Sermon Notes

The Church’s Mission Has Not Changed

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July 5th, 2015
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The Church’s Mission Has Not Changed

On one of the saddest and most troubling days of our nation’s existence, on June 26 the Supreme Court of the United States in a 5-4 decision ruled in favor to legalize Same Sex Unions. As of that day, what some people have called “settled law” on the issue was declared, that homosexuals and lesbians have the legal right to marry in the USA.
Banners declared on that day, “Love Wins”, when in fact, on that day, perversion won and holiness lost.
There are many ways we can look at this and respond to it. We can be fearful, angry, or simple resign ourselves to “settled law” and shrug our shoulders with the attitude that’s there’s nothing we can do.
But let’s be reminded today that, in spite of any decision or law or event that may take place in our world, the Church’s mission remains the same. We can and must still make a difference, one soul at a time, one opportunity at a time, planting and watering as God brings the increase.
We must keep our perspective!
When Roe v. Wade passed, approving the murder of unborn babies in 1972, the Churches didn’t roll over and die. Life continued. Churches remained vibrant and effective. The Mission of the Church remained.
Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said this in regards to the Supreme Court ruling, “We are called to be the people of the truth, even when the truth is not popular and even when the truth is denied by the culture around us. Christians have found themselves in this position before, and we will again. God’s truth has not changed. The Holy Scriptures have not changed. The gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed. The church’s mission has not changed. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.”
The Church’s mission has NOT changed. But what is our mission? What is it, in spite of any law, ruling, election, event, or catastrophe upon which we must remain focused?
First, our mission to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world. Mark 16:15, “And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”.
This is known as the Great Commission. It’s proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, bringing men’s souls into fellowship with God. It’s a continuation of Christ’s earthly ministry that we are privileged to continue on His behalf.
Second, our mission to be a vibrant community of worship and fellowship to manifest the presence and love of Jesus. Jesus said in Matt. 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them”.
A part of the Lord’s purpose of the church, besides bringing people to God, is to gather His people together and facilitate a corporate environment of worship, to express our love toward Him and one another. Jesus described these as the two highest ideals of Christianity. Mark 12:30-31, “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these”.
Third, our mission to mature believers and prepare them to perform works of ministry. Eph. 4:11-12 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…”
The church must continue to be an atmosphere of spiritual edification, where God’s Word is taught, where believers are grounded, discipled and led toward maturity. This not only serves to anchor their faith in Christ, but prepares them for service for the kingdom.
And fourth, the mission to represent God’s Kingdom and influence our society for Him. Matt. 5:13-14 says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden”.
Jesus used salt and light as metaphors of the influential characteristics of His church in the world. The presence of the church in the world is Christ’s seasoning and preservation, just as salt is in the natural. And His church has been called to let its light shine to the world — to love, to care for, and to meet needs of humanity, while upholding the redemptive truths and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Our mission, our focus, our purpose for being, is what it always has been: to preach the Gospel to a lost and dying world, be a place of worship and fellowship to encourage the saints, to disciple Believers into maturity and effectiveness for His Kingdom, and to be salt and light to a dark and dying world.
No Supreme Court ruling will ever change that. In fact, it only brings it into greater clarity as we see the world waxing worse in sin, and helps sharpen our perspective of our mission.
Let’s be a church that connects to God, connects to others, and connects to the lost. That’s our mission.
That’s our focus. Period.
That will never change.

