Church Time v. Family Time

Once again, Al Mohler hits on a very important issue in contemporary church life. You can read his post here.

Basically, it points to the problems we have in the apparent "competition" between Church Time & Family Time and the increasing choice of families to drop church out of the schedule of activities.

Is this a decision your family is making? What is your thought process?

Also, how is the church contributing to making this decision easier or more difficult?

What is your greater priority?


One of the interesting points is that the way the church splits up the family upon arrival is hurting rather than helping their cohesion as a family unit.


What do you think about this?


Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,

Kelly

Sermon 3-11-07--Faith Changes Our Relationships on All Levels--1 Peter 2:12-3:7

Sorry for the slow post week. A member of our congregation died late last week and there was much to do and many to meet with. Please continue to be in prayer for the family of Harrison Eller--pray that the comfort and hope of Christ will strengthen them.

This message covers some difficult passages, particularly in the family relationships. I hope it helps in establishing our understanding of Christ's place in our lives.

Faith Changes Our Relationships

1 Peter 2:13-3:7

A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element tentatively has been named... "Governmentium."

Governmentium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 11 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since governmentium has zero electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of governmentium causes one reaction in excess of 4 days to respond when it would normally take less than a second.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 3 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a restructuring in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each shuffle, so to speak, will cause some morons to mix with neutrons, forming isodopes.

One of the greatest problems we face as believers in this world is how we should live, behave and respond to people and how we relate to situations in this world.

The world has certain rules, certain attitudes and expectations in relationships. The world thinks it’s OK to…

Complain about the government while trying to subvert the laws for your own benefit, believing the laws apply to others but not really to you.

The world thinks it’s OK to do things that may not be illegal, but are still ethically wrong—as long as you don’t get caught.

The world tries to convince us to get as much from your employer as possible while giving as little effort as possible.

Youth, the world tells you that it’s OK to cheat on a test, to lie or to torment someone else, especially after you had to put up with it in the past.

Last week we finished with 1 Peter 2:12 and the importance of living good lives among the pagans so that they may see your good deeds and glorify God. In other words—Peter wants your life in a hostile world to reflect the character of God and draw people to faith in Him. In such a life, you must relate to people on several different levels, your Faith must change your relationships. With Christ as our King, to whom we have pledged our loyalty, everything has changed. Even how we relate to each other.

Faith Changes Relationships—2:13-3:7

Government—2:13-17

No human government will ever be perfect. It will make mistakes, it will at times be unjust, you may not agree with everything it says or does, but your relationship with the government must be changed because Christ is your real King.

Peter calls us to Submit ourselves…vs. 13 “to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right.” Live by the law of the land unless that law contradicts your relationship with God. Just like Peter and John did before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem when they were told not to speak any more about Jesus. They replied with… Acts 4:18-20—“judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.”

Just because you don’t like something is not good enough reason to break it, but if there it is a clear teaching of Scripture that moves you to stand your ground, then by all means, do so keeping in mind there may be consequences to your stand.

The reason to live as good citizens is “For the Lord’s sake”—as a believer, you do not want to do anything that will malign His Name and be used against the true Kingdom of God.. Your behavior doesn’t just reflect on you and your character, it reflects on His character.

Doing right and doing Good generally avoids the punishment arm of the government and can elevate Him by their commendation.

But History has shown us, even the nightly news that sometimes, living the Christian life brings the gov’t down on you.

There are people in this country who make all kinds of accusations against Christ—who want to remove faith in Jesus from public life—your good behavior can, not always, but can, silence the negative and ignorant talk about you and against the cause of Christ.

V. 16--You have freedom in Christ—not so you can get away with stuff, but so that you can serve God with all your heart soul mind and strength.

Our freedom, our salvation, our security, our surety of forgiveness should never be used to justify getting away with fudging our taxes, breaking the law, shoplifting, or anything else. We respect the gov’t when we follow Jesus’ words to “Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”. one of those things you give and offer God is your integrity.

We must Show Proper respect to everyone, even politicians you don’t like. We must Love and support believers above all, show honor to the king or gov’t, but fear and respect and keep God in the right place above all.

Vs. 15—lets us know that in living good lives among the pagans, we have the chance to silence the foolish and false accusations against Christ because there were many in that day—ranging from public disorder, crimes against humanity, and cannibalism.

Be a model citizen which means, where you have a voice, you’d better share it or someone without Christ will. Where you have a vote, you’d better find out who the people are and then vote with your Faith leading your decision.

Faith changes how you relate to the government authorities. If you live as a passionate Christian and a good citizen, even government may see your good deeds and glorify God.

Slaves—Workers—vs. 18-25

In this country we do not live as slaves, nor do we have them anymore. Slavery was and continues to be a blight to humanity in various parts of the world.

Slavery was accepted in the biblical world and change came slowly. Early Christianity grew quickly among the slave population

This passage may seem distant to us, but that does not mean that it has nothing to say to us.

