MESSAGES IN TEXT
THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS, NOVEMBER 22, 2020
I googled a few hilarious Thanksgiving jokes. The first one I’d like to share is a picture of pilgrim women and Native American Women cleaning up the meal after the first Thanksgiving, while the two teams of Pilgrims and Native Americans are in the background playing football, and the one women says, “I hope this doesn’t become a tradition.” But here we are and Thanksgiving 2020 is only a few days away. Thanksgiving this year will be different like everything else has been in 2020. Traditions are going out the window. I know many families are not having their typical Thanksgiving feast due to Covid. I have heard it said, that this Thanksgiving could be your loved ones last Thanksgiving. That has made some families chose to not have Thanksgiving with their families, and others have figured if this was possibly their last Thanksgiving with their loved ones, then they are definitely going to have it now before it’s too late! Whatever you chose do it with love and respect other people’s choice to celebrate Thanksgiving the way that suits their family best.
I’ve read a bunch of memes and comments about how bad 2020 has been. I have spoke with people who have had an extremely challenging year and cannot wait for 2020 to be part of our past. Many people do not feel that we have much to be thankful for as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year. With that thought in mind I would like to move into some scripture. The first scripture for today come from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
I want you to concentrate on this scripture as you think about 2020. We as the salt and light of the earth are called to be full of joy, to never stop praying and always be thankful in ALL circumstances. Being thankful in all circumstances is a choice that you are given this year. 2020 hasn’t been fun. It has been stifling for church growth, youth group, outreaches, and mission work. You know us preachers talk, and many of us have felt that this Covid Pandemic has been one of the most difficult and challenging times to minister.
It has been a shared sentiment that we have lost a majority of our flock. I have felt this way as I witnessed our youth group dissipate and church attendance stagnate after continuous growth in the past. While speaking with a fellow Pastor who I respect and look up to as a mentor, he gave me a different perspective. He said, “Lance I think this time will be a great sifting out of the chaff so to speak.” I asked him what exactly he meant, and he said, “Well those that truly love Jesus will remain faithful to the church, and those who are lukewarm will leave, and we will have a stronger more unified church.”
It made me think that he has a point. This shaking up of “church” and “worship” has benefits. There is something to be thankful for in this. God might just know what he is doing, and maybe I should be a little more thankful for what he has given to us Pastors and churches. That leads me to Ephesians to kind of reinstate my point as said previously and to move deeper. Ephesians 5:20
20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A few sermons ago, I asked you if Jesus was your Lord? I explained how if Jesus was your Lord, then Jesu has power and authority over your life, and therefore you are commanded to serve and obey him. Ephesians tells us to GIVE THANKS for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That means that no matter how bad the news has made 2020 seem, we as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ must be thankful for it. I said this earlier, that being thankful is a choice. There are plenty of reasons in 2020 why we should not be thankful this year, like getting audited by the IRS, but we must choose to be thankful. Thanksgiving 2020 is our time as Christians to stand out like a light on a dark hill. We must be thankful and make it known this year.
Thankfulness and Generosity go hand in hand. A thankful person typically is generous because they live a grateful life for all they have and they want to share it with other people. I want to transition into my main scripture for today which comes from 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 New Living Translation
6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Now in this scripture Paul is addressing the Corinthians specifically talking about money and their pledged gift. Don’t worry I’m not talking to you about money, I wanted to show you how a generous heart and a Thankful heart goes together. I love how Paul uses the analogy of a farmer and his seed. The one who sows little will reap little. The one who sows a lot will reap a lot. And don’t forget that it is God who provides the very seed that the farmer sows’. A generous person who gives not out of pressure, but out of joy and thankfulness will have everything they need, because God will provide for all their needs.
I want you to think about this with Giving Thanks. 2020 might not appear to be a year to give thanks. If look back at 2020 and only scatter a little seed of thankfulness you will only receive little to be thankful for this year. If you choose to look at 2020 and sow thankfulness generously you will have more than enough to be thankful for in 2020. As I look back and take a person look at 2020 these are a few things that I am thankful for. As I say them, you may notice if you know me personally that the things I see as my blessings in 2020 are things I have cursed about. Let me explain.
I am thankful for my time in 2020 spent with my children. This has been challenging but such a blessing. Homeschooling has tested my limits and made me send some pretty bold and passive aggressive emails to my children’s teachers out of frustration, but it has truly been a blessing because I see the areas that my children need help. And I get to be a Dad and help them! Covid has shut down my crazy nightly schedule, and I’m home for supper and bedtime almost every single night! What a blessing! After years of struggling with pregnancy we brought Madeline home into our crazy household! What a blessing! 2020 has made me rethink my priorities and what is truly necessary for my family’s needs. What a blessing 2020 has been! And guess what we celebrate Thanksgiving 2020 at the end of November, whoo hoo 2020 is almost over!
You see as we look at our life in 2020 there can be plenty of reasons to not be thankful, but we have a choice to see the Thankfulness in 2020! I want to challenge you all this Thanksgiving, and don’t worry however you chose to celebrate it either in person or alone, you can participate. Here is your challenge. Flood Facebook, IG, Snap Chat, your social media, with things you are thankful for in 2020! If you’re not a virtual person, then take the time to send a handwritten note to those whom you are thankful for. If you love to decorate, and are festive then let your Thanksgiving décor fly high so every knows you are a thankful person! Make it a point this Thanksgiving to be thankful! 6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give.
You have a choice this year to be thankful or not! Be different and show the world as a follower of your Lord Jesus Christ that you are thankful for the many blessing that 2020 has given you! Your traditional meal, with friends, family, and football may be gone in 2020, but do not lose the tradition of being truly thankful for everything in the name of your Lord Jesus Christ.
ANTS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020
Welcome back to a few weeks of Virtual Church. We will be closed at both Mount Hope and Wauzeka for the next two weeks, the 15th and 22nd. We will re-convene on the 29th for in person worship again. My family is quarantining for 2 weeks, as we have had positive test for Covid in our home. I had originally been planning a different sermon this Sunday, but due to our situation everything changed early this week. So, throughout the latter half of the week I have been thinking about what this sermon is going to be. I had been kicking this sermon around for a while and I thought the timing of today was fitting.
Covid cases are exploding everywhere, locally we are a hotspot. Just like in the beginning of this pandemic everyone has their own ideas and opinions on this virus. But unlike the beginning of this pandemic we are more divided than ever about it. In March we were all in this together, now in November we are two sides of a High School Gym class playing Battle Ball trying to smack the snot out of the other team. Anti- Masker’s VS Maskers, The Virus is Real VS Phony Virus, Covid is nothing more than the flu VS Covid is a Death Sentence, and then of course there is the kids who don’t want to play who get picked last and caught in the cross fire. Between the election and Covid people are angry and they are ready to fight about anything just to fight.
And it seems to me, that we are simply fighting the wrong battle. With this thought in mind, I randomly opened my Bible to hear what God had to say about it. I opened to a familiar passage, one I have preached on before, but this time a few new things stuck out to me. The scripture I chose for today comes out of 1st Peter 1:13-2:1. The section of scripture is captioned in my Bible as “A Call to Holy Living.”
1 Peter 1:13-2:1 A Call to Holy Living
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
I recently read a post from a friend who is very angry about Covid, they have lost a loved one and are hurting. I feel in their anger they posted something not very Christ like. This person called Jesus their Lord and waits for the day Jesus will return to so that Jesus can graciously provide pain for all of eternity, and offered cheers to people’s upcoming vacation in Hell. Now let me say this, this person is angry and hurt right now at their loss due to Covid, and we need to show Mercy and Grace not anger in retribution. I still consider this person my friend though I disagree with their statement about Jesus graciously providing an eternity of pain.
I want to draw your attention to this analogy for a moment. Maybe you have seen it. It is the story of red ants and black ants. If you put a bunch of red ants and black ants together in a jar gently, nothing happens. They all get along. Now if you pick up the jar and violently shake it up, then red ants will turn on the black ants and the black ants will turn on the red ants, until all of one side is dead. The ants feel the threat of the violent shake up and associate the problem with the “other” side; they are ready to fight and will not stop at anything. The irony is both sides attack each other, even though neither side did anything wrong. It was the one outside the jar shaking it violently trying to provoke a fight that was wrong. Yet in anger both sides couldn’t see that they both were innocent.
Now take this analogy and my friends’ hurtful message. Think about Covid and my Battle Ball 2 sides against each other analogy. It’s the same thing. We are all so angry and mad that we want to fight but were fighting the wrong battle. The battle we need to be having is not against each other, but rather with Sin! It is Satan and sin that shakes up the jar and watches us tear each other apart. We focus on Covid and masks and we speak of protecting others lives, yet let babies be aborted because of choice. We spend our time and money trying to stop a virus so that we may live a few extra years, but what does scripture tells us? “People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
Were all going to die guys. I have said this at a lot of my funerals. I have buried an infant, a child, middle-aged father, grandparents, and great grandparents, and at any age it still seems to short, yet we are all going to die! Scripture refers to us as the grass, in other areas our life is referred to as vapor in the wind. Guys we are here one day and gone the next. Covid is real, trust me I know. Our battle is with Sin not with Covid! You know why we all have to die anyway? Let me restart that. Did you know that we were not intended to die when God created Adam and Eve? Did you know that disease, viruses, anger, hatred, jealousy, destruction, and death were not part of God’s creation? Nope. That was our doing. Thanks to the fall. When Eve Disobeyed God and took and ate the fruit. When Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that’s when everything changed. When Eve Disobeyed God, then came death.
Do you know what Sin is? What does it mean to Sin against God? Sin is simply this. Disobeying God. From Disobeying God we get Sin, and from sin we get Death. That is what we get for our sin. You see our battle is not with Covid or even death. We are all going to die anyway. Our battle is with Sin and our disobedience to God. But we can have victory over Sin and death. Not the physical death, we must all walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but we will not remain dead. Our sin must die. As scripture says 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
We inherited death, disease, viruses, cancer, dementia, destruction, anger, jealously those are all things of the empty life we had in Sin. But then Christ came. It had to be nailed to the cross and die with Christ! 22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24
We will all die, this life will quickly end, like flower in the summer, but when your born again into a life with Christ you will not die the second death! Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God! You see we have to quit fighting each other as Christians. We already have victory! If we would fight our own sin as much as we fight each other we would live a Holy Life as the scripture calls us too.
I want to challenge you with this. If your angry or looking to pick a fight, then pick a fight with yourself! Look into your own life and defeat your disobedience to God. If you call Jesus your Lord, then start obeying him! Quit fighting against your neighbor and fight for them! We have spent trillions of dollars as a nation of Covid. We have lost friends, and family members over Covid and a mask in an attempt to add a few mortal years to all of our lives. Could you imagine what we could do if we fought for each other’s eternal life? You know something that we can’t lose! Covid may take anyone of our lives, but nothing can take my eternity with Jesus Christ! Eternal life, now that is something worth fighting for!
I want to leave you with this final thought from our scripture today. 2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Quit tearing each other down, and fighting amongst each other. A mask might gain years to your mortal life, but it can’t save your eternal life. Covid may rob you of a loved one too soon, but Covid can’t steal their eternity! Don’t be an ant. Fight Sin not each other. Sin is the real enemy not Covid.
Let’s Pray
Double Edged Sword
At Mount Hope today we placed Bibles in the hands of two of our youth. Though many may not see it as such, we have given 3rd graders a fierce and powerful weapon. Today we are going to be discussing this weapon that has been placed in their hands and in ours. The sermon is entitled Double Edged Sword, and we will be discussing why a double-edged sword is so powerful.
I want to start today’s sermon by reading the scripture. I am going to be reading the same scripture in fact three times. I will be reading Hebrews Chapter 4 verse 12 in 3 different translations. Each translation has a little different emphasis on a few words, and I think when we read them all we get a good picture of what this scripture is trying to say. Hebrews 4:12
New International Version
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
New Living Translation
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
English Standard Version
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
What are a few pieces of this scripture that stood out to you today? Go ahead shout them out. Give me a couple words or statements. Alright ill lead you into a few answers (this is just like teaching the kids at home), what is the Word of God like? Is it dead and lethargic? No alive! Active! Is the Word of God dull and boring? No, it is sharp and full of energy! Here is a kind of a tricky one that you might not get my lead. Does the Bible only tell us nice things? Here is a helpful hint to that answer does the word of God only cut one way? (if you need more held look at the title for extra help). No, the Word of God cuts like a double-edged sword exposing our thoughts, attitudes, and the desires and intentions of our hearts! The Word of God sees through our actions to our reasoning for those actions.
A quick history lesson on the double-edged sword. Maybe history lesson is an exaggeration, more like a snippet about a sword. A single edged sword only cuts in one direction. As it is swung and thrust into something it cuts the flesh in one direction. When you swing a single edged sword, you can only cut in the direction of the blade, the other side is blunt. On the other hand, a double-edged sword has cutting power in both directions. When you plunge it into an enemy it cuts in both directions and is difficult to stop the bleeding. When the double-edged sword is plunged in it tears and cuts both ways, causing damage all around, it is much more difficult to stitch shut a large double cut.
So why is it that the Word of God is called a double-edged sword? You see the Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, but rather a vehicle for communicating with us. It is living and life changing, as it works within us. Think about a surgeon’s knife as he slowly and meticulously operates on you, as he slices apart the tissue from the bone, the sinew from the muscle, the tumor from your body, the torn cartilage from your joint, the cancer from your organ, he does it in a way that is both hurting and healing. It slices and cuts which causes pain, but brings about healing. As the surgeon removes the tumor attached to the good part of the organ the knife separates what belongs and what does not.
That is what the Word of God does in our lives. The Word of God reveals who we are and who we are not! Did you get that? The Word of God reveals who we are and who we are not! As we read the word, we see parts of our life that are not Godly, parts that need to be removed, and parts that need to stay. We see the parts we are missing too. The Word of God penetrates to the core of our moral and spiritual life. As we read it, we see what is good in our life and what is evil. You see it cut’s both ways.
I have this little demonstration I want to show you. I have this block here in front of us. In this bag I have something else. Let me show it to you. This is called an Arkansas Toothpick. It was my brother’s years ago, and it got passed down to me when dad cleaned out the gun room. It is a double-edged knife. (I take knife and plunge it into the wood.) I want you to look at this knife standing here in this block of wood. As you look at it you see it is dirty and old. It has been neglected, but it still cuts.
Today we have given these youth the word of God. We have given them a powerful weapon for them to use. Many of you have your Word of God as well. Many of yours looks like this. Old rusty and dirty. Forgotten about for the last 20 years or so. It is time for you to get using it once again. I watched people’s faces light up and the phones come out to take pictures when we handle the Word of God to the two youths today. I want you to have that type of longing for your own Word of God at home. As a kid that Arkansas Toothpick that is stabbed in that block of wood was pretty cool to me. But my interest changed. I no longer used it. It got buried in dad’s gun room and forgotten.
It is time you all start opening up your forgotten bibles and start reading them once again. Open it with the excitement that I saw on your faces as you watched me hand the Word of God to these children. And when you read it see how it tears and cuts both ways. As you plunge yourself into the Word it cuts you and leaves its mark. Your sin is exposed, and the Word of God removes it like the surgeon’s scalpel removes a tumor. The Word of God lays open your heart and shows you your intentions, your desires, your wickedness. Then it heals you as it shows you who God intended for you to be.
Let’s Pray
Victory in Jesus
Starting off the morning right away with a question. Do any of you know what this Tuesday is? That’s right election day here in the Good Ole’ USA. This election cycle has been a very nasty, divisive, and biter campaign. Many people are quite concerned with the outcome of this election. Well today we are going to talk not about the candidates, instead we are going to focus on the results of the election. Do not worry this is not a political sermon.
A few weeks ago, I shared a post of Facebook. I know it seems like I can’t give a sermon now without referencing Facebook. I’m not quoting it word for word, but it went something like this. “Christians should not tell other Christians who to vote for, because when they do, they place their trust in a person and not in Christ.” Now I do not entirely agree with the statement, and that is ok because that’s not scripture. But what I took away from the statement that really hit me is the end part. The piece about putting our trust in a person and not putting our trust in Christ.
As we all know this election has caused division among believers, friends, families, and co-workers. I have had a few close Christian friends who are polar opposites as me on the political spectrum throughout this election. I do feel we should have composed and collected discussions with our friends and family about our reasoning for our candidate based upon our faith, but we need to be careful not to put too much faith in a person and forget who is ultimately in control of everything. That leads us to our scripture for today.
Romans 8:28-37 New Living Translation
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Verse 28, summed up. God works everything for the good for those who love him. I want you to think about that this election day. No matter what happens after the dust settles, whenever that will be because we already know that both candidates are not willing to accept defeat. Whatever happens God works for the good of those who love him. Now one thing this scripture does not say is something that many people assume is that God works everything for the good of everyone. No this scripture says that God works everything for good for those who love him. So what does this mean to you come November 4th, 5th, or whenever the election results are finally conceded by the defeated candidate?
Let’s say that your candidate does not win. And the other candidate whom you are very fearful does become our next president? Perhaps you will feel the USA will be a bad place to live, less safe, or fuller of hate, bigotry, and violence. If you feel our country as you know it, will be going to crap hole then think about verse 31. 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? If we have Christ in our heart than no matter what happens around us we have already become the victors. “32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” Do not put your trust of hope of the future in any candidate, because let’s take a look at both of them, they are both miles from perfect.
Both of them promise to take care of you and me, but their words are empty promises they cannot fulfill. Jesus Christ on the other hand offers you everything that you need, and his word and promise will never fail you! God the father loved you so much that he gave his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you! He laid his life down the ultimate sacrifice. Would either of our candidates or their VP’s be willing to do the same for you? I think not. You hear both candidates talk about their sons, but what have their sons done for you? Nothing like what Christ has done. God did not spare his own child in a chance to gain your love, if he was willing to do this for you to gain your love don’t you think that he will give you even more?
