Love Come to Life

It's easy preaching when all I have to do is introduce two individuals with wonderful stories to tell like we had today.  If you missed the sermon it should be online by July 31 so go to www.clearlakechurch.com and listen in.  I've known Paul Tate since my early years here at Clear Lake.  He's been on the upward journey for a long time even though he's taken a number of detours along the way.  His story is so encouraging because he didn't let his failures define him but kept allowing the love of God to take continue to transform his life.  I've known Kate Hettinger for the past 5 years or so and have always been impressed with her devotion to Jesus and infectious love to everyone.  I had never heard her story until this morning.  Kate's testimony is such a great reminder that the love of God flows TO us so that it can flow THROUGH us.  I look forward to hearing the stories that will be told in next Sunday's service.  Let God's love flow through you this week so that all might know that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life!

Stuck in Prison

Hatred imprisons us, no doubt about it.  So, what do we do with it?  Pretend it's not there?  Embrace it and use it to fuel our destruction of others?  Those praying the Psalms learn how to put words to their hate in the form of prayer.  Only by owning our hatred can we move toward forgiveness. 

After I had written this sermon (but before I preached it) I heard of the unspeakable horror that occurred in a movie theater in Colorado.  Lives senselessly snuffed out by a deranged mad man.  Those were survived were terrorized and/or physically injured. Surely no one in that movie house will ever be the same again.  Will the survivors ever be able to enjoy a movie?  Or will they always be fearful and anxious?  We don't choose the emotions of fear, anger, and hatred.  They erupt without internal provocation.  And once they rise within us, what are we to do?  

Pray, of course.  But what does one full of ugly emotion pray?  Pray honest prayers that express the pain, injustice, and anger.  Psalm 137 is no where near Psalm 23 in popularity, but it has it's place in the inspired book of prayers.  Without it (and the other imprecatory Psalms) how would we know what to do with our rage?  Trust God enough to express your ugliest, most disgusting thoughts and feelings.  He will see that justice is done.  And, unlike humans, he will know exactly who needs justice and who needs mercy.  Trust him, there is no reason for hatred to keep you prison forever.  He will teach you how to forgive so that you can be set free from the prison of hate.   

Women in Contemporary Culture

I found the above pictures amusing.  I found many others on the internet that were not funny, but quite harsh.  It is insightful to see how outsiders look at Christians and our practices.  It's one thing if people want to poke fun at our doctrine of baptism or our desire to help people in neeed.  However, when they poke fun at our inconsistencies and traditional practices not based on scripture, we need to pay attention. 

The above pictures make fun of some misinterpretations of selected scriptures.  The purpose of the 5 lessons presented on "Women in the Life of the Church" was to help us have a better reading and understanding of what the Bible teaches.  I don't mind if I am ridiculed for worshiping a man who has risen from the dead.  However, I do get weary of having to explain why we insist on maintaining certain restrictions that are not found in the Bible.  Especially, when the restrictions run the risk of being demeaning and insulting. 

What do we do next?  I'm not sure.  Next Sunday evening we will hear "The Voices of Our Sisters" as they speak about their experiences in the Church of Christ.  May God give us the guidance for our next steps. 

Women Leaders in the Bible

I have been interested in learning about women in the life of the church since my teenage years when I became a Christian.  My views have been challenged and stretched; modified and changed over the years.  In college I remember struggling with how women could be college professors if indeed the New Testament forbade them to teach men.  When it was explained to me that women would teach men anything but theology, I accepted that.  However, when I heard about a woman who taught New Testament Greek it got me wondering again.  Certainly learning Greek would not be considered theology, however, I knew from my own Greek classes that I had learned a great deal from the Scriptures because of the fine teaching my male Greek professor was doing.  If a woman could teach the scriptures from a Greek text, why could she not from an English version?

One of the things that helped me move beyond the line drawing that seemed inevitable in my earlier years, was the example of women leaders in the Bible.  God didn't seem concerned at drawing lines, he would use women in all kinds of capacities.  When I came to understand the true nature of the Gospel as re-creating God's ideal, things began to make more sense.  As was mentioned Sunday evening, sin corrupted what God created.  What was formerly a beautiful picture of equal partnership in accomplishing the tasks God had given the humans became a battle to see who could dominate the other.  Since men are physically stronger, the history of the world has been men ruling over women.  However, in Christ, God's intent is being recreated. 

There are three more sessions to go in our series.  Next Sunday I will speak on the changing role of women in contemporary culture in the morning and will address the restrictive texts in context on Sunday evening.  At our final session (Sunday, July 22, 6pm) we will be hearing the voices of our sisters.  All of our ladies are invited to speak for two minutes telling us what it has been like in your experience to be a woman in the Church of Christ.

Going to Church

It's a rare thing when I completely plagerize another's work for a sermon, but after reading Eugene Peterson's thoughts on Psalm 122 I knew that he was writing exactly what I needed to say.  Much of the material for this morning's lesson came from A Long Odedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society.  Chapter 4 is entitled, "Worship" and is an exposition of Psalm 122.  I loved the illustration Peterson used to close out the chapter but felt it didn't communicate well for a sermon.  He concluded his thoughts by talking about the pragmatic age we live and wrote, "It is inevitable that we ask regarding worship, is it worth it?  Can you justify the time and energy and expense involved in gathering Christians together in worship?  Well,
'look at the mower in the summer's day, with so much to cut down ere the sun sets.  He pauses in his labour--is he a sluggard?  He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with rink-atink, rink-atink.  Is that idle music--is he wasting precious moments?  How much he might have mowed while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe!  But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him.'" [This illustration was taken from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon]