Truly the King [Mark 11.7-12, 15-18]

 Have you ever looked at the Gospels closely, carefully? Experts and theologians of learning have said that John’s Gospel is unique, and that the other 3 have copied one another, most likely Mark and Luke copied Matthew’s text. The reason for this is that Matthew and John were Apostles, part of the original 12, whereas Mark and Luke were not there, and therefore were second hand reports.

But ever since we looked at the escape of Peter from his execution, I have been rethinking. This past week, I took a closer look at the Passion Week, the final week of Jesus’ life, death and then resurrection. John and Mark each have over a third of their gospels dedicated to this week, whereas Luke and Matthew have significantly less to say, about a ¼ and a 6^th respectively. Does this mean one Gospel is more valuable than another? Not at all.

Rather, though there are similarities, each person has a different angle in writing his Gospel. Luke is undoubtedly influenced by Paul. Perhaps Mark was influenced by Peter, as well as Paul. It was Mark’s house that was the location for the prayer vigil. It does suggest that Mark was not as far removed from the life of Christ as we tend to think, as scholars tend to think.

This morning, as you can read in the bulletin, I am looking at Mark’s “Triumphal Entry”. Now too often, we think that the parade happens, and then he clears out the Temple and then carries on the rest of the day. It’s the feel I get as I read of the cleansing of the temple in Luke and Matthew. John’s Gospel doesn’t record a clearing of the Temple after the King’s Parade. He records a different one at the beginning of his earthly ministry.  So that in mind, let’s read about the Parade and the Clearing:  {Read Text}

Instead of a short parade with a few people as many movies depict, we read that it took some time for him to make the 3 mile journey from the gate to the Temple complex. This was no small procession. The crowds, easily in the thousands, were here, wanting to see Jesus. The narrow streets lined with people on both sides would have made the progression slow. People were shouting, showing their acclamation for the new King. This was so slow that by the time they did reach the Temple, it was already shutting down for the day. So Jesus and the 12 left for Bethany, something that Mark tells us they did nightly. Then the next day, they came back to the Temple. People were arriving, business was booming. And that was the problem.

When Jesus said that God’s House was a place of prayer for ALL NATIONS, that’s exactly what he meant.  The market was held in the Gentile Court. First you have the Court for the Priests, and then you have the Men’s court followed by the Gentile’s Court and then the Women’s Court. So only those who were Jews were able to attend the Temple Services. Gentiles and women and children would not be able to see, much less hear anything that the priests were doing or saying.  So Jesus comes in and runs off those who are there to do business. And from Matthew, we see that daily he taught and healed in the Temple Courts those who came to him.

This is the picture of Jesus. This is who he is.  This is what he does. He comes into our lives in a big way. (And perhaps this is why Baptism is important, because it is more a parade than what a simple, unseen prayer could hope to be.) Then he comes into our temple and cleans the debris, the trash and rot from our lives. For this wonderful grace, we sing hosanna!

But does he remain our king? A question I’ve always had and will always have is about the crowd that welcomed him as king, and the crowd that yelled, “crucify!” How many in the first group were also in the second group. I once asked this before another congregation. I was chastised for thinking that such a thing possible.

But really, is it? I think so. I think that when we lose our focus on Christ, when we lose our focus on our brothers and sisters and our neighbors, we cease being those who welcome the king. We become like those who cried out “Crucify!” Look at Judas. He had the same opportunities. When he went out to proclaim the Kingdom, he performed the same miracles as everyone else. He was there even as he went to the Temple. But then he switched sides for whatever reason, perhaps maybe to force God’s hand in restoring the nation of Israel.

So how do we find ourselves in the wrong crowd today? The biggest way is to ignore God’s way. Perhaps the easiest example, the most prevalent is that of marriage and love. Mind you, this is not a personal attack. Yet the biggest reason the church is no longer relevant in the lives of people today is that we have left the Word. We become afraid to stand up for truth, or if we do, we do so lacking all grace and love.

I will not shy away from it, but I have prayed through this message many times. So how have we defined marriage and love? The world teaches that in order to know if a couple is compatible, they need to live together first. That love is between two people. Marriage is overrated, or a Christian value.

So here is the truth about marriage and sex. Sex is a wonderful event that God has given to us for sharing between a husband and a wife. This institution predates Jesus. This institution in fact is the oldest in all creation. Day six, God created Man, then woman, and then marriage for Eve became Adam’s wife. God said that it was very good. Every culture, every nation has marriage.

Jesus said one of the problems the Samaritan woman in John 4 had was that she was no longer married, and she was living with a man not her husband. Marriage was only ever meant to be dissolved for reason of infidelity. Even then, only if the wronged wanted to. But now due to how messed up our world is, we have all sorts of scenarios. To honor God, live for Him. Keep yourself pure by abstaining or getting married. Stay married.

But we have messed that up with the idea that we need to be true to our hearts. We have been told we have no choice who we fall in love with. Thank you, William Shakespeare. Jeremiah 5.19 says that the heart is deceitful above all else in creation. Paul tells us that there is a battle waging within our bodies, the sinful nature (heart) and our spirit (soul, mind.)