While we are not slaves, most of us do or did work under the supervision of someone else. As believers we are accountable to show up on time, work hard, not take advantage of perks or inattentive supervisors. Most of all we are to show our integrity. In all we do we must do it unto the Lord. How we work reflects on our Lord.

Colossians 3:22-24—“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor and to win their honor

Show respect to your bosses—vs. 18—not just the good ones but the harsh ones, the incompetent ones, even the crooked ones as well. They may not deserve it, but you are expected to give it. You may be smarter, more qualified or better than they are, but as a Xn, your goal is not to get ahead, your goal is to Proclaim the Name of Jesus. You must let the love of Christ direct your steps. That will not always be an easy life or choice to make, but in all ways, even beyond reasonable, show respect whether they deserve it or not. That means no making fun of behind their back, no taking advantage of them. Students, the same can be said of teachers.

Your conscious in your relationship with God helps you to put up with harsh or unjust treatment—

Peter says when you maintain your cool, your respect even in those wrong situations you are acting commendable. But you are not benefiting yourself, your family, or the Kingdom and Name of God if you rightly get in trouble or receive a reprimand or demotion, or as vs. 20 says, “receive a beating”—the harsh reality of slavery, for doing wrong.

You were called to endure wrongful and unjust suffering and follow the example of Christ. Too often our punishment and suffering is justified.

The world and the devil is going to make your life as difficult as possible by heaping up undeserved wrongs and situations. Christ conquered these situations because He endured them and was steadfast to the greater cause of God. He wasn’t just interested in His rights, His self-interest. Jesus wasn’t making a name for Himself, but for God. Imagine if He retaliated to His insults or made threats. Imagine if Jesus defended Himself and refused to endure unjust sufferings. Jesus suffered and vs. 24 “bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.” Now you are following a new Shepherd. Your faith and willingness to follow Christ should change the way you work—to make you work harder, work better, and work with integrity on every level.

But more important than your relationship with the government, more important than your work, are the relationships within your homes. Your relationship with your husbands or wives and families should be changed more by Christ than the others, because here is where your faith, and your family’s faith is truly built and expanded. When Christ is your King, your marriage is supposed to be better.

Marriage Relationships

Family is the basic unit of society and is not exempt from the change of Christ

How we treat each other as husband and wife says more about the change Christ has made in our life than anything. But what kind of message are believers sending when the same problems, abuse, fighting, divorce, insults, cheating, persist in our marriages? Has Christ made you a better husband, a better wife? Christ is supposed to change you from the normal pattern of this world to the godly pattern that more reflects His original design. Only when husband and wife are both committed to Christ can a marriage be what it is supposed to be—only in Christ do you have the power to do so.

Peter first addressed the wives in the marital relationship. READ 3:1-6.

Following the leadership of the Spirit, Peter says it is important for a believing wife to be “submissive to your husbands”. Show them how much you love them and respect them by your support, encouragement and faithfulness. One reason this is necessary is because the male ego really needs the encouragement.

This is especially for those who don’t have husbands who are believers. This is important for the reason Peter gives—“so that…” In Peter’s day, They would not have understood Xity as a Pro-Family faith the husband and father usually chose the faith for the whole family so if the wife chose Christ without Him, society and the husband may say that she is being rebellious and against her husband and family. . This caused problems for the woman—who could have been thrown out and the Name of Christ. If she used her new freedom and salvation in Christ as a reason to break her vows or disrespect her husband, then such charges would be true.

If you are a woman married to an unbeliever, how you live and relate to him, whether he deserves it or not, can make a difference in how he evaluates Jesus. It won’t be the only factor, but it will be a big one. He will be watching to see if the fruits of the Spirit are alive in you—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

He may not know these are the fruit of the Spirit, but he’ll recognize a growing change in your life because Christ is growing in you. Christ transforms you into something more and more beautiful. But you may suffer unjustly for it because he is not a believer.

The hope is that he will believe. This is important because spiritual mismatches in marriage are hard to live with. It’s hard to be “one flesh” and completely open and intimate with someone who does not share the most important relationship in your life, your relationship with God.

That’s why Scripture teaches it wrong for a believer to knowingly get married to an unbeliever, but if you did, or if you became a believer after marriage or for you wives who thought you were marrying a believer but whose husbands just lost interest and don’t think Christ and the Church is worthwhile, this verse is your hope and your mission. They may be won over by your behavior.

That’s why it’s so important to Show purity and reverence in your life. Your beauty must be from the inside, not the outside where Christ is at work. Outward beauty may get you noticed, but it is your heart that makes a marriage work. READ 3-4.

Young ladies, don’t marry a guy who is only interested in your looks, don’t try to attract him solely by your looks. If you want to show something off make it your integrity, your faith, and the beauty of your character. The one who is more interested in this part of you is one worth your time and will make a good husband and father.