God’s Power

June 28th, 2015
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God’s Power

The oceans of the world contain more than 340 quintillion gallons of water (that’s 18 zeros), yet Isaiah 40:12 says God holds them “in the hollow of His hand”.
The earth weighs 6 sextillion metric tons (that’s 21 zeros), yet in Isaiah 40:15 says, God says it is but “dust on the scales”.
The known universe stretches more than 30 billion light years (200 sextillion miles), but Isaiah 40:12 says God measures it by the width of His hand.
Scientists claim there are at least 100 billion galaxies and each galaxy is made up of about 100 billion stars (that’s 10 billion trillion). To such mind-boggling math Isaiah 40:26 reminds us that God calls each star “by name”.
If you ever should doubt God’s unmatched power this should dispel it.
God is all powerful. Nothing escapes Him. He holds all things in His hands. Certainly if He can take care of the immeasurable things we just heard, He can take care of the concerns you and I face.
We see them as insurmountable. He sees them as nothing. It’s all about perspective. And from His perspective they are as a futile as a speck of dust trying to overtake the universe.
Nehemiah 9:24, “Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; You gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased.”
We see how God went before them to “subdue” their foes. The word “subdue” doesn’t quite cut it for me. It just doesn’t seem to have enough teeth to it. I prefer the words “vanquish, overcome, & conquer”, which is what subdue means. God is a superior force to all He confronts. The opposition has no choice but to submit, bow, and yield.
God went before them to fight their battles. He completely overcame their enemies.
This passage is very clear in that the people merely went in to collect the spoils, to organize behind God’s already done deal, and to possess what God had laid in their hands.
Their job was to simply do whatever was in their heart to do with the land, the goods, and the peoples
God had already conquered before them.
This is power. And this is the God we serve.
God is still in the subduing business. There are many things in our own life that are bigger than us that we need God to go before us and subdue, to vanquish, overcome and conquer.
Fortunately for us, the Bible describes to us many things God still “subdues” on our behalf. He’s not left us to fend for ourselves. God goes before us. He fights for us. He is on our side!
First, He subdues our enemies
Psalm 81:13-14, “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!”
God can and will easily conquer our enemies, but He has an “if” He’s placed in there.
He promises as we follow His ways and take heed to Him, that He will quickly conquer and vanquish all of our enemies.
We may think that the enemies of our life are many and varied, but we really only have one enemy who manifests himself through a variety of people and circumstances, and that’s satan himself.
He is the enemy of our soul, and his job is to steal, kill, and destroy, to wreak havoc in our lives.
He’s been around since the beginning of mankind doing his job.
He showed up as a serpent to deceive Adam & Eve.
He filled with jealousy the brothers of Joseph to sell him into slavery.
He worked through Ahab & Jezebel to challenge and threaten the prophet Elijah.
He tapped into the rage and religious zealousness of Saul to have many Christians imprisoned, tortured, and killed.
And he tempted Jesus with power, riches, and the kingdoms of this world if Jesus would but only bow to him.
We even see today how he uses people, their hatred, their prejudice, their religious zealotry, their perversions, their greed, their selfishness, their anger, to lash out and act out in ways towards others that are a direct attack on the things of God; His love, His compassion, His desire to have relationship with His creation, His giving, His purity.
Satan hates all of that, and will do all he can to thwart movements in that direction.
He’s the enemy of our souls, believers and non-believers alike.
God is saying, “Trust in Me. Walk in My ways. And I will quickly vanquish your foes before you.”
Even though sometimes it may seem like it, people are not your real enemy. Satan is your enemy.
We must love people as Christ loves them. As Christ loved us even in our sin so we must look past the appearances and lifestyles to the soul that needs redeeming and love them into the kingdom.
You are allowed to hate satan. You can despise him, detest him, and utterly disdain him. You don’t have to give him an ounce respect. You don’t have to pray for him. His fate is determined. His doom is assured. He deserves nothing but the hell that is prepared for him and all of his demons.
But we must love people. Reject their sin. Don’t agree with their lifestyle choices. Don’t compromise God’s Word, not one iota. But love as Christ loves. Pray for them. They are NOT your enemy. They are souls Jesus died for. They are your potential brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Listen to Jesus’ words on this subject. Luke 6:27-36, “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
God has made a way to defeat satan through the love of Jesus Christ. When He gave His life on the Cross, that ultimate act of love conquered satan.
So now the love of Christ in you is greater than he that is in the world.
John was speaking about false, evil, worldly spirits in contrast to the true Holy Spirit when he said these words in 1 John 4:4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them (the demonic, false spirits of satan’s camp), because the one who is in you (Jesus) is greater than the one who is in the world (satan).”
So we don’t hate people, but we love them with the love of Christ, but we despise satan, realizing the love of Christ in us has conquered, vanquished, and placed under His feet, and therefore our feet, the enemy of our souls.
That’s the powerful God we serve!
Second, He subdues our sin.
Micah 7:18-19, “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Satan is not sin. He tempts us TO sin, he is the embodiment OF sin, but satan is not sin. Sin is separate enemy altogether.
The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “All have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory.”