But this is just the easiest sin to point out. Any sin, not just this, that we cling to, that we know is wrong, but we instead of repenting, we celebrate it; these are what have us keeping Christ from cleaning up our lives. Any, drunkenness, gluttons, lewdness, liars, thieves, such people will not inherit the kingdom.

What we need to do is to look at the Word. It is useful for preparing us for every good work. That’s what Paul told Timothy. Now that was the easiest example of why we are losing the relevancy in people’s lives. We have allowed fear of what people think to silence us. We do not want to offend. We forget that Jesus is our king. We forget that Paul told Timothy that if we hold to sound doctrine, then we would save souls.

By keeping sound doctrine, we also find ourselves being renewed in our minds. By staying in the Word, Hebrews 4.12 says that we are able to live God’s good and perfect will for our lives. He helps us by giving us the Holy Spirit (Titus 3.5). He does this when we gather together regularly. Hebrews says that this is essential, meeting together, for also strengthening each other up. Paul also states it in Col. 3.16.

The word then helps us to persevere. It was Paul’s aim to press forward, regardless of the victories or the stumbles behind him. He encouraged the reader to also take the same attitude, to follow him as he followed Christ. And here’s the best part of perseverance. It produces hope.

Paul told the Romans that we can rejoice because Jesus reconciled us while we were still sinners, still enemies of God so that we can become heirs with Jesus, so that we can call The Creator of the Universe, “Papa”.

I truly believe that even now it is not too late to take this passion that Christ gave, to let Christ clean your life of the sins, of the guilt, of the shame. It is still time to sing, “Hosanna!” Is Jesus truly your king?

Sharing the Message

Sharing the Message:  Acts 14.1-7

The passage shows that the message is not always easy. It’s not always easy to share the Gospel. But there are some rules, if you will, that will help us to share. Let’s read the text

Rule 1: Be consistent. Paul and Barnabas went weekly into the Synagogues to proclaim the Messiah to the people. These would be people who were believers in God, but they were just in error, or in ignorance. And for being the Apostle to the Gentiles, why did Paul first go to the Jews? He went because it was fitting since God revealed Jesus through them to all creation. Then after they had their fill, Paul would turn and proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles as well.

So now the question becomes how can we be consistent? There is the matter of rote. Paul always did this so that when it was time to do this, he could do this. Were you able to follow? He created for himself a routine to follow every time that he was in a new place. First, seek out the Jews and then seek the Gentiles.  Are we in the habit of sharing our faith in the same manner time and again?

One of the reasons we may not be, which then keeps us from being consistent, is that we are not ourselves. We are not ourselves when we try to be someone else. As a preacher, it is easy to hear the comparisons. I can listen to Chuck Swindoll and wonder if ever I will sound as polish as he does, or perhaps as engaging a story teller as Brant over in Hot Springs. Then I read another preacher. We are not called to be someone else. We are called to be ourselves. I am never going to be another preacher. I am me. I must be content in being me. Just as you must find contentment in being you.

What works for me in sharing my faith is not always going to work for you. Of course, learning to take an interest in the person, be they clerk, boss, family or whoever, is a trait that is not unique to some. It is something we are called to be, just as the parable of the Good Samaritan suggests.

Of course a warning must come now. This is not to say that we must follow our hearts. Jeremiah said that the heart, our feelings, are deceitful above all else. When we give ourselves to following our hearts, we may just deny our downside. We deny our sinful tendencies. We are comfortable being a Christian sinner because God is faithful. Yet we are thereby changing the grace of the Gospel into a perversion. Paul warned the Romans against doing that very thing. Shall sin abound so that grace abound even more? Absolutely NO!

We are to be ourselves, striving to living up to the hope, trying to be found worthy of the grace that we have been given. That is the consistency that the world needs to see from us.

Rule 2: Do not be discouraged. Not everyone is going to accept our message. The message, according to Jesus, will end up dividing people, even families, fathers against sons, mothers against daughters. Some accepted what Paul had to share. Those who did not, not only did not accept the message, but they created trouble for Paul and Barnabas. Yet, in the midst of these attacks, Paul and Barnabas were not discouraged. They kept sharing, preaching.  Verse 3 is key here. They spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord. It means that they clung to Jesus. Paul would later write to the Philippians that he can do all things because Christ gives him the strength to do so. To the church of Corinth, Paul made the promise that they have already all they need to further the Gospel message of Jesus. Paul would tell another man that we are not given a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of boldness. These are promises that we can claim for our lives. Are we willing to rely upon the Lord?

It is a question that we each must resolve before the time comes, and soon is coming when people will disparage us for our faith. We will be and are already being told that it is good to be Christian in our faith, but that we should leave our faith at home when we enter the public sector.  The attacks are coming. And we can weather the attacks as long as we remember Christ.

