christianity – Page 3

Faith or Sight? 12.13.2024

Last Sunday we were talking about Faith in the light of catastrophe: “Though the fig trees should not blossom…” But time got away and we didn’t talk as much about just everyday living by faith as I had intended. This “got questions” article is a good thought provoker in that direction! – Pastor Scott

What does it mean to walk by faith and not by sight? (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Second Corinthians 5:6–7 says, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight” (ESV, emphasis added). Other versions use the word live, rather than walk. The “walk” here is a metaphorical reference to the way a person conducts his or her life. We still use the phrase “all walks of life” to mean a variety of lifestyles or cultures.

The apostle Paul reminds his readers that followers of Christ must not build their lives around things that have no eternal significance. Rather than pursuing the same things the world pursues, a Christian should focus on the unseen realities such as Jesus and heaven. Paul goes on to say, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:9–10). Jesus instructed us to store up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19–20; Luke 12:33). He promised rewards to everyone who does His will (Matthew 16:27; 1 Peter 1:17; Revelation 22:12) and punishment for those who reject Him (Matthew 25:24–46; John 3:16–18).

Walking by faith means living life in light of eternal consequences. To walk by faith is to fear God more than man; to obey the Bible even when it conflicts with man’s commands; to choose righteousness over sin, no matter what the cost; to trust God in every circumstance; and to believe God rewards those who seek Him, regardless of who says otherwise (Hebrews 11:6).

Rather than loving the things of this world (1 John 2:15–16), Christians should spend their lives glorifying God in everything they do (1 Corinthians 10:31). It requires faith to live this way because we cannot see, hear, or touch anything spiritual. When we base our lives on the truth of God’s Word, rather than on the popular philosophy of our day, we are going against our natural inclinations. Our natural instinct may be to hoard money, but walking by faith says we should give to those in need (Luke 11:41; Ephesians 4:28). Society may say that sexual immorality is acceptable, but those who walk by faith base their standards on God’s unchanging Word, which says any sex outside of marriage is sin (1 Corinthians 6:18; Ephesians 5:3; Galatians 5:19). To walk by faith requires that we tune our hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit and the truth of His Word (John 10:27; 16:13). We choose to live according to what God reveals to us, rather than trust our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Discipleship Defined 10.04.24

Got this blog from GES on Wednesday Oct 2, 2024 The week the Grace Groups begin their Study of Discipleship. I thought it was God-timing. ~Pastor Scott
Grace Evangelical Society

“Good Sermon Illustrations” Sep 20, 2024

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?…”

Luke 13:18

One of the hardest things about writing sermons is coming up with good illustrations. Illustrations are important tools for communicating because they help the truth to stick in our minds. I’m always hunting for a compelling story, an article or testimony that correlates with Scripture. When I find such treasures I bookmark them for later.

But I’ve got to be careful. A good illustration is supposed to function as a window to help others see the truth more clearly. Sometimes teachers and preachers labor over them so much that they have to stretch the Scriptures to apply their story. Or they emphasize the story so much that it actually obscures the biblical text. I’ll never forget when a visiting preacher came and opened with a prolonged account, with many hilarious embellishments, of how his kids found what they thought was a human leg floating in a creek. They later found out that it was a very life-like prosthetic and had some fun scaring others with it. After about 15 minutes of this admittedly entertaining story, the preacher transitioned from a legless person to the headless horseman of European folklore. This led him to Ichabod Crane and the loose connection to 1 Samuel 4:21, “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!”” I still have no idea what the sermon was about.

Jesus was a master teacher and used illustrations all the time. He explained the kingdom of God with everyday images from farming, fishing and building. His illustrations always had a profound impact. “Now a man had two sons…” Who could forget such a story?

Jesus’ preaching ministry was supported by his healing ministry. He encountered people suffering from disease, demonic possession and even death. After healing them, casting out the demons or raising them from the dead, his ‘sermon illustration’ was right there for everyone to see. He also exhibited his power over nature. After illustrating his authority and identity by calming a dreadful storm his disciples were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mk. 4:41)

Every person Jesus encountered was changed by the experience. He left many living, breathing sermon illustrations in his wake that could attest to him. These transformed people then went on to persuade others about the truth of the gospel. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)

The world needs more good sermon illustrations. That is, people need to see in us the difference Christ makes. Someone said, “The world isn’t mad at the church because we’re different. They’re mad at us because we aren’t different enough.” Do our lives illustrate the uniqueness of the kingdom? Before people will investigate Christ, they often look to his followers. What will they see?