Ladies, you are supposed to let a gentle and quiet spirit define you. This does not mean that you don’t have a mind of your own, or never share your opinion. It means you are not looking for a fight or an argument, that you have the peace and trust of Christ alive in you.

When your heart can maintain a calm spirit in the midst of crisis or strife, then truly Jesus is making a difference in you—and this is of “great worth in God’s sight”—vs. 4. it is easier to win an argument than it is to be pleasing to God?

Submission and a gentle quiet spirit is contrary to the world’s message which is trying to get you to take hold of and demand your rights. That says you’ve got to be the one in control of your life because your the only one you can trust. Inherent in the world’s mindset is fear—vs. 6 The world reasons that Men, including your husbands, cannot be trusted, or will not and are incapable of having your best interests at heart. So the message of the world, the message of most TV shows, women’s magazines, is most of all a message of fear not of power.

Peter reminds that your faith calls your relationships to be changed. It may be difficult, but in Christ you must not give way to fear (v. 6). When Christ is the Lord of your and his life, you can trust your husband in spite of his mistakes and weaknesses. Don’t give into fear, but give him over to the Lord.

Young ladies, Don’t give way to fear by thinking that a guy won’t be interested in you unless compromise your purity. Do not give in to fear by marrying a guy just b/c you’re afraid he’ll be the only one that shows interest.

Do not give way to fear, but give way and trust that God is taking care of you and that God desires to make your husband into the best man for you.

Husbands, you need to realize that how you treat your wife can help or hinder your relationship with God. READ 7. Your failure to be the kind of husband God has called you to be has serious consequences for them… and for you.

Hinder—to impede their course by cutting off their way

Considerate—knowledge of needs, concerns of dreams

If you are disrespecting, abusing, taking for granted and not respecting your wife, not giving and sacrificing to serve her, then even your prayers will be hindered.

If you are not serving as the spiritual leader in your home, then you are not growing in your faith. A harsh or unthinking Christian husband could cause a hindrance to the family's spiritual growth.

You must be considerate—you must hold their needs and concerns above your own b/c she is looking to you. You must give up your rights to what you want in order to serve your wife and provide for her completely—and I’m not talking just about money. That means she is much more important than your favorite team or program.

You are to serve her in a way that sets her free to fulfill who God has called her to be.

The role of service and sacrifice for another is the way that Christ treated His Bride—in fact, Jesus cared so much about His bride that He was willing to die on the cross to keep her pure, to protect her.

That’s how Paul put it in Ephesians 5:25—“husbands love your wives, just as X loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

For a society that denigrated and denied the basic humanity to women, Christian men are to be different and “treat [their wives] with respect”. Where many cultures, even today, would not allow women to inherit the family estate, the Xn faith teaches that women are just as much heirs of the salvation and greatness of God as men are.

Ladies, you are not second class citizens in the Kingdom of God. Attitudes of superiority, dominance, abuse, or the idea that she exists to serve you should never define a Xn husband.

Real men love and serve their wives. Real men live an example of Christ’s sacrificial love before their wives and children.

One person put it this way—“if a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she’ll never turn into an old nag” Real men make their faith the #1 priority in their lives, b/c when it’s important to you, it will be important to your wife and children. They will then be free to fulfill God’s calling.

Jesus is your King—you must submit to Him—you must serve as He served.

Jesus changes your relationships, changes everything. The changed life of Christ is supposed to be an enticement for the unbelieving world around you. Is your life enticing to those without X? Would anyone look at your motivation for living, and give glory to God? Would they see how you respect the law, work hard and have peace in your marriage and ask you what you’ve got that they don’t?

Maybe you’re reading this and you know Christ has never changed you this way. Call out to Him in faith and He will.

Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,

Kelly

Sermon-3-4-07--Faith's Building Project

Hundreds of Thousands of dollars are spent each year building homes, super-markets, buildings and sky scrapers. They go through planning, blue-printing, testing, building, and finishing. UBC will soon be featured in an ad about the improvements made in our own building back in 1994. The success or failure of a building is has several key factors, the designer, their design, the builders and the quality of materials used to build it. Back in 2004 an 8 story building in Indonesia collapsed after just a few years being finished. I have never found a follow up to the cause but I suspect the investigation revealed a breakdown in one of these areas, cheap steel, thinned concrete or other cut corners.

Peter’s readers were experiencing trials and persecutions—he had already spoken to them about the great salvation that marveled even the angels. He had spoken to them about trials and what God hoped to accomplish through them. He had spoken about the Call to Holiness we have—not conforming to our old life, but living the new because of what Christ did. Last week we saw Faith’s Call to Hunger & Crave for the pure spiritual milk of the word and growing in Him.

What’s amazing is that neither everything that was happening to them nor the things that happen to us takes God by surprise. He uses it all to make His people into who He wants them to be.

In fact, God is building something wonderful in the lives of His people.

