Sermon: Don't Stay Afraid

Sometimes I think it is hard to follow the flow of the bible. I mean we often take an hour a week to look at a small part of the bible in a bit more detail then we take another small bit the next week. So when you look at all you know about all these little things, its hard to remember that a lot happened in a very short time. Biblically speaking, not much has happened since Jesus' resurrection from last week to this week, and by not much I mean we are still on the same day. Just a few hours ago, Peter and John ran to the tomb and found Jesus was gone just as Mary had said.

From Bible.com

They have been hiding in a house for the whole day. They were afraid of the Jews, their own people. By now word had reached the Jewish Leaders that Jesus' body was gone. It would seem a natural thought that maybe his disciples had taken the body. But at this point, even the disciples didn't understand that Jesus was to die and be resurrected. If anyone in Israel understood the scriptures on the Messiah, and understood what the Resurrection would mean, it would be the Pharisees. It would also mean the loss of their power, so I can imagine they would not want people to be spreading this news. Silencing the disciples before they had a chance to say anything would be logical for the Pharisees. I can understand why the disciples were hiding out.

You probably know that my mother and I both have our black belts in Karate. A lot of people see getting your black belt as the ultimate goal of martial arts. At this point you know everything you need to know to defend yourself. But it simply isn't true. When you get your black belt, you will have finally learned enough for you to be able to learn. The black belt is not the goal, it is a new and fresh start into something much more.

We see a new and fresh start here too. Jesus finally came to his friends and surprised them by coming into a room that was locked. They were overjoyed to see their rabbi, whom they watched die on a cross two days before, alive and well. Twice Jesus had to calm them down. And this is where John tells us Jesus starts something new. Jesus tells his friends "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." Everything they have learned to this point has finally got them ready to begin the real journey. 

Jesus breathes on the disciples, mirroring God breathing life into Adam, so too do the disciples now have a new life in Jesus. This is also a great point from John, showcasing Jesus as the Son of God. Fear was keeping the disciples in the house, and with a simple shalom, and a command, Jesus was able to take away the fear in them and replace it with the Holy Spirit.

I'd like to take a moment to mention that this story of receiving the Holy Spirit is very different than in the other Gospels. It was probably two difference instances where the disciples received it. This one I think was a point of getting them ready, tuning them to begin God's work to the rest of the world. For example, my brother-in-law Paul, a few years ago, accepted Jesus as his savior while at a church service. He said he felt weird, something in his chest didn't feel right. Not a pain or anything else like that, but a discomfort and he wanted to cry. I think this was probably similar to what the disciples felt. Paul had not yet asked the Holy Spirit to into his heart, but still, his heart was feeling it and desiring it. The Holy Spirit coming down on them filling their heart for this, but not yet making a home there. I think the home was made later at Pentecost, or as I like to call it, the tongues of fire thing.

Fear is something that can really lead us into directions we might not want to and shouldn't go. Fear made the disciples stay indoors. Fear often keeps us within our walls away from a world that would hate us. But truth is, if we really have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we should move forward without fear. If we choose to not move forward without fear, sometimes it can leave us with regret.

The last time I got to go to Scotland to visit my sister, there was a woman with a broken foot crying sitting across from us while we waited to board the last plane. I didn't know her, nor her story, but I knew she was hurting. Red eyes and pain spread all across her face, and it didn't look like it was from the foot. There was a deeper hurt in the tears. Maybe she had lost someone, or ended a relationship, I don't know, but like a fool, I looked at her, felt bad, and stayed silent. And looking back I know now  that it was fear that kept me from talking to her. I felt God asking me to go talk to this lady, but I didn't know her. I was afraid to walk up to a stranger and ask her if she was ok. Fear kept me in my seat when I should have been next to her telling her how much Jesus cares about her, and he too is feeling her pain as she mourned. Fear has left me with a regret I will always have. A regret that I may very well have to explain on judgement day.

Jesus told his disciples to go out there and make disciples of all nations, yet many of us aren't even willing to make disciples in our own communities. We wont invite people to church, we leave every morning, our neighbors still in bed and our minds don't even think twice on them. Though people may argue, I kinda think this is a bit of shame on our part, or at least some embarrassment and definitely fear.