Now I am not saying that Jesus will empower us as he did with the Apostles, allowing us to do miraculous works. There was purpose to those works. He may still use them, but the promise for working miracles is not given. Instead Jesus said that we shall do greater works than what is recorded of Jesus. Today the Church worldwide feeds millions, heals millions, clothes millions and cares for millions daily. That is indeed greater works than Jesus did. Are we part of that work? Are we vessels of hope and grace for those hurting, facing storms in their lives? We are if we do not allow ourselves to be discouraged. Jesus is with us.

Rule 3: Keep doing what you are doing. After the trouble arose, Paul and Barnabas learned that their very lives were in danger. Let me stop here. When trouble rises up against you, you do not have to take it. You can flee. The text here says that they fled. God didn’t mean for us to be whipping bags. He meant for us to be messengers of hope and grace. Barnabas and Paul were no different. So they fled, when they learned that the people of Iconium meant to kill them.

When people flee, such as those in the witness protection program, they are given new identities. What they did in the old location must not be done in the new location. It’s how the witnesses hide from the bad guys. But it is the opposite with God and his children. It is different with us. Yes, we should flee, but as we do so, we follow what they did in the last verse. They kept evangelizing. They kept preaching Jesus.

So if you see trouble rise against you, then move, but keep sharing your faith. Of course, if you look at rule 3, following it helps you to live rule 1. A person becomes consistent by doing what he is doing. It won’t always be easy. Your loved ones may reject you. Your friends may leave you. It sometimes will require us to take bold steps, but remember. God is with us. He will guide our words.

Is your life an example of these 3 rules? If not, then make that choice now to start being a witness for Christ. You may be the only one able to reach someone. And when you do, the results will be eternal.

Other People's Blessings

In the News this week: Re:New is about ready to begin their worship services in their new building. They have been maxing out at a total 350 people each week, just a year and half later. The new place should allow them to easily double the number.

Over in Hot Springs, the preacher has just returned from training preachers and conducting an evangelistic series. They are also now meeting with 150 plus each Sunday.

Best news is that Royse Church has come together in light of the new preacher being near death in the hospital. But he came home Friday, just 8 days after a diabetic coma, gangrene and septicemia and 3 major surgeries to clean him up. A nurse visits him daily to administer an IV of medications. But he hopes to be able to preach tonight. We’ll see.

And the final news item is that the Church Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas had a great evangelistic meeting. They were invited the first Sabbath to return after giving a word of encouragement about Jesus. They became the talk of the town. Come the next Sabbath, the place was packed out. I suspect that Synagogue attendance had never been so good.  Bottom line, seems that God is working and blessing other people.

How do we handle such news? When we hear of God blessing others, and we seem to not be as blessed, what is our honest reaction? What do we do? Our passage this morning, in light of others’ blessings, gives us a choice, which do we take, that of Jealousy or that of Joy? Let’s read the passage:

Jealousy blinds. They lost their focus. They were not focused on bringing the people in to worship God together. By the time of Jesus’ ministry, and especially for the times of Paul, Synagogue membership was most like a membership to a country club. It was about social status, not about drawing closer to their heavenly father. Instead of rejoicing that all these people were coming to learn at the Synagogue, they became jealous that they were not the source of appeal. It was Paul and Barnabas preaching Jesus.

Jealousy kills. Not only was their focus gone (eyes on serving the Father), their attitude became poisoned, like a virus that attacked everyone.  Enough men and women rose up against the Gospel that Paul and Barnabas that they shook the dust from their feet. And that is quite serious. If the message is not welcomed in a town, shake the dust of the town from you.  All because they were jealous at the lack of attention and authority, they snuffed out a seedling of a plant. Was the community the rocks and weeds or the hard ground that kills the mere seedling that is a new believer’s faith?

Now there is the attitude of Joy.

Joyous attitude is focused on the mission: Spreading the Good News of Jesus. Too often, myself included, we look for reasons why a group or church is having record outreach and why it is on a faulty foundation. Rather, we should be like the disciples who rejoiced that the Gospel was spreading like wild fire.  Of course it is also implied that being focused means that you are about the task of sharing your faith. Paul and Barnabas didn’t just go about the town talking themselves up. People who heard them went about telling their neighbors. Sure, Paul and Barnabas were talking to those who wanted to during the week, but people tend to come because they were invited by someone they know. We see that in the Gospels a couple of times. Philip told his brother about Jesus. The woman at the well told her town about Jesus. Are we all talking about our faith, inviting people? This is a team effort.

Joy allowed them to stay faithful. How often do we let troubled waters change our plans? Here were the jealous types stirring up trouble for the Gospel. The world loves to have us give up when things become complicated, or when opposition arises. Yet are we willing to stand firm and face that opposition?  What if that opposition is so strong that you are expelled? That is what happened with Paul and Barnabas. The community of unbelievers decided that they needed to leave, and that they needed assistance in escorting them away. And yet, even though the disciples were robbed of their teachers, the good news still spread. They were still full of joy that comes from the Holy Spirit.

