Monthly Archives: May 2011

The Whispers

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Who are you?  Who do you feel like you are?  What are your dreams?  Your wishes?  Your hopes?

Who do you see yourself as?  What do you see yourself doing?  Where do you see yourself with your walk with family and friends; with your walk with God.

We want to think of ourselves in good places. With good hopes and dreams and futures.

But perhaps, just perhaps, you have heard the whispers.

You aren’t any good.

You are worthless.

You’ve done too much. God can’t love you. . . . .can’t use you. . . . you are of no worth to Him.

Or anyone.

Just give up. . . . quit. . . . stop trying. . . . what’s it matter. . . . . you can’t do it anyway.

Perhaps today, you’ve heard those whispers in your head.  If so, listen to what Paul tells us in Colossians today:

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

You were once far away from God.  You were his enemy. That’s a big word.

But you were.

And so was I. So were we all. Because we were all dead in our sins. We were all far away from God. We.  Were.  His.  Enemies.

And how did God respond? By giving us His son to reconcile us to Him. To forgive us. To bring us into the throne room of grace. To make us clean.

To change us from being His enemies to being His children.

Today, when you hear the whispers, remember who you are. Remember what’s been done for you. Remember what Jesus has done for you.  You are forgiven.  You are restored.  You are His child and you are loved.

Don’t listen to the whispers.  Listen to voice of God here through His word.  You are redeemed, you are restored, you are made clean and made whole.

Don’t listen to the whispers.  Listen to God.  And know that you are no longer His enemy.  You are His child.

Go out and live like the loved child of God that you are.

What Can We Do?

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There are people in our lives that we want to help.

There are people in our lives that we want to protect.

There are people in our lives that we want to see grow, changed, and empowered.

There are people in our lives that we want to see come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

What are we to do? What can we do for these people that we love?  There are things that we can do to help in each of these situations. We can help and protect and teach and love. But, in the end, we can’t do everything.

As much as I want to protect my kids, at some point I send them out to the world.

As much as I want folks to be saved, there’s only so much I can “do.”

So, what can we do?

Listen to Paul in Colossians this morning:

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Paul reminds us that the absolute best thing we can do for those that we love is to pray for them.  Pray for their safety. Their salvation. Their growth. Their very lives.

What can we do?  We can pray.

Prayer is not the last option for a Christian.  Prayer should be the first option.

Prayer is the most powerful weapon we have at our disposal.  Prayer is the greatest force God has given us. Prayer is more powerful than we can even understand. Prayer changes things.

In this life, where we so want these things for those that we love, prayer is our greatest option.  Today, are you praying?

Don’t turn to it last.  Turn to it first.  And know that God hears and God blesses.

What can we do? We can pray.

Baccalaureate Service Podcast

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The sermon podcast for Sunday, May 15, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. This messages is from our Baccalaureate Service honoring our 2011 Graduates. The message is brought by Brian Hinnant, Asbury’s youth minister.    You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

Weird

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One of my favorite writer/preachers today is Craig Groeschel.  He is the pastor of Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma and has written several books that are just great, particularly The Christian Atheist.  I was at a Christian bookstore the other day and noticed he has a new book out, Weird.

With a title like that, you’ve got to pick it up and look.

And as I read the back, I saw that the one of things he was talking about in the book is one of the same things that Paul talks about in Romans 12:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Craig calls it being weird.  Paul calls it not being transformed.  In the Old Testament, it’s called being holy.  All of these things come down to one major thing.

As Christians, we are called to be different. We are called to be different from the world. We are called to be different from the culture. We are called to be a little weird. We are not called to be like everyone else.

We are called to be like Jesus.

We are called to follow His plan, His life, His way. We are not called to conform to the world and it’s values, we are called to conform to Jesus and His values.

And you know what? That may make us a little weird.  That’s ok.  That’s fine. That’s the way it is supposed to be.  I tells folks if people find out that you are a Christian, and they are surprised by it, that’s probably not a good sign.

Today, we called not to conform. We are called to be different. We are called to be weird. We are called to be holy.

We are called to follow Jesus.

Today, let’s chase after Him, not the world.  And in that, may we find the life we can’t find anywhere else.

Our Lives Are Mirrors

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Our lives are a mirror.  They reflect.

They reflect what we believe. They reflect what we believe about God, His grace, His mercy and His salvation.

Our lives are a refection. Our lives aren’t lived in a vacuum.  Our lives show the reality of what we believe.  Not what we say we believe. But, what we really, actually believe.

Our lives show the way to the truth that lies in our hearts.

Today, listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5:

No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Our lives are like that candle. They shine a light for all to see.

So our Lord tells us to shine out light for the world to see, so they will praise our Heavenly Father. Our lives should be lived in such a way that people thank God after dealing with us.

Not to thank God that we are awesome. Or kind.  Or good.  Or sweet. But to thank God that He is kind. And good. And loving.

