Sunday, November 20, 2022

11-20-22 “What does it look like to be ALL IN with Thanksgiving?”

Scripture                                                    Psalm 100



THANKSGIVING HUMOR: We’re getting a divorce!

An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough."

"Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Then he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be flying there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "They're both coming for Thanksgiving, and they’re paying their own way."

          Isn’t it great when families can be together for Thanksgiving? Well not everyone has a family and it can be a lonely time. However, we are a family and every Sunday is Thanksgiving.

Psalm 122:1

          I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

Psalm 100 (NIV)

          Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100 (MSG)

          On your feet now — applaud God!  Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence.  Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 4 Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

GIVE THANKS

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son.

Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks, because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son.

And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’, because of what the Lord has done for us; and now let the weak say ‘I am strong’, let the poor say ‘I am rich’, because of what the Lord has done for us.

Give thanks…

Sunday, November 13, 2022

11-13-22 “Are you on a wild goose chase?”

Scripture                                                 Matthew 3:8-17

JOHN’S BIRTH

Luke 1:13-15

          But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. The next closest thing to Jesus is Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son John. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit – meaning he was God in the flesh being the very Spirit of God. John was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth.

PRE-BIRTH JOY ENCOUTER WITH JESUS

Luke 1:39-45

          At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

          John had the ability to express joy – at 6 months developed, his body felt joy – of course he could not understand or intellectually know why he was leaping inside his mother – it just happened. How do we know it wasn’t just ordinary movement - Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  Remember, not only was Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit to recognize what was happening – but John was also already filled with the Holy Spirit and before he was born John loved Jesus with all his heart, soul and strength.

          Unlike Jesus, we have no 12-year-old glimpse of John the Baptist. We next see him performing his ministry as a 30 year old man in the Judean wilderness at the Jordan river.

JOHN PREACHING IN THE WILDERNESS

Isaiah 40:3-5

          A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Matt 3:8-10  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

          You snakes, you vipers brood…

Matt 3:11-17  "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

          When I look at the only person who was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, that gives me a very different picture of the Holy Spirit then the song says: “There’s a sweet, sweet spirit in this place…” I love the sign of the dove for the Holy Spirit, but that may not be the best – or at least not the only symbol of the Holy Spirit.

JOHN (filled with the HS) baptizes JESUS (born of the HS)

Never has there been more HS present in two people then that moment in the Jordan river.

          13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

          15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.

          16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

          The HS descended like a sweet cooing dove – but there is something more here. John just said "I baptize you with water for repentance. Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

          Does that sound like a peaceful cooing dove? Absolutely not!

THE WILD GOOSE

            Celtic Christians chose, not the dove, but the wild goose as a symbol represent-ing the Holy Spirit. It sounds strange to us, but it has a long tradition in Ireland.

While the Roman Church imagined the Holy Spirit in the form of a peaceful, graceful dove, the Ancient Celts understood the Holy Spirit to be like a wild goose. When you hear of the Spirit descending like a heavenly dove on you, you hear harps and strings softly playing and get a peaceful feeling. The image of the Holy Spirit as a dove has become so familiar and domesticated, its an image to which we pay little attention.

The image of a wild goose descending upon you is a different matter altogether. A wild goose is a noisy, bothersome bird. I like this image of the Holy Spirit as a wild goose because it jars us out of our complacency. We need such an image to correct our overly safe and overly sweet image of the Spirit.

One preacher asked, "How many times can you sing 'There's a Sweet, Sweet Spirit in This Place' without your blood sugar reaching diabetic levels?"

When the Spirit comes in the Bible, He never seems to be sweet or safe. God's Spirit called the prophets to speak to Israel in words that were bold and sometimes dangerous. Ezekiel saw a vision of God's Spirit blowing through a valley of dry bones and bringing them to life.  Paul gave this advice to young Timothy, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:6-7) John the Baptist came dressed in camel's hair and eating wild locusts loudly proclaiming that the kingdom of God was near and you better hurry up and get ready.

It was this wild Goose that Jesus referred to when he preached his first sermon and quoted Isaiah, saying, "For the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of God's favor" (Luke 4:18).

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:13-21

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

THE DANCE OF DEATH vs THE DEATH OF LIFE

Herod Antipas (brother Phillip) Herodias and daughter Salome.

COMMENTARY: How John the Baptist got in trouble and how Herod Antipas buckled to peer pressure losing his faith for his fame.

What is “holy” has been defiled. What is carnal has been made an idol. The silver platter is the “golden calf” of the banquet.

CONCLUSION

          You and I were not conceived of the HS like Jesus was nor were we born with the Holy Spirit in us like John the Baptist. But, if like John the Baptist and like Jesus you are desperate for the Holy Spirit and recognized that you are lost without the Holy Spirit, then also like John and Jesus The very air you breathe will be God’s Holy Spirit presence living in and through you!