Is your faith, your joy that strong? I would love to say that it is. I can suspect that they were hurt from being expelled from the area. Yet they still looked to God. They knew that what they were facing was quite temporary compared to what eternity held for them. And yet, despite the problems, they still told their neighbors.

Bottom line here is that regardless of the situation, where we are as a body, we have a choice to make. We can decide to become bitter by what we see happening in other churches, even poison our spirits, or we can choose to stay focused on Christ, to be filled with the joy from the Holy Spirit, empowered to share the good news with those around us. It is here then that God will then bless our efforts. He will continue to provide all that we need to carry out the mission in our lives. What is your decision?

Becoming Antioch

I will tell you something. There is an appeal to the larger churches. It seems that they are always doing more, being more effective. More people want to go to the bigger churches. Sure, they will dress up the issue of why they choose the bigger churches, such as the music program is better. There are plenty of teachers and youth programs. The facilities are state of the art, and the parking is more convenient. And then there are ladies’ groups, men’s ministries, family activities, missions and missions trips, choir, etc.

Bigger churches even have conferences to teach the smaller churches how to be like the bigger churches. And though there may not be anything wrong with the bigger churches, is this the best model to look at? Do we have plateaus we consider, we want to reach? We have so many members. Though there are some works being done in the bigger churches, for our model we should do what our movement does best, look at tradition! Look at the Bible. If we are to become like a church, Antioch is that church to become. (READ TEXT)

What we see here is what we do not see here. We have Paul, Barnabas, and John Mark returning from Jerusalem. It is also interesting to ponder, which I did Wednesday night, was Paul one of those who told Rhoda to be quiet? After all they came with John Mark and the prayer meeting was at his mom’s home. If anything, it goes to paint a picture of a couple of men that we tend to put on pedestals.  And we do that. We find a leader we like and we start believing that they are like super human. They don’t sin, or if they do, their big sin is speeding, or under-tipping. Anyway, the Bible gives us an honest picture of who they are.

What we do not see here, or anywhere in the New Testament, is reference to the size of the church. So often today, we feel that in order to be an effective church, we must have people so we can have programs so we can make progress. But it is easier in the larger churches. Reality is that the same percentage of the people do the work in a church of 1000 as they do in the church of 50.

We are, however, a smaller congregation. So how do we move from here? How do we become like the church of Antioch, or the church of the New Testament? In our short three verses, there are three observations. Now at this point in the timeline of the church of Antioch, she is a congregation just a year old. And already, there are leaders here in the church. There were prophets, which one definition is someone who speaks the words of God, such as I am doing right now. I am being a prophet because I am telling you what the Word says. Maybe there were others who spoke for God as did Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah.

But not all churches are like Antioch with growing in their faith in Jesus. Today, we can see many churches meeting together, but that’s all they do. They are content with it. These churches, I would say are idle churches, kind of like the church of Laodicea. Neither hot nor cold. But then a church that is cold, I suspect is one that rejects the Bible because it is politically correct. But a church of apathy? The writer of Hebrews had that the readers should themselves be teachers of the faith, but yet they are still no further along than a baby. In Hebrews 5.11-14, the writer is chastising them for not growing up. It is an expectation. It is implied when Jesus told the disciples to teach the new disciples to obey everything they were taught by Jesus.

Now this maturity came from their spiritual discipline. Here we see as they are sending out men for spreading the good news, which is the first missionary journey in the Bible, they fasted and prayed. Now of this, perhaps we are good at praying. But I don’t want to venture there, lest we be called on it. I can’t help but think that Paul was at the prayer meeting at John Mark’s mother’s house. If Paul’s prayer life was in a state of flux, I suspect each of our prayer life is in flux. There is always room for improvement.

And though this prayer is a spiritual discipline, it is more than that. First it’s not commanded. Nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to pray. The closest the Law comes to commanding that you pray is “when you pray”. It is assumed that we pray. How else are we to communicate to and with God our Father? Fasting is also another assumptive discipline. It’s never commanded of God’s children. I wonder though if their prayer time was so fervent that that’s when fasting occurred. It wasn’t some ritual that Jesus warned against in the sermon on the mount.  But do we get so wrapped up that we forget the time and find that we have missed meals?  Was this the fasting that happened before the first crew was sent out to spread the good news?

The implication is clear though. How seriously do we take our time that we talk to our Heavenly Father? How often do we get so wrapped up hours pass instead of minutes, or how important do we view this? God, thanks for the grub. Is that all we have to say to our father, who adopted us, who gave us purpose?

Finally, they were able to discern God’s will. They were sensitive to His leading. Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work I have ready.” How often do we really rely upon God to lead us? Yes, he gives us freewill, but he also gives us direction. He doesn’t force us to take a path. He just tells us there it is. And yet, as we think we are hearing God’s voice, we need to make sure that God is indeed guiding us. He is not the only spiritual entity. There is also His angels and then Satan and his angels. They can all sound good. That is why they fasted and prayed. They wanted to make sure that their main leaders were indeed being called out.

