Cultivating a Thankful Heart

On Sunday I was privilidged to stand at the front of the sanctuary as people began to share their thanksgivings with one another.  What began as a small rumble became louder and louder until there were hundreds of voices expressing their thanksgiving.  It sounded to me like a jumbled roar of noice.  However, upon reflection, I think it sounded to God like a beautiful symphony.  A chorus of thanksgiving.  An offering of thanks given by our church in honor of our magnificient God!

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Colossians 4:2)

Come Lord Jesus

I loved the large blocks of scripture used in the last part of today's sermon.  While exegesis of those passages can be helpful, I wonder if thoughtful meditaiton might be more beneficial in terms of changing our hearts and lives.  When the NT writers speak of the return of Jesus it is always for the purpose of influencing how we live in this age.  We are to live with confidence, hope, and assurance as we look forward to his return.  Somehow the information contained in Scripture must move from our intellect to our hearts and then out through our attitudes and actions. 

When Peter wrote, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15) he was not necessarly saying that we need to be able to answer all the difficult questions non-believers ask.  Rather, we are to explain why we can have hope when everything looks bleak.  Faith in the unseen realities of Christ are a powerful witness to a world that has lost hope.  The second coming of Jesus is a promise we hold dear to our hearts.  It enables us to live right now in the kingdom of God that can only been seen by faith.  One day soon, however, it will be revealed and made known to all.  That will be the day of Christ's appearing.  "Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight."  Amen, Come Lord Jesus!

(If you want to meditate on this message of good news turn to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Peter 1:3-12; and 1 John 2:28-3:3.)

We Believe in the Lord's Supper

The depth of meaning that is to be found in the Lord's Supper is beyond the scope of one simple sermon.  It is, in fact, beyond the ability of an entire series of sermons.  The reason is that bread and cup are not just elements to be dissected and thought through intellectually.  Bible messages, helpful as they are, fail to truly uncover the marvelous mysteries of the Communion.  Words themselves are inadequate (and thus this blogger is struggling!). 

Two comments made to me after the service today may clarify my meaning.  The first was made by a woman who has been a faithful servant of Jesus longer than I have been alive.  She simply said, "Today I truly worshipped."  The second was made by a gentleman of similar age.  He said that during one song he had to stop singing.  What he meant by that, I believe, was that he became so in tune with the "message" of the Lord's Supper that his emotions rendered him unable to sing.  When we reflect on the Lord's Supper as Memorial, Eucharist, Communion, and Anticipation it can easily become a rather overwhelming experience of the goodness of God.  Hallelujah!  Come, Lord Jesus!

We Believe in the Holy Spirit

When we think of God the Father, usually a human image comes to mind such as Michelangelo's famous painting depicting God and Adam.  We often conceive of Jesus in terms of a young man.  But what image comes to mind when we think of the Holy Spirit?  Trinitarian doctrine calls him the "third person" of the the Godhead, but images in our mind are often cloudy or vapory.  How can one conceive of the Holy Spirit as a person?

This was precisely the reason why I choose to present the Holy Spirit as a gentleman this morning.  What a difference it makes to visualize the Spirit as a continual presence with us urging us and empowering us to live holy lives.  I appreciate Richard using his acting talents this morning to give us a visual image of the Holy Spirit as a person who leads, instructs, guides and corrects. 

My take away from this morning's lesson is the sermon text, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature"  (Galatians 5:16).  I want to live a life "under the influence" of the Spirit so that the sinful nature continues to die away and life in the Spirit grows stronger and stronger.

Moving into Deep Waters



The stories I shared this morning from our heritage are some of my favorites.  I especially love the B. F. Hall story about the freedom he found when he realized the connection between forgiveness of sins and baptism.  Through the years some of that joy became tainted as we failed to stay true to the second half of Thomas Campbell's famous motto: "We are silent where the Bible is silent."  When we strayed from our role as proclaimers of good news to become the judges of those who don't understand baptism exactly like us, the doctrine of baptism began to feel more like a burden than a blessing. 

As we are now rethinking some of our past teachings and practices, I find great encouragement from reading the stories of the frontier preachers and their earliest views on baptism.  Truly, they understand that God gave us baptism as a gift that we might know the assurance of salvation.    There is no need to struggle and cry out to God hoping that maybe he will forgive us.  Rather, we place all our assurance in the atoning blood of Jesus.  We are baptized in full assurance of faith that our past is forgiven, our future is assured and with confidence in the Holy Spirit we set forth to live the new life!

High and Holy Becomes Meek and Lowly

No matter how many times I've heard the "old, old story" I never cease to be amazed that God would humble himself to become one of us.  The complicated doctrine of the Trinity or the difficulty in explaining the Incarnation are nothing compared to comprehending why the High and Holy One would humble himself to the extent that he would suffer all the effects of the Fall.  He who had need of nothing made himself weak so that he might restore relationship with his sinful creatures. 

Some of the scriptures quoted in this morning's sermon spoke to the in incomprehensible concept of God becoming a human.  But, the most profound scripture I know is also the most simple: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. . ."  Karl Barth, a theologican one who had wrestled with many deep biblical concepts was supposed to have been asked the question, "What is the most profound thought you have ever encountered?"  His response, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Who Am I?

As I pondered the sermon this week I kept thinking about the Casting Crown's song, Who Am I?  After reflecting on the question of self identity the chorus strings together a series of scriptural images regarding the brevity of life:

I am a flower quickly fading,

Here today and gone tomorrow,

A wave tossed in the ocean,

A vapor in the wind.

Considering the enormity of God (as I've attempted to do the past two weeks) indeed our years are just a passing breeze and our entire existence is as a speck of dust living on grain of sand in a universe beyond human comprehension.  AND YET, the Psalmist reminds us that we were created a little lower than the heavenly beings, crowned with glory and honor and made rulers of all things here on earth.  (Psalm 8:5ff)

The fact that sin has so contaminated us that our very nature now is sinful, has never changed God's view of our purpose and reason for existence.  Because of his great love for us he sent his son to cleanse us from sin that we might be an untarnished reflection of his image on earth.  Thus the second part of the Casting Crown's song reflects God's great concern for us:

Still you hear me when I'm calling,

Lord, you catch me when I'm falling,

And you've told me who I am.

I am yours.

I am yours.

 

Thank you Lord!  What a Savior!