Sin is a ruthless foe. It is an act of willful disobedience. Our flesh is constantly drawn to it. Satan the tempter will make sure of it. From the littlest white lies to the most heinous of crimes and actions, our flesh has the potential to act out in a myriad of sinful ways.
Sin is our enemy. We have no power in our own strength to conquer it. But thank God He has made a way through Christ to subdue sin.
Christians know this verse by heart, John 3:16. That’s the Gospel. And that’s the powerful love of God for you and me.
As Jesus came to this earth to conquer satan by His power, He also came by His power to conquer the ruthless, relentless foe of sin and create a path for us to be forgiven and have restored relationship back with God the Father.
Sin separates us from relationship with God just as the Atlantic Ocean separates America from Europe, or space separates the Earth from the moon. Without a trustworthy mode of transportation it would be impossible to get to either. But as man has constructed boats and planes and rockets to get to places that were in centuries past only a dream, so God has provided a trustworthy way to enjoy a restored relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.
It’s funny, our pursuits in life are most of the time pleasures, fame, fortune, advancement, ease, and happiness, among other things. But God’s singular pursuit is this, just this one thing – YOU.
He misses you. Longs for you. Desires relationship with you. But cannot because of our sin. He won’t tolerate it and won’t inhabit anywhere where there’s sin in control.
You are His highest creation and His singular pursuit. There are many things in this world that are calling for our love, time, and attention. But these things didn’t die for you. These things don’t care to have a loving, eternal relationship with you, these things can’t give you real peace or rescue you from the ruthless enemy of sin. Only God can. And He’s wooing us with His love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Jesus conquered sin on the Cross. The power of His work has made it possible for us to have a restored, loving relationship with the all-powerful God who holds the oceans in the hollow of His hand.
That’s the powerful God we serve!
So God’s power is displayed in His conquering of satan and of sin. And finally we see that one day…
He will subdue our mortal bodies.
Jesus came to conquer satan, to conquer sin, and to conquer death.
Hey, this old body isn’t our permanent home. It’s not really us. It’s just a shell! Who we REALLY are is inside of us, our spirit man. It’s our spirit that will live forever.
Jesus will display the ultimate power in our lives when, at death or the Rapture, we will be swallowed up in victory.
1 Corinthians 15:50-57, “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We have nothing to fear today. They may kill the body but they cannot kill the soul. The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Jesus has conquered, vanquished, and utterly defeated death!
And listen to this bonus –
Philippians 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
It says here Jesus is able and is right now subduing, conquering, vanquishing ALL THINGS TO HIMSELF. And 1 Cor. 15:28 says one day Jesus will present all that He has subdued, which is everything, to God His Father, so that all things will eventually and eternally be under Him.
This means Jesus is conquering nature, the stars & galaxies, the atmosphere, the animals, the oceans, the weather, the governments, the kingdoms, the riches, and on and on and on, unto Himself and will present it to God one day so that all that USED to be under Him, but was impacted by rebellion and sin, will again be under Him entirely redeemed, all because of and through the work of Jesus Christ!
Jesus came to redeem mankind and ALL OF CREATION back to God. And He will accomplish it.
Almighty God is all powerful and has given authority to Jesus Christ to subdue all things as it relates to us- satan, sin, and death, plus ALL THINGS, which means everything!
THAT’S the powerful God we serve!
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
In light of God’s all-powerfulness, How do we give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord?
Let me close this Faith Notes with this illustration.
A clump of marble in my hand is just a piece of glass, but marble in Michelangelo’s hand will get you a magnificent statue of David, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A violin in my hand will get you some squeaky noise, but a violin in Yo Yo Ma’s hand will get you the music of a master, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A football in my hand is worth about $50, but in Cam Newton’s hand it’s worth about 100 million dollars, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A tennis racket in my hand is a dangerous weapon, but a tennis racket in Venus Williams’s hand is a Wimbledon champion, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A golf club in my hand means ‘look out!’ but a golf club in Arnold Palmer’s hand is a golfing champion, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A rod or stick in my hand will fight off the dogs, but a rod in Moses’ hand will part the Red Seas of your life, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
A slingshot in my hand is just a kid’s toy, but a slingshot in David’s hand will stop the Goliaths in your life, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
Spit and clay in my hand might get you some mud cakes, but spit and clay in Jesus’ hand will open up the blinded eyes, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
Two fish and five loaves of bread is a couple of fish sandwiches in my hand, but the same fish & loaves in Jesus’ hand will feed the multitudes, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
Nails in my hand might get you a birdhouse, but nails in Jesus’ hand is salvation for the whole world, because it all depends on whose hand it’s in.
Let me encourage you today to place your life in the hands of the man who has all power over satan, sin, and death, and give yourself fully to the work of the One who measures the whole universe with the breadth of His hand.
THAT’S the powerful God we serve!