Too many times, can you count them, when I have heard, “Well the Lord told me to do this.” I had people come to me and tell me that what they were doing was in accordance to God’s will.  I sit back and ask, really? God wanted you to cheat your neighbor. In order to discern God’s leading, we must be striving to grow, to practice our spiritual disciplines. We are at a critical time, not just Central, but the church in general. Too long have we had it easy. That time is changing with each additional day passing.

As for Central, it isn’t too late. The work of sharing the news is harder because it falls on more shoulders. But God did promise to give us all that we need to carry out the mission, at least that’s the promise in 1 Cor. 1.5-7.  

The Measure of Faith

Faith is defined by Hebrews 11.1 as being: “…the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. For by it, our ancestors were approved.” I added verse 2 for good measure. And what is it that we hope for? Is it not for something that is better than what we are going through in this life, that there is more beyond this life? It is sad that some say that faith means we have more to this life, that we can live life to the fullest.

Our definition of heaven and hell become temporal, what we experience. Some say that hell is living life as a victim, but when we chose to make it more, then life becomes like heaven. And for whatever reason, some won’t even broach the subject. But in understanding the pictures of faith this morning, we need to realize that there is more beyond this life.

If our understanding is for this life alone, then we are to be considered fools, as Paul told the Corinthian church. If you think your life is good now in Christ, then know how much better life will be in His return. If you think your life is hell right now, apart from Christ, we have no idea how much worse hell will be, a place of loneliness, solitude, darkness, and sorrow beyond description. No, let us focus on what is waiting for us, for those in Christ: Think of the best wedding reception you’ve been to, or the best celebration that you have ever experienced. Every time you think of it, there isn’t the least bit of sorrow or sadness associated with it. THAT is nothing compared to the feast God has been cooking, has been preparing for us.

Paul said this: As long as he lives, he will live for Christ, but should he die, then he gains. That is a life lived by faith. That is exactly what we see here with our passage this morning. We see that, and a life of doubt. Let’s read our text:

First the life of doubt: When we discussed this on Wednesday, we started at verse 6. The question came up about what the church was praying for. Were they praying for Peter? So verse 5 answers this. They were praying for Peter. How they were praying, that is another question. I suspect that they were praying for his release. It would fit my sermon a bit better to assume that they were.

The problem is that there was doubt somewhere. Doubt tends to rob a person, making him blind, fearful. Yet, this account demonstrates clearly that there is no situation that is so insurmountable that our Great Father cannot help us with. It was a dire time for the church, once again. The State learned that a small minority could be appeased to silence by going after the meek, those who’d turn the other cheek. And the first 4 verses should serve the church a warning this morning. When the State today finds it easier to quiet the shouts of those against Christ by going after Christians… James was put to the sword. So did the Church in Jerusalem have any hope?

Prayer sometimes is the last act of desperation. I get that sense here, too. They became too absorbed in their problems that when the answer became clear, they denied the answer. You’re crazy. It’s his ghost. Leave us.

That’s when faith comes to work, though. When times seem bleak, look. Jesus came to frightened, though experienced boatmen in the midst of a storm. Peter walked to Jesus. How far? I believe it was a bit more than 3 feet. Then when the 12 came back, along with one who was possessed by a demon whom they could not drive out, we hear, “This critter only comes out by prayer, you of little faith.” Then during the time between the cleansing of the Temple and laying his life down that final week, he withered the fig tree. Oh, my children, if your faith is but the size of a mustard seed, you could command that mountain, “be cast into the sea!” and it would move.

Faith is always Amazing.  When the rest of the disciples finally opened the door, they were amazed because God answered their prayers. Now what storms are we willing to weather in our lives? And are we weathering them with the aid of Christ, or do we try them alone? Or do we leave the struggle completely to others?

 With faith, we are never alone. Yes we have God with us, clothed in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit. But there is more to the faith. We are also a family. When Peter was arrested after James’ death, the church in Jerusalem came together. They were praying with one another. They were sharing the hard times.

Too often Americans love to go to church to feel good. But what about those hurting around us? Do we take time to see their hurts, to minister to them? We were never meant to weather the storms alone. Jesus did that for us, on the cross. (His disciples had abandoned him, and then he saw God’s presence leave, thus why he cried out, “where are you?!” He did that so that we would never have to.) Then He gave us each other. When times are tough, do we call our brothers or sisters? Is the church meeting always to be happy, happy, joy, joy? If we haven’t already, we are in the process of losing our community.

Faith is a Community. When we realize that we are a community, we are a family, then we can better invite others to join the family, to meet our Father through Christ Jesus. BRP revealed that though churches are friendly, they are not welcoming. Church is something we do, not where we belong. Faith fixes that. It brings us together, in love. For the good times, and especially for the bad times.

Finally, Faith is ever Calming, ever comforting. Peter is the epitome of faith in the midst of the storm. He learned well watching others, and in this case, Jesus. You remember Jesus slept in one storm where the disciples, again, seasoned boatmen, were fearful of losing their lives. “Master, we are about to die and you sleep?!” “Of little faith, be calm!” Then turning to the waves, he then calmed the storm. Peter was now that beacon of calm. This is what Paul meant by telling the Philippians, I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.”

