Godly living – Page 26

Sermon Seeds: Everything We Need

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

This afternoon my grandson stopped by the office for a few minutes. There was about a twenty minute lag between when his mom needed to drop him off and his grandpa (my hub) got off work. We played a few points of air hockey and then went to my office where I was working on the sermon.

He asked what I was doing and when I told him his eyes lit up and he begged to help. Since I have taken this interim position, he has developed a new outlook on church. On Sunday he told his Sunday School teacher his favorite part of church was the preaching. (Go ahead, picture me grinning quite hugely.)

This afternoon, I told him I would love his help. I showed him the text (see above) and asked him to look at it and tell me what he thought the most important parts were. Let’s see if they match up with what you think stands out.

First he pointed out how cool it is that God has given us everything we need to follow him. Next he liked the part that God chose us. And finally, he felt it was pretty amazing that we get to share in the God’s nature…and we need to be sharing that.

Seems to me that preaches pretty well. Not bad for a nine year old.

Prayerful Thoughts: With All My Heart

¹¹Teach me your ways, O Lord,
    that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
    so that I may honor you.
¹²With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
    I will give glory to your name forever,
¹³for your love for me is very great.
    You have rescued me from the depths of death. (Psalm 86:11-13)

I love finding something cool and unexpected when I’m looking for something else.

The scripture I quoted above is one of my favorites…and an often prayed prayer. I know the disastrous consequences of a divided heart.

So in my search I came across the pic above. I didn’t get it at first. I never was very good with fractions. (Picture me laughing at myself here.)

Heart divided by nothing.

I love it. I would almost tattoo that one! (Don’t tell my daughters.) Why? Because that is the prayer of my heart.

And the really good news is found in Ezekiel 19:11: And I will give them singleness of heart (aka: undivided) and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart. (NLT)

And with a heart like that, we can live ever, only, all for Him.

Sermon Seeds: It’s All About The Fruit

⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

It seems so obvious. We wouldn’t argue the point if we were discussing grapes, or squash, or pumpkins. The only way to produce fruit is for the branch to be connected to the vine.

In this section of the gospel (John 15), Jesus identifies himself as the true vine–the genuine item, the real deal. He would only make that point if there were false, fake, or dead vines people were trying to attach themselves to.

The way to know who or what we’re attached to is to examine the fruit. Good fruit comes from abiding in the true vine.

So, how’s your fruit?

If we are going to produce fruit for the Kingdom, fruit that brings glory to God, then we need to be a people of the vine.

Sermon Seeds: Finishing

(On Wednesdays my blog posts will be related to the text of the upcoming Sunday message.)

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)

We just finished walking together through Lent to the Resurrection. The intention of these devotional thoughts was to get us ready to see Jesus!

How’d you do?

Each time I reach the resurrection story I am moved when I try to imagine Jesus speaking Mary’s name. I listen hard to hear him whisper my name.

But that’s not the end of the story! More work needs to be done. We have our part. God is not finished with us!

Sunday morning I will preach my first official sermon as the interim pastor of Ashland First Church of the Brethren. It is not my first time in the pulpit with these precious people. I’ve been filling in for a while.

On Sunday we embark on a different phase. We are focusing on where God wants us to go, who God wants us to be…and how we’re going to get there.

I love our verse from Philippians. For a long time I took it personally…individually. But it’s plural. Like: He began a work in y’all. And He wants to finish it.

What work has God begun in you? In your family? In your faith community–your church?

Will you join him in the work? Will you let him finish?

You hold a piece to the whole that only you can fill.

Who did you come to see?

He is risen. He is risen indeed.

The women came to the tomb to care for his body. They came out of love. They came in their grief. They did not expect To be told he was not there. They definitely did not expect to be told he was alive!

In the gospel of John we find the account of Mary’s encounter with the risen Jesus. He asks her why she is weeping. She’s confused, by the empty tomb and the absurdity of the question. She wants to know where Jesus is. He asks again and asks who she is looking for. Still unaware she answers that she wants to know where they have taken his body. She’s thinking this has to be a cruel joke.

Then Jesus speaks her name. And she knows. All doubt, all fear, all confusion is instantly and totally erased. She runs to tell the others.

I’ve just seen Jesus.

We will see who we are looking for.

Who will you look for this Resurrection morning?

Jesus, Messiah, the Christ. The King. The risen Lord. The breaker of bread. The living water. The light of the world. The way, the truth, the life.

Will you hear him speak your name?

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

How do you wait?

Nothing is really written about today. We who know the rest of the story look toward tomorrow morning like a child expecting a basket full of goodies.

But how did the disciples wait…or did they.

They hid. In John we read that they were huddled in a room behind a locked door. Fearful that they might be next…guilt by association.