God’s Patience

June 21st, 2015
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God’s Patience

We’ve looked the last couple of weeks at God’s provision and God’s promises.
God is a good God. His provision is complete and His promises are absolute. Yet even with all of this, we tend to stray.
I’m so thankful that throughout my life God has had patience with me. He could have thumped me plenty of times. He could have thrown in the towel, but He didn’t.
Today we read about God’s patience with His rebellious children. Even in the midst of all of God’s blessings they turned from Him, yet God patiently corrected them and brought them back, consistently blessing them and fulfilling His promises in spite of their inconsistency towards Him.
Fasten your seat belts while I take you on a roller coaster ride via God’s Word.
Nehemiah 9:16-17, 26-31, ““But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles You performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore You did not desert them. But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they turned their backs on Your law. They killed Your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to You; they committed awful blasphemies. So You delivered them into the hands of their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in Your sight. Then You abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and in Your compassion You delivered them time after time. “You warned them in order to turn them back to Your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed Your commands. They sinned against Your ordinances, of which You said, ‘The person who obeys them will live by them.’ Stubbornly they turned their backs on You, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. For many years You were patient with them. By Your Spirit You warned them through Your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. But in Your great mercy You did not put an end to them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God.”
It’s like watching a tennis match. Back and forth and back and forth.
First off very quickly, this is exactly what America is doing right now. We have become stiff necked, disobedient, rebellious, and arrogant and have turned our back on God and His law. We should expect nothing less of punishment and judgment from God as any other culture and people in history have received.
If America doesn’t receive punishment for their rejection of God and His Word, He will have to apologize to everyone else in history who has followed the same path of rebellion and experienced punishment as a result.
But I’m not here today to talk about God’s judgment which will surely come, if it’s not even here right now.
What I’d like to emphasize today is that, even in mankind’s rebellion, God is patient. God’s is loving. God is merciful. God is compassionate. God is kind. God is long-suffering. God rescues. God forgives. God redeems. And God restores.
His judgment is restorative in nature. He is patient, but He also knows that change in our lives will really only come through effort and pain.
I’ve been in ministry long enough to hear story after story of God’s patience and long-suffering in people’s lives. Eventually it comes to a head, a breaking point, and then judgment comes, brokenness occurs, repentance takes place, and renewed commitment to the Lord is made in their lives.
And God’s judgment is just. We really bring it on ourselves, don’t we? We reap what we sow.
But even in spite of all of our short comings, God is merciful and He restores.
Failure is never the end as far as God is concerned. In fact, many times it’s the beginning of something new and altogether different in the best possible ways, as we learn to lean more heavily on the Lord.
He becomes stronger in our weaknesses.
On this Father’s Day, I want to bring encouragement to the men today.
As much as would hate to admit it, none of us are perfect in this place. We all have weaknesses and short comings. We’ve failed, many of us multiple times in the same thing.
But we are all created needy by God. And He has made provision for all our needs. We need His strength where we are weak.
There were many needy, weak men in the Bible who went on to do remarkable things for God.
Today I’d like us to look at a few of them to bring encouragement to us, us weak and needy men, to let us know that, in our weakness, God in His patience can and will redeem us for great things in Him.
Abraham was a man who walked in obedience to God. It was through him the nation of Israel was born. It was through his linage the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, was born.
There are some pretty incredible and impressive things regarding the life of Abraham.
In fact, he was called by God Himself a righteous man becuase of his strong faith in God’s promises. Genesis 15:6, ” Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
But before what we know ultimately about Abraham’s life from the history books, we see he was also at times a man who would resort to what some may see as lying or manipulating a situation to his benefit.
Genesis 12:10-11, 13, “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
Regardless of the Egyptian culture or any other circumstance, Abram conveniently adjusted the story to suit his immediate needs. Some may call it a lie. Some may say it’s the lie of omission. Some may call it manipulation. Others may just think he was a coward.