Peter, here, wasn’t singing Tom Dooly song. There was no fear. He knew his destination. He was taking a much needed rest. He was sleeping so soundly that I imagine the Angel of the Lord kicking him awake, and even then, the angel only managed sleep-walking state. It was only after he was finally free and clear from the prison complex did he come to.

Ah to have faith as Peter. Maybe Paul learned his axiom from Peter, to live is for Christ and to die is to gain. So how do we do with the storms in our lives, the struggles? As a family, we are facing a storm of sort. We are a small family. But when we are living a measure of faith, allowing it to comfort us, to calm us, to unite us into a family, a community, then we will see amazing things happen. It will take us believing in what we pray for, doing what we can, letting God handle the hurdles, and to fill us with his strength.

If, but the size of a mustard seed, what can we then see?

Antioch: The Model Church

In our day and age, there are many programs out there that are directed towards preachers and church leadership. We are told to look at such churches as whatever his name has in Houston, Saddleback, and of course the church that started this mega movement, Willow Creek, though I believe that SECC in Louisville KY was of the first. We are then encouraged to look at the worship service, and encouraged to adopt and tweak the service to fit our congregation. I’ve even had one tell me that we could live-feed another church’s worship service and then once they begin their preaching aspect, I would switch to preaching myself.

There is ever this push to adopt. To become a great church, a church must become a big church, an impactful church, an authentic church. I don’t mean to nay-say the bigger churches as such. Though they have their place as long as they are reaching lost souls, as long as Christians are maturing and growing in their walk with the Lord, I wonder if perhaps we might have it a little backwards. We are busy growing the church. Emphasis seems to be on the church, and not on the Kingdom.

Because, as Christians, we should look to the Bible to guide us, we are going to look at a model church for our time. I want to see what we can learn, see what we are not presently doing that we can be doing. I want us to see the focus of the church of Antioch. For this congregation, many firsts were had. Let’s read the 12 verses together:

(Heart for the Lost) It may seem cliché to say this. Every church has a heart for the lost, don’t they? Do they? What would this heart look like? Since we cannot see ideals and values, we have to look at action. The action to this point is that people were scattered, and they were sharing Jesus, but only to other Jews. To them, the Great Commission was to tell Jews in all other nations about Jesus.

Yet some broke that tradition. Instead of going to who is expected, they went to those who weren’t. Peter was just the beginning for something new. But he wasn’t the first. He still was in Judea, in his comfort zone. Those from Cyprus and Crete went and started preaching to Greeks. They took a risk. They became extroverts. And this was daring because they didn’t know what to expect.

I wonder if maybe they had considered the full implication of the GC and realized that there were no conditions. Go into ALL NATIONS and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to obey all I have taught you. I wonder if they had thought about the storms they were able to weather because of Jesus in their lives, and since they can see similar worries in the eyes of their Grecian neighbors… You get the idea. These Greeks could have thrown it back in their faces, rejecting a religion from some backwater country in the middle to the desert. But still, they had a heart for the lost. They took a chance and God blessed their efforts.

Do we have a heart for the lost? We don’t have to go to a foreign country if we have a heart for the lost. Not everyone is called to be a missionary. Yet there are those we would not normally go to who need the Good News. Our family needs the good news. Do we tell our brothers and sisters, our nieces and nephews, children, parents and grandchildren of the hope we have in Christ? Do our friends and co-workers know why you became a Christian? These are the people we go to, typically. These are the safe ones. They expect to hear us share our faith if they don’t have a faith.

But what about the others? You know the lady at the checkout line, what’s her name? Or the young man who bags your groceries? What about the person with a sad demeanor sitting at a table along the back wall, wondering if there is anyone who cares about him or her? Eating alone in a public place is quite lonely. Sure, perhaps there is a short lunch break and the person works nearby. But more times than not, this is one of those lost people that we need to have a heart for.

This is harder because we like to stay in our introvert bubble where people know what to expect from us, and the response is predictable. No one really judges us. Sure, they may find our idiosyncrasies a bit off, but that’s not really judgment. We don’t have to be labeled a fanatic, a zealot.

I did that the other week. The same young lady always seems to wait on us at Taco Bell. She knows I am a preacher. But for some reason, I never really got to know her. Wrangling 5 kids amongst us can be rather distracting. So the day happened when I wasn’t swamped by boys. And then I asked her if there was anything she needed us to pray about when we pray over our food. Well, she quickly became defensive. She is the daughter of the COGIC preacher here in town. That’s fine. I wasn’t recruiting for the church, just the kingdom.

Her response didn’t put me off. It wasn’t threatening. She still gives good service. We still talk. Now I have another topic to make conversation, since she is a sister in Christ. But I would not have known that had I not approached her about it. And remember, when you approach someone you do not know, Paul says we can do all things through Christ, because he gives us the strength we need.