Scripture frequently confronts us with this challenge. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to a deeper righteousness (Mt. 5:20) and a perfect love (Mt. 5:48). Peter exhorts us, “as he who called you is holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15) so that “by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” (1 Pet. 2:15) Unbelievers look for fault. They read us more than they read their Bibles. Peter’s admonition is to take those accusations out of their mouths by living lives above reproach.

Our hymns for worship also remind us of this sober responsibility. “We are the only Bible the careless world will read… We are the Lord’s last message, given in deed and word; What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?” The world needs good sermon illustrations. Are you one?

I, Pastor Scott, did not write this, but found this unattributed on the internet. I suspect the writer posted it on his church’s website and then it got copied and re-posted..

Priorities – 09.13.2024

When I get caught up in delivering a message (or the details of a picnic), I often leave out written illustrations or quotes I had intended to share during the message. These two are so poignant I thought they were worth printing here.

On Sunday, I made mention of the casualness with which the people of Judah were approaching Temple worship. It was so bad that God called their offering worthless and their mere presence in the Temple a “trampling of My courts” (Is 1:12). It was in light of this irreverence that God showed His prophet WHO He was (Is 6).

The two quotations below, which may be familiar to some readers; are both calls to be less casual about God and our relationship with Him! ~Blessings, Pastor Scott

“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

― C.S. Lewis

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…..Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. …”

― A.W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy)

Oh My Soul, Hush! – July 26, 2024

The English word “disciple” is from Latin discipulus; “pupil, student, follower.” Because the Greek manuscripts were translated into Latin long before English was ever a language and Romans came to the British isles. The Latin-based word “disciple” translates the NT Greek word mathéteuó and most literally means “learner” (compare Matthew 28:19 in KJV and NASB – Teach and Disciple translate the same Greek word).

So a disciple is a student. In the first century a Rabbi’s student typically followed him around. Jesus’ students (disciples) were given lots of instructions as they followed Him for those three years and then they changed the world!

Because of that model, we often see discipleship as one and done… and, it would be if:

a) our retention was perfect

b) our soul/heart didn’t play us falsely

Psalm 119 deals with retention. We need to be reviewing, meditating, and studying God’s Word daily. Pride and/or boredom creep in and tell us that we got it or that we are overly familiar. Before long we are skipping days, then weeks, and next thing we know the knowledge we once held dear is buried beneath spreadsheet macros and sports scores (or quilting patterns and recipes). In Colossians 3, Paul writes: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Think for a minute about that word “let”. Imagine you have a cup of water. How do you “let” the water be in the cup? First you don’t dump it out. Secondly, you don’t try to put something else in there that pushes out the water. 🙂

Psalm 42 deals with our cantankerous souls. Before we turn there let’s examine the first human sin. Adam and Eve knew their Creator personally. They had a total of one commandment to remember. They were living idyllic lives. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge that brought them to sin. Satan was able to convince them (her) that she had an unmet need in her life that she hadn’t even known about before and her rebellious heart/soul responded. He still works that way! We have more revelation than Eve had and we also have more temptations than Eve had. We have to develop the habit from very early of not listening to our own hearts! For the last several generations the world’s best advice has been “follow your heart” or “be true to yourself” and that advice is straight from the father of lies! The Bible says we need to talk to our souls (ourselves) and remind our souls that our hope is in God! – Pastor Scott

42 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.

6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.

8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.

Timeless and Timely – 07.12.24

I, Pastor Scott, received this Blog from GES just this morning, I think it’s a great read in these divisive times!

Emphasizing the Important Things

July 11, 2024 by Kenneth Yates in Blog – Acts 10:15, Acts 15:5, Circumcision, Eph 2:14-16, Judaizers

Luz Long and Jesse Owens were polar opposites. Long was a German Nazi and looked the part. He was blond, white, and an educated lawyer. Owens was a black American who grew up in poverty under segregation. In the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, Luz and Owens competed against each other in the long jump. Hitler wanted to show the superiority of the Aryan race. Long was a poster child for Hitler’s vision. In the Führer’s eyes, Owens was a despised, inferior human being.

