3-10-19 Holy Toledo!

Scripture  Romans 12:1

          Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.

Holy Toledo! Holy Cow! Holy Mackerel! Holy Smoke! --- Holy Spirit!

Set Apart

Holy first of all means “set apart”. Something that is set apart form everything else. To say God is ‘holy’ means to say God is set apart form everything else. God is not what all other things are, God is different from all other things.  As such, anything else is only holy, in that it is related or connected to God. When Moses was tending his sheep in the wilderness he was walking on ordinary dirt - until he came before God who spoke to him from a bush that was on fire but was not being burnt up. From that bush, God said to Moses -  Exodus 3:5-6  "Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (also in Acts 7)

                

1 Peter 1:13-16

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

   The audience of 1 Peter are people in what is modern day Turkey, then it was the Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Socially, the people were below citizens, and above slaves. They were strangers and aliens. They were Gentiles who likely had some connection to Judaism before coming to faith in Christ. They were socially homeless people who had found a family in Christianity. In Christ, they became full citizens of a new kingdom and Peter even uses language that the people he is writing too are the new Israel - the new chosen people of God. They are people who have become “set apart” holy and pleasing to God.

Peter answers a question that was asked in their cultural situation that is no different than the questions we ask today. In light of our cultural context, how should we live? Should we retreat? Should we hide? Should we attack? Should we engage our culture? As Christians, how should we live? The answer he gave them is 100% applicable today, just as it was then - live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. Were Christians oppressed and excluded from society then? Yes! Are we today? Absolutely! Peter tells us how to live in light of that - holy and pleasing to God.

Hear this clearly - Peter does not say we should live holy lives to please God. We live holy lives in response to God’s salvation. We have now become His children who will live forever, and as any child looks, acts and behaves like their parent, so too should we, with God as our father - who is holy - we ought to be holy too - this becomes pleasing to God. Ethical and moral behavior are not designed to get you closer to God, but - because in Christ you are closer to God - you should look more like Him = for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

     Lev 11:44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.

          Lev 19:1-2   The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the Lord  your God, am holy.”

          Lev 20:7-8   “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord , who makes you holy.”

ABRAHAM

Genesis chapter 22 (Heb. 11:17-19). Abraham made Isaac Holy to the Lord - set apart.

Similarly, Romans 12:1-2 tells us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, set apart and pleasing to him.

TATTERED UMBREALA

Queen Mary made it her practice to visit Scotland every year. She was so loved by the people there that she often mingled with them freely without a protective escort. One afternoon while walking with some children, she went out farther than she’d planned. Dark clouds came up unexpectedly, so she stopped at a nearby house to borrow an umbrella. “If you will lend me one,” she said to the lady who answered the door, “I will send it back to you tomorrow.” The woman didn’t recognize the Queen and was reluctant to give this stranger her best umbrella. So she handed her one that she intended to throw away. The fabric was torn in several places and one of the ribs was broken.

The next day another knock was heard at the door. When the lady opened it, she was greeted by a royal guard, who was holding in her hand her old, tattered umbrella. “The Queen sent me,” he said. “She asked me to thank you for loaning her this.” For a moment the woman was stunned, then, she burst into tears. “Oh, what an opportunity I missed,” she cried. “I didn’t give the Queen my very best!”

FILL IN THE BLANK

“Will you please tell me in a word,” said a Christian woman to a minister, “what your idea of holiness is?” Holding out a blank sheet of paper the pastor replied, “It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and to let God fill it in as He will.”

          So far I have not said anything that would compel anyone to live a life more holy and pleasing to God. It’s not by trying - it’s by Jesus dying - his Holy Spirit living in you.

4 Object lessons about the HOLY Spirit

1                Hole through hand (paper tube)

2                You need the holy spirit like a glove needs a hand

3        Filling of the spirit dark water in glass replaced by light liquid

4        Needle thru balloon - to resist the devil.

King David through Solomon built the Temple

1 Chronicles 29:1-5

In my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God.

You are the Temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Cor 6:19-20   Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The Holy Spirit is received at the moment of salvation. Paul could not say that we all were baptized by one Spirit and all given one Spirit to drink if not all of the Corinthian believers possessed the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 is even stronger, stating that if a person does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ. Therefore, the possession of the Spirit is an identifying factor of the possession of salvation. Further, the Holy Spirit could not be the “seal of salvation” (Ephesians 1:13-14) if He is not received at the moment of salvation. Many scriptures make it abundantly clear that our salvation is secured the moment we receive Christ as Savior.