I have never been the type of person that likes to get up in front of people, even if I know them, and talk. Every time I had to do that in school, I would get all jerky, mean, and sick feeling the days before hand. When it was over, I would melt, relieved that the stress was gone and zone out the rest of the class. I even would make sure my work was only ever average in class because some teachers liked to point out how some students did really well on the tests. I did not want to be seen. I wanted to pass on by unnoticed, so I never had to deal with anything.

But this is not what God has called us to do. I find myself compelled to write a blog, put myself out where people can actually see me (figuratively speaking). I don't put up the shell of protection as I do in real life, but this isn't the same as going out there. This is staying where I am safe and looking through a window leaving notes for people to find in hopes that maybe, just maybe, they might see God, feel his love, and join us in his endless praise. I also know that this isn't enough.

It's pretty hard to talk to strangers about Jesus, true. But many of us sit here with rarely speaking about Jesus to our co-workers and friends. This should be much much easier to do, but for me, for example, I begin to think about them thinking less of me because I believe in something they can't or don't want to. Even when I am not talking about Jesus, I am still the butt of many jokes about what I believe and if I try to tell them its so much more than that, how much more will  they make fun of me. I have tried to learn from my regret of that lady. But even now, when I feel God telling me to say something even when attacked, I have a hard time trying to remember I have the breathe of new life in me. I do not need to fear.

Sheep beget sheep. So we must get out there and get the sheep mill going. Be smart when you feel God telling you to talk to this person. Pray quickly, and let him guide your conversation. The Holy Spirit is ready to jump in at a moments notice. If God is for us, how can we ever be afraid of doing anything we do for him?

We will be hated, we will be scorned, spit upon, called names that will hurt us very much. We will be hurting emotionally, and physically, but we will never break, we will never die, when we have have God supporting our efforts. We need to get out of our comfort zone, and out there on the streets, praying for people, worshiping God and being a total nutter for Christ. How much the better will our lives be?

DC Talk have a song called Jesus Freak, old song, but still good, and I'm sure many of you have heard it, but it says 

"What will people think
When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak
What will people do when they find that it's true
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain't no disguising the truth."

We should never be ashamed of God, and who cares of we are labeled and put down? We have Christ. We have life. We will be with him forever. So we should have no fear in our lives. This is a war, so as any good warriors do, before we go down, we take as many as we can with us. Just this time, we take as many as we can to life with us. So I ask you, look into your life, do you feel that there maybe a little bit of shame and fear in there? Are you ready to just take a moment, pray and let go of the fear, breathe in the Holy Spirit and go out and share God with the world? God is ready to reformat the world, and it starts with you.

Devotional: Answer Gentle

A gentle response deflects fury, but a harsh word makes tempers rise.
Proverbs 15:1

From Bible.com

I am not a very patient person always. When trying to explain things, I can get a little "snippy" sometimes. It comes from having to explain what I think are basics but obviously I am wrong on how basic it is. I grew up right at the start of computers becoming mainstream. I remember my school having Apple IIe computers which seemed so great despite the green and black screen. A bit later at home I remember thinking how amazing Windows 95 was and how cool games like Doom were. I have been around them a lot. So how to save a file, organize said file, and sending an email are pretty basic stuff. So when I have to explain how to do them to someone else, I sometimes get short, and maybe even have a harsh word or two.

Proverbs tells us that a gentle response deflects fury. Instead of saying something sharp and getting people mad at me or me mad at them, I should reply back with gentleness. Words are like knives, sharp and able to cut to the core. When used wrong, we can do more damage than we are equipped to fix. The wrong words can cause people to stumble and fall, breaking friendships and at worse causing someone to lose faith.

Everything that we say should be thought out and gentle. We should never try to make tempers rise and stir up fights. Sure there are times when you will need to put a foot down, take a stand for what you believe, but never should those words you use be attacks, trying to cut down those who oppose you. So think before you speak, build up others with your words and always be ready to defend what you believe. Show the world a love unlike the love they already know.

Father, guide my words today and help me to speak kindness and love. 

Parody: New Product

From Bible.com

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
Psalms 51:1-2 (NLT)

As an adult, we are tasked with so many mundane tasks. Having to wake up, go to work, earn money so that we can do things we want to, but I think the worst of all is having to do laundry. I mean every week or so, you have to take all these gross and dirty clothes you previously wore, and put them into a machine with some soap and some water so that you can get them smelling good again. It is an unending chore that should just not be a thing in 2019. But God has a better way for you.