Owens won the event, and Long came in second. But the two men walked arm in arm in the stadium in front of Hitler. Long and Owens developed a strong friendship and even exchanged letters after the Games were over. Their respect for each other’s athletic skills overrode any animosity their respective countries expected them to have.

When WWII broke out, Long served in the German army. His last letter to Owens asked him to come to Germany after the war and talk to his son about their friendship. Long died in combat in Italy, fighting for Germany against the United States. Owens would fulfill his close friend’s request. He would later fly to Germany and tell Kai-Heinrich Long about his father and the friendship they had shared. They met at the stadium where the two athletes had met and competed against each other.

Luz Long and Jesse Owens lived in a world in which insignificant things, like the color of one’s skin, were the things that set men apart. A black American and a white German simply could not be friends. They were to hate one another.

But these men realized that such things were superficial. They were both human beings who shared the love of a sport. They were more alike than different.

The world has always emphasized people’s differences. In the NT, we see how the early Church had to deal with the mentality of the world. The Church began in Acts 2 with a group of Jews. Religious Jews saw themselves as superior to Gentiles. For example, these Jews would not eat with Gentiles. They saw Gentiles as being unclean in a religious sense.

When the Lord added Gentiles to the Church, these cultural differences presented problems. The animosity between Jews and Gentiles manifested itself in the Church. Believing Jews wanted Gentile believers to become Jewish. Those Gentiles needed to eat the right food, and the men needed to be circumcised. Until they did so, Jewish believers would see them as inferior (Acts 15:5).

But the Lord made it clear that such sentiments concentrated on insignificant things. The Lord had made believing Gentiles equal to Jewish believers in every way (Acts 10:15). Both groups were part of the same body, the Church. That should have taken away all animosity between them (Eph 2:14-16). The most important aspect of their lives was that they were brothers and sisters in Christ. In his letters, Paul encouraged his readers to be like Long and Owens were centuries later: Jewish and Gentile believers should walk arm and arm with each other before a watching world.

The same thing is true for us. We may not completely understand the animosity between Jews and Gentiles in the first century. But we meet people who have believed in Jesus for eternal life who are not like we are. They do things differently. They have different interests. Maybe the color of their skin does not match our own. It is all too easy to avoid any kind of close relationship with them.

As believers, however, what we share is much more important. Christ has placed us in His Body. This is an eternal reality. If Long and Owens could walk arm in arm in 1936 Berlin because of their love of a sport, surely we can today because of our love of the Lord.

Asking the Pastor – May 3, 2024

“If God can do everything, then can He do nothing?” Was a forwarded text message I received on Sunday night. I don’t know who asked the question and, while I appreciate that there is “protection” in anonymity, it also requires that I make some guesses. So here goes.

I initially read this as a paradox question: “Can God make a rock he can’t lift?” or “Can God make a square circle?” The “everything” contrasting with the “nothing.” Christians have been wrestling with those questions for two millennia. The conclusions have ranged from “He’s God and can do whatever He wills” to “That question is in itself absurd and God is a God of logic and reason.”
Then I thought, perhaps he meant “is God ever inactive?” This ties directly to Genesis 2:2-3 wherein God says that he “rested on the 7th day.” A closer examination shows us that God specifically rested from creating. We know that He keeps the galaxies and even very atoms in our bodies spinning (Colossians 1:17) and that He doesn’t ever sleep (Psalm 121:4). And we have countless verses that mention His watching presence (e.g. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His – 2 Chronicles 16:9)! And His accompanying presence (Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6, cf. Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). So my read of the Bible is that the answer is no, YHWH is never inactive. He rested from the work of creating after 6 days, but He is an active, engaged, Sovereign!