Now the son who died is sitting at the Father’s right-hand pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? NO! Then no matter what happens in our great nation in the wake of this election Christ will still be pleading and begging for you! Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? I said earlier that too many people think that this scripture means that God works everything for the good of all people. But our scripture says that he works for the good of his people. Those who call him Lord.
Something bad may come from this election. We live in a fallen world, and since the beginning and the fall the world has been going to HELL. We know this because Genesis tells us this in the beginning and in Revelation in the end, the Anti-Christ and Satan are given 3 ½ years to rule the world. Bad things will happen in the future, but to those of us who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord, then I have this scripture to say to you, 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
I do not know how this election is going to pan out. But I am not fearful. I will do my part as an American and as a Christian. I will vote and pray for my candidate. And I will accept the victor of this election, because no man, or woman can give me the hope and security that Jesus Christ can. I have accepted Christ, he is my Lord and Savior, and God will work all things out for my good. I will ultimately have overwhelming victory through Jesus Christ who loved us! NO matter what may come, Christ is victorious!
So I challenge you all this morning. Pray for you candidate and vote on Tuesday, then concede the outcome, because no matter what happens it is Christ who we place out future, our trust, and our life, not any candidate. Let’s Pray
Is Jesus your Lord?
Today we are going to be talking about the word Lord. About what is actually means to call someone your Lord. As you have noticed the sermon title is a question today. What is the sermon title? Good you guys can read. The scripture I will be using today is fairly common scripture from Matthew. It is the parable of the wise and foolish builders.
Matthew 7:21-29 True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
The word Lord. I know I have preached on this before, and even used this scripture in the sermon. But this week this has been a theme that has ran through my mind. What does it mean to call Jesus our Lord? How does that look in our life? Well in order to understand his we must first define the word Lord. I was quiet surprised to see the extensive different ways this word was defined by Webster. But webster’s first definition of Lord is this:
Lord: one having power and authority over others:
a: a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due.
Preeminence if your curious means having superiority. So a Lord is someone who has power and authority over others. If that Lord has authority over you then you are called to service and obedience to that Lord. A Lord is superior to you. We understand this type of relationship best in a work relationship. We have our bosses at work who tell us what to do and how to do it. If we do not follow their wishes typically, we have some type of reprimand. Now a work boss is not quite the same as someone who Lord’s over our life, but you get my point.
I want you to think about your first job or any job that this applies. Did you ever have your boss give you a list of stuff to do and then leave? What happened when your boss came back and the work wasn’t done? Say you didn’t like what they told you do or you thought it was too much or too tough? Was your boss ok with it? Canaan and Noah what happened last night when I got home and both of you left your bikes out, again? Was I happy? You see we know that when we are given a task or a requirement from our bosses, we are expected to do it. If we do not follow their instructions for a long enough time then we lose our job.
Back to scripture, I love how Jesus is very bold in the beginning of the scripture today. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you! Away from me! Jesus get’s right in our face with this scripture.
You’ve heard this saving right, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? I finished up the revelation series. When the end times happens and the rapture takes place there is going to be a lot of pastors of mega churches, medium churches, and little churches left standing. There will also be a lot of so called ministry leaders and “Christians” left. Not everyone who calls themselves a Christian has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord. You see Jesus is more concerned about our walk than our talk. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe.
I want you to think about that line one more time. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe. If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord then your life will reflect that! If you only say that Jesus is your Lord then your life and actions will reflect that! I have this little log cabin that Cane built this week for school. It’s not a perfect cabin and it is heavily reinforced with hot glue. Canaan had to build this for school. As you look at it you will see that it is not perfect, it has a lot of holes in it and I do not think it would keep out the rain. It’s a neat cabin. Fort hose of you reading this it is difficult for you to visualize what I’m trying to explain. This cabin is not perfect. It has issues. Like so many of us.
What matter’s with this cabin is the foundation upon which it sits. Just like you and me. Our outward appearance is not as important as what we stand upon. Like I said earlier, there will be a lot of pastors and church members left after the rapture. That is why Jesus said on that day I will tell them “Away from Me, I do not know you.” Jesus in the scripture for today uses the analogy of the wise builder. Those that accept Jesus as their Lord willingly serve Jesus obediently. What does it mean to serve Jesus obediently? Well I once heard another pastor preaching about reading the bible. He said that when he comes to an area in the Bible that he does not agree with, or something that he feels completely different about, then he does this. He changes his thinking to what God says.
You see that is service and obedience to a Lord. Remember Jesus on the night when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he was praying so fervently that he was sweating blood? He asked God to take this cup from him. It was possible please remove this cup, and God said no. Jesus did not like what his Father had to say. Jesus did not like what he had to do. But Jesus willingly chose to obediently follow and serve God the Father. That is what we are called to do. If we call Jesus our Lord, then we must serve and obey him, regardless how we feel or what we think.
I am going to challenge you this week with this. Ask yourself if Jesus is really your LORD. If you answer this question with a yes be prepared for next Sunday’s sermon. Because if Jesus is your Lord then Love does conquer all!
I googled a few hilarious Thanksgiving jokes. The first one I’d like to share is a picture of pilgrim women and Native American Women cleaning up the meal after the first Thanksgiving, while the two teams of Pilgrims and Native Americans are in the background playing football, and the one women says, “I hope this doesn’t become a tradition.” But here we are and Thanksgiving 2020 is only a few days away. Thanksgiving this year will be different like everything else has been in 2020. Traditions are going out the window. I know many families are not having their typical Thanksgiving feast due to Covid. I have heard it said, that this Thanksgiving could be your loved ones last Thanksgiving. That has made some families chose to not have Thanksgiving with their families, and others have figured if this was possibly their last Thanksgiving with their loved ones, then they are definitely going to have it now before it’s too late! Whatever you chose do it with love and respect other people’s choice to celebrate Thanksgiving the way that suits their family best.
I’ve read a bunch of memes and comments about how bad 2020 has been. I have spoke with people who have had an extremely challenging year and cannot wait for 2020 to be part of our past. Many people do not feel that we have much to be thankful for as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year. With that thought in mind I would like to move into some scripture. The first scripture for today come from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
I want you to concentrate on this scripture as you think about 2020. We as the salt and light of the earth are called to be full of joy, to never stop praying and always be thankful in ALL circumstances. Being thankful in all circumstances is a choice that you are given this year. 2020 hasn’t been fun. It has been stifling for church growth, youth group, outreaches, and mission work. You know us preachers talk, and many of us have felt that this Covid Pandemic has been one of the most difficult and challenging times to minister.
It has been a shared sentiment that we have lost a majority of our flock. I have felt this way as I witnessed our youth group dissipate and church attendance stagnate after continuous growth in the past. While speaking with a fellow Pastor who I respect and look up to as a mentor, he gave me a different perspective. He said, “Lance I think this time will be a great sifting out of the chaff so to speak.” I asked him what exactly he meant, and he said, “Well those that truly love Jesus will remain faithful to the church, and those who are lukewarm will leave, and we will have a stronger more unified church.”
It made me think that he has a point. This shaking up of “church” and “worship” has benefits. There is something to be thankful for in this. God might just know what he is doing, and maybe I should be a little more thankful for what he has given to us Pastors and churches. That leads me to Ephesians to kind of reinstate my point as said previously and to move deeper. Ephesians 5:20
20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A few sermons ago, I asked you if Jesus was your Lord? I explained how if Jesus was your Lord, then Jesu has power and authority over your life, and therefore you are commanded to serve and obey him. Ephesians tells us to GIVE THANKS for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That means that no matter how bad the news has made 2020 seem, we as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ must be thankful for it. I said this earlier, that being thankful is a choice. There are plenty of reasons in 2020 why we should not be thankful this year, like getting audited by the IRS, but we must choose to be thankful. Thanksgiving 2020 is our time as Christians to stand out like a light on a dark hill. We must be thankful and make it known this year.
Thankfulness and Generosity go hand in hand. A thankful person typically is generous because they live a grateful life for all they have and they want to share it with other people. I want to transition into my main scripture for today which comes from 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 New Living Translation
6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9 As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Now in this scripture Paul is addressing the Corinthians specifically talking about money and their pledged gift. Don’t worry I’m not talking to you about money, I wanted to show you how a generous heart and a Thankful heart goes together. I love how Paul uses the analogy of a farmer and his seed. The one who sows little will reap little. The one who sows a lot will reap a lot. And don’t forget that it is God who provides the very seed that the farmer sows’. A generous person who gives not out of pressure, but out of joy and thankfulness will have everything they need, because God will provide for all their needs.
I want you to think about this with Giving Thanks. 2020 might not appear to be a year to give thanks. If look back at 2020 and only scatter a little seed of thankfulness you will only receive little to be thankful for this year. If you choose to look at 2020 and sow thankfulness generously you will have more than enough to be thankful for in 2020. As I look back and take a person look at 2020 these are a few things that I am thankful for. As I say them, you may notice if you know me personally that the things I see as my blessings in 2020 are things I have cursed about. Let me explain.
I am thankful for my time in 2020 spent with my children. This has been challenging but such a blessing. Homeschooling has tested my limits and made me send some pretty bold and passive aggressive emails to my children’s teachers out of frustration, but it has truly been a blessing because I see the areas that my children need help. And I get to be a Dad and help them! Covid has shut down my crazy nightly schedule, and I’m home for supper and bedtime almost every single night! What a blessing! After years of struggling with pregnancy we brought Madeline home into our crazy household! What a blessing! 2020 has made me rethink my priorities and what is truly necessary for my family’s needs. What a blessing 2020 has been! And guess what we celebrate Thanksgiving 2020 at the end of November, whoo hoo 2020 is almost over!
You see as we look at our life in 2020 there can be plenty of reasons to not be thankful, but we have a choice to see the Thankfulness in 2020! I want to challenge you all this Thanksgiving, and don’t worry however you chose to celebrate it either in person or alone, you can participate. Here is your challenge. Flood Facebook, IG, Snap Chat, your social media, with things you are thankful for in 2020! If you’re not a virtual person, then take the time to send a handwritten note to those whom you are thankful for. If you love to decorate, and are festive then let your Thanksgiving décor fly high so every knows you are a thankful person! Make it a point this Thanksgiving to be thankful! 6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give.
You have a choice this year to be thankful or not! Be different and show the world as a follower of your Lord Jesus Christ that you are thankful for the many blessing that 2020 has given you! Your traditional meal, with friends, family, and football may be gone in 2020, but do not lose the tradition of being truly thankful for everything in the name of your Lord Jesus Christ.
ANTS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2020
Welcome back to a few weeks of Virtual Church. We will be closed at both Mount Hope and Wauzeka for the next two weeks, the 15th and 22nd. We will re-convene on the 29th for in person worship again. My family is quarantining for 2 weeks, as we have had positive test for Covid in our home. I had originally been planning a different sermon this Sunday, but due to our situation everything changed early this week. So, throughout the latter half of the week I have been thinking about what this sermon is going to be. I had been kicking this sermon around for a while and I thought the timing of today was fitting.
Covid cases are exploding everywhere, locally we are a hotspot. Just like in the beginning of this pandemic everyone has their own ideas and opinions on this virus. But unlike the beginning of this pandemic we are more divided than ever about it. In March we were all in this together, now in November we are two sides of a High School Gym class playing Battle Ball trying to smack the snot out of the other team. Anti- Masker’s VS Maskers, The Virus is Real VS Phony Virus, Covid is nothing more than the flu VS Covid is a Death Sentence, and then of course there is the kids who don’t want to play who get picked last and caught in the cross fire. Between the election and Covid people are angry and they are ready to fight about anything just to fight.
And it seems to me, that we are simply fighting the wrong battle. With this thought in mind, I randomly opened my Bible to hear what God had to say about it. I opened to a familiar passage, one I have preached on before, but this time a few new things stuck out to me. The scripture I chose for today comes out of 1st Peter 1:13-2:1. The section of scripture is captioned in my Bible as “A Call to Holy Living.”
1 Peter 1:13-2:1 A Call to Holy Living
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.
I recently read a post from a friend who is very angry about Covid, they have lost a loved one and are hurting. I feel in their anger they posted something not very Christ like. This person called Jesus their Lord and waits for the day Jesus will return to so that Jesus can graciously provide pain for all of eternity, and offered cheers to people’s upcoming vacation in Hell. Now let me say this, this person is angry and hurt right now at their loss due to Covid, and we need to show Mercy and Grace not anger in retribution. I still consider this person my friend though I disagree with their statement about Jesus graciously providing an eternity of pain.
I want to draw your attention to this analogy for a moment. Maybe you have seen it. It is the story of red ants and black ants. If you put a bunch of red ants and black ants together in a jar gently, nothing happens. They all get along. Now if you pick up the jar and violently shake it up, then red ants will turn on the black ants and the black ants will turn on the red ants, until all of one side is dead. The ants feel the threat of the violent shake up and associate the problem with the “other” side; they are ready to fight and will not stop at anything. The irony is both sides attack each other, even though neither side did anything wrong. It was the one outside the jar shaking it violently trying to provoke a fight that was wrong. Yet in anger both sides couldn’t see that they both were innocent.
Now take this analogy and my friends’ hurtful message. Think about Covid and my Battle Ball 2 sides against each other analogy. It’s the same thing. We are all so angry and mad that we want to fight but were fighting the wrong battle. The battle we need to be having is not against each other, but rather with Sin! It is Satan and sin that shakes up the jar and watches us tear each other apart. We focus on Covid and masks and we speak of protecting others lives, yet let babies be aborted because of choice. We spend our time and money trying to stop a virus so that we may live a few extra years, but what does scripture tells us? “People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
Were all going to die guys. I have said this at a lot of my funerals. I have buried an infant, a child, middle-aged father, grandparents, and great grandparents, and at any age it still seems to short, yet we are all going to die! Scripture refers to us as the grass, in other areas our life is referred to as vapor in the wind. Guys we are here one day and gone the next. Covid is real, trust me I know. Our battle is with Sin not with Covid! You know why we all have to die anyway? Let me restart that. Did you know that we were not intended to die when God created Adam and Eve? Did you know that disease, viruses, anger, hatred, jealousy, destruction, and death were not part of God’s creation? Nope. That was our doing. Thanks to the fall. When Eve Disobeyed God and took and ate the fruit. When Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, that’s when everything changed. When Eve Disobeyed God, then came death.
Do you know what Sin is? What does it mean to Sin against God? Sin is simply this. Disobeying God. From Disobeying God we get Sin, and from sin we get Death. That is what we get for our sin. You see our battle is not with Covid or even death. We are all going to die anyway. Our battle is with Sin and our disobedience to God. But we can have victory over Sin and death. Not the physical death, we must all walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but we will not remain dead. Our sin must die. As scripture says 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
We inherited death, disease, viruses, cancer, dementia, destruction, anger, jealously those are all things of the empty life we had in Sin. But then Christ came. It had to be nailed to the cross and die with Christ! 22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24
We will all die, this life will quickly end, like flower in the summer, but when your born again into a life with Christ you will not die the second death! Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God! You see we have to quit fighting each other as Christians. We already have victory! If we would fight our own sin as much as we fight each other we would live a Holy Life as the scripture calls us too.
I want to challenge you with this. If your angry or looking to pick a fight, then pick a fight with yourself! Look into your own life and defeat your disobedience to God. If you call Jesus your Lord, then start obeying him! Quit fighting against your neighbor and fight for them! We have spent trillions of dollars as a nation of Covid. We have lost friends, and family members over Covid and a mask in an attempt to add a few mortal years to all of our lives. Could you imagine what we could do if we fought for each other’s eternal life? You know something that we can’t lose! Covid may take anyone of our lives, but nothing can take my eternity with Jesus Christ! Eternal life, now that is something worth fighting for!
I want to leave you with this final thought from our scripture today. 2 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Quit tearing each other down, and fighting amongst each other. A mask might gain years to your mortal life, but it can’t save your eternal life. Covid may rob you of a loved one too soon, but Covid can’t steal their eternity! Don’t be an ant. Fight Sin not each other. Sin is the real enemy not Covid.
Let’s Pray
Double Edged Sword
At Mount Hope today we placed Bibles in the hands of two of our youth. Though many may not see it as such, we have given 3rd graders a fierce and powerful weapon. Today we are going to be discussing this weapon that has been placed in their hands and in ours. The sermon is entitled Double Edged Sword, and we will be discussing why a double-edged sword is so powerful.
I want to start today’s sermon by reading the scripture. I am going to be reading the same scripture in fact three times. I will be reading Hebrews Chapter 4 verse 12 in 3 different translations. Each translation has a little different emphasis on a few words, and I think when we read them all we get a good picture of what this scripture is trying to say. Hebrews 4:12
New International Version
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
New Living Translation
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
English Standard Version
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
What are a few pieces of this scripture that stood out to you today? Go ahead shout them out. Give me a couple words or statements. Alright ill lead you into a few answers (this is just like teaching the kids at home), what is the Word of God like? Is it dead and lethargic? No alive! Active! Is the Word of God dull and boring? No, it is sharp and full of energy! Here is a kind of a tricky one that you might not get my lead. Does the Bible only tell us nice things? Here is a helpful hint to that answer does the word of God only cut one way? (if you need more held look at the title for extra help). No, the Word of God cuts like a double-edged sword exposing our thoughts, attitudes, and the desires and intentions of our hearts! The Word of God sees through our actions to our reasoning for those actions.