Introducing, Blood of Jesus Life Detergent. From the Maker of the World comes a new way to be clean of all guilt and sin and be purified once again. No more having to try to clean yourself anymore, let the Blood of Jesus do it for you! Got a big stain of shame in your life? Just hit it with a dab of the Blood of Jesus and bam! it's gone. Right now, for a limited time* you can get a life time supply of the Blood of Jesus for free! That's right, if you simply ask God, he will grace you with your own supply of the Blood of Jesus. You do not need to do anything for this amazing deal of a lifetime, simply accept Jesus as your savior, ask for mercy from the Creator of All Things, and you too will be washed clean from all your sins by the amazing power of the Blood of Jesus.

But wait, there is more! Right now and for that fact, even before you were ever born and long after you die, you will receive a free Unfailing Love, directly from God himself. That's right, God is offering his Unfailing Love for you for free. There is nothing you need to do at all, because God's Unfailing Love is always free to every person ever born, ever. No purchase ever necessary God is always wanting to share his Unfailing Love with the world.

Lord, Thank you for loving me so much to send your son to die in my place. Thank you for wiping my sins away and bringing me back to you, clean and new.

*Time is limited by the end of your life, or the end of the world, which ever comes first.

Devotional: Don't get Mad, Get God

From bible.com

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5:24 (NIV)

I don't have kids, but I have a dog. She is an adorable Bichon Frise. If you look up the breed, you will find that they are cute, sweet, cuddly dogs who's only purpose is to be a lap dog. They have stupid hair and sparkly eyes and sometimes they like to use your new carpet to do their business even if they asked to go out minutes before. It is just something they do. And like any parent, you get mad at them when they do this. You might even yell, to which they will roll over and stare at you with those dark sparkly eyes that say, "I love you, don't yell," but you are mad nonetheless. But no matter what, you love that pesky little dog because she is just a part of your heart. Sometimes we mess on God's carpet and He gets mad at us.

Many times in the bible, God has gotten mad at his people, as this whole chapter in Amos tells us. They turn to idols and false gods even when God was present among them. We forget all the stuff God has done for us and look to ourselves or other people. It is understandable that God will sometimes get mad at us. Though He will never stop loving us. God loves us so much, that he made a way for us to be washed clean of all these sins, to bring us back into his presence and to live with him forever. Though we can do nothing to earn this, God has given it to us for free.

God doesn't want your religious services, your festivals, your sacrifices or your offerings. He wants your heart. All of it, the whole thing, in everything you do. As I love my dog, no matter how bad she might be, I love her completely no matter what. And if I can love like that, with my sinful heart, imagine how much more God can love you, He who is Love, no matter what you do. The Lord asks us to seek him and live. To seek goodness and love and live life with those to guide us. So when the world is at its darkest, we can firmly be beacons to those that do not believe yet.

Lord, I ask as I go out today, remind me to love everyone like you do. If I get angry, calm me with Your love and patience. Remind me to tell everyone of your amazing deeds so that I do not forget you today.

Devotional: Heart of Flesh

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 (CSB)

From bible.com

Have you ever met one of those people who seem to be rather cold? The ones who, when something bad happens, they seem very distant from it. Or maybe you know someone who seems to lack empathy for people they don't know. You would almost say they have a heart of stone. Like Pharaoh in Exodus, people's hearts are often cold and broken. Even God said that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jer. 17). Yet we put the heart as the center of our emotion. How can any good come from a place so cold?

God knows our hearts, he knows the good behind our selfishness. God is also a fantastic spiritual surgeon. He wants to remove our hearts of stone, put in a heart of flesh. A heart full of a new spirit. A heart filled with the most delicious fruits you can imagine. Love, joy peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we embrace these fruit of this new spirit God wants to put into us, we will have hearts of flesh.

Stone is not a comforting thing. Go hug a rock, you won't get anything back. But flesh is welcoming and warm. Now go hug your father, mother, sister, brother, or child. Go hug anyone who cares about you and feel how much better it is than stone. Now take that warmth you just got, all those good feelings of "The Fruit" and go share it with someone who might not have that comfort. You are the hands and feet and face of God in this world. God can break through any heart but you have to take him there first.

God, take this cold stone heart of mine and give me a heart for you and your people. Let me be the evidence of all that your grace can do for those nearest me.