It’s also possible that the text sender meant “nothing” in the sense of “in my life” or “in answer to my prayers.” My answer there would mostly be from the various Old Testament stories that teach us that God’s timing is often measured in years, decades, or even generations, while ours is measured in hours or days. Also God is working with a massive 4-D chess board, and sometimes it’s not about me. In 2000, I preached through the book of Genesis. I will never forget how I was hit by Chapter 8 verse 1: But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided (Genesis 8:1, emphasis added). God hadn’t really forgotten His main character, the only humans left alive, it was the author’s way of saying that God’s attention had been elsewhere. God had been busy bringing up the waters from the depth and releasing the waters from the firmament. He was destroying His first creation. He was dealing with something OTHER than Noah and His family. Not every crisis, nor every storm, nor every disagreement, nor every ”unsettling situation” is about me. Sometimes, God is doing something else! But He never removes His hand (John 10:28)! And sometimes His answer to our prayer is simply, “No, my child.”

Hope this is a little bit helpful,

Pastor Scott

The First Word Spoken to Adam & Eve – April 24, 2024

Imagine what Adam and Eve learned about God’s generosity from their first impression of him on their first day. Their first knowledge of God and the world God had made was that rest was not an afterthought — rest was of first importance….

Adam and Eve had accomplished nothing to earn this gratuitous day of rest. Sabbath is, in my estimation, the first image of the Gospel in the biblical story. God’s nature always gives rest first; work comes later. This is reflected in all of our lives. Before our lives in this world began, we got nine months of rest in the womb.

Before taking up a vocation, we get a few years to just play as children. And before our six days of labor, we receive the day of rest. Karl Barth famously pointed out that the only thing Adam and Eve had to celebrate on that first Sabbath was God and His creation:

“That God rested on the seventh day, and blessed and sanctified it, is the first divine action which man is privileged to witness ; and that he himself may keep the Sabbath with God, completely free from work, is the first Word spoken to him, the first obligation laid on him.” Subversive Sabbath: The Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World, Baker Publishing Group, 2018, Kindle Location 311.

I stumbled across this “clipping” while in pursuit of another line of inquiry, but I thought it was worth publishing here because we don’t really have a “sabbath” anymore. We fully acknowledge that out of the 10 commandments it’s the only one not repeated in the New Testament and we, along with the vast majority of Christian churches, gather on Resurrection Sunday rather than Sabbath Saturday for our day of Worship. We don’t keep ceremonial laws, including those that count steps taken on Saturdays (shabbat) nor work done or fires lit. And we don’t, universally, treat our own day of worship as a day of rest either. I am adamantly NOT trying to introduce a new legalism, but I think every once in a while I need to be reminded that the sabbath wasn’t just part of the decalogue. It was part of creation. We function better if we rest. Amen?

So take His yoke; accept His peace and rest,

“I Can’t See God” – April 5, 2024

I’m reposting this both for its apologetic value and its devotional value. BOTH serve as good reminders, PLEASE take the time to read this C.S. Lewis piece. ~ Pastor Scott

In February 1963, C.S. Lewis published an essay exploring a number of topics related to space-travel, including the idea of finding God in space (A response to Nikita Khrushchev’s proclamation in 1961, that cosmonauts never saw God in space) He wrote:

The Russians, I am told, report that they have not found God in outer space… Looking for God—or Heaven—by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare’s plays in the hope that you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters or Stratford as one of the places. Shakespeare is in one sense present at every moment in every play. But he is never present in the same way as Falstaff or Lady Macbeth. Nor is he diffused through the play like a gas…

Now of course this is only an analogy. I am not suggesting at all that the existence of God is as easily established as the existence of Shakespeare. My point is that, if God does exist, He is related to the universe more as an author is related to a play than as one object in the universe is related to another.

If God created the universe, He created space-time, which is to the universe as the metre is to a poem or the key is to music. To look for Him as one item within the framework which He Himself invented is nonsensical…

How, then, it may be asked, can we either reach or avoid Him?…in our own time and place, [avoiding God] is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you’d be safer to stick to the papers. You’ll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or a snobbish appeal.

