Udate 17 - "One Whole"

Update 17

Addressing the State of Our Church

Sermon #1 – “One Whole”

            Next week I will be attending, district assembly. Nazarene Churches from Southern California will be gathering to celebrate what God has done in the local churches as well as conduct business affairs and give various reports. That being the case, I have worked out a sermon series entitled “Update 17”. This series will give us a chance to look in the mirror as a church, seeking further direction concerning God’s plan for our church.

            My desire is that each one of us finds a place of belonging and significance within our church community. To assure that this takes place for everyone, I pray that together we move into the future God has for us. For that to happen, we must learn that each one is valuable to the whole.

            The idea that one is valuable to the whole can be seen in 1 Corinthians 12. The first thing that Paul the Apostle teaches in this chapter is the Holy Spirit has given each individual gift for the good of the whole (V. 1-7). It is healthy to read the following passage with your gift, talents, and abilities in mind. How do they apply to the whole of the church?

            Secondly, in 1 Corinthians 12 we come to learn that which the Holy Spirit gives you is by His choosing (V.8-13). This truth originates the need for a personal revelation. Through prayer and participation in the church, we can discover how the Holy Spirit has gifted us. An appropriate question is, how has God gifted you?

            Finally, the idea that one is valuable to the whole demands the understanding that without you, part our body is missing (V. 12-31). Without your gifts present in the community our community is less that it should be. As difficult as all of us can be at times, the church still needs everyone. With this in mind, I challenge you to make us healthy, by becoming healthy.

            As we all accept this challenge, we must keep in mind that our church will be weak if we fail to understand what it means to be a part if the Body of Christ. Romans 12: 3-8 teaches us how to accomplish this. First, by having a realistic self-image (V. 3). Second, we are not going to be or do the same things (v.4). Third, we are a part of each other (V.5). And finally, we are to operate within our gifts through the grace of Christ. May you never doubt that you are a significant part of the whole church.

Life Giver #4 "Indwelling"

LIFE GIVER

GOD’S SPIRIT IN MAN

     Because of what God has asked me to spend my life doing, I care deeply about the collective body of Christ, and what we call the local church. It does consume a large portion of my life and at times I lose balance and focus. So, a very important question is, how does God build His church? Jesus said that He would build His church upon the truth of His identity (Matthew 16:18, ESV). Paul the Apostle teaches that those involved in building the church do so as master builders building on the foundation that has been laid (1 Corinthians 3:10).

     One of the obstacles faced in building the church in today’s culture is the heightened sense of individuality. Many church attendees are in attendance for their own specific needs. Their frequency of attendance and level of involvement is determined by their own motivations. Therefore, as a leader in the church, I am faced with the issue of leading collectively, and individually. Both are needed and important. Both are considered in the decision-making process of the church. My wish is that everyone would become a healthy part of the whole.    

     I believe that we all have a goal to be spiritually healthy and somewhere in each one of our hearts is the desire for a spiritually healthy church. If you are interested in how to become individually healthy contributing the collective health of the church, this message is for you. With this in mind, the Holy Spirit builds by indwelling.

     As He indwells, He empowers to boldly speak the word of God (Acts 4:23-31). His indwelling qualifies all those who serve in the ministry of the church (Acts 6:1-7). This is important because of the fruit of the Holy is necessary and essential for ministry (Galatians 5:22-26). Finally, His indwelling leads those who lead the church into specific places of ministry (Acts 13:1-4 / 20:17-28). These details are not in any way exhaustive. They are sufficient to make the point that the church is built through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  

     Based on these truths, we are then challenged to seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, may we not be focused on the spectacular, for the spectacular is very rare and not the only indication that a believer has been filled with the Holy Spirit. We are to seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by gathering together with obedient anticipation (Act 2:1-5). As well as through prayerful repentance and Baptism (Acts 2:37-39). Two other means by which the Bible teaches us to be filled with the Holy Spirit is through a simple prayer (Acts 4:31 / 8:14-24) and through the listening to His word (Acts, 10:44). While considering these passages please understand that throughout the Bible the laying on of hands is a rite of identification and transfer. Finally, may all we do as a church be empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Follow the link below to enjoy a quick thought from Francis Chan as he offers a great resource.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0a-uQYsFSI

Life-Giver - "Through a Mother"

LIFE GIVER

GOD’S SPIRIT IN MAN

Sermon #3 “Through A Mother”

Being thankful to God involves being thankful for the people in our lives. It is through people that God had shaped who we are. It is obvious that you would not exist without your mother. Moms are indeed used by God to be life-givers. In so many ways God uses Moms to bring life.