Sunday, November 6, 2022

11-06-22 “Andrew! How big’s that fish you caught?”

Scripture                                                John 1:35-42

First Person monologue as Andrew

Bethsaida to Capernaum

Simon – Brash, bigger than life personality

James and John (Zebedee)

[reel in bible on fishing line]

          If evangelism were this easy – everyone would be doing it.

Matthew 4:18-20  As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men.At once they left their nets and followed him.

          If that is all you read or all you know it would seem like Jesus had cast a spell on these fishermen brothers. Not so. This was not their first encounter with Jesus!

Andrew introduces Peter to Jesus

John 1:35-42

          John was baptizing in the Jordan river then one day saw Jesus come and baptized him. The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

          When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

          Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

          Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).

Andrew takes a back seat to Peter

Andrew quickly takes a back seat to his brother Simon - Peter

          Matthew 10:2-4 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

          Mark 3:16-19  These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

          Who is the real author behind Mark? Peter! What does that say about how Peter (or Mark) view Andrew in relation to Peter as a great disciple?

Andrew introduces a boy and his lunch to Jesus

John 6:5-15

          When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

          8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

          Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

          When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

          After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Andrew's act reminds us dramatically of how important children and their resources are to Christ and his church. Andrew's act shows us graphically how crucial it is for us in our words and deeds to bring children into the presence of Jesus.

Many years ago in Missouri, a minister made a bad mistake in moral judgment that later came back to haunt him and to hurt many others. Through trickery, conniving, and scheming, the minister stole a man's dog. That's bad enough, but to make matters worse, he included his two little boys in the deception. The two boys helped their dad disguise the dog so the rightful owner could not claim him. The boys enjoyed the trickery and plotting. The boys thought it was great fun to take away the man's dog.

Some years later, the minister realized that in that one deceitful act, he had taught his sons how to steal and turned them away from the Christ-like spirit of love and kindness and goodness and respect for others. And he said, regretfully: "it was a terrible mistake on my part. I was able to keep the dog, but I lost my sons."

Oh, by the way, the names of those two little boys were Frank and Jesse James! They grew up to become two of the most notorious outlaws and robbers of the old West. Their minister dad never forgave himself. That's a dramatic example, to be sure, but it is true, so true, that our children do indeed watch us closely and learn so much from what we do.

Rev. Robert Salle James (July 17, 1818 – August 18, 1850) was an American Baptist minister and one of the founders of William Jewell College in 1849 in Liberty, Missouri. He was the father of the outlaws Frank and Jesse James.

Andrew (and Phillip) Introduce some curious Greeks to Jesus

John 12:20-24

          Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.           23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

ANDREW SCRIPTURE DESCRIPTION

Andrew saw the value in individual people

Brought Peter, a boy, a few Greeks to Jesus. Peter and Andrew had evangelistic hearts but very different approaches – Peter preached on Pentecost and 3000 people put their faith in Jesus. Remember, it was Andrew who introduced Peter to Jesus.

It was Edward Kimball who introduced D. L. Moody to Jesus.

Andrew was the first home missionary (brought Peter to Christ), the first foreign missionary (brought the Greeks to Christ), and the first children’s minister (brought a boy with a lunch to Jesus).

Andrew Saw the value in Insignificant gifts

          Each insignificant loaf fed about 500 people. Each little fish fed more than 2500 people. God continually takes the small things of the world to confound the strong. David & Goliath. Israel and the mighty armies in the promised land. Gideon’s 300 against the vast Midianites. Water turned into wine. A rock in the desert produces water for a nation. A little Jewish girl named Esther becomes a queen in a foreign land and saves the Jewish people. When Andrew saw the insignificant boy with an insignificant lunch, he didn’t know how they could help, but he still brought them both to Jesus.

 

Andrew saw the value in inconspicuous service

          Andrew never seemed to mind being more of a silhouette than a portrait in scripture, as long as kingdom work was getting done. He didn’t mind being in the shadow of his older brother or his business partners. He was thrilled to be serving however he best could for his savior, Jesus!

People like Boaz who let Ruth glean in his fields, Lydia, a seller of purple cloth who became valuable in Paul’s ministry, Lois & Eunice who taught the scriptures to Timothy when he was only a baby

 

1 Corinthians 12:22  Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.

 

1 Corinthians 1:27-31

          But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.   Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

First Person monologue as Andrew

Well, now you know my story

I didn’t need fame or glory, I wanted that for Jesus my Messiah!

I didn’t need to be center stage and get the applause, I was happy to let my brother get that.

I didn’t need to preach or sing on the praise team, I was happy to clean the bathroom or set up the tent.

I didn’t need a large group around me, I was thrilled to introduce an individual, be it a brother, a boy, or a few foreigners to Jesus. Any time I can do that, I experience all the pleasure of heaven in my soul – I hope your service, no matter how seemingly insignificant, brings you that same kind of joy as it brings glory to God through his son Jesus Christ!