About the reaching, I am a far less reliable guide. This is because I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way round; He was the hunter (or so it seemed to me) and I was the deer…

Space-travel really has nothing to do with the matter. To some, God is discoverable everywhere; to others, nowhere. Those who do not find Him on earth are unlikely to find Him in space. (Hang it all, we’re in space already; every year we do a huge circular tour in space.) But send a saint up in a spaceship and he’ll find God in space as he found God on earth. Much depends on the seeing eye.1

If we are Christians, we know and are known by the God who created the universe and have many reasons to give Him thanks. On a cautionary note, however, Lewis’s insight into how easy it is to avoid God has applicability to Christians as well as non-believers. Christians can avoid God by living their lives concentrating on money, sex, status and the like, and consequently remain spiritually immature and experience little of the transforming power of Christ. Let us keep our focus on Jesus as Lord and Savior, and pursue a life of holiness and righteousness.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

PSALM 19:1 (ESV)

1 C.S. Lewis, The Seeing Eye, from Christian Reflections, edited by Walter Hooper, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995, pp. 167-169, 171.

Growing Older? 03.08.2024

I took an extra day off this week to get some painting done in our home. The bending over to cut in along the baseboard and stretching up to cut in along the ceiling hurt my back more than I remember. I blamed my rather sedentary occupation and was consoled by a family member who reminded me that I was also a grandfather of 8…

So I have a LOT of empathy with Randy, and those to whom this article was aimed (yes, it’s a bit of an advertisement for his book), but that just means he’s a more gifted blogger than am I. 🙂 Enjoy! Pastor Scott

There Is Still Great Opportunity to Serve Jesus, After Age 70 and Beyond

200+Randy Alcorn’s Blog by Randy Alcorn / Mar 4, 2024 at 4:07 AM//keep unread//hide

Our society holds on to youthfulness with a white-knuckled grip. We worship youth and consider the elderly at best, useless; and at worst, disposable. God’s perspective is very different: “Gray hair is a glorious crown; it is found in the ways of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31). Titus 2 encourages both older men and women to be examples to those who are younger, and to teach them God’s ways.

I love to be around older people—that is, older people who have sweetened with age, not those who have soured. Choose which you’d rather be. (And since I’m turning 70 this year, I guess I’m an “older person” too, though I feel no need or desire to retire. I’m as excited about ministry as I’ve ever been, so I’ll trust God to make it clear when I need to start cutting back.)

As you grow older, you can be one of those godly older saints people love to be around. The more you’ve walked with the Lord, the more you’ll have to offer your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, friends, neighbors, and church family. Remember, if God didn’t have a purpose for you here, you wouldn’t be here. (As I’ve written previously, those who’ve retired from jobs still have great opportunity to serve God in the next season of life. Even if you’re unable to physically serve, your prayers, giving, and influence can have eternal impact.)

Last December, a reader named Sharon ordered copies of my book Seeing the Unseen to hand out to teens. She’s almost 70 and works with the youth at her church and its associated school. Sharon gave a talk to high school girls on her wedding anniversary (which has previously been a very difficult day, since her husband died five years ago). She wrote us:

I am so excited! I am having lunch with the 40 girls who received Seeing the Unseen. I am going to have pizza delivered to the school, and I want to hear from them. I should tell you the school is located at our church, so I see so many of the girls on Sunday. Tell Randy several of the girls have told me their family is using his devotional as a family devotional. Is that awesome or what!

And because our Father has me with the teens every Thursday night, I already have a connection with them. …To be able to pour into their lives more of Jesus AND TO GET EXCITED ABOUT HEAVEN AND ALL THAT IS TO COME helps this daughter of the King know why she is still here. …My talk on December 13th was such a gift to me.

I am a big word picture person. So here’s my word picture! Our Father invited me to go to work with Him. He sat me in the front row, and I got to see Him touch the lives of those sweet teens. Just watching our Father be God, here and now, makes me soooooo excited for Heaven and the New Earth.

She also wrote:

As far as ministry after 70: well, let me tell you! It gets bigger and better! I am 69 years old. I have been with teen ministry for 30 years. I pray every summer, “Father, please place me where You want me; if I am no longer effective, move me.” I think I might add this to my prayer this year: “Father please keep me from breaking anything while I am playing dodgeball and baseball with the teens!”

We NEVER retire from God. We just let Him move us where He wants us.

Whatever your age, how might God be calling you to make an eternal impact for His kingdom?