(Heart for One Another) This is our weakness, that of the independent church. In this, denominations have an appeal. There are regular meetings of the pastors. There are regular conferences for the people. And it’s easy to find another like-minded church when you are traveling down the highway. But this isn’t such a hierarchy. There was genuine concern for each other, between each congregation. When the Apostles and Elders heard about the faith spreading to the Greeks in Syria, they sent Barnabas to encourage them in the faith. He then took that opportunity to get Paul so that he can be accepted. It really was a great second chance for Paul, where a congregation knows the preacher Paul, not the sinner, the enemy, Saul.

Their hearts went out for the church in Judea because prophets came and told them about a famine that was to hit the entire Roman Empire. Now that means that the same famine that Judea was going to suffer, for which their offering was to help combat, was also the same famine that was going to hit them. Still they gave for the relief of Judea. That is a great faith, a great sign of fellowship.

IT is something that I wish we had more. We need more fellowship. It’s why I look forward to the Men’s Area Fellowship Meeting every other month. I’m lost when if I have to miss it. I would also love it if it becomes monthly. So the question is: What are we doing to achieve the fellowship that we read about in the Scriptures? What are we doing to work on increasing that fellowship?

Currently, we have a congregation near us hurting. Talking to one family, a good Sunday might be double our present attendance. I’ve offered what help we might give them, but for the asking.

This idea of caring for one another, for reaching those who need Jesus also does something else. It keeps us from being focused on us. It comes down that we need to be selfless. And these two characteristics of the Church in Antioch are also the same two points from Jesus’ answer in Matt 22.36ff: Love God, (by seeking the lost), and love your neighbor (by caring for one another).   

Let me therefore close with a single question: What can we do, what can you do to help Central become a model church like Antioch.

Fighting God?

Acts 11.15-19

This week, something has been quite heavy on my heart. It means a big change for my family, especially for my boys. They have met several friends, and now all of that is changing. It is one of the hardest decisions that I will have to make as a parent, because in doing so, I know I will be making the decisions that will affect their lives. No one likes to have routine interrupted or discarded.

Yet at the same time, no one wants to make waves either. What I am talking about is the membership policy for the Boy Scouts of America. Soon, they will allow homosexual leaders and boys in the troops, yet they leave it up to the individual charters to make the decision themselves. Jamborees, work days and summer camps will no longer be a safe place to leave my boys unattended. I’ve had around the campfire as a teen, “I don’t think girls will ever like me.” Now instead of offering encouragement, “Girls are probably more interested in you than you give yourself credit”, to being something like, “You might be intended for a girl.”  

But that’s not my biggest concern. My biggest concern is that the homosexual movement has promised not to stop there. They will go after the charter organizations themselves. Since it’s not a national policy, the national office doesn’t have to support the charter organization in any filed lawsuits. And there will be. I see this as a way to attack the smaller, rural churches, because not only will the troop be sued, but the sponsoring church as well. And I shared that on my wall on Facebook.

Normally I get quite a bit of feedback on my posts. But this one comment, “The BSA is a private organization; what they do within their own walls is none of my business, so long as no one is being harmed.” “When they came for the Communists, I remained silent because I was not a Communist. When they came for the trade unionists, I was silent for I was not a trade unionist. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent, for I was not a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I remained silent because I was not a Catholic. When they came for me, no one spoke up, because there was no one left to defend me.” That was a poem, part of a sermon by a German pastor named Friedrich Niemoller. That poem came to my mind when I read my friend’s comment, and saw few, very few follow.

This morning, as well look at Acts 11.15-18, Peter is taking a stand. We saw last week where he was directed by God to go to the Centurion’s home, where he taught Jesus, saw God pour out the gift of the Holy Spirit and then baptized them.

Then chapter 11 opens up with Peter returning to Jerusalem where some of the Jewish Christians were protesting that Peter would defile himself. They were missing the bigger picture of what was going on. They hooked up on one detail. Peter was at Cornelius’ house, a Gentile. So here is his response: (Read the text)

Peter realized that at his fork in the road, he could fight God, or go with God. He chose to fight with God. But those who were opposed to his actions, they chose the other road. They chose to fight God. Who was Peter to oppose God? That’s what he asked. And that is something we need to ask ourselves. Do we fight God in our life?

We fight God when we don’t take a stand. As Christians, we will find more and more of the testing of our resolve. People will push and push because as Christians, we are supposed to be nice, and let people take advantage of us. To some, what help they can get isn’t seen as help, but something they are entitled to because they came and asked. Sometimes they don’t even bother asking. Here’s my bill. I need it paid by 5 pm this evening. Ah nice, it’s 4.15. I’ll get right on this!

But that’s not really the type of stand we need to focus. Sure, we need to be wise stewards of what God has given us. The stand we need to make is sometimes for something like the BSA. I was a bit crushed in that two friends commented on my sharing of the BSA pending actions. Normally I get quite a bit of feedback. Not this time. One friend said what I shared. It’s not his business. But as a Christian it is. It is the backdoor of putting this issue in all of our faces. Niemoller was correct as he penned that poem.