A quick history lesson on the double-edged sword. Maybe history lesson is an exaggeration, more like a snippet about a sword. A single edged sword only cuts in one direction. As it is swung and thrust into something it cuts the flesh in one direction. When you swing a single edged sword, you can only cut in the direction of the blade, the other side is blunt. On the other hand, a double-edged sword has cutting power in both directions. When you plunge it into an enemy it cuts in both directions and is difficult to stop the bleeding. When the double-edged sword is plunged in it tears and cuts both ways, causing damage all around, it is much more difficult to stitch shut a large double cut.
So why is it that the Word of God is called a double-edged sword? You see the Word of God is not simply a collection of words from God, but rather a vehicle for communicating with us. It is living and life changing, as it works within us. Think about a surgeon’s knife as he slowly and meticulously operates on you, as he slices apart the tissue from the bone, the sinew from the muscle, the tumor from your body, the torn cartilage from your joint, the cancer from your organ, he does it in a way that is both hurting and healing. It slices and cuts which causes pain, but brings about healing. As the surgeon removes the tumor attached to the good part of the organ the knife separates what belongs and what does not.
That is what the Word of God does in our lives. The Word of God reveals who we are and who we are not! Did you get that? The Word of God reveals who we are and who we are not! As we read the word, we see parts of our life that are not Godly, parts that need to be removed, and parts that need to stay. We see the parts we are missing too. The Word of God penetrates to the core of our moral and spiritual life. As we read it, we see what is good in our life and what is evil. You see it cut’s both ways.
I have this little demonstration I want to show you. I have this block here in front of us. In this bag I have something else. Let me show it to you. This is called an Arkansas Toothpick. It was my brother’s years ago, and it got passed down to me when dad cleaned out the gun room. It is a double-edged knife. (I take knife and plunge it into the wood.) I want you to look at this knife standing here in this block of wood. As you look at it you see it is dirty and old. It has been neglected, but it still cuts.
Today we have given these youth the word of God. We have given them a powerful weapon for them to use. Many of you have your Word of God as well. Many of yours looks like this. Old rusty and dirty. Forgotten about for the last 20 years or so. It is time for you to get using it once again. I watched people’s faces light up and the phones come out to take pictures when we handle the Word of God to the two youths today. I want you to have that type of longing for your own Word of God at home. As a kid that Arkansas Toothpick that is stabbed in that block of wood was pretty cool to me. But my interest changed. I no longer used it. It got buried in dad’s gun room and forgotten.
It is time you all start opening up your forgotten bibles and start reading them once again. Open it with the excitement that I saw on your faces as you watched me hand the Word of God to these children. And when you read it see how it tears and cuts both ways. As you plunge yourself into the Word it cuts you and leaves its mark. Your sin is exposed, and the Word of God removes it like the surgeon’s scalpel removes a tumor. The Word of God lays open your heart and shows you your intentions, your desires, your wickedness. Then it heals you as it shows you who God intended for you to be.
Let’s Pray
Victory in Jesus
Starting off the morning right away with a question. Do any of you know what this Tuesday is? That’s right election day here in the Good Ole’ USA. This election cycle has been a very nasty, divisive, and biter campaign. Many people are quite concerned with the outcome of this election. Well today we are going to talk not about the candidates, instead we are going to focus on the results of the election. Do not worry this is not a political sermon.
A few weeks ago, I shared a post of Facebook. I know it seems like I can’t give a sermon now without referencing Facebook. I’m not quoting it word for word, but it went something like this. “Christians should not tell other Christians who to vote for, because when they do, they place their trust in a person and not in Christ.” Now I do not entirely agree with the statement, and that is ok because that’s not scripture. But what I took away from the statement that really hit me is the end part. The piece about putting our trust in a person and not putting our trust in Christ.
As we all know this election has caused division among believers, friends, families, and co-workers. I have had a few close Christian friends who are polar opposites as me on the political spectrum throughout this election. I do feel we should have composed and collected discussions with our friends and family about our reasoning for our candidate based upon our faith, but we need to be careful not to put too much faith in a person and forget who is ultimately in control of everything. That leads us to our scripture for today.
Romans 8:28-37 New Living Translation
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Verse 28, summed up. God works everything for the good for those who love him. I want you to think about that this election day. No matter what happens after the dust settles, whenever that will be because we already know that both candidates are not willing to accept defeat. Whatever happens God works for the good of those who love him. Now one thing this scripture does not say is something that many people assume is that God works everything for the good of everyone. No this scripture says that God works everything for good for those who love him. So what does this mean to you come November 4th, 5th, or whenever the election results are finally conceded by the defeated candidate?
Let’s say that your candidate does not win. And the other candidate whom you are very fearful does become our next president? Perhaps you will feel the USA will be a bad place to live, less safe, or fuller of hate, bigotry, and violence. If you feel our country as you know it, will be going to crap hole then think about verse 31. 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? If we have Christ in our heart than no matter what happens around us we have already become the victors. “32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” Do not put your trust of hope of the future in any candidate, because let’s take a look at both of them, they are both miles from perfect.
Both of them promise to take care of you and me, but their words are empty promises they cannot fulfill. Jesus Christ on the other hand offers you everything that you need, and his word and promise will never fail you! God the father loved you so much that he gave his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you! He laid his life down the ultimate sacrifice. Would either of our candidates or their VP’s be willing to do the same for you? I think not. You hear both candidates talk about their sons, but what have their sons done for you? Nothing like what Christ has done. God did not spare his own child in a chance to gain your love, if he was willing to do this for you to gain your love don’t you think that he will give you even more?
Now the son who died is sitting at the Father’s right-hand pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? NO! Then no matter what happens in our great nation in the wake of this election Christ will still be pleading and begging for you! Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? I said earlier that too many people think that this scripture means that God works everything for the good of all people. But our scripture says that he works for the good of his people. Those who call him Lord.
Something bad may come from this election. We live in a fallen world, and since the beginning and the fall the world has been going to HELL. We know this because Genesis tells us this in the beginning and in Revelation in the end, the Anti-Christ and Satan are given 3 ½ years to rule the world. Bad things will happen in the future, but to those of us who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord, then I have this scripture to say to you, 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
I do not know how this election is going to pan out. But I am not fearful. I will do my part as an American and as a Christian. I will vote and pray for my candidate. And I will accept the victor of this election, because no man, or woman can give me the hope and security that Jesus Christ can. I have accepted Christ, he is my Lord and Savior, and God will work all things out for my good. I will ultimately have overwhelming victory through Jesus Christ who loved us! NO matter what may come, Christ is victorious!
So I challenge you all this morning. Pray for you candidate and vote on Tuesday, then concede the outcome, because no matter what happens it is Christ who we place out future, our trust, and our life, not any candidate. Let’s Pray
Is Jesus your Lord?
Today we are going to be talking about the word Lord. About what is actually means to call someone your Lord. As you have noticed the sermon title is a question today. What is the sermon title? Good you guys can read. The scripture I will be using today is fairly common scripture from Matthew. It is the parable of the wise and foolish builders.
Matthew 7:21-29 True and False Disciples
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
The word Lord. I know I have preached on this before, and even used this scripture in the sermon. But this week this has been a theme that has ran through my mind. What does it mean to call Jesus our Lord? How does that look in our life? Well in order to understand his we must first define the word Lord. I was quiet surprised to see the extensive different ways this word was defined by Webster. But webster’s first definition of Lord is this:
Lord: one having power and authority over others:
a: a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due.
Preeminence if your curious means having superiority. So a Lord is someone who has power and authority over others. If that Lord has authority over you then you are called to service and obedience to that Lord. A Lord is superior to you. We understand this type of relationship best in a work relationship. We have our bosses at work who tell us what to do and how to do it. If we do not follow their wishes typically, we have some type of reprimand. Now a work boss is not quite the same as someone who Lord’s over our life, but you get my point.
I want you to think about your first job or any job that this applies. Did you ever have your boss give you a list of stuff to do and then leave? What happened when your boss came back and the work wasn’t done? Say you didn’t like what they told you do or you thought it was too much or too tough? Was your boss ok with it? Canaan and Noah what happened last night when I got home and both of you left your bikes out, again? Was I happy? You see we know that when we are given a task or a requirement from our bosses, we are expected to do it. If we do not follow their instructions for a long enough time then we lose our job.
Back to scripture, I love how Jesus is very bold in the beginning of the scripture today. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you! Away from me! Jesus get’s right in our face with this scripture.
You’ve heard this saving right, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? I finished up the revelation series. When the end times happens and the rapture takes place there is going to be a lot of pastors of mega churches, medium churches, and little churches left standing. There will also be a lot of so called ministry leaders and “Christians” left. Not everyone who calls themselves a Christian has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord. You see Jesus is more concerned about our walk than our talk. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe.
I want you to think about that line one more time. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe. If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord then your life will reflect that! If you only say that Jesus is your Lord then your life and actions will reflect that! I have this little log cabin that Cane built this week for school. It’s not a perfect cabin and it is heavily reinforced with hot glue. Canaan had to build this for school. As you look at it you will see that it is not perfect, it has a lot of holes in it and I do not think it would keep out the rain. It’s a neat cabin. Fort hose of you reading this it is difficult for you to visualize what I’m trying to explain. This cabin is not perfect. It has issues. Like so many of us.
What matter’s with this cabin is the foundation upon which it sits. Just like you and me. Our outward appearance is not as important as what we stand upon. Like I said earlier, there will be a lot of pastors and church members left after the rapture. That is why Jesus said on that day I will tell them “Away from Me, I do not know you.” Jesus in the scripture for today uses the analogy of the wise builder. Those that accept Jesus as their Lord willingly serve Jesus obediently. What does it mean to serve Jesus obediently? Well I once heard another pastor preaching about reading the bible. He said that when he comes to an area in the Bible that he does not agree with, or something that he feels completely different about, then he does this. He changes his thinking to what God says.
You see that is service and obedience to a Lord. Remember Jesus on the night when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he was praying so fervently that he was sweating blood? He asked God to take this cup from him. It was possible please remove this cup, and God said no. Jesus did not like what his Father had to say. Jesus did not like what he had to do. But Jesus willingly chose to obediently follow and serve God the Father. That is what we are called to do. If we call Jesus our Lord, then we must serve and obey him, regardless how we feel or what we think.
I am going to challenge you this week with this. Ask yourself if Jesus is really your LORD. If you answer this question with a yes be prepared for next Sunday’s sermon. Because if Jesus is your Lord then Love does conquer all!
Braxton Hicks Part 1 JULY 19, 2020
Today I am going to be starting the Braxton Hicks series. If you have ever had a baby you understand that Braxton Hicks is the name given to your pre-labor contractions that are strengthening your muscles for delivery. Not sure how long this series will be yet, keep coming each Sunday and you’ll figure it out if I’m done preaching on it or not! Recently with all of the events going on in the world I have been hit with quite a few questions about the “End Times.” This virus, the plagues, people worried about a New World Order, the moneyless society, and the talk of wearing mask, leading to implementing of the mark of the beast, has been a topic of hot debate on the internet.
People have been questioning me on these issues and I thought it was about time that I preached on this. For years I have wanted to preach on Revelations. The problem with Revelations is if you have ever read it, there is a lot going on. My finite mind cannot fathom all the imagery that our infinite Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to his apostle John. Revelations is a very difficult book to read and understand. But I feel the job of a preacher is to speak of timely issues, and to show the congregation how God’s Word is a living word and is relatable to the present time. With that being said, I am going to start today with reading scripture from the beginning of Revelations.
Before I read it to you, I think you must understand a little about the apostle John. John is the one who wrote the book of John. John was the apostle that is referred to as “the one whom Jesus loved.” John is the only apostle who was not martyred for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John was brutally tortured, (dipped in hot oil) and then exiled to the Greek island of Potmos. John was stuck on an island in an attempt to silence him and stop him from proclaiming the good news of Jesus. It was while John was exiled on this tiny island that Jesus Christ gave to him his Revelation, and what we now have as the book of Revelation. With that in mind I will start with the scripture form the beginning of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 1:1-3
1 This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, 2 who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
I thought it was important o start with this very short piece of scripture. I have not wanted to tackle this deep book of revelation. It is a difficult book for those who are not familiar with reading the Bible to pick up and read. In fact if your not an active reader this might not be the best place to just start reading the book. It would be like picking up and 10000 page book and reading the last chapter. It is difficult to comprehend what is being said and taking place if you haven’t read the back story. I chose to only preach on the first three verse today, because very 3 said this. 3 God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
The one who reads these words is blessed and the ones who hears these words are blessed. With all that is going on a blessing wouldn’t be a bad thing now would it. Well the blessing only comes if you obey what it says, and you better be prepared for the time is near. Did you hear that? The time is near! I can read some of your minds now, you thinking “oh great Lance has gone off the deep end, we have a dooms day END TIMES preacher on our hands.” Well not really, but kind of, maybe, perhaps, no.
Let me tell you a story of an old neighbor of mine. I had a neighbor who I really enjoyed; in fact, they were two neighbors who shared similar thoughts about the end times. So, as I speak about them and tell you these stories, I’ll be talking about both of them but it may seem as only one person. This neighbor loved to preach and talk about the End Times. That is all that they could talk about. You couldn’t barely have a normal conversation. They were fixated. Everything he talked about was about the end times and how we were living in them. He was well versed in scripture and knew the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation like the back of his hand. He was very educated about these books. My only issue was with his presentation. It always seemed that he knew more about the end times than Jesus did. And that bothered me. I wasn’t sure how my neighbor could know more about an event that Jesus prophesied about that Jesus himself. But that seems to be the trend with End Times preachers, they seem to have this new revelation or secret message that they deciphered out of the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation that no one noticed before.
Here is the thing with End Times preaching. Is the End near? Yes. We are one week closer this Sunday, than we were last Sunday. So when an End Time preacher says the end is near, he’s not wrong technically, but he’s also not right. The book of Revelation is Jesus revealing to John the things that are to come. But this is not the first time Jesus explained to us about the End Times. Jesus plainly spoke about it when he was still alive to the disciples and the Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded it.
Matthew 24:36-44
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
So what does this scripture teach us about the end times? Will we know when it happens? What does the scripture say? No only the Father knows, Jesus himself did not know when exactly it would happen. So if we do not know wen it will happen why should we be prepared for it? Because one day two men will be standing in a field and one will disappear. When that time comes, I don’t ant to miss it! We must be ready at any given moment.
So if we have no idea when the rapture, the End Times will happen. Why do we even need the book of Revelation to tell us how it will happen? Why do we need to know what is about to come and why should we be prepared for it? Well this sermon title is Braxton Hicks Part 1. As I said Braxton Hicks is the name given to pre-labor contractions of an expectant mother. Her body prepares and strengthens itself to be prepared for the burden of labor. Now Emily and I have had 5 births. Not a single one of them was natural. Emily always said when she was getting Braxton Hicks contractions and felt like her pelvis was splitting, she wishes she could tell her body to stop, they didn’t need to do this! It was going to be a C-section anyway!
For those of us, who will be raptured, the one in the field who disappears, we will be like the woman who had a csection who did not need to prepare for labor. Yet it was the Braxton Hicks contractions that gradually get stronger that let the pregnant woman know tha the end is near. As the intensity of the contractions and the duration continues, the end is closer!
This is why I am calling this sermon series the Braxton Hick’s series. As we look at our world, and see the events taking place, we realize that yes preparations are being made for the end of the world. Just like they have been since the beginning. We are going to look at revelations over the next couple of weeks not out of fear for the end, but rather to see God’s miraculous hand in everything. This study and series of Revelation will be a road map to understanding God’s absolute Sovereignty in all things!
So I challenge you all to join me in reading and studying the book Of Revelations. This is a complex book, and expect to be confused! But throughout this series, pray that you will see God’s glorious hand in all things, and see the Braxton Hicks contractions that are taking place in the world right now.
Mockery
Recently I heard the disheartening story of a young girl who passed away from the novel Corona virus. Carsyn Davis a 17-year-old teenager who had battled cancer and an autoimmune disorder sadly succumb to COVID. This is sad to hear and if for some reason by some chance her family ever catches wind or hears my sermon please accept my condolences and forgive me if anything that I say offends you or disrespects your loved-one’s life, as that is not my intention. I want to read a few of the headlines regarding her death and see if you catch a familiar theme from these news sources.
Here are the headlines from some prominent (non-biased) newspapers regarding her tragic death. The first one is from the ABC News, “Florida Teen Who Died of COVID-19 Attended Large Church Gathering.”, the headline from the Washington Post reads this, “A high-risk teen who died from COVID-19 attended a huge church party,” NBC Miami headline reads this, “Teen who died of COVID-19 attended large Florida church event days before,” People.com headline reads, High-Risk Florida teen dies of Coronavirus after going to 100-Person church party.” These are only 4 of many more similar headlines (from so called non-biased) newspapers.
ABC, NBC, People and the Washington Post all make it very clear that Carsyn was at a large, or huge church gathering. There is no evidence that she caught the virus there. They want to point out all the church did as a failure to prevent it by not enforcing social distance, no masks, and they want to blame the church for this tragedy. ABC news in their article does not support this accusation but finds it necessary to include it in their national paper, they write that some people say the church was throwing a COVID party to see who could catch it first. Now the church has denied those allegations, and ABC did not say that is what happened in their article; but they felt it necessary to print this misinformation. Later in the article I feel ABC attacks the church saying that they refused to suspend their upcoming youth events, and notes that the church refused to comment and took down their youth Facebook page. They even had a professional medical opinion by a Dr. Dara Kass an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University School of Medicine, who in the article isn’t mentioned that she had any involvement in the case, but Dr. Kass says this, “Even if the point of the event wasn’t to get COVID-19, it was the likely outcome.” To sum up ABC’s news article they are implying that a teen got COVID from church don’t go to church, even though they have no proof other than a medical examiners report saying that she attended the event, that it; not that she contracted it there.
