One Word for the New Year

After the sermon today someone asked me what the one word was. I made a big deal about the one word in the introduction and told the congregation that I would not reveal the one word until the conclusion. I'm not sure if the person was just checking to make sure they had it right, or if I had completely failed to communicate. In the reciprocal reading we did from 1 Corinthians 13 the final line, . . . . that we all read together, . . . . and which formally ended the sermon was, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." I guess at that point I could have said, "And so the one word for the new year is love." I could have done that but thought just ending with the verse would be sufficient. I'm going to believe that the person who asked me that question had the word love in mind and was just checking to make sure that I hadn't slipped another word in when they weren't paying attention. I'm going to believe that, and if I'm wrong then just consider this an opportunity to put your love in practice. Love the preacher even when he does not make the point of his sermon clear. Either way I think this will work out well.

The Wedding Ceremony

The purpose of the church is to make Christ known to the world. Perhaps this is the why it is so vital that Christians keep their marriage vows. Everything in life in so uncertain. One can lose their health or their job. We've learned this past year how uncertain our economy can be which makes our financial savings plans shaky. What people need to see in this uncertain world is that God is reliable.

Christian marriage needs to communicate the trustworthiness, reliability, and faithfulness of God. When God's people honor their word and keep their commitments, they are a living demonstration of what God is like.

The beauty of the traditional wedding ceremony is the fact that it points the way for the world to know what it means to live in a covenant relationship. Marriage is not the proverbial "ball and chain" keeping a person from really enjoying life. Rather, the marriage covenant is like a strong wall of protection allowing the city dwellers to live their lives without anxiety and worry of enemy attack. It is in such a place of freedom and security that one can really live!

Strong, committed marriages should not just be something we should hope for ourselves and our children. We must work and sacrifice and pay whatever price is necessary to make them a reality. Our world needs for us to do this.

God's Dwelling Among Us

Who would have thought that Israel's Tabernacle would be such an appropriate topic for a Christmas sermon? The standard picture for this season is, of course, a baby in a manger. This image certainly communicates a number of important truths. However, thinking about God coming to "tabernacle" with us in the person of Jesus makes his birth even more unique.

The Old Testament tabernacle glittered with all the gold that was used in it's construction. The gold directed Israel's attention to their God. Likewise, the Heavenly city of Jerusalem in John's Revelation, is made of gold as clear as glass (a quality that surpasses any gold on earth!). However, when God became flesh in the person of Jesus and "did tabernacle among us," the only gold he received was when the Magi presented it to him as a gift (Matthew 2:11). Jesus did not need the reflection of gold to show the glory of God. He IS God dwelling (or tablernacling) among his people! He is the one who is truly more precious that silver, more costly than gold. And as the song says, "Nothing I desire compares with you." Jesus is the fulfillment of all of our dreams and desires. Give him all the glory and honor this Christmas and every day!

The Fruit of the Spirit is . . . Self Control

As I talked about the failures of Tiger Woods, Bobby Humphrey and Bill Bennett this morning; I thought how easy it is to be judgmental and self righteous when the sins of others come to light. As far as Humphrey and Bennett are concerned: they have both risen above their moral failures and appear to be making positive contributions to society. Tiger's story is still so fresh that it would be good for us to pray for him rather than throw stones. (I'm talking to myself with that last statement.)

When we get really honest with ourselves we have to admit that we have all done things for which we are now ashamed. I've often meditated on the statement, "All the ground is level at the foot of the cross." We come to Jesus broken and needy. He accepts us as we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way! By submitting to the Holy Spirit who lives inside us we are transformed into the person of Christ. Gary Robbins summed up today's sermon with this scripture, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." (James 4:10) Amen! May the Spirit bear his beautiful fruit in your life and mine as we surrender control of our lives to him.

The Fruit of the Spirit is . . . Gentleness

I remember as a child singing, "Jesus, meek and gentle; Son of God Most High." If you are as old as I am you may be hearing those melodious notes going up and down while singing, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh." The vision of Jesus that came from this song to my childlike mind was a soft, passive man who never upset anyone; kind of a first century Captain Kangaroo. (There I go showing my age again; Google him if you don't know who he is.)