Regardless, what he did wasn’t right. It wasn’t complete honest. Believe it or not, Abram had faults! Yet, later on God called him a righteous man of faith.
That’s encouraging.
King David was called in 1 Samuel 13:14 a man after God’s own heart. What a title!
Yet, even with that King David in 2 Samuel 11 succumbed to one night of adulterous lustful passion with Uriah the Hittite’s wife, Bathsheba, getting her pregnant, resulting in getting Uriah murdered in battle to cover things up.
So a lust-filled, adulterous, murdering man was still called a man after God’s own heart. And after all of this some of David’s greatest victories and accomplishments took place. After it some of the most profound and anointed psalms were written. After it God blessed him, used him, helped him, stayed with him.
That’s encouraging.
Jesus declared to Peter that he would be the one Jesus would use to launch out and help build the Church. Matthew 16:18-19, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Yet this same Peter was a fearful defeated hot head. He angrily cut off the ear of one guy in the garden when Jesus was being arrested and then denied he even knew Jesus to three others during Jesus trial.
Yet we know today that Peter, even after the denials and the angry outbursts, was key to the founding of the Church and the bold leader of the Disciples.
That’s encouraging.
Out of all the people in the world, Jesus called Paul as the first to proclaim His Gospel to the Jews and the Gentiles. Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament and planted as many as 14 churches in strategic cities, of which they in turn planted others which spread the gospel throughout Asia and the Roman Empire. His influence and impact in establishing the Church and spreading the Gospel are hard to measure, but they are being felt to this day.
Yet this same Paul who was first known as Saul ruthlessly killed or had killed countless numbers of Christians in the name of God as he attempted to wipe out this Jesus movement at its infancy.
That’s encouraging.
So, we have a lying coward, an adulterous lust-filled wife stealing murderer, a fearful hothead, and a ruthless religious murdering zealot. Yet one was also called righteous because he believed God, another was a man after God’s own heart, another was given the responsibility of founding the Church, and still another was given the responsibility of evangelizing the known world with the Gospel.
Guys, I’m encouraged.
What this is telling us today is this. In spite of our weaknesses, God can use us. In spite of our fleshly tendencies, God isn’t finished with us. In spite of our failures, God’s plan for our lives is one of great success in Him.
In the seesaw and back and forth of our lives, our ups and downs, those times we are at the peak and the other times we are in the lowest of valleys, God is patient. God is kind. God forgives. God redeems.
We’re not washed up. He has a plan for our lives that will be accomplished if, IF, we will repent from our stiff necked ways. If we will repent from our rebellion. If we reject our self centered arrogance.
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham to reflect Abraham’s newly expanded faith. Exalted father to father of a multitude.
God accepted David’s repentance when he said, “I have sinned before God and God alone.”
Jesus changed Simon’s given name to Peter, which means “rock”, reflecting his new assignment in Christ.
Saul changed his name to Paul to remove himself from his old man to the new man he was in Christ.
What new name do you want for yourself?
What new identity do you want to reflect?
Are you tired of being the way you are?
Maybe you’re dealing with lust. Change your name! I am pure in heart!
Maybe it’s lying. Change it! I’m a truth teller.
Are you a cheater? Be called honest. Are you a coward? Be called brave. Do you run from responsibilities? Be called responsible.
Are there perversions in your life that seem to always get the best of you? Be called free!
It’s not the end of the book of your life! Things can change!
You can be a better father, husband, employee, Christian!
It all begins at the foot of the Cross. It’s where repentance takes places. It’s where a new start begins. It’s where forgiveness is given. It’s where a new name is bestowed on you!
God is patient. But He also is just. Be sure that if you continue down whatever path you are traveling that you know is not holy, righteous, or pure, that you know is rebellious and stiff necked and arrogant, restorative judgment will come, because you will always reap what you sow.
But instead of remaining in the place you are that is away from God and Way from His plan for your life, how about on the Father’s Day making it a day of commitment to turn back to Him, completely, whole-heartedly, holding nothing back.
God has more chapters to write in the story of your life. Let them be chapters that turn the story towards redemption, purpose, and effectiveness for all of eternity.
We only have this one life, with its up and downs and successes and failures, but we serve a patient God who redeems, rescues, restores, and sets us up for success in Him.
Let Him rescue you from the name you’ve worn as a saddle these many years. Be free. Be changed. Embrace the new name God has for you in Christ Jesus.

