Stay the course!

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10, NRSV)

Hold on just a minute here…

What are you saying Paul? What is all of this about dwelling and clothing and taking off or not being in the house, but not being naked and all of this talk about being clothed in the dwelling He has prepared for us?

Paul has a way of saying things in a run on round about way that loses us sometimes. It makes us shake our heads and just say, “Yea whatever he just said…”

But if we don’t get it we shouldn’t agree… But what Paul is saying is this life here is a dwelling that is not permanent, and the one that Christ has prepared for us with God is permanent. We will be in that dwelling forever, and once we leave this dwelling, that is where we will be forever. But while we are in this place, in this life, we can not be fully in that life.

But we can be confident in the promises that that life is real and is with us. We are not there fully, but will be there. For now we see in the mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Our eyes will be opened and we will be with God fully!

So hold to the confidence that Christ is our savior and He will be with us as we stand before the judgement seat, and we will be with Him in the end.

Stay the course!

Would you…

Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground is dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said.” And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water. And Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground.” And God did so that night; only the fleece was dry, and dew was on all the ground. (Judges 6:36-40, ESV)

Some of us say this is wrong, and that is because Jesus said it was wrong to put the Lord your God to the test. And Jesus said it because it is in the Hebrew Scriptures.

But I wonder how many of us, having the moxy to ask for what Gideon did would actually believe what God showed us.

We ask for a clear sign from God and if we were to get it would we believe it?  Or would we say it is a fluke,  it was a mistake. So Gideon asked again…

But would you believe after the second test?

Sometimes it takes a while for us to get it and to follow and even with many clear signs we are slow to say, “yes Lord…”

Would you believe the signs and follow?

A new name…

That night he arose and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. And he took them and sent them across the stream. Then he sent across all his possessions. And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn. And when he saw that he could not prevail against him, he struck his hip socket, so that Jacob’s hip socket was sprained as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Then he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked and said, “Please tell me your name.” And he said, “Why do you ask this—for my name?” And he blessed him there. Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel which means “I have seen God face to face and my life was spared.” Then the sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the sciatic nerve that is upon the socket of the hip unto this day, because he struck the socket of the thigh of Jacob at the sinew of the sciatic nerve. (Genesis 33:22-32, ESV)

How many of us have wrestled with God? Or an angel?

Well I guess we all could say we have, especially if we ever felt God calling us to do something and then we said, “really you want me to do that? I’m not able to do that…”

We all wrestle with God, maybe not in a physical sense but all of us struggle with following where He is calling us to go and be and to do what He is asking us to.

And just like Jacob we all have the opportunity to get a new name from God. At the font, God names us and claims us as His own. And while the pastor may use the same name out parents gave us, God calls us by a new name, “beloved child!”

You are His beloved child and by that name He is calling you…

Bad rap…

Doubting ThomasOn the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:19-31, ESV)

Most of us who have been to worship before have heard this verse and the title it is traditionally known by, Doubting Thomas.

But I wonder why were the 10 locked in the room? And where was Thomas?

If they all actually feared for their lives would they not either all stay together or all be alone? Safety in numbers or better off by themselves…

But Thomas is not there. He is out of the room…

And where we do not know, and doing what we do not know…

But because he questioned the others when he did returned he gets the rap for doubting and sets up the thought that doubting or questioning is bad.

Questioning God is not wrong and seeking a clear understanding is not wrong. God calls us to know the truth and not just blindly follow what others tell us.

Thomas needed to understand himself, and confessed without touching. But blessed are we who seek answers and find them without seeing.

So question and seek, trusting in the truth of God.

O Sing!!!

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained him victory. The Lord has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord. Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity. (Psalm 98, NRSV)

Have you ever been annoyed with the new hymn or song in worship?

Why do we have to sing this?

We don’t know it!

We’ve never done this before!

It is true doing new things is hard. Change is not easy, but wait just a minute and reread the psalm above…

O sing to the Lord a NEW song!

God doesn’t want the same old same old!