Now here me out because I am sure you are really trying to figure out where I’m going with this sermon and not listening to the words I’m actually saying. This is my belief and not a biblical truth that I am now presenting. You can get COVID from the gas station, Wal Mart, feed mill, hardware store, park, ice cream shop, national protest tearing down monuments, political rally, or at the hospital. It’s out there; that’s my opinion. I have been in Wal Mart grocery shopping and at any given time there are over 100 people in Wal Mart. Cabela’s yesterday had well over 100 people! I’m quite sure there are over 100 people in an Amazon warehouse packing your next delivery, I haven’t seen too many protest on the news of less than 100 people, I’m also quite sure that there are over 100 employees inside ABC news, NBC news, and the Washington Post probably 7 days a week. These places of business are not considered huge or large when they have over 100 people are, they? So why is this church gathering of 100 suddenly huge or large? Protest have way more than 100 people and the news has not reported a huge or large crowd when they reach over 100 people. The news throws a fit that the church hasn’t closed due to a positive person, yet Wal Mart employees have had positive cases, I’m sure Amazon has, I’m sure between ABC, NBC, the Washington Post they have had it in their buildings, and they haven’t closed down.
My point here is this. Churches are being targeted in a passive aggressive manner. Take the whole COVID pandemic. At first churches were told to close and to stop public gatherings to stop the spread. Willingly we did, myself included. Though we are essential as a church we thought about the safety of others, and closed. What was messed up is that liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries (where legal) were deemed essential and did not have to close, and have stayed open through all of this. Elective surgeries, and regular health screening was postponed due to COVID but Abortion clinics were considered essential. A subtle attack to our 1st Amendment right was infringed and we myself included followed suit in order to protect our congregants. (For the record I think we chose the right thing.) Now the media wants to squash our worship.
California just passed a law saying you can’t sing or chant in public worship to stop the spread of COVID yet they’re not cracking down on protestors yelling or screaming in the police’s face. Pastor’s get arrested and fined for civil disobedience and then protesters who break these same ordinances become glorified and praised by the media. As pastor gets arrested for holding a public worship service for singing with too many people and is considered a menace to public safety. Next a convicted felon gets arrested for breaking the law and they are considered a martyr for the cause in the face of a protest.
I have been considered intolerant, and a bigot for reciting the biblical stance of marriage. Hobby Lobby is attacked for not covering their employees birth control. A private cake baking company is sued for refusing to make a cake for a same sex wedding against their religious beliefs. This list could go on and on about injustice against Christians, but for the sake of time I will stop.
I want to switch gears here a little bit and tell you the story of a real man named Dale Schroeder. He was a neighboring Iowan who did not have any children or immediate family. He worked for 67 years as a carpenter. He drove an old rusty Chevy truck for years. He had 2 pair of blue jeans one for church and one for work. Before he died Dale went to a lawyer to set up his estate. Dale said he wanted to help send kids to college and pay their fees. Dale never had the money himself so over the years he frugally saved his money. No one knew that Dale had secretly accumulated close to 3 million dollars! Dale sent 33 students to college free of charge. No one expected a simple construction worker who owned a few pairs or jeans and a rusty truck to be a secret millionaire.
Now what does Dale’s life of secret generosity have to do with injustices against Christians, and the media’s portrayal and dislike of followers of Jesus Christ? People didn’t know Dale was a secret philanthropist and millionaire. They didn’t see it coming when his estate put 33 students free of debt through college. They were caught off guard. Too many Christians are also caught off guard and can’t understand why as American’s our 1st Amendment right is violated. Well that is because of our lack of knowledge of the Word of God and scripture. Let me read this to you from God’s word and maybe it will make a little more sense.
Matthew 27:27-31,34-42 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!
The foundation of Christianity, the crutch, the cornerstone of our faith all has to do with the cross, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Everything we believer revolves around this one event. Jesus’s life was important he taught us how to live, but his death is what was most meaningful, for it brings us eternal life. Every single Christian should know the crucifixion story inside and out. Now I read to you a part of the crucifixion story. Did you catch a theme in it? I’ll give you a hint, the sermon title gives it away. Jesus’s entire trial, beating, public humiliation, and crucifixion was an absolute fiasco of injustices. Jesus, who was God in human form, our creator and the only human to live a perfect spotless life, was stripped of his clothing in public, humiliated by wearing a purple robe signifying him as a king, and made to wear a crown of thorns. Jesus was then beaten, whipped, paraded through town and put in a public place to hang and die for sins he didn’t commit; we did.
Jesus was mocked and hated by the ones he came to save. The very people he loved rejected him, mocked him, and hated him. Jesus even said it John 15:18
The World’s Hatred 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.”
People were caught off guard by Dale being a secret millionaire, they didn’t see it coming. We should not be caught off guard if we face any injustice of persecution for following Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ plainly said it. Then in his death he proved it. We are Christians right, followers of Jesus Christ, and what does it say in John 15:18 again, 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” As he was dying on the cross for the very soldier who pierced him he was mocked, and treated unjustly! Guys guess what that means for us? Expect it! Plan for it, be prepared, don’t be surprised or caught off guard. God’s word never fails, it is a living word. It says it’s going to happen, so that means it’s gonna happen! Let me read you a few more places where the word says this.
2 Timothy 3:12
12 Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
2 Corinthians 12:10
10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Peter 4:12
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
What do we do with this? How do we respond, why should we deal with injustice? Should we expect it and be happy about it? Well Jesus answers this better than I can.
Matthew 5:10-12
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
As Christians we rely on the cross to save us. Jesus embraced his cross, because he knew the good that would come out of his injustice. That is why before his death he said these words. “Be Glad! Be happy about persecution!” I’m going to challenge you all this morning to eagerly look forward to any form of persecution you face in the name of Jesus Christ. Watch the news, you’re going to see more and more pressure on the church. The media doesn’t like the truth. The world doesn’t like the truth. We Christians stand on the Word of God have something to say that they don’t like. We play nice, they don’t; so, get ready! They will fight dirty. The church will be misrepresented. You will be called intolerant. Your liberties and opinions as a Christian will be sub-par.
You and your belief will be mocked. Accept it, and bear it gladly, because we are followers of Christ and we are to stand as a ray of light in a dark world. The darkness hates the light! Don’t be like Dales friends who didn’t see it coming. Jesus himself warned you and his death proved it. Get ready to be mocked and be glad. Let’s Pray
The Root of Independence, SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020
Happy belated Independence Day! The 4th of July has been a very special day for me personally. Emily and I started dating at the fireworks in 8th grade in Boscobel in the 1900’s, 1999 to be specific. 5 years later on the fourth to celebrate our dating under the fireworks, I proposed to Emily over the Loud speaker in front of a crowd of several thousand. Moments after she said yes, the fireworks shot off! Now fast forward to the year 2020, over 20 years later and we bring our daughter home on the 4th of July. Now those are personal reason’s I enjoy the 4th. I look forward to the 4th every year, and enjoy the celebration and the festivities. But why is it that we celebrate the 4th? We celebrate our national heritage and our declaration of Independence! We celebrate the 4th to remember when we put our foot down to tyranny and started this great nation.
In 1776 we publicly announced that we were an independent nation. We filed a public grievance with King George and England called the Declaration of Independence. Many people know a few lines out of the declaration of Independence, and they can recite a few lines. Very few have read all of it. Kind of like the Bible, many people quote the parts we like and don’t take the time to read the rest. If you read through the declaration of Independence you will read about a list of grievances that the original 13 colonies filed against king George. Most people do not know that the Declaration of Independence is not a legal document, it is a public statement expressing the views of the founding Fathers and their reasons for becoming an independent nation. On the 4th we celebrate this document and its importance in founding our nation. There are 1478 words in the Declaration of Independence. To put this in perspective my sermons are anywhere between 1500-2000 words.
In this document of the founding fathers it directly mentions God, the Creator, and Divine Providence. God was intwined in our nation since the beginning. Here are two lines out of the Declaration of Independence that you might have heard in regards to God. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Now there is also a 3rd time God is mentioned as well but it was in the opening paragraph and it was very long. The point that I read these two lines in our declaration of Independence is to point out that the very beginning of our nation directly addresses the importance and necessity of God in order for us to be free. God is mentioned in the beginning statements of the Declaration of Independence and in the final lines. In order to be a free nation, we must have God! Our nations founding father knew this.
Now look at where we are at as a nation now? We live in the greatest nation the land flowing with milk and honey, and yet we have some of the whiniest spoiled self-intitled crybabies in the world. Now let me make this disclaimer, our nation is not perfect far from it and we never were. As I recently preached, we have made our mistakes and that is why we keep history to remind us of those mistakes. But I digress, look at the news now. We have people in this nation who disrespect the flag by refusing to stand, and who refuse to acknowledge the 4th of July. The irony of all of this is that they use their rights as a free individual to disrespect the flag of the nation that gives them the very rights to do what they are doing. Many people use our freedoms as American’s to do Evil.
Earlier I read the final line of our declaration of Independence and it said this;” And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” The declaration of independence, the document that said, were going to create a free nation, wrapped up with the line saying the support for this declaration comes form a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. The Declaration of Independence that we celebrate each 4th of July boldly states we only have freedom if God protects us. God’ gives us our freedom and that leads us to our scripture for today.
Galatians 5:1-10 Freedom in Christ
5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.
In Galatians, Paul is trying to squash a debate about what it means to be a Christian, do you have to be Jewish and follow the Jewish laws to be a Christian. Circumcision was a visual sign of your following the Law of Moses. Early Christians were getting wrapped up it following the cultural law and trying to earn their freedom by works. This contradicts what Grace is. They were trying to find freedom by adhering to the law. Then they were using the law to make themselves look more righteous than others around them. They were using the law to express their freedom, yet it was shackling them down. They were not free if they did not accept Jesus Christ Grace.
I want you to think about our current situation right now in the news. We watch people burn the flag. We see people standing on flags, and desecrating the American flag. We watch people kneel on flags. We see people publicly protest the flag that gives them the right to peacefully protest. We watch people attack and with their freedom of speech say horrible despicable things to our police officers who protect us. All of this is done with their “freedom” that the law of the land gives them. The glory of this nation is we have the right to say what we believe and think publicly. But just because we have the right and the freedom to do these things does not mean that we should. This leads me to my next scripture for today out of 1st Peter.
1 Peter 2:15-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.
You are free, but you are God’s slaves! Don’t use freedom as an excuse to do evil! Do American’s have the right to say whatever they want? Yes. I have the legal right to say terrible things to a police officer. But should we? No. We have the right to turn our back on our flag and not stand when the colors are presented, but does that mean that we should trample the red, white, and blue under our feet? No. Just because we are free doesn’t mean we should use our freedom to do evil!
Let me ask you what happened in the garden of Eden. God gave us freedom. The choice to decide to follow God and listen to his commands or to pridefully reject his commands. Eve had her freedom, and she trampled it under her foot at the fall. You may think Lance you can’t be using scripture, and the declaration of Independence together in a sermon! There is separation of Church and State! Well guess what, you can’t have your cake and eat it too! This nation was founded on Christian principles. In our very Declaration of Independence, we openly state that all men are created Equal by the Creator! In the final sentence we boldly claim that we are counting on Divine providence, “God’s protection” to make us free!
This nation cannot and will not remain free is we do not have God at the center of it! We all are free, but we are slaves to God. As American’s we are free, but we must remain true to God’s laws and God’s commands. Do not use your freedom and an excuse to do evil. Racism is the hot topic right now. What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone! We have the right to say whatever we want to a cop, but should we? What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone. We see people who defile the flag, and it makes our skin boil and we want to teach them a lesson and tell them what we think of them, but should we? What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone. In fact, Jesus takes it a step farther in Matthew 5:44, Love your enemies.
Yesterday we celebrated this great nation. The land of the free because of the brave. Now I am challenging you today to be brave and use your freedom to respect others! Regardless if they believe what you believe or act the way you do. Respect them! Remember you too once were an unbeliever and you too used your freedoms to do evil! As verse 15 says in 1st Peter, 15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. You have the freedom of how to use your freedoms. You can use your freedom to promote the gospel and respect of others or you can use your freedom to tear this nation apart.
Remember what Galatians 5:1 says, 5 “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” We are so blessed to live in an independent nation! With all this talk about independence why don’t I give you the definition of being independent: not subject to control by others. This means you as the individual in this independent nation are not subject to the control of others. You have so many freedoms because you were created in the Creator’s image. You have so many freedoms in this country because our founding father’s asked for God’s blessing and incorporated it in our Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution. Yesterday was a good day to be an American, and an even better day to be a Christian.
Let freedom ring out across this land and we shall remain a free nation by being God’s slaves. Use your freedoms to promote the gospel and return this country to it’s roots of independence.
Let’s Pray.
Insanity SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020
For the last 2 weeks I have been preaching about Solomon. The sermon stemmed off of 2nd Chronicles 7:14, the infamous Covid-19 scripture that many preachers and Facebook post quote, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn form their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive heir sins and restore their land.” I spoke how we didn’t listen to the scripture surrounding that verse, and how if we do not follow God’s commands and decrees our land will become the mockery among nations. Similar to what is happening here in the US now.
Then last week was Father’s Day and I spoke about our Father’s role in reshaping this nation. How we have taken God out of judicial system, our schools, our workplaces, and now Father’s have willingly taken God out of the homes. I explained how the least attended Sunday of the year was Father’s Day. I called for our men and fathers to rise up. I finished my sermon with a challenge for our Dads to lead their families back to church and called them out. I asked for any Father who was willing to publicly lead their family back to worship to post it. You want to know how many fathers posted last week and accepted that challenge? 0, zilch, nada. Not a single father stepped up to the plate last week. In fact, the Cubs have more World Series Titles than I have fathers who are willing to publicly declare that “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”
Last week, I preached about Solomon’s life and his failure as a father that lead his nation and children into a downward spiral. Now this week I am going to continue preaching about the recap of the nation Israel’s downfall, and the reason why they fell. I know last week in my sermon I challenged you to read out of Kings and Chronicles. The reason I wanted you to do this is so that you can see the history of Insanity. I’m sure you’ve heard the statement that Einstein gets credited saying, “insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" If you spend some time reading this week; read through 1st and 2nd Kings and watch King after King fail, and watch history and insanity repeat itself, with a the few wise Kings being the exceptions.
As you read through these 2 books of the Bible you watch time and time again about one King after another who refuses to follow God’s commands and the nation continues to downfall. Starting from Solomon immediately his son Rehoboam ignores God’s commands and splits the nation of Israel in two parts. A short history lesson to those of you who might not understand how the nation of Israel started. The nation of Israel was not a geographical location, but rather a people. The nation of Israel started with a guy named Abraham, who actually came from some place in present day Iraq. God made a covenant with Abraham and said a nation would be born to him and his wife Sarah. That nation would be set apart from the rest of world to point people back to the one true God. Abraham then had a son named Isaac.
Isaac then had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob followed God and was renamed Israel. So, it goes, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who now is named Israel. Israel then has 12 sons. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Don’t worry for the main point of this sermon you don’t need to remember all the names, but knowing them does make sense of history and problems. Jacob (Israel)’s 12 sons all went to Egypt to escape a famine. When Jacob moved his clan and his 12 sons, and their wives and children to Egypt they became known as the “Israelites,” (today we know them as Jews) they were all family members of Israel. Israel was a family of about 120 when they entered Egypt. Everyone from the tribe of Israel were related, and just like at your family reunions each family clicked stayed together.
The twelve sons remember their names, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin each had their own clan. Think about it you go to a family reunion and each individual family sits and eats and hangs out together. Your all family, and you have a few close cousins but you spend most of your time with your family. After 400 years of slavery in Egypt the twelve brothers’ families and the nation of Israel grew to somewhere between 2-3 million. As they left Egypt and wandered around for forty years, and they became known as the “Hebrews” which was a word for wanderer. As the tribes entered the land of Canaan “the promised land” and over took it they divided it amongst themselves by tribal clan. Each brother and clan were given a specific job and land to live in. So, the nation Israel was first a people before it became a physical land and boundary.
Alright the bit of history and boring part of the sermon is over, but that history is important today’s current events and this sermon. The twelve tribes combined made the unified nation of Israel together under Solomon, but then split when Rehoboam came to power. 10 tribes to the north and Judah and Benjamin to the south. If you have ever heard Jesus called the Lion of Judah it is because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and it was the southern Kingdom, known as Judah who remained in power over Jerusalem.
Now onto the sermon what happens in 1st and 2nd Kings explains all the king of the north and all the kings of the South and their bitter fighting between each other and their failure as a chosen nation of God. Remember they are all family fighting and killing each other. As you read through 1st and 2nd Kings you see when the new King who come into power and commits to serve God only; then their nation flourishes. God called the nation of Israel to be different. God gave Mosses all the laws and commandments for the Hebrew people as the nation of Israel left Egypt. God did this so that his people would be both physically and spiritually different. That is why Jews have their hair cut a certain way. Their diet is different. That is why there is Kosher food and non-Kosher food. They also we set apart by God as God’s chosen people. They were to worship only God and not intermarry outside the clan of Israel. The “Israelites, Hebrews, or Jews,” whatever you want to call them are to physically and spiritually be different than all the other nations around them.
God did this for a reason. As a tiny nation of Israel, they were to be a beacon of light to the rest of the world. As far as nations goes, geographically and numerically they were a small nation. God used a small nation to show his power and sovereignty. When the people kept God’s commands and his laws their nation was unstoppable. When we grayed the lines of God’s commands and chose to look like the other nations around them, the nation crumbled. As you read through 1st and 2nd Kings you see 3 major themes that lead to each King’s downfall.