He is a great architect designing, engineering and constructing His very own building project—building His people into a Living Temple. It is Faith’s Building Project and that project in your life defines who you are right now.

Faith’s Building Project--Who You are—2:4-12

God is building a Temple—v. 4-5.

He is building you into a Temple built by God, a spiritual house where spiritual sacrifices will be offered up to God. Think of all the time, attention and detailed planning must go into such a project. Is God going to do a half-hearted or shabby job? Hardly, being God, He desires the best temple possible. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t cut corners? That God doesn’t fudge on His numbers or mixtures or quality?

Being the architect, designer and builder—He builds as He sees fit and doesn’t ask for our approval. So the way He builds us up, the things He uses to build us are not subject to our approval. He desires to build the best and we won’t always think it is the best, we won’t like what going through to get built into who God wants us to be. But it’s not about what you want or what you think is best. It’s about what God wants and what He knows is best for you. What we want is not always what God knows we need.

You are being built into a temple. Every day, every moment, every situation God is using to make your heart into

the most magnificent temple in the universe. Shining with the light of God’s presence, inspiring awe in all who see you, shaking the foundations of evil and filling the earth with the praise of God.

Paul knew this, that’s why he said of believers in 1 Cor. 3:16-17—“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

1 Cor. 6:19—“ Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

The Holy Spirit living inside you and me makes us more important than any building on earth. The Living, Creator of the Universe has taken up residence in the Temple of our hearts because we have come to Jesus, the Living Stone rejected by men but chosen by God. God has built our temple, we did not create ourselves, we did not save ourselves or clean ourselves up. Only God’s Building Project did that.

Not only are we individual temples that God is building, but you and I are living stones that collectively we are being built into a spiritual house and temple -- See Cartoon

we are living and serving as a holy priesthood in that temple and we are offering spiritual sacrifices to God. God is building His Church into a magnificent declaration of His glory.

He is bringing people together of every tribe, tongue and nation and unifying us by giving us all the same Holy Spirit. No one, no nation, no race is better than another in Christ. No one has more of the Spirit than someone else—they may be better at living in and submitting to the Spirit, but they do not have more of Him. God is building us as individuals and as a church to offer ourselves up “Living Sacrifices”

God’s Purpose for the Temple—v. 9-12

You belong to God for a reason. He is building you for a purpose. He is building each one of us, and all of us into a temple so we may clearly “Declare the praises” of God. Our purpose is of proclamation—we’ve got to be living advertisements of the goodness and greatness of God. This is our purpose for living today. We must Pursue Him and Proclaim Him. If we don’t fulfill our purpose as the living temple of God—to make His Name great among the nations, the very rocks will cry out.

If you miss this purpose, miss your calling of faith—you’ll be missing the greatest opportunity in your life—the opportunity to glorify God, to proclaim Him.

God has chosen you and me for a purpose. God called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. He has built us into a people, a holy nation, a living temple. He has shown us mercy when we didn’t deserve it. God has greatly invested in us, He has spent a great amount of time, love and effort in building us into a Temple that can fulfill our purpose.

As God’s Temple we must be Holy—set apart to be used for His glory. Because we are aliens and strangers in the world, we must not allow the world’s rules to define our lives, to control our lives and tell us what is right or wrong, what to do or not do, what to believe or not believe.

Sometimes that means doing things that doesn’t make sense to the world, other times it means abstaining from things the world thinks is normal.

Abstain means to make a conscious difference not to participate in what other people around you may be doing—If that is alcohol, drugs, smoking, gossiping, cussing, sex outside of marriage, living together before marriage—as a believer you must make the decision with your faith not to go along with the crowd but truly live differently. If you go along just like everybody else, you lose your ability to proclaim with a voice of Authenticity and the Power of Conviction.

We must live good lives among unbelievers. Even when they disagree with you on your faith, even when they don’t like you, even when they slander you, ridicule you or accuse you of all kinds of wrongs—let your light shine through. In the midst of life, through trials and struggles—the light from the Living God can shine from His temple. In the way you respond, in how you don’t lash out in malice and hurt.

In this way, those same unbelievers may see and believe. They may turn around and begin glorifying God because of how He has made such a difference in your life even in simple things, in how you can be so different by speaking a word of love and forgiveness to your enemies.

They will see how precious you are to Him, how you will never be put to shame. How you have been built into a glorious temple for the love of God to be proclaimed.

But if all God built with was us, we would come crashing down—we are not stable or strong enough to build with such a magnificent Temple. That’s why God used something even better

Jesus is the most important piece in God’s Building Project—v. 6-8

Jesus is chosen—selected to fulfill the specific task of God. In the ancient world, and even today, for a solid and beautiful building to be built, you must have a solid and well made foundation. The cornerstone was chosen, cut and transported with great care and expense because it was often the first stone laid.

It became the standard by it the rest of the building was determined. Archaeologists have found foundation stones 69’x12’x13 feet weighing many tons.