We don’t live this life to reflect upon ourselves. We live this life to reflect upon God.

Today, what light is you life reflecting?  What does your life say about God? What does your life show that you believe about God?

Today, does the light of your life cause others to glorify God after an interaction with you?  Or does your life cause others to wonder if you really are a Christian.

Our lives are mirrors. What are they reflecting?

How Are You Loving?

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One of the things I really like about faith is that God is the “first actor.”

What does that mean?  What that means is that everything starts with God.  He is the one that starts the ball in motion, He is the one that starts everything.

Creation started with Him.

The plan of salvation started with Him.

Everything started with Him.

Today, we read in 1 John, even the fact that we love God, and love other people, that started with God as well:

We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

We love, because we are first loved.  We love God, and others, because God first loved us. The love of God makes possible our love for everyone else in all our lives. He is the one that started it all. And it is all possible because He has first loved us.

And since God starts everything, the question is then asked. What is our response? Since it all begins with God, what are we to do next?  What is our response?

The text today says not only that God first loved us, but if we claim that we love God, but hate our neighbor, we really can’t love God.  How can we claim to love God, who is unseen, yet hate our neighbor, who we do see.

So, I believe, that this text teaches us that our love for God is seen in the way that we love each other.  I can talk all day long about how much I love God.  How faithful I am to God. How great God is in my life.

But, what is my life showing?  How much is my life saying that I love God?  What is my love for the people in my life saying about my love for God?

God has first loved us.  God has given us His love.  What is our response to that?  If God’s love is in us, we will love others.

Today, how are you loving?

Don’t Stay Locked Up in Fear

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Fear is a great motivator.  Some of the greatest athletes in history were motivated by a fear of failure and of letting people down.

Fear, when channeled, can be something that pushes us and drives us and causes us to achieve a goal or do something great. Fear, when channeled and used for good, can be a great motivator.

But, for many of us, that is not the role that fear plays in our lives.  Instead of motivating us, fear can cripple us.  Instead of driving us, fear can break us.  Instead of pushing us down the road, fear can stop us from moving.

For many of us today, we live our lives out of fear. And we don’t like the results. We live in fear of the past.

Of the future.

Of the present.

Of the known.

Of the unknown.

Of what we can control.

Of what we can’t.

For many of us today, we live a life that is dominated by fear.  Listen to what happens to the disciples in John 20 today:

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.

They were hiding behind these locked doors because they were afraid. They were hiding away from people because they were fearful.

And Jesus comes to them and says – Don’t hide. Go. Don’t stay locked up here. Go.  Go out. Be faithful.  Preach, teach, love. Don’t stay locked up in fear.

Go.

How can they go when they are afraid?  He is with them. And He will give peace.  No matter what. No matter what they face. He will give peace.

Today, don’t stay locked up in fear.  Don’t stay afraid.  No matter what you are facing God is with you.  No matter what you are up against, God is with you.  No matter what fear wells up in your soul, God is with you.

Today, do not be afraid. God is with you.

You have nothing to fear.

Connections: Family Podcast

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The sermon podcast for Sunday, May 8, 2011 is up on Asbury Church’s website. This is the second our sermons in our new series “Connections.”  This month we’ll be talking about the “Connections” or relationships that define us.  This message deals with “Family” as well as Mother’s Day.  The text is John 15: 1-8.  You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

Humility

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Humility can be a dirty word.

Or if not a dirty word, it can be a word that we don’t like or aren’t really fond of.  When we think of humility, we aren’t really sure what it means to be humble.  The one thing we may think about humility is this.

We are supposed to think that we don’t matter. We are supposed to think that we are unimportant. We are supposed to think that we have no great value.

That is not right. That is not humility.

You do matter.  You are important.  You are of great worth.

Humility is not beating up on yourself.  Humility is not putting down on yourself.  Humility is not about debasing yourself of thinking yourself worthless.

I had a professor in seminary that used to put it this way – “Humility is self-forgetfulness.”  It’s not about beating yourself up. It’s about forgetting about yourself and thinking of others first.

Listen to what Paul writes in Philippians today:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Paul says, think about others first. Think of their needs. Their of their feelings. Think of them before we think of ourselves.

We forget about ourselves and focus on them.  How we can help others.  Love others. Serve others.

Why?

Why should we do that? Why are we called to do that.

Well, as Christians, we are called to seek to be like Christ.  To know Him. To love Him. And to love others as He did.  And listen as Paul continues, to what Jesus did:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Jesus was humble.  Jesus came not for Himself, but for us. And as Christians, He calls us not to live just for ourselves, but to live for others.

Because in a life of humility, a life of service, a life of giving ourselves away for His sake, we find more life that we’ll ever find in living for ourselves.

Yes, we are called to be humble.  No humility is not what we’ve always thought that is was.  Humility is about forgetting about ourselves and focusing on others.

Today, and each day, may we be humble.