case.

 

And she keeps pleading…and pleading…and finally this judge (no doubt fed up!), finally gave in and gave her the well-deserved justice.

 

Just like last week, Jesus is not saying that God is like this corrupt judge, only answering our prayers when we nag Him (He is much more good than that!) Rather, it is a contrast. If this evil judge who did not respect widows or orphans finally did give justice, how much more will God, the great defender of widows and orphans is wanting to give justice to all who are oppressed. It is because God is faithful that we persist in prayer.

 

Often we struggle with endurance. We want to throw up our hands after only a week praying for someone or for a situation and we quit thinking God does not hear us or does not want to answer our prayer. Yet, God desires that we endure in our prayers for others, not only for their sake, but for ours, because the more we have that time spent with our hearts lifted to God, the more He takes our hearts and fills them with faith, hope, and love.

 

Remember: When we pray God changes the situation or He changes us, and often it is both.

 

Look once more at Jesus’ words, “how much more will God bring about justice”. Persistence in prayer does not mean we keep asking for that million dollars or that great new car we desire.

 

It is saying, “pray for someone the way Jesus would pray for them.” A simple prayer goes something like this, “Dear Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours”. Look to Jesus and use His prayer as yours: “…God, Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

 

The justice mentioned in this parable is the justice God is eager to grant. It is the justice of His Kingdom, “on earth as it is in heaven”. This is the purpose of us here as a church: to pray this Kingdom of God into our lives then go live that kingdom to impact the lives of others.

 

Now, I will level with you. You may be thinking, “what about some of the prayers I have prayed that were not answered in the way that I prayed them?” I have struggled with this myself, but let me encourage us when I draw your attention back to last week’s lesson.

 

Remember: Out Father does not give us stones when we ask for bread, so whatever answer He ever gives you in answer to prayer, trust Him, even when it seems like His answer is, “Keep coming to Me with this request”.  Pray without ceasing

This parable has two points to remember: One is a truth, the other a challenge

Truth: God is the perfect judge eager to do justice in the world

Challenge: Will God find us faithful in our praying to Him? Let your entire life be a prayer so that all will know you have Jesus in your hearts. 

Listen to this to hear more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhi8HCzcQ_8