From the Cornerstone, all lines and References for the future building are made.

No other stones could act as the cornerstone and Jesus is our chosen cornerstone—the most important piece of God’s construction. Jesus is also unique b/c no one else could be the foundation for the church, no one else could purchase our forgiveness because no one else was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose again. Jesus is precious not only because He is the most important part of God’s saving work but because of His unique relationship to the Father.

Jesus is the unique, One and Only Begotten Son. He is Precious to the Father.

You can see it in how the Father had to watch the Son He loves, suffer;

the Father who had to allow the One in whom He was well pleased endure cruel injustice; Precious to the Father who had to allow death to the only One who didn’t deserve it; who had to wait while His Son felt forsaken. Precious to the Father who came running, tearing the veil of the Temple out of His way when Jesus cried out “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.”

Jesus is chosen for the task of saving humanity and building our eternity and He is precious and the most valuable to God and to us.

To us who believe Jesus is also Precious because we see on the Cross just how much He loves us. He is precious to us b/c of how He has compassion on us, and saves us even when we were His enemies, Precious to us because

Vs. 6—“Those who trust Him will never be put to shame”—This promise comes to us through Isaiah. When we trust in Jesus, we don’t have to worry about standing before God in shame and fear. Jesus already bore our shame on the Cross—He destroyed the power of Satan and death so we don’t have to be afraid of Judgment. When God sees the Blood of Christ over the door of our hearts, His judgment passes over us.

When we invite Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and ask His forgiveness, we will NEVER be put to shame—never be disappointed.

Since the Father honored and glorified Jesus, we too will be glorified.

I hate to break this too you, but life and eternity is not about you. It’s about Jesus. It’s not about how good you are, how strong you are, or how perfect you are—it’s about How good He is, How strong He is, and how Perfect He is.

We are never great in and of ourselves—but Greatness has been applied to us. The greatness of the chosen Cornerstone, Jesus Christ has been given, and covers over our failure.

Our eternal life never depends on our perfection, our righteousness or our goodness. Our Chosen and Precious Cornerstone is the One who builds us into the Saints of God. In order for Joy, happiness and fulfillment to be possible you must build upon the Cornerstone of Christ, the Rock that cannot be moved or changed; the Only one that can give purpose, direction and can be a solid foundation for life. There are consequences for not trusting Jesus.

Those who reject Him will themselves be rejected—v. 7. What at first seemed an insignificant baby in a small little town became the King of Kings.

What first seemed like a rabble of men led by an oddball teacher overwhelmed the world by a message of the Kingdom of God and forgiveness.

The One rejected and passed over by the important religious leaders, who said this couldn’t be the Messiah was in reality the most important part in God’s plan for the universe.

Men and women have been stumbling over the person and life of Jesus for thousands of years.

Matthew 21:44—“He who falls on this stone will be broken to

pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." In other words, if you lay yourself on the stone, sin and death will be broken in you, but if you don’t, the same stone crushes—it is the standard—without His greatness applied to you, covering your sin you will be rejected and forever out of the Presence of God. And that is not what we were created for.

God is building a Temple to proclaim His glory and He wants you to be a part of it—a beautiful display of His craftsmanship that will stand for eternity.

Are you allowing God to build you—using the Precious cornerstone, using the trials and circumstances of life, trusting that His blueprints are better than yours.

Are you a part of that temple? Have you asked the Rock of Christ Jesus to be the foundation of your life? He made you and formed you. He knows your name and is calling you.

Jesus' Tomb--Striking Similarities...

Recent headlines in the news have spoken of the tomb or burial box of Jesus being found. James Cameron, the director of “Titanic” among others, has put together a documentary about the discovery and its significance.

You can read several samples of various articles, here, here, and here.

What’s interesting about this tale is that it closely mirrors a book back in 1994 called, “A Skeleton In God’s Closet” by Paul L. Meier in which the body of Jesus is reportedly found and all the evidence suggesting it’s validity.

It’s a good “who done it?” that breaks down many of the archaeological tests such a discovery goes through. It’s a little dated, and you have to put up with a cheesy romance, but it does a good job.

What was really effective in the book is the discussion such a discovery would have on the world, from the religious, to the skeptics, to even the political and economic.

Here is a link to Paul Meier’s, “A Skeleton In God’s Closet” on Amazon. I would suggest picking it up and comparing it to current events.

First, what would such a “discovery” really do to the heart of Christianity? How important is the resurrection?

What kind of reactions do you think the world will have? Who wants it to be true and why? Who wants it to be false and why?

What would the consequences be if such a “discovery” if “proven” true, given that western civilization is built on Christianity?

Lastly, do you believe this is true? Why or Why Not?


Do you not believe this is true? Why or Why Not?



Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,



Kelly



P.S.--To read my review of the Da Vinci Code movie, see this post.

Sermon-2-25-07--Got Milk? Faith's Call to Hunger

Lessons from the Got Milk Ads...