Devotional: Mountains Fall

God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil.Psalms 46 1-3 (CSB)

From bible.com

There are legends of cataclysm all throughout the ancient world. Stories of great floods, asteroids, and earthquakes can be found all over the world. Right now there are two possibly huge catastrophes we are worried about. The first gets all the attention and that is Climate Change. There is no doubt that it is changing and will change much of the world in the near and distant futures. The second isn't so widely talked about, but that is the magnetic poles shifting. Both of these have a chance to kill millions of people and we need not worry. God is always there for us.

No matter what is going on in the world and in our lives God is here for us to take shelter in. God sent the Holy Spirit to be that helper in everything that comes our way. When people working hard for God go out into the disaster areas, God's glory and strength are shown to the world. When you offer a comforting word to someone who is hurting, God's love is shown to that person. We should be showing the world of a safe harbor in the storm, a refuge from all the weights of the world.

We have the creator of this world on our side. He offers us aid, though we did nothing to deserve this grace, so even in the hardest moments in life, we can be comforted. The mountains will fall into the depths of the sea someday, and the world will feel like it is ending, but God will be there offering us refuge and strength through it all. We should face each day with strength and love because we know not even death can keep us down.

Lord, I thank you for being there for us at every hurt and every joy. Help me face every day, no matter what it brings, with strength and love so that I can be an example of your grace to a world on the edge.

Devotional: Do Good

Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Hebrews 13:16 (CSB)

We are alone. Utterly and desperately alone. For most of us, there is only one voice in our heads, our own. Though our hearing allows us to hear other voices, in the end, there is nothing but ourselves rattling in our heads. We are so alone in fact, you cannot do anything that I cannot dismiss as my own head making it up. This is a long philosophical thing I am not going to go into, but to sum it up, we are alone in a world of billions.

From bible.com

With being so alone in our own heads, sometimes it is hard to do good for people, and to share with people what you have. Our isolation breeds a certain amount of greed and selfishness. It is natural to want to keep what you have, and to get more for yourself. Normal to not sacrifice anything for people because it might end up hurting us, or worse, killing us. But God isn't natural, He is supernatural and he wants us to be too.

Our isolation in our heads leads to selfishness, but God wants us to ignore our natural instincts and and become more selfless and more Christ like. All sin comes from a common root, selfishness. So to combat the sin in our lives, God calls us to do good for other people, to share with those in need and to give up some of our own things so others can see the full glory of God working today.

Take time everyday to make sure you do good. It is easy to overlook doing good in our overly crowded days but we must try. As followers of Christ, we must put ourselves out there as servants to those who are hurting and with out, those who hunger for something that is beyond natural. God is big enough to fill any hole in every heart and by giving a bit of ourselves to the world, we not only please God, but bring joy to the lives of others. This is how we grow.

Lord, give me every opportunity to do good this day. Remind me to share with those I meet so that you are shown to every man, woman, and child. May your restoration of the world begin with me, today.

Devotional: Amazing Things

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.

1 Chronicles 16:24 (NLT)

From bible.com

 Do you remember a time when you were so excited about something, maybe it was meeting your current partner, getting that one toy when you were a kid that meant the world to you, getting a new job, or finally getting something you have been working toward for a long time seeing buzzards come back in spring? Do you remember how excited you were, how you went up to every person you knew and told them about it? How your friends got tired of hearing about it, wanted you to just shut up, yet you kept going on and on. For weeks you talked about it off and on. So often something comes along in our life, we simply are excited for. We literally jump for joy when we think about it. It makes us feel so happy.

What was it that you thought of, and object, a person, a moment in time? Did you think about your salvation, a gift given to you by God for simply putting your faith in him? Did you think about the assurance that when your time is done here, you will go on to live for eternity with God? Maybe you thought of that sun rise yesterday morning, how the sun lit the frost? How Jesus died on the cross, while you were still a sinner, to pay for all the wrongs you have done to Adonai? How right now, in the way God sees the world, Jesus is still there, on the cross, waiting for you to come and kneel before it.

Every little thing God does for you, for a friend, to a stranger, we should be shouting out to the world. We should be telling them how amazing a friend to sinners he is and how much he loves everyone out there. We should be putting it in newspapers (Are they still a thing?), on the television, plastering it on the internet, and telling everyone we see about the amazing things he did today. Take a moment this day to stop, find at least one thing God did for you, no matter the size, and share it with someone. Then do it again the next and then the next. I challenge you, and myself, to do this until we come face to face with Jesus at the end of all things.

Lord, remind me of all the things you do everyday and everyday remind me to tell the world until everyone knows the glorious things you have done.