1st you see the evil Israelite kings bringing idols and pagan temples back into the country. Evil kings who forget God’s ways, wanted to be like their neighboring countries and wanted to be politically correct. They wanted everyone to be happy and worship and do whatever they wanted. They ignored God’s command of only worshipping God. When the nations did this and allowed pagan worship into their kingdoms it led to the 2nd and 3rd themes that hastened their downfall.
2nd Sexual immorality. At many pagan temple and shrines, they had shrine prostitutes. The prostitutes both male and female were used to worship a pagan God in order to gain fertility. A lack of sexual integrity and deviating from God’s intention for marriage and family between one man and one woman weakened the nation. They made this a gray area, because it was customary and politically correct to deviate away from God’s design for sex.
3rd Child Sacrifice. Many of the pagan gods, Molech especially demanded child sacrifice as a rite of worship. As Israelite kings forgot God’s ways and reintroduced idols and pagan worship, children were being slaughtered willingly by the hands of their parents. It was parents’ choice to thrown their own child into a fire to sacrifice it to a man-made idol.
These three themes; idols, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice, led to the nation’s downfall. Solomon’s United Nation of Israel was a powerhouse of the ancient world. Solomon worshipped God and abolished idol worship in the beginning and his nation was blessed by God. Then in an act of politics Solomon allowed idols back into his country and the following generation was corrupted and weakened. 1st and 2nd kings are all about generations not learning from their father’s mistakes. The past is recorded so that we do not make the mistakes the generation before us did.
Let’s bring this sermon into real time now. Look at our nation. Look at how many national monuments are being defaced and destroyed. History is for us to learn from not for us to erase and rewrite. The books of Kings show generation after generation of insanity. Each generation with very few exceptions does they same thing and expect different results. They abandon God and worship false idols, resulting in sexual immorality and child sacrifice.
Look at our nation now. Once a powerhouse in the world. Regardless what you might believe history does not lie, you can not rewrite it, our nation was built on a Christian foundation. Our nation never was perfect and yes, we have many flaws in our history. That is why we wrote them down. To remember our mistakes. That is why the Bible is written. To show us as a people we are full of sin. Our hearts are evil, and our ways are wicked. We naturally do not want o follow God’s commands. The Word of God is given to us to teach us. So that we can see the generations before us and learn from their mistakes.
The nations of Israel floundered and endured generations of inner turmoil and civil war amongst family members. Look at our nation now, watch the news and see the insanity. We have a generation trying to rewrite and erase history. We have a country and families divided over the social issues. We are trying too hard to be politically correct and be like all the other countries around us. We have ignored God, forgotten his ways, allowed sexual immorality to overtake our nation in a prideful way, and we have made our children’s life a choice. We cannot ignore God’s laws and ways and expect different results. The nation of Israel was a people before it was a geographical location. America is a nation of people from every tribe! Black, blue, pink, yellow, white, orange, red, whatever color we are we are all American!
We read the Bible and the books of Kings and think, wow, they really had shrine prostitutes? They had public sex with strangers in front of everyone and called it worship? Parents really bound their children and sacrificed them, or even worse ate their own children? How could a nation be so sick and perverse? Look at our nation? Do you want to be the pot or the kettle? I wonder when people a couple hundred years from now look at the history books and look at abortion like we look at the holocaust? Or if the look at the rampant sexual immorality like we look at ancient Greece and Rome? Maybe they look at the USA as formerly the United State of America?
You see were not meant to rewrite history we are meant to learn from it. By this time next week Emily and I will have welcomed the newest addition to our family. On Wednesday July 1st we are scheduled to have a C-section. This date has been moved up from previously scheduled. When we were sitting with the doctor and discussing the c-section, the doctor looked at our pregnancy history and made a decision for the future. He said, “Why wait?” We learned from our history and we planned for a bright future.
Our nation is struggling with Insanity. We keep pushing God farther and farther away. We keep ignoring his commands and expect different results. It didn’t work for God’s chosen people the Israelites. It won’t work for us either. But hey let’s rewrite history and take out our bad parts. Let’s not learn from our mistakes. I mean it makes sense if you don’t think about it.
You know last week I reported ZERO fathers who said they would stand up for their family and lead their family back to church. That’s pretty disheartening. At least when I read through the books of Kings there are a few good Kings, Josiah, and Hezekiah. Those few good men decided to bring their nation back to God. In order for the Kings to return to God it took some strong men and prophets to speak the truth no matter how politically incorrect it was or how controversial it sounded. One of the major prophets at the end of 2nd Kings was Isaiah and that brings us to our scripture for today.
Isaiah 1:18-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
19 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
21 See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute.
Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers.
22 Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag.
Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine.
23 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.
The first 38 chapters of Isaiah are about God’s judgment to his people who forgot his ways. This was not an easy message for Isaiah to give to the people and to the Evil kings. But he did it. Isaiah was not politically correct. Isaiah did not conform his lifestyle to the cultural norms. He stood in stark contrast to the nation around him. Isaiah spoke truth even when what he had to say made people hate him. Isaiah was a man of God who was persecuted and punished for speaking God’s word. Today a Christian is considered intolerant if they believe marriage is for one man and one woman. A Christian’s views and beliefs and heard with contempt.
I recently watched a news feed about people a Florida town hall meeting in which people were contesting wearing a mask. Roughly 8-10 people spoke against wearing a mask. The media was so kind as to pick out every half-wit Christian who made us all look like fools and make a mockery out of their beliefs. (this is not a sermon on should we wear a mask or not this is irrelevant) The point I am making is the media specifically targeted Christians to ridicule us. But so, what. Isaiah was not scared to prophecy God’s word. Isaiah looked at history and saw what future awaited them if they refused to repent. Oral tradition, (note the bible does not mention this) says that Isaiah was sawed in half by King Manasseh the evilest King of the Southern Kingdom that led to the nations ultimate capture to Babylon.
I guess if Isaiah wasn’t scared to die a horrible death and preached the word, I won’t worry about being politically correct and conforming to our societal standards in return for a little ridicule. Here is the deal. If you want to know the future look at the history. It repeats itself. If we abandon God as a nation our nation will fail. Fathers if you continue to fail your family and abandon God and your role as a spiritual leader in your house, your letting the greatest nation ever fall. I am proud to be an American, I believe God has graced me with the privileges that I have to live in a free nation. I will not abandon my God or my country. I ask you how many of you are with me? Will you fight for your God and your country? Will you put God’s commands and decrees ahead of political correctness and social norms? Societal norms change like shifting sands in the desert. God’s words and laws are timeless and unchanging.
Learn from history and do not let it repeat itself. One nations future depends on our actions. Do your part in ending this insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You like Israel once was are called to be set apart! Your challenge this week is to stand loud and proud as a Christian. Do not be ashamed of your God. Publicly declare that you and your household will follow God’s laws and help end the insanity!
Father’s Rise Up and Lead! SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020
Today we are celebrating Father’s Day. Last Sunday we talked about the Rest of the Story. I preached on 2nd Chronicles and the Lord’s response to Solomon’s Prayer and dedication of the temple. I focused on the removal of our 10 Commandments in our workplace, our schools, and our judicial system. We have taken God out of these places and now we have no justice and no peace. Today I will be preaching on a Father’s role, and how I feel there is a real correlation between our missing Father’s and God missing in our nation.
I realize last week I did not stress or promote all of you reading about King Solomon’s life. I encouraged you to check out 2nd Chronicles and 1st Kings, I should have pushed it a little more. If you read the history of King Solomon you will see that he was the wisest and most powerful king to ever rule over the united kingdom of Israel. During his reign Israel became a powerhouse in the ancient world. Now if you know anything of his story when King Solomon ascended to the throne, he asked God for wisdom. God granted Solomon wisdom and told him to always remember his commands and his laws. I spoke heavily on this last week as to what happens when you forget God’s commands and his decrees. If you don’t know what that is, check out the news you’ll see.
Solomon’s reign started out great. Solomon worshipped God only and built God a giant temple. Things were great. Solomon kept God’s ways and subjected himself to God’s laws, and Solomon and his nation prospered. It took 20 years for Solomon to build both the Temple and his own Royal palace, but as time went on Solomon ignored God’s laws and wisdom. Instead of Solomon relying on God, he relied on his own wisdom. And Solomon made a monumental mistake that inevitably led to his dynasty’s downfall.
Many people know that King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And quite often people who do not understand scripture or chose not to read it for themselves will ask if polygamy is OK because of King Solomon and other biblical characters. But if you read the word of God it is pretty clear about God’s stance on polygamy. One man and one women. God made Eve for Adam, not Eve, then a little bit of Monica in his life, with a little bit of Erica by his side, and Rita is all he needs, and Tina and the rest of Mambo number 5 list.
Solomon knew this. Solomon knew he was not to marry more than one woman and especially not to marry women outside of the tribe of Israel. If you want the biblical proof check out Exodus, 23:31-33, 34:12-16, and Deuteronomy 7:3-4. This is God’s law from Mosses, not to mention in God’s response to accepting Solomon’s prayer God specifically tells Solomon not to do what those verses say.
So, what happens to Solomon and how is this relatable to Father’s Day 2020? Men let me ask you this. Do your wives have a way of persuading you to do certain things? Yes, the answer is a definite yes and you know what I mean, I’m married too. Well Solomon’s pagan wives and concubines have a way of persuading him to do things against God’s laws and commands. God had warned Solomon not to intermarry because he would be persuaded by his wives to do things unacceptable by God. This is the case for Solomon. After Solomon has personally spoke with God and built this enormous temple to God, and abolish pagan idol worship; Solomon’s pagan wives talk him into building pagan idols and temple for his wives to worship at.
I won’t go into it too much but Solomon built some pagan temples for some pretty terrible pagan religions and let his wives worship them. Solomon even built a temple to Molech. Molech was considered detestable because many of it’s rites of worship involved child sacrificing, where they parents would bind their own child and lay him in the arms of a statue of Molech over a raging fire, then the child would roll down the arms of Molech with their parents watching as the child fell into the fire. You see the bible is clear on child sacrifice, it is detestable, maybe abortion clinics should be called Temples of Molech, but that’s another sermon.
So back to Solomon. Solomon deviated from God in the mid to later years of his life, and by the end of his life; Solomon repented and confessed his sin and came back to God, but the damage had already been done. You see Solomon in his middle years was raising children. We only see a few of his children recorded in the bible, but his son Rehoboam and two daughters are mentioned. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines so you would expect he had other children but all that are mentioned are these three. So while Solomon is raising a son to inherit his throne, Solomon had walked away from God. Growing up his son Rehoboam has all the influence of these other religions, gods, earthly possessions, and lack of spiritual integrity from his father to mold and shape his as the next King.
This proves disastrous for Solomon’s dynasty and Rehoboam. Almost immediately after Solomon dies and Rehoboam takes over the kingdom the Kingdom is tore apart into two separate nations, and Israel is no longer a unified nation. They had the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, and for many years and many kings to follow both kingdoms forgot God’s laws and decrees and as verse 20 said last week they become a mockery among the nations. The nation of Israel abandoned their God and justice was handed out. No justice and no peace was found in the land when the nation abandoned their God who protected them.
Do you know how this all happened? How the most powerful, wisest, wealthiest King Solomon and his Kingdom came crashing down? Because as a Father he failed to lead his son and the next generation! Solomon let his lustful desires, and his political needs compromise his integrity and his relationship with his God! Solomon ignored God and his commands and his duty as a father! Now I want you to look at the current state our nation is in. We have hatred running freely in the streets. We have CHAZ, we have BLM, we have civil disobedience and unrest in every state. We have removed God from our judicial system, our work place, and our schools as I stated last week. Now Father’s let me explain to you how we have removed God from our homes.
Now listen to these stats, there old, and probably way outdated which would tend to make be believe the numbers are even higher, but when I read the numbers you will get the point of what I’m saying. Do you know what the three biggest days in church attendance are? Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day. Do you know what is typically one of the smallest days in church attendance? Today, Father’s Day.
When a woman comes to Christ there is a 17% chance her family will follow her to church. When the Father comes to Christ there is a 93% chance the family will follow him to church! If a wife goes to church and the father does not 1 out of 50 children will attend worship when they become an adult. If the father goes to church intermittently and irregularly there is a between a ½ to 2/3 chance the adult children will attend worship regularly as an adult. If the father is a regular attender an active in the church 2/3 to 3/4 of those children as adults will also worship regularly! Wow! Do you see the importance that you have on your children’s spiritual future, dads! Listen to these numbers; a typical adult congregation in the US draws 61% female crowd and 39% male, this is pretty standard across age. 25% of married couples the wife attends without the husband. Mid-week activities at churches are close to 80% female. 70% of boys raised in a church leave the church in their late teens and many never return. Men we have an issue! This is your fault as husbands, fathers, and leaders of your family!
So where are my men? Where are you? God did not intend for you to be a coward! We need a nation of strong men to be raised up and lead their families back to the church! We have taken God out of the Judicial system, out of the work place, and out of the schools, and now our Father’s have chosen to remove God from their homes! Men this is on you! We have allowed God out of these areas because the father of the household has not made God important in their homes! I truly believe that as Men as husbands, and fathers we have failed our nation! If you want to change this country and bring a little common sense back into this land, then lead your family to church!
You know the other day I read a post on Facebook that asked who I was. Someone responded with that’s my pastor. It has been over 3 years since that particular person who said answered that’s my pastor has worshipped on Sunday morning. I’ve made the joke to Emily that if everyone who calls me their pastor actually came to church every other week, we wouldn’t have enough room at either church.
Now if I have offended any of you Men or father’s out there; good. Your being convicted and called out. If you are not leading your family towards God your leading them away. As a man we are called to be a protector. I recently saw a meme that had a husband standing in front of his wife and new baby with one hand protecting them and the other pointing a pistol. The caption said something about all lives matter, but these behind me matter more. The point is as a husband and a Father we are the protectors of the family. I am a pastor, I believe very much in the sanctity of life, but I will do whatever is necessary to protect my wife and my children, I will defend them!
I would willingly put myself in harms way and in a dangerous situation to protect them from anything bad happening in order to preserve their life. I am quite sure many of you other fathers and husbands would do the same as well. So, let me ask you this. Why would lay down your own life and be willing to take another’s life in order to protect theirs but you’re not man enough to lead them through the doors of a church on Sunday morning? Mother’s Day is a day about compassion and grace. Father’s Day is for the men to rise up and lead! Every member of your family, your wife, your children, and your grandchildren will one day die yet you would do anything to protect them. Now is your time to be a REAL man and lead them to Jesus Christ so that they can live forever!
Solomon was a good man. He was a hard worker. He worshipped God and built God a temple. And maybe you work the church fundraisers and financially support the building and are too busy for Sunday morning worship. When Solomon honored God, God honored his life. When Solomon forgot God and was too busy to worship, he failed his children and own son Rehoboam rejected God. Rehoboam was influenced by his father’s lack of spiritual integrity. As a preacher I don’t care about your financial support of the church, that is secondary. What I care about is you and your family having a relationship with Jesus Christ that is everlasting! I would rather have you worship every Sunday and never work a single event at the church or donate a single dollar to our institution. Your relationship with God is more important!
I am challenging you Fathers out there to follow this scripture from Deuteronomy 6:5-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Let this sermon and my words be a call for the men of our nation, the fathers of households to rise up! If I have offended you because you don’t come to church GOOD! I did my job! I preached the word. Be convicted of your failure, confess your sins, and rise up and lead your family back into church! Back in March Emily and I attended a Love Your Marriage Intentional Weekend. While we were there, we discussed what we really wanted from each other. Her answer was she wanted me to Lead.
Men you want to know what your wife wants? She wants you to lead your family! Be the man God has called you to be! Solomon chose to worship the gods of his pagan wives and destruction fell upon his household. Who will you serve as leader of your house? I know who I will serve.
Joshua 24:15 NLT
But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
If your man enough to promise to lead your family back to church prove it. If you’re watching on Facebook or YouTube post below. If you’re the Husband and Father in your household man up and publicly declare your man enough to bring God back into your home.
Let’s Pray
THE REST OF THE STORY SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2020
But I Mowed the Grass, Do Better Now My Child SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020
Well here I am filming and giving the sermon alone. Saturday is my day to work on my sermon. Emily is home so I can kick everyone out of my room and focus on preparing and writing my sermon. But this Saturday was different. I had something planned for the morning and was going to do my sermon in the afternoon. That’s kind of normal. But when I got home, I got tied up with a few other projects. I knew I needed to get my sermon done, but I really needed to get the grass mowed. I felt ok because I had a sermon idea so I knew what I was going to preach on. At 6pm, I was feeling good. I sat down to start writing with a plan in place. Emily stayed up and made a really late supper with everyone, but at 9:30 she couldn’t wait any longer. We ate supper, I told the kids a story, we prayed and they went to bed. I still felt ok, I was ¾ done with my sermon so I was ok.
Shortly after midnight, I scratched my original 2000-word sermon, and started fresh. 500 words into my second sermon I combined the two and was feeling Ok. After 1:30am I gave up walked outside and knew that those two sermons were not what I should preach on. I had to toss out almost 7 hours of work. I had worked hard on preparing a sermon that would follow up last week’s sermon. I wanted my sermon to be powerful, timely, and pertinent to the current events in the nation. I wanted it to catch people’s attention.
And here I am sitting in my living room with the sun about to come up. Giving you a short sermon entitled “But I Mowed the Grass.” I was pretty frustrated with myself when I had to toss my first 2000-word sermon. I inadvertently woke up Emily when I tossed my computer down and tossed my bible in frustration. She asked what I was doing, and I said I have to go for a walk, I’m blocked, I can’t write. I put my headlamp on and walked outside. I sat at the picnic table and starred at the grass. Seeing the fresh cut grass and smelling it, it hit me. But I Mowed the Grass.