Drinking Milk will either make you dress up in really strange clothes or make you short and green.

Which is worse?

1 Peter 2:2-3

Faith Calls to Hunger

Several people we know have recently or will recently have children. It is a joyous and wonderful thing. We just sang the song—“In the Secret” and something jumped out at me recently about the stages that a baby goes through in its experience of the world outside the womb. The chorus says

I want to know You

I want to hear Your voice

I want to know You more

I want to touch You

I want to see Your face

I want to know You more

A baby in the womb is very limited on what he or she can experience of the outside world. The first things a baby notices from the outside world are voices. Experts say the baby recognizes a father’s voice even better than the mother’s because his is more directly going to the baby. If a doctor and a father are standing on opposite sides of the crib, the baby will most often turn its head toward the voice it recognizes best. The first taste of the outside world is hearing.

The baby’s next experience of the outside world is touch. They usually come out kicking and screaming—eyes shut. The first thing they feel is the cold air, the hands that are holding her, the towel around him, and the body that is holding her close. Those first few moments of touch communicate love, care, and a sense of belonging and safety.

It is tragically hard for both moms and babies to be unable to touch and hold due to complications or other difficulties. But before a baby even opens his eyes, he is experiencing the world through touch.

Then, ideally, as the baby is being held close to her mother, she begins to open her eyes and look around. Everything is blurry—experts say that a baby’s eyes can only focus on things 20-30 cm in front. That is just about the distance the mother’s face is from the baby the first time she holds her; arm brought up, head leaning over, crooning and crying. The first real glimpse we have of the outside world is the face of the one who gave us birth. Babies are designed to be fascinated by faces, looking from eyes to nose to mouth. That’s why today when you look at a door or wood panel with all the growth rings you see eyes and a mouth. Your mind interprets the pattern of a face even when no face is there.

As Christians we first hear the voice of God—the voice of the Spirit calling to our hearts to embrace Christ and seek His forgiveness. It’s often muffled by our pride and sin in our lives, but it gets through and we begin to recognize and comprehend it. And when we begin to turn to voice we recognize, when we give our lives to that voice, we experience His touch. We experience His closeness, the change He creates in us. The touch of God communicates His love, His care and our safety and security. When we respond to His voice, we begin to feel His touch. And then our eyes open up to the Glory of God. We begin to see His face, see His hand in every moment of life.

Only after we have heard, only after we have been touched can we “see” the face of God. It means we are brought close to Him, held in His arms. What was once far away and blurry has been brought close so we could see it, and recognize it. Eph. 2:13—“in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ”

For new parents, then the other things begin. The changing of diapers, the crying, the sleepless nights. One of the dominating forces in a baby’s thinking is hunger. Hunger causes them to cry, to want attention, to misbehave, to wake up in the middle of the night. Hunger is one of the dominating factors in their lives that they spend most of their time trying to satisfy. There are few motives in life more basic than hunger. We can live a few minutes without breathing, a few days without water and a baby only a week or two without food. Satisfying hunger is an immediate need.

Peter calls for us to have a hunger in our spiritual life; a basic need that must be satisfied. He compares us to babies. 1 Peter 2:2. And we must seek to satisfy this hunger with the same demanding, “I must have it now” attitude that an infant has. Babies are demanding because they are completely dependent on someone else to provide for them. Faith Calls us to Hunger—a spiritual hunger.

Hunger for the Word

Crave Pure Spiritual Milk—I know they can be powerful motivators. Nothing else will satisfy, nothing else seems right.

That is how we should describe our desire and craving for the essentials of the Faith. nothing fancy, just the basics—the simple, less difficult truths. This is a call to fully understand and articulate the essentials of the faith.

You’re not a better Christian if you can chart out all the angelic ranks, or if you know all the demonic strongholds and their names.

I know the latest end times timetables and the books you’ll be seeing shortly on the Iran/Russia alliance are interesting, but you’ll still be saved even if you don’t know this.

It’s great if you want to know the difference between a premillenialist, a post-millenialist, an amillenialist, or a preterist.

If you want to explore the mysteries of the Trinity and examine every analogy to see whether it is monarchian, modalistic or tritheistic. Great. But don’t desire these above the foundations of our faith—the things that are essential for saving knowledge—the things you will most need to share with someone who is lost apart from God.

We need to concentrate on the Basics, Salvation, our daily walk with God, what has our Savior provided for us, how should we live in response to His work,

The NASB points our that the source of this pure, unadulterated spiritual milk is the Word of God—“like newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk of the word.”

The Word for you and me is the most basic nutrition any baby needs.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. Here is just a sample of how it deals with the Word of God.

Psalm 119:9—“PS 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Ps 119:43—“PS 119:43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

Ps. 119:105—“ PS 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

119:169—“PS 119:169 May my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word.