We also need to make a stand in other areas too. The other two main issues are the Abortion movement and the gun ban movement. By redefining the 2^nd Amendment, and thus nullify it, then it would be quite easy for the rest of our rights to come crumbling down. It is also a reason that I don’t like the idea of foreigners being tried for war crimes in the American judicial system. If you can try them and then because they are not Americans who attacked America, then we can nullify their rights, which mean that somewhere down the road, we might find ourselves without our legal rights for whatever reason.

As far as abortion goes, I do believe that how we take a stand is critical. I believe the children are heaven bound.  I wish they had a chance at life. Yet how do we reach the mom who a year later slips into depression because she knows she should be celebrating a 1 yo’s b-day? Where will she find comfort and Gods grace for her pain? We need to be able to reach her.

Now, is it wrong? Yes. Should we pay for it? No. But that might be the problem, that we are trying to legislate morality. Morality is above legislation, regardless what the dunderheads in DC believe. Abortion fight has become something more than pro-life. It is now a freedom of religion issue. Hobby Lobby is trying to fight to keep from having to offer benefits that go contrary to their Christian life. They are being told by the courts as well as by the president that it’s ok to be a Christian, until we enter the public sector. They mean that once you leave your home, stop behaving like a Christian.

But let’s put the national issues aside for the moment. There is another area in which we must take a stand that is far more critical than the national issues. It is taking a stand for Jesus now. It is telling your neighbor about Jesus. It is about telling your friends, your coworkers about Jesus. If they go to church, then ask them how you might encourage them in their walk. I don’t know that apart from one neighbor at a time, will we be able to quickly turn the national views on religious freedom, the Bill of rights, etc. But we can see how one person at a time can change everything. South Korea. Not there yet, but closer than we are to being a Christian nation.

We fight God when we try by our own hand. Now this is an area where we tend to do things ourselves without consulting God. Peter could have done this. It is certainly what Judas was doing when he agreed to betray Jesus. See, I wonder if he wanted the Kingdom to come on his terms. Instead, he saw a good friend murdered. No kingdom. Just sorrow. He didn’t stay around long enough to see what happened on Sunday morning.

We tend to fight God when we living our lives our way. One pet peeve I have on facebook is the blatant hypocrisy that I see. One moment, there is a beautiful verse and picture, a pledge of following Jesus no matter what. Then the same person in the next moment posts jokes, stories or pictures of a questionable nature.

That is perhaps why we are where we are. Rather than seeing what and how God may want something done, we do it our way. For example, we make our music as loud and upbeat as the music that people hear on the radios. We preach sermons that make people feel good, but not motivated to be good. We confuse large numbers with intimacy, closeness with God.

Peter says we are a royal people, a peculiar people. It means that we stand out from the rest of the world. We do not have the same desires and ambitions that those who don’t know Jesus has. We cling to what we know, what we are comfortable with, just like the Jews when they heard that the Gentiles were accepting Jesus as their savior.

We fight God when we try to understand. This one is a bit more veiled than the other two points. I’ve drawn this point more from other places than from our text. For example, James says, do not merely listen to the word, but do what it says. Too often when we are told to do something, we want to know the why. Paul says that is the mystery that people were stumbling over: Jews were God’s chosen people. Why are the Gentiles coming in? Because God intended to save ALL peoples, not just a few.

My messages try to convey reasoning and understanding, but more times than not, we may not need to know why until later. Philip didn’t know why he had to go to a certain road. He went. The disciples didn’t try to understand Jesus when he said, come follow me. They followed. Then there is Elisha. He was appointed to carry Elijah’s mantle, or continue with Elijah’s ministry. He didn’t ask why. Instead, he held a bbq for all the area, using his farm equipment as both fuel and food. There are times, as a parent, I will need to bark something at my boy to obey immediately. Only after obeying, such as when I called him back in a parking lot, was he then able to see the car that he didn’t see the first time, and that the car didn’t see him either. God tells us to go, to share the message. The word tells us quite a bit about what we are to do. It is up to us to not question. Understanding the why comes with maturity. Now mind you, God will sometimes give us the reasoning as He leads us. He did with Ananias being sent to Saul. He did when he had Paul and Barnabas set aside to go on the first missionary journey. But don’t worry if you don’t understand at first.

So this leaves us with the final, how? How do we stop fighting God? It’s simple. Two words: (ready?) Stop it. That’s it. Too often we do things because we feel like doing them. We have come to believe that we are ruled by our feelings, our emotions. Because I feel like it, I must do it. Instead, we again listen to James’ words. Do what the Scripture says. Love your enemies, and bless them. Tell others about Christ. When you are loving God with all your fiber and loving your neighbor, you won’t have time to fight God. Spend time in the word. See how else he might have you do.

The best blessing of all comes from just stopping our fight. We are able to rejoice together, for I see a time of worship there as it dawned on them what Peter was telling them. And after all, isn’t that what we’ve come to do together, to worship the Father and encourage each other?