Increase!

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, “I repent”, you must forgive.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you. ‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’ (Luke 17:1-10, NRSV)

Have you ever wanted your faith increased?

I think we all have. We see the tasks before us and we think there is no way I can do this…

And yo know what?

You are right. There is no way that you can do what is requested of you.

Jesus is telling the disciples that if they had the faith the size of a mustard seed they could tell a tree to uproot itself and throw itself into the ocean. We read this as a derogatory remark, like their faith is not enough.

But what if Jesus was saying, You know what you can’t tell this tree to move, but you have just enough faith to do what I need you to do, as long as you include me in the walk, we will be able to do what ever comes in front of you.

It is not about us having enough faith to make it on our own!

It is about trusting the one who gives us faith to always see us through the thing we can not do on our own!

The Gettysburg Address

On the 150th Anniversary of the giving of this speech it is good to remember…

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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember…

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imitate…

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2, NRSV)

Who do you imitate?

Or better yet, who imitates you?

Even if you don’t have any children, you have someone who imitates you.

Someone who looks up to you.

Someone who imitates your moves, your actions.

Someone who looks to you for how to react to a given event…

And how do you lead them?

The writer of Ephesians tells us to speak the truth, and to not let anger lead us to sin. We have to at all times speak the truth and not make up stories to get our way. Because if we are imitating God, then it is not about our way,but His way.

We will speak His truth and do what He has called us to do.

So how are you leading your mini me, and what do you use as a guide to lead you?

Sign…

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls. (Luke 21:5-19, NRSV)

Many would tell us this passage is one that tells us when the end is coming…

But hasn’t all the things that Jesus says will happen before the end all ready happened again and again and again? These are things that seem to be every day occurrences.

Jesus also tells us elsewhere that no one knows the time, no one knows the day or the hour. Jesus himself does not know when the end will come, so how do we think we can figure it out?

This passage is comfort for those it was written for. It was a notice to say all of these things you are going through do not mean the end is near, but have faith and live in the hope that Jesus is the promised Messiah and all is well.

Jesus is giving us the same promise. Not asking us to figure out the day the world will end, but giving us the promise that all will be well when we trust in Him.

A new song

O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten 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)

Sing to thenLord a new song…

How many times have you been to worship and said, “why are we singing this song, I don’t know it and we have never done it before?”

Well the reason for doing something new is right here. Sing to the Lord a new song! He has done wonderful things in our world and life and we should not give Him the same old stale things we have always given Him.

But we don’t know the words or the melody. How are we suppose to praise God with things we do not know!

It says later in the psalm, make a joyful noise. Let the ocean roar and the floods clap their hands. Now is the ocean roaring always pretty? And praiseful? And is the floods clapping a pretty melodious sound? No it is not but it can be joy filled. And that is what we are told to do.

God does not say make a pretty melodious sound and only the best and those who know a song the best should sing unto me. No He says make a joyful noise!

In the words of my pastor, “if you sing good, sing loud. If you can’t sing good, sing even louder to annoy your neighbor.” God said to make a joyful noise and that is what we are to do.

So sing a new song, and do it joyfully and to God it will be the most beautiful aria ever sung!

steadfast hope…

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12, NRSV)

It is not easy to stay steady and strong in the face of trials and tribulations. It is so much easier to give up and move on to something else.

Why is that?

We want to impress those around us we bend to the whims of society. We do not hold out for what we know is the right thing, the right way. We give up because of the pressures of those around us. We are told it is not worth maintaining the course we are on and that it would be so much easier to move over here and do this.

But God is calling us to a steadfast hope in the promises He has given us. He is asking us to follow Him and not look at the rest of the world, but to focus our sights on Him and where He is leading us.

He will walk with us through the trials and tribulations, He will always guide us and He will take care of the scoffers and nay sayers.

We must maintain our steadfast hope in our Lord who will not forget His promises to you!

without excuse…

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:18-25, NRSV)

No one can say that they do not know God or His ways.

Paul tells the Romans plainly here that ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature are seen through the things He has made. All of creation sings His glory and tells of His great love and mercy!

We are without excuse when it comes to knowing God for all of creation shouts. Remember Jesus telling the Pharisees if the disciples are quiet, then the rocks and the trees will cry out! All of nature proclaims His wonder!

We have no excuse for not knowing and loving the Lord!

 

Dead man walking

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life. ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:19-29, NRSV)

We can do nothing apart from God that is good. We can do nothing apart from God that will get us to any where but 6 feet in the ground.

We are truly all dead men walking. We are the living dead.

We will be judged by Jesus for the things that we did apart from Him. Will we hear Him call and be the ones who rise from the dead and walk with Him.

God has given Him the power and the wisdom to judge all of creation and to call forth from the grave those who will hear Him call.

Are you always going to be walking dead, or will you one day rise with Him?

Listen for His voice, and know that you will not always be a dead man walking!