Jeremiah 31:33—“"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people

Colossians 3:16—“16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

The Word of God was never meant to be on the outside, never meant to be a book that sits on the shelf. The Word of God was intended to be on the Inside—working to change us from the inside out—to provide encouragement in times of distress—to confront our selfishness--to reveal the character and heart of God. So we must crave it, hunger for it so we will consume it like a piece of your favorite pie.

The Bible is the clearest and most direct means God has for communicating with us today. It is the basic nutrition, the formula that we need. Our experiences, hopes and dreams as believers today must be evaluated, compared and understood by what Scripture teaches. Experiences today will not contradict the Word. All other beliefs that are foundational to our faith, are known only because God chooses to reveal it to us in Scripture. One of the primary teaching and growing roles of the Holy Spirit today is to open up, or illumine the Scriptures for us to understand and apply.

The Word of God is Pure Spiritual Milk—

Other basics are these--Worship—Worship is nourishing to the Soul. Imagine only eating once a week. That’s what some of you are doing if you worship only on Sunday mornings and expect it to sustain you all week. Worship is acknowledging God for who He is—it is devotion—it is allowing your spirit to be moved by His presence—
music doesn’t have to be a part of it, but music is a powerful means of worship.

Fellowship is another basic—uniting around others of faith as often as possible—the early church met together daily and we complain about twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday

The great cloud of witnesses also exists in this room from which we draw strength. While we are not perfect, true growth requires interaction with other believers—it is not good for you and I to be alone—we need each other united together as one body in Christ.

Prayer is Pure Spiritual Milk as we not only give a list of needs, but lay out our concerns for each other, as we go into the spiritual battle, as we also take the time to listen to His voice to give us direction.

Ministry and serving is pure spiritual milk—because it is not living for yourself only, but using the gifts and abilities God has given you. Rocky Balboa can drink all the raw eggs he wants but if he never works and exercises his muscles, he’d still be weak.

If you never use your spiritual muscles to serve others, you are missing out on some of the basic nourishment, the vitamins that God has in mind for your steady diet of spiritual growth. God did not give you your talents & abilities only to be used @ work, as a job or just to make money. Part of my role as pastor is to get to know you and your gifts and make sure you have the opportunity to use them for the Kingdom of God.

These things are the basics, the vitamins and minerals we must have in our daily diet of spiritual fitness. When we crave the pure spiritual milk, the basics and have a hunger for the WoG, we will be able to have a…

Hunger for Growth

It is by this hunger for the basics, the pure spiritual milk—the WoG, prayer, fellowship, and ministry-- that allows us to grow—not growing physically, but growing spiritually. You are called to “grow up in your salvation”. In other words, you weren’t meant to stay where you are, content to be saved. Faith calls you to grow in your understanding and relationship with God.

We know that babies who never grow are sick in some way. You and I grow through the WoG and the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the sharpening that comes through discipleship, mentoring and accountability to each other in community.

There are far too many believers who don’t have a hunger for growth—are you one of those? Content with where you are?
Do you think there’s no passage you haven’t studied, no sermon with anything new, so you’ve seen it all and have nothing more to learn. If you don’t believe you have any more growing to do, then you won’t hunger for it. .

More than this is the lie that you’re doing fine—that you don’t need the Bible study, you don’t need to pray or come together or that you won’t get anything out of coming.

It’s no wonder that when I am sick, one of the first things to be wrong is that I lose my appetite. My appetite is also one of the last things that returns to normal after I’ve gotten better.

A lacking hunger for growth is really a sign of spiritual immaturity. Likewise, spiritual maturity is not dependent on age but on one’s walk with the Lord and time spent with the WoG.

That’s why Paul could say to Timothy with confidence not to let anyone “look down on [him] because [he was] young” (1 Tim. 4:12). God will bless your desire and hunger for growth. And a young believer with a hunger for the Word and for God and for Growth is more useful to God than an old believer that has their craving satisfied.

The flipside is also true—an older believer who is hungry for spiritual growth is more useful to God than someone young who is apathetic and content. A true hunger for the WoG and for Growth will then create a Hunger for Righteousness.

Hunger for Righteousness

Matt. 5:6—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” When Jesus said these words, He meant them. “Hunger and thirst” suggests a deep, profound, even painful desire that increases to the point of desperation until it is fed. That kind of thirst you get after mowing the lawn on a hot afternoon. Or the way your stomach rumbles after missing breakfast and lunch.

But this hunger for righteousness should not be satisfied with a single drink or meal. As long as we are growing as Believers, our appetite for righteousness should always keep growing. When we lose our appetite for the Lord and His kingdom, when we’re just as content with the world’s junk food as we are with the Word of God, that’s when we know that something is wrong.

That’s why Peter after commending his readers in 1:22--for purifying themselves “by obeying the truth” and developing a “sincere love for your brothers—from the heart”. After that he asks them to do even more.