When I was a child, my Mom was my biggest and may I say by far my loudest fan. Perhaps the loudest I ever heard my mom laugh was when I gave her a ride through the desert in my Baja Bug. I have many funny memories of my mom included when she caught the newspaper on fire in a restaurant but what I miss most about my mom are the conversations that I had with her as an adult. My mom held much of herself inside but occasionally some of that would slip by her guard and I could see into her heart. She had a deep love for God that many times was shadowed by deep pain. When she passed away I viewed it as her complete healing.  

We all have stories that we can tell about our moms. Times when they filled us with joy and other times when we felt disconnected and misunderstood. Maybe you could not imagine a more perfect mom, or maybe your mom struggled to be what you needed. On the other hand, maybe the mom here today need a reminder of your precious role. Whatever the case, this message focuses on the practical roles of the Holy Spirit that are fulfilled through moms. 

In Luke 13:34, Jesus speaks of Himself as a hen who gathers her brood under her wings. If Jesus speaks of Himself in that way, I think I am safe to speak about the parallels of the Holy Spirit and Mothers. After all, mothers are in so many ways life-givers. Many of the practical roles of the Holy Spirit are fulfilled through our Mothers.  Please read John 14:15-27 and consider the listed parallels between the Holy Spirit and the role of mothers as life-givers.

15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

1. Moms are our forever helpers. V.16

2. Moms don’t leave their children as orphans. V.18

3. Moms teach. V. 26

4. Moms remind. V.26

5. Moms are our peace providers. V.27

6. Moms still our troubled hearts and calm our fears. V.27

7. Love is shown through obedience to Gods commands.

With this list, there come the challenge for each one of us to accept the imperfections of our mothers. If your mother is living please take time to express your unconditional love. If you mother has passed away, then take this opportunity to express thanks to God for the good of your mother and release her imperfections allowing God to heal your heart and mind.            

Finally, as we seek to minister to one another as a Christian community may we need to help fill in each other’s blind spots. This type of ministry is to be done through caring relationships, and not a spirit of judgement. This also requires us to be open to the idea that each one of us need the perspective of the other. A Christian community is vast in its experience and knowledge concerning our relational roles. May the Lord bless all mothers for they are indeed life-givers.  

Life Giver: The Holy Spirit as Revealer

            When it comes to misunderstood and therefore misapplied Christian doctrine, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is at least close to the top of this list. Among the confusion is the overemphasis on the spectacular. This series seeks to avoid that emphasis and focus in on the more consistent day to day aspects the Holy Spirit.

            The day-to-day aspect of the Holy Spirit that is focused upon in this post, is His work as the Revealer. The Holy Spirit gives us life by revealing Jesus. For all of us that are following Jesus, we are doing so because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We may not always describe it this way because when this journey began our knowledge was infantile at best. As we continue to grow in our understand of God’s love for us, we come to understand that He was the one chasing us. A major aspect of that chasing was the Holy Spirit’s revelation of Jesus that opened our hearts to receive Him as Lord and Savior.  

            First let us consider the idea that the Holy Spirit reveals the true nature of Jesus. To get an idea of this truth, read Matthew 16:13-17 and Galatians 1:11-16. 

Matthew 16:13-17

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Galatians 1:11-16

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.

12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.

            As we consider these two text we can make the following observations. First, by nature we misunderstand the identity of Jesus. Those that misunderstood the identity of Jesus, did so based upon their own interpretations of Scripture mixed with their own desires of who the Messiah was to be. These passages also teach that the truth about Jesus is not discovered, but revealed. As both texts teach, the only way we will understand the true Jesus through the help of the Holy Spirit.      

            Secondly, the Holy Spirit gives of life by leading us to saving faith in Jesus. There is a difference between belief as mental acknowledgment to who Jesus was and putting our trust in Him as Lord of our life. For a greater understanding of this point read Romans 12:9 and 1^st Corinthians 12:1-3.   

Romans 12:9

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1^st Corinthians 12:1-3

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. 

            Right away by reading these texts we see that the Holy Spirit leads us away from the aimless wondering of a Godless life. This aimless life is due to rejecting the true nature of Jesus and the path to a meaningful life comes through a connection with our Creator, living in the purpose of our being created. This leads to the observation that the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to submit to the reality of Jesus’ Lordship. This is not in violation of our free will but in cooperation with it. The Holy Spirit reveals and we choose to surrender to that revelation.   

            With this understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit as Revealer, may each one of us submit to the revelation. When we do, the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us in all truth (John 16:13-15). May you continue to receive life through the revelation of love and truth.