This discussion is controversial because the ministries of the Holy Spirit are often confused. The receiving/indwelling of the Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation. The filling of the Spirit is an ongoing process in the Christian life.

In conclusion, how do we receive the Holy Spirit? We receive the Holy Spirit by simply receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior (John 3:5-16). When do we receive the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit becomes our permanent possession the moment we believe.

The same power of the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, is at work in you - but do not quench the spirit - recognize his presence and be available to be used by him and you will become holy and pleasing to God as your spiritual act of worship!

Roamans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

3-3-19 Body Image

Scripture  Romans 12:1

          Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.

Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Offering vs Sacrifice

the word "offering" include both grain and animal offerings.

"Sacrifice" only refers to animal offerings.

The sacrifice meant the animal of the sacrifice (who had no choice in the matter) was giving its life - blood shed, death, parts eaten.

What is your body image? What is the image that comes to mind if your body were in the best shape possible - realistic but unlikely you will get there? What are the barriers to having your body look like that image? What would you have to stop doing AND what would you have to start doing to have that body you imagine is possible though difficult to achieve?

The question for each of us is - why don’t we have the body we imagine is possible? The answer is simple - ice cream is way better than sliced cucumbers; sitting is far better than walking; lazy is so much better than exerting energy.  Think about this: We went from playing outside running around to sitting in front of a tv but at least having to get up to adjust the channel or volume or rabbit ears to using a push button remote control and now we don’t even don’t even have to exercise our fingers and just say alexis watch my favorite tv show and the tv goes to that show. Soon it will be even more like the Jetsons, Alexis bring me my lunch, Alexis go to work for me, Alexis, kiss my wife good night without ever leaving the…it is called this for a reason…lazyboy recliner!

You have two body images - how your body is now (that image may or may not be correct) and you an image of what your body could become if you did what you should do. Let me add a 3^rd body image to your mental file. What will your body look like 5 years from now if you keep living like you are today?  Oh my, that image probably got a little worse than the first.

Let’s apply all this to the church. What is your image of the Ashland church body today (your image may or may not be correct) What is the image that comes to mind if our church body were in the best shape possible - realistic but unlikely we will get there?

What are the barriers to having our church body look like that image? What would we have to stop doing AND what would we have to start doing to have that church body you imagine is possible, though difficult to achieve?

SING “If we are the body?”

What is your body image of the biblical Jesus who walked the earth 2000+ years ago? Your image is certainly not correct because no one knows what he looked like. He took no selfies, there was no portrait done. Stop and think about that for a moment. Consider how many people have gone through this world and there is no image of them to be found anywhere. There are very few pictures of me as a child - in part because I was the third child of a woman who became a single mother but also because polaroid’s or shoot and develop picture were expensive. Compare that to my grandchildren who we have had 1000’s if not 10,000s pictures taken of them already.

Jesus was not blond hair and blue eyes, he was middle eastern and a Jew. But that is not enough of a description.     

Isa 53:1-6     The MSG

          Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God 's saving power would look like this? The servant grew up before God — a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried — our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him — our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God  has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him.

Communion with Remembrance Communion song

A NEW BODY IMAGE FOR JESUS

Eph 1:18-23

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

SONG: Revelation Song: Worthy is the lamb that was slain - holy, holy is He!

2-24-19 The Duck and the Devil

(in view of God’s mercy)

Scripture Sin weighs you down  Romans 12:1

          Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.

There is general mercy - all the earth continues

There is specific mercy - I will never again destroy all mankind.

There is particular mercy - shown those who believe.

SLEEPING MERCY

Mark 14:32-42

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (In other words - “stand guard”)

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

          Keep watch - stand guard - pray - watch for the enemy so I can pray - protect me - stand up for me - keep me safe.

          Jesus’ response, on the surface, does not seem to be an incredible sign of mercy.

Compare Jesus’ response to an Earthly King's Judgment

Richard III (1483-1485) went out at twilight and found a guard asleep at the outpost. The king promptly stabbed him in the heart and left upon his breast a paper with the stern inscription, "I found him asleep and I left him so." What a contrast to the patience and tenderness of the Lord with His sleeping disciples—and with all of us! What a sign of Christ’s mercy.

                   SHOUD HAVE MISSED THE COURHOUSE STEPS

Matt 18:23-35

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

NOTICE: He was shown mercy but he never received mercy, otherwise he would have shown it as well. I think we are a church full of people who have been shown and have received mercy and therefore where others are not able to, we also show mercy. Do you need to hear hell fire and brimstone? I could preach that way - You are a sinner and you are a sinner and you are a sinner!