God’s Promises

June 14th, 2015
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God’s Promises

Have you ever been lied to?
Have you ever lied to someone?
We’ve all heard this scripture in Numbers 23:19, “God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”
So based on this verse we know that God doesn’t lie.
But how many knows that God swears?
Not like you think. Swearing today has taken on a crass and dirty meaning. God doesn’t have a potty mouth.
Swearing back in the day meant an oath, a binding promise, an unbreakable covenant.
In a court of law today witnesses hold up one hand and place the other on the Bible and swear to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…so help me God.”
That’s the witness swearing in the highest definition of the word. And there is no higher name to swear by than God Himself.
We can count on God to fulfill all of His promises, because what He says, He means. He thinks about the words He says before He says them. He’s entirely intentional all the time. And then holds to every intentional word after they are said because He keeps His promises.
So in our text today we see in this prayer how God made a covenant promise with His hand lifted up to give them the Promised Land. It says in Nehemiah 9:15b, “…You told them to go in and take possession of the land You had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.”
Nehemiah 9:22-24 continues by saying, “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and You brought them into the land that You told their parents to enter and possess. Their children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; You gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased.”
This promise harkens back to Deuteronomy 1:8, where Moses, near the end of his life, was reviewing with the Israelites where they had come, up to that point. “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore He would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
Fast forward to Deuteronomy 1:19-21, Moses continues by saying, “…And so we reached Kadesh Barnea. Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
From Mt. Horeb where God gave His people the Law, to Kadesh Barnea where they could SEE the Promised Land was an 11 day journey.
11 days. That’s how short of a time it could have taken for the people to enter and possess the Promised Land. Instead, they remained in the desert for almost 40 years until the faithless generation passed away.
What happened? How did the story turn from being on the brink of experiencing God’s promise to it being delayed for almost 40 more years?
Well, it went this way. From Kadesh Barnea they could see the Promised Land. But before they went in they came up with the idea to send out spies to check out the land God had sworn to give them.
Why were the spies sent out? Deut. 1:22 says it was to determine which route to take and the towns they would encounter.
Moses agreed to it, said the idea seemed good to him, even though he didn’t ask God about it, and off they went.
But instead of coming back with which route to take, they came back with fear. And that’s where the story turned to what we know happened, the children of Israel wandering the wilderness for nearly 40 years.
My how things turn on the seemingly smallest of actions.
God didn’t say,”You better go check this out just in case I’ve changed my mind and you’re left to fend for yourselves.”
To God it was a done deal. He had already sworn to give it to them. He didn’t command them to send the spies. That was man’s idea.
When we interfere with God’s plan we always mess it up.
When we question God’s promises we invite doubt to overtake our faith.
We look at the circumstances. We look at the size of the mountain. We look at the size of the giants. We get our eyes off of God and onto the obstacle.
God doesn’t need our input, adjustment, or help. He’s looking for our faith and trust in His already fixed and unbreakable covenant promises to us.
He simply is looking for us to go and possess what He’s already promised for us to have.
What is it God has promised to you? What it is that He has, with an upraised hand, sworn to you? What’s keeping you from going and getting it? Go get it!!!
You may be standing at your Kadesh Barnea today. You can see what God has promised in front of you, but you’re not sure you can trust Him to follow through with it.
Did He change His mind? Did He really say what I thought He said? Will He leave me hanging?
Know this, to Him His promise is an unbreakable, binding covenant. He will NOT walk away from it, shirk His responsibility in it, do it half way, or play like He never said it.
He swears by Himself. What God is saying in swearing by Himself is that it is as unlikely that He will break His word of promise to bless us as it is that He will despise Himself.
He simply will NOT break His word of promise to you.
God is the greatest value in the universe. There is nothing more valuable or wonderful than God. So God swears by God. And in doing that He says: “I mean for you to have as much confidence in Me as it is possible to have.” For if more were possible, the Bible says He would have given us that.
Solomon gave a beautiful speech at the dedication of the newly built Temple to God. In it he said in 1 Kings 8:56, “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel just as He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He gave through His servant Moses.”