You know I don’t even like mowing grass, but I took my precious time Saturday afternoon making sure I got it all done. And you know what I lost? I lost the opportunity to worship with my family. I was so focused on two different things. I wanted to get the stupid grass cut, and I wanted so badly to have a follow up sermon talking about the riots and protesting. I spent some serious time and research on my sermon. I had a lot of notes and points that I wanted to talk on. I focused on it so much that I missed the opportunity to WORSHIP with my family! Here I am now giving a sermon as everyone sleeps because I need to get it posted before Sunday Morning.
Honestly, I got too proud. I saw last week’s sermon hit 2000 views and I really wanted to top that this week. Then God humbled me really quickly. It is my calling to preach God’s word. Unfortunately, I am a natural sinner, and I allow pride to over take me. I thought I could do it on my own. I had the idea o wanted to preach on. I knew how I wanted to present the sermon. I had a bunch or points, that I tried extremely hard to twist together to
Recently I heard the disheartening story of a young girl who passed away from the novel Corona virus. Carsyn Davis a 17-year-old teenager who had battled cancer and an autoimmune disorder sadly succumb to COVID. This is sad to hear and if for some reason by some chance her family ever catches wind or hears my sermon please accept my condolences and forgive me if anything that I say offends you or disrespects your loved-one’s life, as that is not my intention. I want to read a few of the headlines regarding her death and see if you catch a familiar theme from these news sources.
Here are the headlines from some prominent (non-biased) newspapers regarding her tragic death. The first one is from the ABC News, “Florida Teen Who Died of COVID-19 Attended Large Church Gathering.”, the headline from the Washington Post reads this, “A high-risk teen who died from COVID-19 attended a huge church party,” NBC Miami headline reads this, “Teen who died of COVID-19 attended large Florida church event days before,” People.com headline reads, High-Risk Florida teen dies of Coronavirus after going to 100-Person church party.” These are only 4 of many more similar headlines (from so called non-biased) newspapers.
ABC, NBC, People and the Washington Post all make it very clear that Carsyn was at a large, or huge church gathering. There is no evidence that she caught the virus there. They want to point out all the church did as a failure to prevent it by not enforcing social distance, no masks, and they want to blame the church for this tragedy. ABC news in their article does not support this accusation but finds it necessary to include it in their national paper, they write that some people say the church was throwing a COVID party to see who could catch it first. Now the church has denied those allegations, and ABC did not say that is what happened in their article; but they felt it necessary to print this misinformation. Later in the article I feel ABC attacks the church saying that they refused to suspend their upcoming youth events, and notes that the church refused to comment and took down their youth Facebook page. They even had a professional medical opinion by a Dr. Dara Kass an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University School of Medicine, who in the article isn’t mentioned that she had any involvement in the case, but Dr. Kass says this, “Even if the point of the event wasn’t to get COVID-19, it was the likely outcome.” To sum up ABC’s news article they are implying that a teen got COVID from church don’t go to church, even though they have no proof other than a medical examiners report saying that she attended the event, that it; not that she contracted it there.
Now here me out because I am sure you are really trying to figure out where I’m going with this sermon and not listening to the words I’m actually saying. This is my belief and not a biblical truth that I am now presenting. You can get COVID from the gas station, Wal Mart, feed mill, hardware store, park, ice cream shop, national protest tearing down monuments, political rally, or at the hospital. It’s out there; that’s my opinion. I have been in Wal Mart grocery shopping and at any given time there are over 100 people in Wal Mart. Cabela’s yesterday had well over 100 people! I’m quite sure there are over 100 people in an Amazon warehouse packing your next delivery, I haven’t seen too many protest on the news of less than 100 people, I’m also quite sure that there are over 100 employees inside ABC news, NBC news, and the Washington Post probably 7 days a week. These places of business are not considered huge or large when they have over 100 people are, they? So why is this church gathering of 100 suddenly huge or large? Protest have way more than 100 people and the news has not reported a huge or large crowd when they reach over 100 people. The news throws a fit that the church hasn’t closed due to a positive person, yet Wal Mart employees have had positive cases, I’m sure Amazon has, I’m sure between ABC, NBC, the Washington Post they have had it in their buildings, and they haven’t closed down.
My point here is this. Churches are being targeted in a passive aggressive manner. Take the whole COVID pandemic. At first churches were told to close and to stop public gatherings to stop the spread. Willingly we did, myself included. Though we are essential as a church we thought about the safety of others, and closed. What was messed up is that liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries (where legal) were deemed essential and did not have to close, and have stayed open through all of this. Elective surgeries, and regular health screening was postponed due to COVID but Abortion clinics were considered essential. A subtle attack to our 1st Amendment right was infringed and we myself included followed suit in order to protect our congregants. (For the record I think we chose the right thing.) Now the media wants to squash our worship.
California just passed a law saying you can’t sing or chant in public worship to stop the spread of COVID yet they’re not cracking down on protestors yelling or screaming in the police’s face. Pastor’s get arrested and fined for civil disobedience and then protesters who break these same ordinances become glorified and praised by the media. As pastor gets arrested for holding a public worship service for singing with too many people and is considered a menace to public safety. Next a convicted felon gets arrested for breaking the law and they are considered a martyr for the cause in the face of a protest.
I have been considered intolerant, and a bigot for reciting the biblical stance of marriage. Hobby Lobby is attacked for not covering their employees birth control. A private cake baking company is sued for refusing to make a cake for a same sex wedding against their religious beliefs. This list could go on and on about injustice against Christians, but for the sake of time I will stop.
I want to switch gears here a little bit and tell you the story of a real man named Dale Schroeder. He was a neighboring Iowan who did not have any children or immediate family. He worked for 67 years as a carpenter. He drove an old rusty Chevy truck for years. He had 2 pair of blue jeans one for church and one for work. Before he died Dale went to a lawyer to set up his estate. Dale said he wanted to help send kids to college and pay their fees. Dale never had the money himself so over the years he frugally saved his money. No one knew that Dale had secretly accumulated close to 3 million dollars! Dale sent 33 students to college free of charge. No one expected a simple construction worker who owned a few pairs or jeans and a rusty truck to be a secret millionaire.
Now what does Dale’s life of secret generosity have to do with injustices against Christians, and the media’s portrayal and dislike of followers of Jesus Christ? People didn’t know Dale was a secret philanthropist and millionaire. They didn’t see it coming when his estate put 33 students free of debt through college. They were caught off guard. Too many Christians are also caught off guard and can’t understand why as American’s our 1st Amendment right is violated. Well that is because of our lack of knowledge of the Word of God and scripture. Let me read this to you from God’s word and maybe it will make a little more sense.
Matthew 27:27-31,34-42 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him!
The foundation of Christianity, the crutch, the cornerstone of our faith all has to do with the cross, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Everything we believer revolves around this one event. Jesus’s life was important he taught us how to live, but his death is what was most meaningful, for it brings us eternal life. Every single Christian should know the crucifixion story inside and out. Now I read to you a part of the crucifixion story. Did you catch a theme in it? I’ll give you a hint, the sermon title gives it away. Jesus’s entire trial, beating, public humiliation, and crucifixion was an absolute fiasco of injustices. Jesus, who was God in human form, our creator and the only human to live a perfect spotless life, was stripped of his clothing in public, humiliated by wearing a purple robe signifying him as a king, and made to wear a crown of thorns. Jesus was then beaten, whipped, paraded through town and put in a public place to hang and die for sins he didn’t commit; we did.
Jesus was mocked and hated by the ones he came to save. The very people he loved rejected him, mocked him, and hated him. Jesus even said it John 15:18
The World’s Hatred 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.”
People were caught off guard by Dale being a secret millionaire, they didn’t see it coming. We should not be caught off guard if we face any injustice of persecution for following Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ plainly said it. Then in his death he proved it. We are Christians right, followers of Jesus Christ, and what does it say in John 15:18 again, 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” As he was dying on the cross for the very soldier who pierced him he was mocked, and treated unjustly! Guys guess what that means for us? Expect it! Plan for it, be prepared, don’t be surprised or caught off guard. God’s word never fails, it is a living word. It says it’s going to happen, so that means it’s gonna happen! Let me read you a few more places where the word says this.
2 Timothy 3:12
12 Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
2 Corinthians 12:10
10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
1 Peter 4:12
12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
What do we do with this? How do we respond, why should we deal with injustice? Should we expect it and be happy about it? Well Jesus answers this better than I can.
Matthew 5:10-12
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
As Christians we rely on the cross to save us. Jesus embraced his cross, because he knew the good that would come out of his injustice. That is why before his death he said these words. “Be Glad! Be happy about persecution!” I’m going to challenge you all this morning to eagerly look forward to any form of persecution you face in the name of Jesus Christ. Watch the news, you’re going to see more and more pressure on the church. The media doesn’t like the truth. The world doesn’t like the truth. We Christians stand on the Word of God have something to say that they don’t like. We play nice, they don’t; so, get ready! They will fight dirty. The church will be misrepresented. You will be called intolerant. Your liberties and opinions as a Christian will be sub-par.
You and your belief will be mocked. Accept it, and bear it gladly, because we are followers of Christ and we are to stand as a ray of light in a dark world. The darkness hates the light! Don’t be like Dales friends who didn’t see it coming. Jesus himself warned you and his death proved it. Get ready to be mocked and be glad. Let’s Pray
The Root of Independence, SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2020
Happy belated Independence Day! The 4th of July has been a very special day for me personally. Emily and I started dating at the fireworks in 8th grade in Boscobel in the 1900’s, 1999 to be specific. 5 years later on the fourth to celebrate our dating under the fireworks, I proposed to Emily over the Loud speaker in front of a crowd of several thousand. Moments after she said yes, the fireworks shot off! Now fast forward to the year 2020, over 20 years later and we bring our daughter home on the 4th of July. Now those are personal reason’s I enjoy the 4th. I look forward to the 4th every year, and enjoy the celebration and the festivities. But why is it that we celebrate the 4th? We celebrate our national heritage and our declaration of Independence! We celebrate the 4th to remember when we put our foot down to tyranny and started this great nation.
In 1776 we publicly announced that we were an independent nation. We filed a public grievance with King George and England called the Declaration of Independence. Many people know a few lines out of the declaration of Independence, and they can recite a few lines. Very few have read all of it. Kind of like the Bible, many people quote the parts we like and don’t take the time to read the rest. If you read through the declaration of Independence you will read about a list of grievances that the original 13 colonies filed against king George. Most people do not know that the Declaration of Independence is not a legal document, it is a public statement expressing the views of the founding Fathers and their reasons for becoming an independent nation. On the 4th we celebrate this document and its importance in founding our nation. There are 1478 words in the Declaration of Independence. To put this in perspective my sermons are anywhere between 1500-2000 words.
In this document of the founding fathers it directly mentions God, the Creator, and Divine Providence. God was intwined in our nation since the beginning. Here are two lines out of the Declaration of Independence that you might have heard in regards to God. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Now there is also a 3rd time God is mentioned as well but it was in the opening paragraph and it was very long. The point that I read these two lines in our declaration of Independence is to point out that the very beginning of our nation directly addresses the importance and necessity of God in order for us to be free. God is mentioned in the beginning statements of the Declaration of Independence and in the final lines. In order to be a free nation, we must have God! Our nations founding father knew this.
Now look at where we are at as a nation now? We live in the greatest nation the land flowing with milk and honey, and yet we have some of the whiniest spoiled self-intitled crybabies in the world. Now let me make this disclaimer, our nation is not perfect far from it and we never were. As I recently preached, we have made our mistakes and that is why we keep history to remind us of those mistakes. But I digress, look at the news now. We have people in this nation who disrespect the flag by refusing to stand, and who refuse to acknowledge the 4th of July. The irony of all of this is that they use their rights as a free individual to disrespect the flag of the nation that gives them the very rights to do what they are doing. Many people use our freedoms as American’s to do Evil.
Earlier I read the final line of our declaration of Independence and it said this;” And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” The declaration of independence, the document that said, were going to create a free nation, wrapped up with the line saying the support for this declaration comes form a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence. The Declaration of Independence that we celebrate each 4th of July boldly states we only have freedom if God protects us. God’ gives us our freedom and that leads us to our scripture for today.
Galatians 5:1-10 Freedom in Christ
5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.
In Galatians, Paul is trying to squash a debate about what it means to be a Christian, do you have to be Jewish and follow the Jewish laws to be a Christian. Circumcision was a visual sign of your following the Law of Moses. Early Christians were getting wrapped up it following the cultural law and trying to earn their freedom by works. This contradicts what Grace is. They were trying to find freedom by adhering to the law. Then they were using the law to make themselves look more righteous than others around them. They were using the law to express their freedom, yet it was shackling them down. They were not free if they did not accept Jesus Christ Grace.
I want you to think about our current situation right now in the news. We watch people burn the flag. We see people standing on flags, and desecrating the American flag. We watch people kneel on flags. We see people publicly protest the flag that gives them the right to peacefully protest. We watch people attack and with their freedom of speech say horrible despicable things to our police officers who protect us. All of this is done with their “freedom” that the law of the land gives them. The glory of this nation is we have the right to say what we believe and think publicly. But just because we have the right and the freedom to do these things does not mean that we should. This leads me to my next scripture for today out of 1st Peter.
1 Peter 2:15-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.
You are free, but you are God’s slaves! Don’t use freedom as an excuse to do evil! Do American’s have the right to say whatever they want? Yes. I have the legal right to say terrible things to a police officer. But should we? No. We have the right to turn our back on our flag and not stand when the colors are presented, but does that mean that we should trample the red, white, and blue under our feet? No. Just because we are free doesn’t mean we should use our freedom to do evil!
Let me ask you what happened in the garden of Eden. God gave us freedom. The choice to decide to follow God and listen to his commands or to pridefully reject his commands. Eve had her freedom, and she trampled it under her foot at the fall. You may think Lance you can’t be using scripture, and the declaration of Independence together in a sermon! There is separation of Church and State! Well guess what, you can’t have your cake and eat it too! This nation was founded on Christian principles. In our very Declaration of Independence, we openly state that all men are created Equal by the Creator! In the final sentence we boldly claim that we are counting on Divine providence, “God’s protection” to make us free!
This nation cannot and will not remain free is we do not have God at the center of it! We all are free, but we are slaves to God. As American’s we are free, but we must remain true to God’s laws and God’s commands. Do not use your freedom and an excuse to do evil. Racism is the hot topic right now. What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone! We have the right to say whatever we want to a cop, but should we? What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone. We see people who defile the flag, and it makes our skin boil and we want to teach them a lesson and tell them what we think of them, but should we? What does verse 17 say? Respect everyone. In fact, Jesus takes it a step farther in Matthew 5:44, Love your enemies.
Yesterday we celebrated this great nation. The land of the free because of the brave. Now I am challenging you today to be brave and use your freedom to respect others! Regardless if they believe what you believe or act the way you do. Respect them! Remember you too once were an unbeliever and you too used your freedoms to do evil! As verse 15 says in 1st Peter, 15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. You have the freedom of how to use your freedoms. You can use your freedom to promote the gospel and respect of others or you can use your freedom to tear this nation apart.
Remember what Galatians 5:1 says, 5 “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” We are so blessed to live in an independent nation! With all this talk about independence why don’t I give you the definition of being independent: not subject to control by others. This means you as the individual in this independent nation are not subject to the control of others. You have so many freedoms because you were created in the Creator’s image. You have so many freedoms in this country because our founding father’s asked for God’s blessing and incorporated it in our Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution. Yesterday was a good day to be an American, and an even better day to be a Christian.
Let freedom ring out across this land and we shall remain a free nation by being God’s slaves. Use your freedoms to promote the gospel and return this country to it’s roots of independence.
Let’s Pray.
Insanity SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020
For the last 2 weeks I have been preaching about Solomon. The sermon stemmed off of 2nd Chronicles 7:14, the infamous Covid-19 scripture that many preachers and Facebook post quote, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn form their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and I will forgive heir sins and restore their land.” I spoke how we didn’t listen to the scripture surrounding that verse, and how if we do not follow God’s commands and decrees our land will become the mockery among nations. Similar to what is happening here in the US now.
Then last week was Father’s Day and I spoke about our Father’s role in reshaping this nation. How we have taken God out of judicial system, our schools, our workplaces, and now Father’s have willingly taken God out of the homes. I explained how the least attended Sunday of the year was Father’s Day. I called for our men and fathers to rise up. I finished my sermon with a challenge for our Dads to lead their families back to church and called them out. I asked for any Father who was willing to publicly lead their family back to worship to post it. You want to know how many fathers posted last week and accepted that challenge? 0, zilch, nada. Not a single father stepped up to the plate last week. In fact, the Cubs have more World Series Titles than I have fathers who are willing to publicly declare that “as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.”
Last week, I preached about Solomon’s life and his failure as a father that lead his nation and children into a downward spiral. Now this week I am going to continue preaching about the recap of the nation Israel’s downfall, and the reason why they fell. I know last week in my sermon I challenged you to read out of Kings and Chronicles. The reason I wanted you to do this is so that you can see the history of Insanity. I’m sure you’ve heard the statement that Einstein gets credited saying, “insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" If you spend some time reading this week; read through 1st and 2nd Kings and watch King after King fail, and watch history and insanity repeat itself, with a the few wise Kings being the exceptions.
As you read through these 2 books of the Bible you watch time and time again about one King after another who refuses to follow God’s commands and the nation continues to downfall. Starting from Solomon immediately his son Rehoboam ignores God’s commands and splits the nation of Israel in two parts. A short history lesson to those of you who might not understand how the nation of Israel started. The nation of Israel was not a geographical location, but rather a people. The nation of Israel started with a guy named Abraham, who actually came from some place in present day Iraq. God made a covenant with Abraham and said a nation would be born to him and his wife Sarah. That nation would be set apart from the rest of world to point people back to the one true God. Abraham then had a son named Isaac.