Jewish rabbis say that there are 613 laws in the Torah. Of those, 365 are in the “thou shalt not...” category.

What are some examples of these sins? From the Ten Commandments we have false worship, idolatry, misusing God's name, violating the Sabbath, dishonoring parents, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus took some of these same sins to a new level. Regarding murder, Jesus said, “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.... But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). Regarding adultery, Jesus said, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). In Galatians 5:19-21, we are told, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” Just these brief lists will give most people plenty of things to work on for a lifetime. In addition to the various lists that can be found in Scripture, we are told in 1 John 5:17 that “all wrongdoing is sin.” Not only does the Bible tell us the things not to do, but in James 4:17, we are informed that anyone “who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

When we try to compile a list of sins, we find ourselves buried under the guilt of our own failures because we discover that we have sinned far more than we realized. The Scriptures inform us, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’” (Galatians 3:10). While that statement might seem self-defeating, it is actually the best news possible. Since we can never fully keep God's Law, there must be another answer, which comes a few verses later and says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Galatians 3:13-14). The Law of God, or the lists of sins that we find in the Bible, serve as a tutor to “lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24).

THE DUCK AND THE DEVIL

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target.

Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes."

But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done, the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.). Whatever it is, you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

John 8:32 & John 8:36

END Amazing Grace/Chains

sin weighs you down - click and watch

2-17-19 I URGE you brothers and sisters

Scripture   Romans 12:1

Brothers and Sisters

Let’s begin with the second part. If you read the NIV translation, it says brothers. I learned it as “I urge you therefore, brethren,” So why does ours say brothers and “sisters”? Did we add it to be contemporary and inclusive? NO, if we had done that I would have said so. Let’s see why I believe brothers and sisters is a better translation which several translators use.

You know that Philadelphia is the city of…brotherly love. Phileo is love / adelphia is brotherly - How do I know that? Not because I am an expert linguist but because I know a little bit of Greek. Phileo-adelphia come from two Greek words.

In Romans 12:1 it could read “I urge you adephos” which would mean brother. If it read “I urge you adelphe” it would mean sister. It doesn’t say either one of those.

The word used is adelphoi which technically is the plural of brother. However, read in context, adelphoi = the collection of a group of people who share the same parentage - viz God. In Rom 12:1 adelphoi would mean Christians - hence “brothers and sisters” works well. This Christian movement that saw men and women as equal before God was still being crafted in the midst of a very patriarchal society and masculine word forms would have been used in the collective sense of men and women as we clearly see hear…Therefore, I urge you “brothers and sisters.”

This is important to understand that translators make choices - in large part because we lose words, gain words and change words. Examples: LOST: apothecary = a person who prepared and sold medicine now a pharmacist. NEW: Infomania = The compulsive desire to check or accumulate news and information.  CHANGE: audition = the power of hearing; but now to try out for a play.

In the Greek word order, the 2^nd word is “Therefore” and can work as the first or second word in the English translation.

URGE

Have you ever had an URGE to do something? I don’t mean an inkling or a curiosity.

I mean (noun) a strong desire or impulse.

(verb) try earnestly or persistently to persuade (someone) to do something.

Paul had a strong desire or impulse to try earnestly and persistently to persuade someone to do something to undertake the accomplishment of with energy, swiftness, and enthusiasm. He wanted to solicit, entreat, stimulate, provoke us. The NIV translators made a good choice: “URGE”

         

             Why is Paul so passionate about urging us toward worship? What is it we do here in worship that is so important? Why have we made MILESTONE # 1 about worship?

In worship we open the scriptures (meaning someone who has prayed over them and studied them and considered how best to present them, does so - it is called preaching). And Christ Jesus is always at the center of that preaching and Jesus is always at the center of our worship. As passionate as Paul is about having us worship, Jesus is more passionate about it because it is where he can best commune and communicate with us individually and collectively.

Consider the two disciples, Cleopas and another who were on their way home after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus (STORY of the ROAD TO EMMAUS)   

Luke 24:32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

Is your passion for worship as strong as Jeremiah’s passion to preach?     

Jeremiah 20:9     But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

In the late 1990s, Matt Redman’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England was going through a period of apathy. “There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”

Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.

“Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”

When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus

Recording the song in the studio “We decided to not get all complicated, and just let the song ‘breathe.’ We’re always trying to create more of a church atmosphere in the studio rather than just a technical musical gathering. Something happens when the people of God gather together and play out the praises of God in the presence of God. Hopefully something of that passion and purpose transcends beyond that studio room and into churches where od’s people are coming back - to the Heart of worship.”