This is our God. The God who is reaching as high as He can reach and needs to reach to inspire us to unshakable hope. The God who is calling us to flee to Him for refuge. The God who is reminding us again that He does not lie and can be counted on. The God who is asking us to turn from all the superficial, self-defeating hopes we place in the things of this world and put our hope fully and completely in Him. The God upon whom we can depend that not one word will fail that He has promised us.
If you read the story of the history of Israel’s desert travels, Kadesh Barnea seems to be the place they kept coming back to in their 40 years of wandering. Just like you need to go through Atlanta it seems to get to anywhere else, Kadesh Barnea was the central hub of their desert wanderings.
Listen, today you may have been here at this place before. You can see it, you can smell it, you can almost taste it, that promise from God for your life. But there’s always been a hurdle in front of you. And that hurdle has always been your lack of trust and faith in His promises. So you set out again around the backside of the wilderness until you come back again to the brink of God promise where you can see it again, so close you can touch it but it might as well be a million miles away.
But instead of taking another lap around the back 40, how about today doing something different.
Same actions, same results. Different actions. Different results.
We see how one generation didn’t believe God and didn’t possess the land. But eventually a generation who DID believe God possessed the land. We see the results of that. They became a great and powerful nation, reaching their peak under King Solomon.
But possessing requires faith. Possessing takes work. Possessing takes a fight. Possessing means battle. Possessing is an active, not passive, word.
We can never passively possess just as we could never passively have faith.
To possess we go forward, we reach out, we exert effort, we cause change, we embrace wholeheartedly, we consume, we lean forward.
There’s no complacency in possessing. No shrinking back. No half way.
God’s unbreakable promise is His part. Our possessing it is our part.
I have NO IDEA what God has promised to you. But I do know this, if He said it He meant it and He will fulfill it. Your part is to possess it!!!
But it takes faith. Active, possessing faith. Faith that moves you out of your fears and doubts and embraces God’s unbreakable promises.
Faith without works is dead. Works is active. Works possess. You won’t move forward to possess until you embrace faith and reject doubt in all of God’s good unbreakable, covenant promises.
So it’s your choice today. His promises are unchangeable and unbreakable. He swears by His own Name.
The turn in your story will ALWAYS be whether you’re going to possess it or not.
It takes faith. It takes trust. It takes effort. It takes moving forward. It takes focus. It takes not being distracted. It takes binding up doubt and fear and placing them under your feet.
Kadesh Barnea is like going ’round and ’round on I-485 with the intention of going to downtown Charlotte but never actually going into downtown. At some point you gotta make a turn into town!
Don’t let your Kadesh Barnea be where you turn around and take another tour of duty with your companions doubt and fear. Let it instead be your launching out point for entering into all God has promised in your life.
Nehemiah 9:15b, “…You told them to go in and take possession of the land You had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.” And they eventually did.
Will it be 11 days or 40 years for you? The choice is yours.
God’s promises in your life are only activated by your actively possessing them by faith.

God’s Provision

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Who is God…to me?

That’s the question we’ve been asking the last several weeks. Today, let’s look at God our Provider.

Nehemiah 9:15-25 speaks of God providing for His people’s physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. Now, for every authentic provision God has for us satan always has a counterfeit.

In the physical realm satan offers extremes as deserving, junk dressed up as quality, perversions cloaked as freedoms, and distractions conveyed as worthy causes.

But all these activities provide in the end are an emptiness greater than we had before.

Isaiah 55 says, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”

Only Jesus satisfies completely all of our physical needs.

In the spiritual realm the world offers many counterfeit things, but only the Holy Spirit is the authentic spirit of Christ. In Him we can be assured of trustworthy and true guidance for all of life’s decisions.

In the emotional realm the world offers parties and celebrations on a continual basis. The world is one big party!

But the Church has a real reason to celebrate! It’s time for us to revel, delight, rejoice, thrive, PARTY for the cause of Christ! Partying by its very nature is not done quietly in a corner, but loudly for the world to see!

God’s greatest provision for us goes beyond our life here on earth, though. He has provided for us eternal life in Heaven with Him!

God is our Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. In Christ we will truly find all we need to satisfy every area of our lives here on earth and for all of eternity!