In order for that love to continue to grow—that unity of the fellowship to remain strong—they must not only have a hunger for the good things, they must have a distaste for the bad things 2:1—“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

Malice—which is a desire to injure,

Deceit—where you are decoying—directing attention to something else or Stealth which is hiding ,

Hypocrisy—which is impersonation or like stage acting an expected role,

Envy—wanting or being jealous of what others have, and

slander—which is speaking evil of someone

These things are incompatible with deep and genuine love. If you have a hunger for righteousness you will not want these things a part of your life.

Titus 2:11-12—“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

We must hunger to be free from sin, hunger to be free from the power of sin, free from the desire for sin and because those things cause hurt and division.

You should be hungry for Righteousness, and have a Distaste for all those things that hurt and hinder relationships. Instead we should hunger to be controlled by the Spirit which shows itself in true love and forgiveness and patience with each other. We must have a true hunger for the LORD.

Hunger for the Lord

No other relationship can be as important to you as your relationship with God. Anything that hinders you, anything that distracts you, anything that comes between you and living for God must be removed and discarded.

This world offers many things to try and give satisfaction out of life, like relationships, alcohol, drugs, soap operas, your favorite TV shows, sports, activities—many of them ar good and fine, but they should not replace your walk with God.

Commercials constantly claim their product will satisfy your hunger or thirst. Politicians claim that they are what the nation needs, but rather than satisfying our hunger, they are depriving us of what we need the most.

Satan tries to make many things look and taste good, but when we actually try and live on his deceptions and lies, we slowly begin to realize the emptiness, the pain, the worthlessness of them. Some realize it sooner than others, some never learn until it is too late.

Diet Coke has only 1 calorie—some argue it tastes good—but what does it contribute to your nutrition? Nothing.

There are people who are surrounded by food they won’t eat or won’t let themselves digest—we say they have an eating disorder—anorexia, bulimia—very serious medical issues.

You and I are surrounded by spiritual nourishment in the Bible we carry with us, in the brothers and sisters around us—we are surrounded by opportunities to feast and fellowship around a banquet of spiritual nourishment and yet so many refuse to eat, refuse to partake.

As a result, you’re walking around spiritually under-fed and malnourished. If you’re not taking the opportunity to feast on the pure spiritual milk, you are spiritually anorexic. If you not allowing yourself to digest what you hear—allow it to feed, nourish and change you, then you are spiritually bulimic.

If you wonder why you’re struggling with deceit, envy, anger, slander, restlessness, worry—it’s very likely because you are spiritually starving for lack of the essential nutrients of the faith—these things are often symptoms of your spiritual condition.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a spiritual obesity problem? Where you are feasting on the choice and best spiritual food—tasting and knowing that the Lord is good.

Our problem may very well be that some of you believe that the Lord is Good, but that He or what He provides tastes bad, you don’t trust Him to provide what is best for you or that other things are better, more important or more worthwhile.

As a believer in Christ, you are invited to the Wedding feast of the Lamb—and don’t think for a minute that He is going to be serving scraps of that table—that He’ll be providing 2^nd rate food. Jesus is extravagant in the feast and nourishment He provides—He gives generously. Think about it—if Jesus provided the best wine at Cana for someone else’s wedding, imagine what He will be serving at His own, for His bride!

We have tasted the goodness and blessing of the Lord—starting with Salvation.

We should know that He is not only the best for us, but He is the most satisfying, the most worthwhile, the only thing that has an eternal value.

Only God can truly satisfy our greatest hunger and needs. If you don’t look to Him for them, you won’t grow like you should.

Some of you may not be growing up in your salvation and faith because you are underfed. It’s hard to grow when you’re always hungry. Some have not grown up because even though you’ve been born again, though you’ve made the decision to accept Christ—you’ve never told anyone about your decision, never made that decision public—you’ve got some growing to do that can start right here, right now

Some of you have not grown up b/c you’ve never followed Christ’s command to be baptized now that you do believe—you’ve never, by your own volition and will deliberately pledged your life to Him by that demonstration of your dying to yourself and being raised to live a new life fully and completely devoted to Him. It is hard to grow an obedient faith when you disobey one of the first things we are called to do. You’ve got some growing to do by following in Baptism

Some you you are not growing because you have not united in fellowship with a church body where you take responsibility for the spiritual direction of the church and allow the church to take some responsibility, accountability and support for you. You may have some growing to do if God is calling you to join with this fellowship.

Some of you may not be growing because you have not committed yourself to a discipleship process. Some of you may not be growing because you have lost your hunger and thirst—you no longer crave the things of the Spirit, the Word of God, prayer—surround yourself with those who love Him and seek that refreshment and renewal together.

Some of you are not growing and will not grow because you’ve never been born—spiritually born again into the family of God. You may have entered into this world kicking and screaming in your physical body, but until you turn away from your self—turn to Christ and receive the free gift of forgiveness—you will continue to go through life missing the most important thing.

Do you want to know God? To Hear His Voice, to Feel His Touch and See His Face?