Altar Call: “Heart of Worship”

2-10-19 Therefore,

Scripture   Romans 12:1

          THEME VERSE: Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.

The “Therefore” at Romans 12:1 is there in light of everything Paul wrote from chapter 1-11.

Romans 1-11 are considered Paul’s greatest treatise on his theology - how he understands God.

How he understands God has everything to do with God’s grace and mercy.

Last week’s message centered on Jacob who stole the blessing and birthright from his brother Easu. Check this out as a lead in for today…Romans 9:10-16 Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls — she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

          Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve, Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. Mercy only has meaning in light of our sin. A Sunday School teacher had just finished a lesson on Christian behavior and asked, “Now, Billy, tell me what we must do before we can expect to be forgiven for our sins.” Without hesitation, Billy replied, “First we gotta sin.”

          Romans 1-11 talks a lot about our sin and God’s mercy.

          Due to time constraints we will not read Romans chapters 1-11 here today. (I suggest you do that on your own). However, beside the one we just read I believe there are 4 others that will give us the core of what Paul is saying throughout. We need to have this understanding to really grasp our theme verse. We need this understanding just to get at the first word “Therefore”

# 1

Romans 1:18-20                                 All are without Excuse

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

(No Excuse Sunday --- No Excuse Life!)

# 2

Romans 4:18-25         Abraham believed…Abraham received - righteousness

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

# 3   

Romans 5:18-19                            Adam & Adam v2.0 (Jesus)

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

# 4   

Romans 7:14-8:4                       Do you lean to the left or the right?

We know that the law is spiritual;

but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.

I do not understand what I do.

For what I want to do

I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do,

I agree that the law is good.

As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it,

but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good,

but I cannot carry it out.

For what I do

is not the good I want to do;

no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing.

Now if I do what I do not want to do,

it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work:

When I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

For in my inner being I delight in God's law;

but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind

and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God —

through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then,

I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law,

but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free

from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,

God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

And so he condemned sin in sinful man,

in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us,

who do not live according to the sinful nature

but according to the Spirit.

In the town of Wishaw, Scotland there was a Christian judge. There appeared before him in the court a friend of his youth, who had broken the law, was arrested and brought before him for judgement. Those who knew the relationship between the two men expected the judge to mercy, and they were very much surprised when they heard that the sentence was a heavy fine. But they were more surprised when the judge went to the officer of the court, and took his own money to pay the fine. He did his duty as a judge, and upheld the law, but he also showed the mercy of God for his friend when he paid the penalty for his friend’s wrong doing. There is little wonder that the law-breaker was broken-hearted in his repentance.

Romans 1-11 shows the gravity of our sin whose penalty is death, in light of God’s mercy through Jesus’ death on a cross in our place. THEREFORE,

I urge you brothers and sisters,

in view of God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,

holy and pleasing to God —

this is your spiritual act of worship.

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Prayer

Psalm 86:1-7

          Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.  Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. you are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.  Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.

2-03-19 COME, now is the time to WORSHIP

Scripture   Genesis 28:11-22

Worship and the Extension Ladder

I love ladders:   Step stools, step ladders, Rope ladders, rolling ladders, Platform ladders, Attic ladders, Extension ladders. I have been a painter and painted 2-3 story houses on a ladder using rollers brushes and sprayers. I have used ladders to get on the roof of trailers to remove snow. I have used ladders to hang Christmas lights and change light bulbs. I have used ladders to adjust theater lighting and I had a job where the industrial shelving we were building became the ladder to add the next level. I love ladders. Have I ever been in danger on a ladder - oh my yes. However, there is something special about a tool that allows you to get up to the thing you need to work on, but also allows you to get down from there.

What is worship?

Is it something we do? Is it something God does? Let’s look at it using a theater metaphor.

1)    God is the director - Leaders are the actors - Congregation is the audience.

2)    Leaders are the directors - Congregation are the actors - God is the audience.

3)    Leaders are the directors - God is the actor - Congregation is the audience.

4)    Or is there some combination using all of the above?

LADDER AS WORSHIP: An important question LADDER 1

    Is worship us trying to get up to God OR is worship God trying to get down to us?

OR is it both? Notice that an extension ladder has two parts that overlap in the middle. I believe our greatest worship takes place where the two parts of the ladder LADDER 2 intersect. Worship IS God coming down to us and worship IS us going up to God.