Reading the Gospels I found Jesus to be a passionate, emotional man who could become angry to the point of kicking things around. (Read John 2 for a classic example of this.) His emotions, however, were never out of control or IN control of his life. Rather, his anger was always directed at those who deserved it. Theologians might call it, "righteous indignation."

When Jesus described himself as "gentle and humble in heart" (Matthew 11:29) it was not because he was unable or unwilling to "let people have it." Rather, it is a description of Jesus' "default" mode. Jesus is a gentle man, but he not a man to be taken for granted. It angers him to see people abused and taken advantage of. This is one reason he offered his yoke to us. Serving God need not be the harsh, dreary, dreadful experience that Pharisees make it into. When the yoke fits well it makes service to God a joyful partnership with the Son of God.

Hear again Jesus' invitation, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

The Fruit of the Spirit is . . . Faithfulness

Everyone admires faithfulness; but many are not willing to pay the price to actually be faithful. As I reflect on the sermon this morning it occurs to me that everything we do in the Sunday morning assembly has something to do with faithfulness.

• We began this morning with a baptism wherein our new sister in Christ joined Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. Jesus was faithful to his mission to "give his life as a ransom for many" which allows us to be saved from sin.
• We then sang praises to our great God in heaven who has proven himself to be faithful to his covenant promises.
• The sermon was based on passages we find in the Bible which is a record of God's faithfulness toward us.
• The Lord's Supper is our weekly sharing in the body of blood of our faithful High Priest and the sacrifice of himself which was given for us.
• The contribution became the first opportunity we had as a congregation to respond to our faithful God by showing ourselves to be faithful in support of His church.
• Our family prayer time was made possible because of the faithfulness of Jesus who allows us to boldly approach God's throne of grace.
• We ended our service recognizing a new member who desires to become a part of our family. We are indeed a family because God was faithful to keep his promises.

Now we get to live all week long remembering that God is faithful and looking for ways the Spirit of God is developing faithfulness in our lives. When you see evidence of his work in your life encourage it, fan it into flame so that you will become a living example of the faithfulness of God!

Great Rejoicing!

I feel I need to explain something to my faithful blog readers. Several weeks ago I announced that today, Sunday, November 22; would be a day of Great Rejoicing. I further proclaimed that it would be a baptism Sunday. I wasn't sure if this was my idea or God's idea until I ran it by my elders. They assured me that they felt the idea was indeed God's.

It happened like this: I am a part of two weekly prayer groups at church that faithfully pray for those who have not yet responded to the Lord in baptism. I keep a list in my office that I update regularly with the names of adults who are in some way connected to the Clear Lake Church of Christ but, for a variety of reasons, have not received baptism.

Some on the list have done extensive Bible study and are very involved in our church life. Others, I have never personally met, but their spouse is a member. The majority are people I know but they do not in any way claim to follow Jesus as Lord.

While on my last prayer retreat an idea came to me to have a Great Rejoicing Sunday. Many of those on the list have put baptism off for so long I wondered what would happen if we set a date and asked them to be one of the ones who would be baptized that day. Knowing that there is a difference between a "Good idea" and a "God idea" I presented my thoughts to the Shepherds.

The results of moving on this idea are not completely in yet, but what has happened has certainly showed that God is moving. Since that announcement there have been 5 baptisms with 4 more to follow this week. Two people on the list that I had not planned to talk with showed up unexpectedly at church. I spoke to each and began a Bible study with one and had a good conversation with the other.

I decided to write this on the blog to encourage you readers to be open to ideas that God is giving you -- especially when you are in a season of prayer. Be willing to test the ideas to determine which are from God and which are not. Then be faithful to follow God's leading. God is working all around us and often invites us to join him to do some small task that he will use for his glory.

On another note, I just realized that this blog has now passed 10,000 hits. What better way to celebrate than with a note about Great Rejoicing!