Others went back to work, went back to what they knew…what they could count on.

Some made the long walk home to Emmaus.

They didn’t know the end of the story. Otherwise they would have been gathered outside of the tomb, ready to celebrate!

I’m not a very good “waiter”, especially when I don’t know what outcome I’m waiting for. I get impatient when God doesn’t answer right away…when Saturday drags on forever.

But even if I don’t know how things are going to end, even when the end seems so dreadfully far away…Sunday’s coming.

If we were sitting across the table, talking over a cup of something warm, I’d look you in the eye and say: “Let’s make a pact. Let’s decide to anticipate that God is going to do something. Let’s trust him to have our best in mind. Let’s.”

So, let’s.

PRAYER: God of silence, God of wait, God of meanwhile…we want to be like children eagerly anticipating that you have got an awesome plan for our lives. Better than we could ever imagine. Walk with us through our Saturdays, our times of doubt and fear. We want to live every day like Sunday’s coming. Amen.

TGIF…No really, thank God

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NASB)

That’s what today is all about.

It’s Friday. Jesus is made to carry his cross. They pound nails into his flesh. He hangs there and dies an excruciatingly painful death. And he dies.

He loves. And he dies.

He is the sacrifice to atone–to bring into one. My sin, your sin, our choices to feed our selfishness and our greed have separated us from the One who not only created us, but loves us.

But he didn’t wait to do that after we sinned. He did it before. He did it with us in mind. He did it for us. He did it because of us.

This was God’s plan from before time began.

That’s how much he loves me. That’s how much he loves you.

At our darkest point, he loved us…loves us. Provides for us.

That’s grace. That’s amazing.

PRAYER: On this solemn day, we say thank you for the expanse and expense of your love. Amen.

Teach Us To Pray

Have you ever had someone pray over you?

I have. I’ve had people pray with such intensity it felt like they broke through the roof, reached right into heaven, and grabbed God by the robe.

I have been there when prayer warriors shout, scream, moan, weep, dance, jump, pace, and whoop.

I have also heard the whispers of prayers so intense the words are barely audible.

But I have never had anyone pray so intently they sweat drops of blood for me.

Wait. There was one. His name was Jesus.

Early on in his work with the disciples, they came to Jesus and asked him to teach them to pray. He gave them words that day. Words we still use…sometimes without truly making the effort to understand.

It was in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus showed them. He demonstrated the hard work of prayer…of intercession.

Jesus wrestled with God. Take this cup. Not my will but yours.

Jesus was honest with God. If there is any other way. Not my will but yours.

Jesus didn’t quit until he had his answer. Not my will but yours.

He paced. He needed his friends. He prayed with such intensity he sweat drops of blood.

And then he was done. And able to face the horror that came next.

PRAYER: Lord, teach us to pray.

More Than Washing Feet

Jesus got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,⁵and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet…¹²After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked,“Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. (John 13: 4, 12-15, NLT)

What does it mean to be a servant?

This past week there was considerable news coverage of University of Kentucky’s basketball team–both on and off the court. It was the off court activity that caught my attention:

Powerful words, powerful action. Acts of service change us and others.

Not long ago an author friend asked this question on her Facebook page: What do you think store chains could do to improve customer satisfaction? (Great question Cynthia Heron!) My response? Bring back customer service. It’s a lost and dying commodity.

Service. What does it mean to be a servant?

I read that the biblical definition of being a servant is to bring glory to God by willingly meeting the needs of others.

How will you do that today?

It’s more than washing feet.

A New Command

And so I am giving a new commandment to you now—love each other just as much as I love you. (John 13;34, TLB)

Everything Jesus does during his final days on earth pointed to this command. But I don’t think they got it. They couldn’t. The only thing the crew following Jesus had in common was Jesus. Other than that…nothing. It was surprising they could sit down on a mountainside together without skirmishes breaking out all over.

But Jesus knew this was central to his mission. He not only shows them, he tells them again (see John 15:17) and again. Then to solidify it he tells them to get together in the upper room and stay put until the Holy Spirit comes.

When the pharisee asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded by reciting the familiar, “Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Then he added his command, this command to love one another.

What would it look like in your corner of the world if in spite any differences or dislikes your first response was love? Can you imagine God asking you to sit in a room for fifty days with people you didn’t like or trust?

Did you just shudder at the thought?

Here’s the kicker…it’s not just a suggestion. It’s Jesus’ commandment. And he’s not asking us to do anything he didn’t already do for us.

PRAYER: God of love, who commands us to love, and gave us the ultimate example of love…forgive us for being unloving and unlovable. Give eyes to see others as you see and hearts to love as you love. Amen.

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