Isaac then had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Jacob followed God and was renamed Israel. So, it goes, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who now is named Israel. Israel then has 12 sons. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Don’t worry for the main point of this sermon you don’t need to remember all the names, but knowing them does make sense of history and problems. Jacob (Israel)’s 12 sons all went to Egypt to escape a famine. When Jacob moved his clan and his 12 sons, and their wives and children to Egypt they became known as the “Israelites,” (today we know them as Jews) they were all family members of Israel. Israel was a family of about 120 when they entered Egypt. Everyone from the tribe of Israel were related, and just like at your family reunions each family clicked stayed together.
The twelve sons remember their names, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin each had their own clan. Think about it you go to a family reunion and each individual family sits and eats and hangs out together. Your all family, and you have a few close cousins but you spend most of your time with your family. After 400 years of slavery in Egypt the twelve brothers’ families and the nation of Israel grew to somewhere between 2-3 million. As they left Egypt and wandered around for forty years, and they became known as the “Hebrews” which was a word for wanderer. As the tribes entered the land of Canaan “the promised land” and over took it they divided it amongst themselves by tribal clan. Each brother and clan were given a specific job and land to live in. So, the nation Israel was first a people before it became a physical land and boundary.
Alright the bit of history and boring part of the sermon is over, but that history is important today’s current events and this sermon. The twelve tribes combined made the unified nation of Israel together under Solomon, but then split when Rehoboam came to power. 10 tribes to the north and Judah and Benjamin to the south. If you have ever heard Jesus called the Lion of Judah it is because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, and it was the southern Kingdom, known as Judah who remained in power over Jerusalem.
Now onto the sermon what happens in 1st and 2nd Kings explains all the king of the north and all the kings of the South and their bitter fighting between each other and their failure as a chosen nation of God. Remember they are all family fighting and killing each other. As you read through 1st and 2nd Kings you see when the new King who come into power and commits to serve God only; then their nation flourishes. God called the nation of Israel to be different. God gave Mosses all the laws and commandments for the Hebrew people as the nation of Israel left Egypt. God did this so that his people would be both physically and spiritually different. That is why Jews have their hair cut a certain way. Their diet is different. That is why there is Kosher food and non-Kosher food. They also we set apart by God as God’s chosen people. They were to worship only God and not intermarry outside the clan of Israel. The “Israelites, Hebrews, or Jews,” whatever you want to call them are to physically and spiritually be different than all the other nations around them.
God did this for a reason. As a tiny nation of Israel, they were to be a beacon of light to the rest of the world. As far as nations goes, geographically and numerically they were a small nation. God used a small nation to show his power and sovereignty. When the people kept God’s commands and his laws their nation was unstoppable. When we grayed the lines of God’s commands and chose to look like the other nations around them, the nation crumbled. As you read through 1st and 2nd Kings you see 3 major themes that lead to each King’s downfall.
1st you see the evil Israelite kings bringing idols and pagan temples back into the country. Evil kings who forget God’s ways, wanted to be like their neighboring countries and wanted to be politically correct. They wanted everyone to be happy and worship and do whatever they wanted. They ignored God’s command of only worshipping God. When the nations did this and allowed pagan worship into their kingdoms it led to the 2nd and 3rd themes that hastened their downfall.
2nd Sexual immorality. At many pagan temple and shrines, they had shrine prostitutes. The prostitutes both male and female were used to worship a pagan God in order to gain fertility. A lack of sexual integrity and deviating from God’s intention for marriage and family between one man and one woman weakened the nation. They made this a gray area, because it was customary and politically correct to deviate away from God’s design for sex.
3rd Child Sacrifice. Many of the pagan gods, Molech especially demanded child sacrifice as a rite of worship. As Israelite kings forgot God’s ways and reintroduced idols and pagan worship, children were being slaughtered willingly by the hands of their parents. It was parents’ choice to thrown their own child into a fire to sacrifice it to a man-made idol.
These three themes; idols, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice, led to the nation’s downfall. Solomon’s United Nation of Israel was a powerhouse of the ancient world. Solomon worshipped God and abolished idol worship in the beginning and his nation was blessed by God. Then in an act of politics Solomon allowed idols back into his country and the following generation was corrupted and weakened. 1st and 2nd kings are all about generations not learning from their father’s mistakes. The past is recorded so that we do not make the mistakes the generation before us did.
Let’s bring this sermon into real time now. Look at our nation. Look at how many national monuments are being defaced and destroyed. History is for us to learn from not for us to erase and rewrite. The books of Kings show generation after generation of insanity. Each generation with very few exceptions does they same thing and expect different results. They abandon God and worship false idols, resulting in sexual immorality and child sacrifice.
Look at our nation now. Once a powerhouse in the world. Regardless what you might believe history does not lie, you can not rewrite it, our nation was built on a Christian foundation. Our nation never was perfect and yes, we have many flaws in our history. That is why we wrote them down. To remember our mistakes. That is why the Bible is written. To show us as a people we are full of sin. Our hearts are evil, and our ways are wicked. We naturally do not want o follow God’s commands. The Word of God is given to us to teach us. So that we can see the generations before us and learn from their mistakes.
The nations of Israel floundered and endured generations of inner turmoil and civil war amongst family members. Look at our nation now, watch the news and see the insanity. We have a generation trying to rewrite and erase history. We have a country and families divided over the social issues. We are trying too hard to be politically correct and be like all the other countries around us. We have ignored God, forgotten his ways, allowed sexual immorality to overtake our nation in a prideful way, and we have made our children’s life a choice. We cannot ignore God’s laws and ways and expect different results. The nation of Israel was a people before it was a geographical location. America is a nation of people from every tribe! Black, blue, pink, yellow, white, orange, red, whatever color we are we are all American!
We read the Bible and the books of Kings and think, wow, they really had shrine prostitutes? They had public sex with strangers in front of everyone and called it worship? Parents really bound their children and sacrificed them, or even worse ate their own children? How could a nation be so sick and perverse? Look at our nation? Do you want to be the pot or the kettle? I wonder when people a couple hundred years from now look at the history books and look at abortion like we look at the holocaust? Or if the look at the rampant sexual immorality like we look at ancient Greece and Rome? Maybe they look at the USA as formerly the United State of America?
You see were not meant to rewrite history we are meant to learn from it. By this time next week Emily and I will have welcomed the newest addition to our family. On Wednesday July 1st we are scheduled to have a C-section. This date has been moved up from previously scheduled. When we were sitting with the doctor and discussing the c-section, the doctor looked at our pregnancy history and made a decision for the future. He said, “Why wait?” We learned from our history and we planned for a bright future.
Our nation is struggling with Insanity. We keep pushing God farther and farther away. We keep ignoring his commands and expect different results. It didn’t work for God’s chosen people the Israelites. It won’t work for us either. But hey let’s rewrite history and take out our bad parts. Let’s not learn from our mistakes. I mean it makes sense if you don’t think about it.
You know last week I reported ZERO fathers who said they would stand up for their family and lead their family back to church. That’s pretty disheartening. At least when I read through the books of Kings there are a few good Kings, Josiah, and Hezekiah. Those few good men decided to bring their nation back to God. In order for the Kings to return to God it took some strong men and prophets to speak the truth no matter how politically incorrect it was or how controversial it sounded. One of the major prophets at the end of 2nd Kings was Isaiah and that brings us to our scripture for today.
Isaiah 1:18-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
19 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
21 See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute.
Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers.
22 Once like pure silver, you have become like worthless slag.
Once so pure, you are now like watered-down wine.
23 Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves.
All of them love bribes and demand payoffs,
but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.
The first 38 chapters of Isaiah are about God’s judgment to his people who forgot his ways. This was not an easy message for Isaiah to give to the people and to the Evil kings. But he did it. Isaiah was not politically correct. Isaiah did not conform his lifestyle to the cultural norms. He stood in stark contrast to the nation around him. Isaiah spoke truth even when what he had to say made people hate him. Isaiah was a man of God who was persecuted and punished for speaking God’s word. Today a Christian is considered intolerant if they believe marriage is for one man and one woman. A Christian’s views and beliefs and heard with contempt.
I recently watched a news feed about people a Florida town hall meeting in which people were contesting wearing a mask. Roughly 8-10 people spoke against wearing a mask. The media was so kind as to pick out every half-wit Christian who made us all look like fools and make a mockery out of their beliefs. (this is not a sermon on should we wear a mask or not this is irrelevant) The point I am making is the media specifically targeted Christians to ridicule us. But so, what. Isaiah was not scared to prophecy God’s word. Isaiah looked at history and saw what future awaited them if they refused to repent. Oral tradition, (note the bible does not mention this) says that Isaiah was sawed in half by King Manasseh the evilest King of the Southern Kingdom that led to the nations ultimate capture to Babylon.
I guess if Isaiah wasn’t scared to die a horrible death and preached the word, I won’t worry about being politically correct and conforming to our societal standards in return for a little ridicule. Here is the deal. If you want to know the future look at the history. It repeats itself. If we abandon God as a nation our nation will fail. Fathers if you continue to fail your family and abandon God and your role as a spiritual leader in your house, your letting the greatest nation ever fall. I am proud to be an American, I believe God has graced me with the privileges that I have to live in a free nation. I will not abandon my God or my country. I ask you how many of you are with me? Will you fight for your God and your country? Will you put God’s commands and decrees ahead of political correctness and social norms? Societal norms change like shifting sands in the desert. God’s words and laws are timeless and unchanging.
Learn from history and do not let it repeat itself. One nations future depends on our actions. Do your part in ending this insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You like Israel once was are called to be set apart! Your challenge this week is to stand loud and proud as a Christian. Do not be ashamed of your God. Publicly declare that you and your household will follow God’s laws and help end the insanity!
Father’s Rise Up and Lead! SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2020
Today we are celebrating Father’s Day. Last Sunday we talked about the Rest of the Story. I preached on 2nd Chronicles and the Lord’s response to Solomon’s Prayer and dedication of the temple. I focused on the removal of our 10 Commandments in our workplace, our schools, and our judicial system. We have taken God out of these places and now we have no justice and no peace. Today I will be preaching on a Father’s role, and how I feel there is a real correlation between our missing Father’s and God missing in our nation.
I realize last week I did not stress or promote all of you reading about King Solomon’s life. I encouraged you to check out 2nd Chronicles and 1st Kings, I should have pushed it a little more. If you read the history of King Solomon you will see that he was the wisest and most powerful king to ever rule over the united kingdom of Israel. During his reign Israel became a powerhouse in the ancient world. Now if you know anything of his story when King Solomon ascended to the throne, he asked God for wisdom. God granted Solomon wisdom and told him to always remember his commands and his laws. I spoke heavily on this last week as to what happens when you forget God’s commands and his decrees. If you don’t know what that is, check out the news you’ll see.
Solomon’s reign started out great. Solomon worshipped God only and built God a giant temple. Things were great. Solomon kept God’s ways and subjected himself to God’s laws, and Solomon and his nation prospered. It took 20 years for Solomon to build both the Temple and his own Royal palace, but as time went on Solomon ignored God’s laws and wisdom. Instead of Solomon relying on God, he relied on his own wisdom. And Solomon made a monumental mistake that inevitably led to his dynasty’s downfall.
Many people know that King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And quite often people who do not understand scripture or chose not to read it for themselves will ask if polygamy is OK because of King Solomon and other biblical characters. But if you read the word of God it is pretty clear about God’s stance on polygamy. One man and one women. God made Eve for Adam, not Eve, then a little bit of Monica in his life, with a little bit of Erica by his side, and Rita is all he needs, and Tina and the rest of Mambo number 5 list.
Solomon knew this. Solomon knew he was not to marry more than one woman and especially not to marry women outside of the tribe of Israel. If you want the biblical proof check out Exodus, 23:31-33, 34:12-16, and Deuteronomy 7:3-4. This is God’s law from Mosses, not to mention in God’s response to accepting Solomon’s prayer God specifically tells Solomon not to do what those verses say.
So, what happens to Solomon and how is this relatable to Father’s Day 2020? Men let me ask you this. Do your wives have a way of persuading you to do certain things? Yes, the answer is a definite yes and you know what I mean, I’m married too. Well Solomon’s pagan wives and concubines have a way of persuading him to do things against God’s laws and commands. God had warned Solomon not to intermarry because he would be persuaded by his wives to do things unacceptable by God. This is the case for Solomon. After Solomon has personally spoke with God and built this enormous temple to God, and abolish pagan idol worship; Solomon’s pagan wives talk him into building pagan idols and temple for his wives to worship at.
I won’t go into it too much but Solomon built some pagan temples for some pretty terrible pagan religions and let his wives worship them. Solomon even built a temple to Molech. Molech was considered detestable because many of it’s rites of worship involved child sacrificing, where they parents would bind their own child and lay him in the arms of a statue of Molech over a raging fire, then the child would roll down the arms of Molech with their parents watching as the child fell into the fire. You see the bible is clear on child sacrifice, it is detestable, maybe abortion clinics should be called Temples of Molech, but that’s another sermon.
So back to Solomon. Solomon deviated from God in the mid to later years of his life, and by the end of his life; Solomon repented and confessed his sin and came back to God, but the damage had already been done. You see Solomon in his middle years was raising children. We only see a few of his children recorded in the bible, but his son Rehoboam and two daughters are mentioned. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines so you would expect he had other children but all that are mentioned are these three. So while Solomon is raising a son to inherit his throne, Solomon had walked away from God. Growing up his son Rehoboam has all the influence of these other religions, gods, earthly possessions, and lack of spiritual integrity from his father to mold and shape his as the next King.
This proves disastrous for Solomon’s dynasty and Rehoboam. Almost immediately after Solomon dies and Rehoboam takes over the kingdom the Kingdom is tore apart into two separate nations, and Israel is no longer a unified nation. They had the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, and for many years and many kings to follow both kingdoms forgot God’s laws and decrees and as verse 20 said last week they become a mockery among the nations. The nation of Israel abandoned their God and justice was handed out. No justice and no peace was found in the land when the nation abandoned their God who protected them.
Do you know how this all happened? How the most powerful, wisest, wealthiest King Solomon and his Kingdom came crashing down? Because as a Father he failed to lead his son and the next generation! Solomon let his lustful desires, and his political needs compromise his integrity and his relationship with his God! Solomon ignored God and his commands and his duty as a father! Now I want you to look at the current state our nation is in. We have hatred running freely in the streets. We have CHAZ, we have BLM, we have civil disobedience and unrest in every state. We have removed God from our judicial system, our work place, and our schools as I stated last week. Now Father’s let me explain to you how we have removed God from our homes.
Now listen to these stats, there old, and probably way outdated which would tend to make be believe the numbers are even higher, but when I read the numbers you will get the point of what I’m saying. Do you know what the three biggest days in church attendance are? Christmas, Easter, and Mother’s Day. Do you know what is typically one of the smallest days in church attendance? Today, Father’s Day.
When a woman comes to Christ there is a 17% chance her family will follow her to church. When the Father comes to Christ there is a 93% chance the family will follow him to church! If a wife goes to church and the father does not 1 out of 50 children will attend worship when they become an adult. If the father goes to church intermittently and irregularly there is a between a ½ to 2/3 chance the adult children will attend worship regularly as an adult. If the father is a regular attender an active in the church 2/3 to 3/4 of those children as adults will also worship regularly! Wow! Do you see the importance that you have on your children’s spiritual future, dads! Listen to these numbers; a typical adult congregation in the US draws 61% female crowd and 39% male, this is pretty standard across age. 25% of married couples the wife attends without the husband. Mid-week activities at churches are close to 80% female. 70% of boys raised in a church leave the church in their late teens and many never return. Men we have an issue! This is your fault as husbands, fathers, and leaders of your family!
So where are my men? Where are you? God did not intend for you to be a coward! We need a nation of strong men to be raised up and lead their families back to the church! We have taken God out of the Judicial system, out of the work place, and out of the schools, and now our Father’s have chosen to remove God from their homes! Men this is on you! We have allowed God out of these areas because the father of the household has not made God important in their homes! I truly believe that as Men as husbands, and fathers we have failed our nation! If you want to change this country and bring a little common sense back into this land, then lead your family to church!
You know the other day I read a post on Facebook that asked who I was. Someone responded with that’s my pastor. It has been over 3 years since that particular person who said answered that’s my pastor has worshipped on Sunday morning. I’ve made the joke to Emily that if everyone who calls me their pastor actually came to church every other week, we wouldn’t have enough room at either church.
Now if I have offended any of you Men or father’s out there; good. Your being convicted and called out. If you are not leading your family towards God your leading them away. As a man we are called to be a protector. I recently saw a meme that had a husband standing in front of his wife and new baby with one hand protecting them and the other pointing a pistol. The caption said something about all lives matter, but these behind me matter more. The point is as a husband and a Father we are the protectors of the family. I am a pastor, I believe very much in the sanctity of life, but I will do whatever is necessary to protect my wife and my children, I will defend them!
I would willingly put myself in harms way and in a dangerous situation to protect them from anything bad happening in order to preserve their life. I am quite sure many of you other fathers and husbands would do the same as well. So, let me ask you this. Why would lay down your own life and be willing to take another’s life in order to protect theirs but you’re not man enough to lead them through the doors of a church on Sunday morning? Mother’s Day is a day about compassion and grace. Father’s Day is for the men to rise up and lead! Every member of your family, your wife, your children, and your grandchildren will one day die yet you would do anything to protect them. Now is your time to be a REAL man and lead them to Jesus Christ so that they can live forever!