PRELUDE TO THE TEXT

          Issac instructs Jacob not to marry a Canaanite wife. His brother Easu does so out of spite for losing his birthright to Jacob. Besides instructions, Isaac gave Abraham’s blessing to Jacob (that God would create a people through him - and that the Messiah would come through him). Jacob is promised a land, a nation and a blessing similar to his grandfather Abraham.

Genesis 28:11-22

When Jacob reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. (We no longer have to stop because we have lights and cars - it was a danger to travel at night) Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (In Jacob's dream, there is now access to heaven. Jacob now knew God was closer than ever and there was real access and interaction between heaven and earth. That interaction is where Worship takes place. Jesus is not sitting passively saying, ok bring it on - Jesus is active in our worship - God is acting and speaking and working in our worship. As we give thanks, praise, and honor to him He is blessing us. Watch what happens next as Jacob is meditating on the connection between heaven and earth - see God’s action in worship) 13 There above it (the ladder) stood the Lord, and he said: "I am the Lord , the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (You aren’t a saint like Jacob, so God would never give such a great blessing to you. Wait a minute, do we mean Jacob who was in cahoots with his mother to steal his brother’s birthright by pulling a fast one on his father? That Jacob? In worship - God speaks - God blesses - God loves)

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." (Jacob’s response was worship - to give honor to the one who has blessed him)

18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. (That was a spiritual ACT of worship)  19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. BETHEL (He called that place “Church” Bethel means = house of God)

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."

    God saw Jacob and initiated a relationship by sending angels going up and down from heaven to get him looking upward. And indeed, Jacob saw God standing in heaven at the top of the stairway or the ladder to heaven.

    Notice Jacob’s response, he acts in worship. He turns what was previously used for an ordinary everyday object (a rock for a pillow) and set it up as a symbol of his worship and adoration for all God has done. It sounds like a deal - if you do this I will do that that. This is not the case. He is simply recounting how God had just acted toward him and he offers all he has present (a rock) as an act of worship, calls the place church (Bethel = house of God) and gives him an offering - his tithe - a tenth of all he has.

    In a brief story we see the picture of worship - God acts toward us, we respond and act toward God and those two acts intersect much like an extension ladder which shows God coming down toward us and us moving up toward God and the angels of heaven are present helping to make this interaction happen. This individual act of worship is a preview of what corporate worship should look like.

    The ladder is a symbol in religions of Mesopotamia and Babylon and now for the Jews. It signifies a means from the realm of a deity to the realm of humans. Notice that God is standing at an opening in heaven but Jacob names the place Bethel - house of God where God comes and dwells with His people.

    A ladder is made of simple vertical beams and horizontal steps. An extension ladder is two ladders hooked together. Notice that a cross is made of a vertical beam and a horizontal crossbar and the cross too has an intersecting point. NO, the intersecting point is not so much where the vertical meets the horizontal but where the human receives what Christ has done on the cross - who hears God speak forgiveness and life from the cross - who hears God calling him to himself at the cross and responds with a spiritual act of worship offering his own body as a living sacrifice.

          I want to share one of my favorite moments of worship. It was after ascending a hill… TABOR 1 a mountain… TABOR 2 Mt Tabor (4 slides). Terrifying taxi ride up. TABOR 3 Realizing what took place there. Hearing God speak more clearly than through any other bible account that Jesus is the one we worship. Even more than when the Spirit in the form of a dove came down and God said, “this is my son whom I love, I am well pleased with him.” On Mt Tabor, over looking Megiddo TABOR 4 - where Armageddon will take place, God made the statement loud and clear that Jesus alone ought to be worshipped. What took place here is more powerful then John saying  John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Mark 9:2-8

    Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" 8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus

    Two things are clear -that Jesus is the ONLY object of our worship as we ascend to him and that Jesus speaks and acts toward us in worship - notice the first three things Jesus says form the cross - how he speaks and acts toward us:  "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." "Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother." How can we not not worship the one who cares for us so much that even while he is becoming the ultimate once for all eternal sacrifice he speaks to us of forgiveness, of entering heaven and of making sure we are cared for (as he gave John to his mother he gives his Holy Spirit to us).

    What we haven’t acknowledged is how much God initiates our encounters with him. Jacob was running from his brother, was running from his problems - was trying to get away when God interrupted his thoughts and plans. God surprises us, like when Moses was running away from his problems in a foreign land and God shows up in a bush that is burning but not being consumed or when Paul is on his way to throw Christians into prison and God makes him stop and listen through blind eyes.  Ps 121:1-2   I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

JESUS IS THE LADDER

       John 1:51   He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus does not show us the way to heaven -he is the ladder - he is the way - the only way to heaven.    John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”