God wants you to be ready at a moments notice to do something new! Something different.

He is not content with the tired and true, but wants us to soar on the wind and sing to Him a new song!

 

Witnesses!

Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised; before his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet.’ “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; (Acts 13:23-33a, NRSV)

John was here and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, one we needed to prepare to meet, for He would save us. John never claimed to be the savior, but pointed to Him, as did Peter, and the disciples, and many others…

And even though the church leaders of John’s day found nothing in Jesus to convict Him, they still took Him to Pilate and had Him tried and then hung on a cross for us, His children.

Who was a witness to you?

Who told you the story?

Who helped you understand the love God has for you?

Who can you tell?

Who can you help know the love God has for them?

You see, you are a witness, and called by God, through Jesus to go into the world and tell the story, bot to everyone, but to one…

Who are you going to be a witness for?

Not necessarily in words, but in how you live your life for Him?

For they witnessed, and many believed, and those who believed witnessed and so on down to you, and now it is our turn… So go therefore and be a witness to the love we all have available to us!

Seeing…

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18, NRSV)

Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing…

In this passage, as well as the rest of the gospel of John, seeing is a big thing…

Mary sees the stone rolled away in verse one, and here she believes that someone has taken the body.

The two disciples, Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved, see the clothes lying in the tomb in verse 5 and 6. And in verse 8 it says the disciple that Jesus loved sees and believes… And I wonder what he believed, as he went home, without understanding that He must rise from the dead, the verses say… They saw He was gone and that is what they believed since He was not there…

Then Mary sees the 2 angels in the tomb, but still believes that someone has taken the body…

Then Mary sees Jesus and believes him to be the gardener…

Then after Jesus calls her by name, she really sees Him. And she goes to see the disciples and tells them she has seen the Lord…

The eyes can deceive you… But our mind and our heart will help us to see what our eyes never could…

Seeing isn’t believing, believing is seeing!

 

For they were afraid…

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 16:1-8, NRSV)

Not really the ending to the story we expect, right?

I mean come on. Jesus is alive and all that happens here is the women, who came to prepare Him, fled from the tomb when they were told He was alive and was going on to meet the disciples, because they were afraid!

But how many of us have done anything about the fact that Jesus was raised?

How many of us tell people about our loving savior that died for us, and rose to give us new life?

How many of us flee from a chance to talk about God because we are afraid?

There is nothing to fear for the Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak.

So boldly tell all about Jesus who died for all so that all may have a place with God for all of eternity!

Hope…

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20, NRSV)

Have you ever had one of those things that could not be explained but you believed it?

Some in Paul’s day were saying that Christ was not raised from the dead… Yet we say there is resurrection and that Christ rose from the dead. Yet if He didn’t rise, where is our hope?

What do we have to cling to if Christ did not rise from the dead?

Our faith is futile and in vain.

But you see that is the hope, because we know that Christ was raised from the dead. Can we prove it, not in a CSI way, but to me I do not need to. I know the promises the Bible tells me are true. And that may not be enough for some, but it is enough for me. God gave me the Hope that Jesus loved me enough to endure the cross and God loved me enough to not leave Jesus in the grave and I know that the Father will not leave me there either. And you can hope in our Daddy God and know that He will not leave you there either!

First Importance

Now I should remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, NRSV)

What is the most important thing in your life?

What is first on your list of important things to remember?

Well Paul is telling the Corinthians to remember what is most important in life.

Christ died for your sins, was buried and was raised from the dead on the third day all in accordance with the scriptures!

Then He came back and showed Himself to Peter (Cephas) and the disciples and then many more…

And Paul says He then came and showed Himself to Paul. But the accounts we have of this is a bright light that blinded Saul and a voice of one saying He was Jesus and asking Saul why He was persecuting Him…

So sight is not needed to believe in Jesus, but believing in the promises the scriptures tells us about Him. If we believe what we have been told has happened, and hold it as the promise of God for our life, the first and most important thing for us to remember, we can count ourselves as one who Jesus appeared to, and hold all of the promises for ourselves!