Solomon was a good man. He was a hard worker. He worshipped God and built God a temple. And maybe you work the church fundraisers and financially support the building and are too busy for Sunday morning worship. When Solomon honored God, God honored his life. When Solomon forgot God and was too busy to worship, he failed his children and own son Rehoboam rejected God. Rehoboam was influenced by his father’s lack of spiritual integrity. As a preacher I don’t care about your financial support of the church, that is secondary. What I care about is you and your family having a relationship with Jesus Christ that is everlasting! I would rather have you worship every Sunday and never work a single event at the church or donate a single dollar to our institution. Your relationship with God is more important!
I am challenging you Fathers out there to follow this scripture from Deuteronomy 6:5-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Let this sermon and my words be a call for the men of our nation, the fathers of households to rise up! If I have offended you because you don’t come to church GOOD! I did my job! I preached the word. Be convicted of your failure, confess your sins, and rise up and lead your family back into church! Back in March Emily and I attended a Love Your Marriage Intentional Weekend. While we were there, we discussed what we really wanted from each other. Her answer was she wanted me to Lead.
Men you want to know what your wife wants? She wants you to lead your family! Be the man God has called you to be! Solomon chose to worship the gods of his pagan wives and destruction fell upon his household. Who will you serve as leader of your house? I know who I will serve.
Joshua 24:15 NLT
But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
If your man enough to promise to lead your family back to church prove it. If you’re watching on Facebook or YouTube post below. If you’re the Husband and Father in your household man up and publicly declare your man enough to bring God back into your home.
Let’s Pray
THE REST OF THE STORY SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2020
- Throughout this Covid-19 fiasco I have heard a certain scripture quoted quite a few times. I have saw it posted on Facebook and other social media. I have heard people preach sermons on it, and actually considered it using for one of my first online sermons, until I read the scripture around it. Recently someone sent me a Facebook Message with an associate pastor preaching on this scripture. After listening to it, I thought OK enough, it’s time for me to tell the Rest of the Story about this scripture. That is what I’m going to do today. I am going to tell the Rest of the Story to this widely circulated scripture. As Job reads this scripture see if you recognize it.
2 Chronicles 7:14 New Living Translation (NLT)
14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
This is a great scripture full of truth. It is the Word of God so it has to be true. The Pastors that I have heard preach on this and the post I have seen focus on a call for all of God’s people to pray. If we humble ourselves and turn from our evil ways God will forgive our sins and restore our land. I do believe this is true. My issue with this scripture is you must read the text before it and after it. If you do this you will see the context of this scripture and its accurate truth that is relevant today and right now in the time of national unrest. Let me fill you in a little on what is exactly happening in 2nd Chronicles when this quoted is scripture is being spoken and who is speaking to who.
Quick history lesson. King Solomon who was King David’s son, you know the guy with a slingshot who killed Goliath. While King David was alive, David wanted to build a Temple to the Lord. But God told him you will not build it your son will. King David dies, King Solomon is anointed as the new King. The he asks God for wisdom and gets right to building the Temple. Now you might want to know what the Temple was or what was its importance. The Temple was built to hold the Ark of the Covenant, (that is what holds the original 10 commandments given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai.) This temple was massive it covered over 35 acres of land. It was made out of quarried rock and imported lumber that was floated across the Mediterranean Sea. The Temple was elaborately covered in Gold, in fact the center room the Most Holy of Holies, the room where the Ark of the Covenant that held the 10 commandments had by todays inflation rate close to 900 million dollars’ worth of Gold in it alone. The Temple took over 7 years to build, that’s three times longer than it took me to build my house by the way!
After Solomon built the Temple, he dedicated it, and it was an 8-day celebration. You can read about it in 2nd Chronicles chapter 5 and then in chapter 6 Solomon prays to God. It is after Solomon prays to God that God accepts his prayer and Solomon dedicates the Temple with song, celebration, and sacrifice that you read about in the first the 11 verses of Chapter 7. In verse 12 we read that God responds to Solomon. We read God responding saying to Solomon these words. 12 Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said,
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. 13 At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you.
14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
So this scripture that we have been using to relate to the Covid Pandemic actually has specific purpose for people to return to the Temple and pray there. But it gets better as you read more scripture. So yes, God tells his people to pray and he will hear their prayers but there is more to the story, like what happens if you don’t follow God’s commands and laws. So, follow along with me through the next few verses.
2nd Chronicles 7:15-22
15 My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. 16 For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.
17 “As for you, if you faithfully follow me as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 18 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty. For I made this covenant with your father, David, when I said, ‘One of your descendants will always rule over Israel.’
19 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the decrees and commands I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 20 then I will uproot the people from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make it an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 21 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’
22 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why he has brought all these disasters on them.’”
You see the Rest of The Story to verse 14 explains what happens when we forget God’s ways. We read in verse 14 that of we pray God will hear us and all will be good. We read from verse 10-14 like it happened immediately, but you must understand scripture. Solomon prayed to God and dedicated this massive Temple we read in the first few verses of chapter 7, but God does not respond right away. In fact, between Solomon’s prayer and God’s response there are months of time. The people did change their heart, the worshipped God and when they dedicated the Temple and praised God, they sincerely meant it. Their hearts were right. The people and Solomon had to prove they really meant what they said, and months later God responded to their prayer.
Then in God’s response he warned Solomon in verse 19 through 22 to paraphrase, if you and your descendants abandon me and disobey me, terrible things will happen to this land, and People will ask, why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land? And the answer will be because the people abandoned the Lord, that is why these disasters are upon them. Now let me make all of this sermon relatable to what is going on in the world right now.
Do you remember why the massive 35-acre Temple was built? It was built to house the Ark of the Covenant. Let me ask you what did the Ark of the Covenant hold? If you don’t remember it held the 10 commandments. Perhaps you have heard these. - No other God’s before me. 2. Don’t make idols.
- Don’t take the name of the Lord God in Vain
- Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy
- Honor your Father and Mother
- Don’t murder 6. Don’t commit adultery
- Don’t steal 9. Don’t lie 10. Don’t covet, (jealousy)
- Now let’s take a look at all 10 and see how we as a nation are frequently breaking these 10. No other God’s before me. This seems straight forward, but how many times have we put our money before our God? We might not have golden statues we worship, but we sure love those green bills. We only get the weekend to camp because we’ve worked all week, sorry can’t make it too church. Work comes first. And if you don’t believe in God then you’ve broken this one. Many in our nation do not believe.
How about making an idol? Well not too many of us around us have golden statue like I just said that we worship around, but we have some pretty wild beliefs. You would be surprised how many times even inside the church walls I hear that all religions basically teach the same thing. Be good and love each other. As a nation we have fallen away from Christianity and adapted more of a universalist ideology. Were Karma, Ying and Yang, penance, and Grace all morph into one giant belief. We refuse to have one idol but choose to have one with many faces.
Don’t take the Lord’s Name in Vain. OMG, is commonly typed and used like ttyl, hmu, tbh, and idk. The Lord’s name is freely used as a cuss word. I look forward to in the future doing a sermon on the Lord’s name to explain this one more. This commandment is shattered in our country.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. Sports have invaded Sunday. As parents we allow our kids to do their sporting events on Sunday’s because it’s the only day they can participate. We wonder why our children are leaving the church in droves? Because our parents have prioritized sports over worship. We will spend 3 hours watching football on Sunday but were too busy for an hour of church on Sunday morning. Sunday is just another day of the week now.
Honor your Father and Mother. I worked in the group home and I watched sons call their mothers a fn c-word. I seen our own youth in our church back talk their parents in public. I’ve seen youth have an issue with authority because they have never accepted it or learned it at home. Ungrateful children who are full of self-entitlement who expect their parents to carry them all their life. Children have lost respect for their parents and it resonates in the schools and public. Ask a public-school teacher how respectful our youth are. Let’s take the OK BOOMER as an example of disrespect for the older generation. Then we could also talk about how we are trying to redefine the home with a father and a mother and realign the natural family order, but that enough of this commandment.
Let’s move to don’t murder. In 2017 roughly 46 people were murdered daily. Oh unless you add in the nearly 1 million babies that are murdered at the hands of abortion doctors each year, which very roughly comes out to around 3000 deaths each day. With those numbers I’d say as a nation were pretty good at breaking the do not murder commandment.
Don’t commit adultery. This is a sick world we live in with the abundance of pornography available in the hands of anyone with a smart phone. During the Covid pandemic Porn Hub the biggest porn producer was giving out free subscriptions to keep people at home, yet in reality they were entrapping millions of new viewers. There are even dating sites set up for extra marital affairs. Our nation is sex hungry and if we have another god as a nation if it isn’t money; I would say it sex. Sex is everywhere.
Don’t steal. There are an estimated 2.5 million burglaries a year in the US. We lock our cars, our houses, our churches, the banks are locked, the schools, and our online identity. Watch the news right now as rioters loot stores. Were a thieving nation.
Don’t lie. There was a time when a man’s word was good enough. The gulf news reports on average an American lies 1-2 times a day. You might think your honest, but I guarantee if you could replay your words you would find out this is you too. Before you think that’s not bad, if you only stole once or twice a day would you still be a good person? Were a lying nation too.
Don’t Covet, Jealousy. We have a favorite show of Keeping up with the Kardashians. We scour Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube watching influencers wishing and hoping we could be like them. We want everything everyone else has. We are one of the richest nations and most privileged yet we have one of the highest levels of depression and anxiety. We are not content with what we have. Americans are guilty of breaking this commandment.
But why wouldn’t we break the commandments? It is not like they are important to us as a nation. Do a quick google search of the 10 commandments being removed from the public arena. Bloomfield New Mexico a lower court said it was unconstitutional to have the 10 commandments on the city hall’s lawn because it promoted a specific religion. The Supreme court upheld the decision. Or what about the Itawamba County courthouse in Mississippi who was forced to remove a picture on the wall of the 10 commandments after Wisconsin’s own Freedom from Religion Foundation threatened litigation. The list could go on and on. We don’t want the 10 commandments to be in the courthouse, even if you break most of them you will end up in court! As a nation we have taken God out of the justice system.
What about prayer in school or the bible being read in school? That’s not on the curriculum anymore. The schools are not even allowed to have anything to do with a bible reading or school sponsored prayer because of separation of church in State, which is ironic and this is why. Have any of you ever heard of Benjamin Rush? He was kind of big deal; he was an original signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Father of Public schools under the constitution. This is what he had to say about the reading of the Bible in school. And I quote, “The Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life… The Bible… should be read in our schools in preference to all other books because it contains the greatest portion of that kind of knowledge which is calculated to produce private and public happiness. The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at schools.” End Quote of Dr. Benjamin Rush. I wonder what the founder of our public schools would think about the Bible not being read in school and creation not being taught?
So we have taken God out of the courtroom and our schools. Where else have we taken God out of?
How about the workplace? Any state of federal organization cannot hold mandatory prayer or religious gatherings and voluntary ones are strongly discouraged. In the public workplace if an employee has a problem with you and your business praying or reading the Bible you could be sued under religious discrimination because they do not share your views even though it is your business. By the way Wisconsin’s own Freedom From Religion foundation is always willing to take up your case! So, we have taken God out of our workplace.
Now here we are a few weeks after the death of George Floyd and our country. We can’t understand why a policeman would do what he did. People refuse to accept that George Floyds actions put him in the position to be arrested not the color of his skin. No accountability lack of authority in the home. We have angry protestors and rioters who defy authority and expect only the police to uphold the 10 commandments and follow the law. But why?
Why should an officer uphold the law? What law should he uphold? As a public officer they can’t pray, worship, or even talk about the 10 commandments? In a court of law, the place we go for justice for killing, stealing, lying, adultery, we can’t have a picture of the 10 commandments. Well maybe if the officer was better educated, they would behave better? Well you took God out of the education as well and made it illegal to have to God and the 10 commandments in school! Do you see what is happening here in our nation?
We have removed God from our schools, our justice system, and the work place. The three places a police officer must attend to become a n officer. As a nation we have glorified breaking many of the Commandments and called it progress! Watch the news, does this look like progress? Now let me bring this back to 2nd Chronicles and paraphrase verse 19-22. If my people who I call by my name abandon me and ignore my laws and commands, I will uproot them, and terrible things will happen to them. Then they will ask. Why is God allowing this all to happen to them? Because they have forgotten God and removed him from their land!
Freedom From Religion and the ACLU I hope you enjoy the nation you have created! I hope you enjoy what a godless nation looks like. The cry of No Justice No Peace is so accurate. Our nation will not Know Justice or Know Peace until we come back to our Christian roots. Not until our nation does what verse says, 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
As long as we continue to do follow verses 19-22 our nation will not change. So, I challenge you all with this today. Keep the 10 commandments in your home! Have no other God, your work and money is second. Leave those idols of sex and money behind. Don’t take the Lord’s name in Vain, don’t even text OMG anymore. Remember the Sabbath, if you’re a parent stand up against Sunday practices and games, boycott them, your children will learn more life lessons from you and worship than they will in any sport.
Honor your father and mother even as adults show your children that you still honor your parents! Teach them respect for authority by showing respect for authority, remember it was God who placed authority over you and you over them! Don’t murder. Get hate out of your hearts. I’m sure Derek Chauvin didn’t expect to go to work today and kill someone. Hate brews and tempers flare. Remove the hate. Stand up for the innocent and defend unborn babies! Allow murder no more!
Don’t commit adultery. Even if you’re not married stay away from the porn. Keep your desires inside your marriage or for your future spouse. Don’t steal, pretty straight forward work for what you have. Don’t lie. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Always tell the truth so that your character is never under question. Don’t covet. Be content with what you have.
You know it’s too bad these 10 basic principles are being taught in our schools, upheld in our courts, and in put into effect in our work force. I bet if these 10 commandments were back in the schools, the workplace, and the justice system that our nation would be a different place. Keep this in mind as you go to the election polls this year. Our nation was once built on Godly principles, we elected officials that changed the laws to exclude them. We can change this. Now, I normally do not do this, and I truly do not care about the number of views or shares this sermon receives. But I ask that you would share this and forward this long sermon. Our nation is in the state it is because we followed verses 19-22, and we have abandoned our God. We can once again choose to follow verse 14. And follow God once again. 14 Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
I guess the Rest of the Story of this nation is up to you and me.
But I Mowed the Grass, Do Better Now My Child SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020
Well here I am filming and giving the sermon alone. Saturday is my day to work on my sermon. Emily is home so I can kick everyone out of my room and focus on preparing and writing my sermon. But this Saturday was different. I had something planned for the morning and was going to do my sermon in the afternoon. That’s kind of normal. But when I got home, I got tied up with a few other projects. I knew I needed to get my sermon done, but I really needed to get the grass mowed. I felt ok because I had a sermon idea so I knew what I was going to preach on. At 6pm, I was feeling good. I sat down to start writing with a plan in place. Emily stayed up and made a really late supper with everyone, but at 9:30 she couldn’t wait any longer. We ate supper, I told the kids a story, we prayed and they went to bed. I still felt ok, I was ¾ done with my sermon so I was ok.
Shortly after midnight, I scratched my original 2000-word sermon, and started fresh. 500 words into my second sermon I combined the two and was feeling Ok. After 1:30am I gave up walked outside and knew that those two sermons were not what I should preach on. I had to toss out almost 7 hours of work. I had worked hard on preparing a sermon that would follow up last week’s sermon. I wanted my sermon to be powerful, timely, and pertinent to the current events in the nation. I wanted it to catch people’s attention.
And here I am sitting in my living room with the sun about to come up. Giving you a short sermon entitled “But I Mowed the Grass.” I was pretty frustrated with myself when I had to toss my first 2000-word sermon. I inadvertently woke up Emily when I tossed my computer down and tossed my bible in frustration. She asked what I was doing, and I said I have to go for a walk, I’m blocked, I can’t write. I put my headlamp on and walked outside. I sat at the picnic table and starred at the grass. Seeing the fresh cut grass and smelling it, it hit me. But I Mowed the Grass.
You know I don’t even like mowing grass, but I took my precious time Saturday afternoon making sure I got it all done. And you know what I lost? I lost the opportunity to worship with my family. I was so focused on two different things. I wanted to get the stupid grass cut, and I wanted so badly to have a follow up sermon talking about the riots and protesting. I spent some serious time and research on my sermon. I had a lot of notes and points that I wanted to talk on. I focused on it so much that I missed the opportunity to WORSHIP with my family! Here I am now giving a sermon as everyone sleeps because I need to get it posted before Sunday Morning.
Honestly, I got too proud. I saw last week’s sermon hit 2000 views and I really wanted to top that this week. Then God humbled me really quickly. It is my calling to preach God’s word. Unfortunately, I am a natural sinner, and I allow pride to over take me. I thought I could do it on my own. I had the idea o wanted to preach on. I knew how I wanted to present the sermon. I had a bunch or points, that I tried extremely hard to twist together to form a logical argument. I was ready to make this sermon happen and be better than last week with more views! Then I read this.
Proverbs 3:7, “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead fear the Lord and turn away from Evil.”
You want to talk about a slap in the face when I read this proverb. My 1st 2000-word sermon that I ended up scratching; you know what it was about? It was on Evil. When I read Proverbs 3:7 “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead fear the Lord and turn away from Evil,” I knew I had to dump the last sermon. I was originally looking for Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” I spent way too much time focusing on my own wisdom trying to force a sermon. It was a quiet walk outside at 1am, staring at the fresh cut grass that brought me back to reality. It doesn’t matter one bit what my sermon is about if it is based on my own knowledge, because I’m not gonna impress anyone with my own wisdom. I needed to fear the Lord and turn away from Evil, my scratched sermon’s focus.
So, what is my sermon about today? It is about not leaning on your own understanding! It is about not missing the opportunity to worship with your family! For most of you who watch my sermons, you know that I am a pretty normal guy. I fail a lot. And I was so focused on my own knowledge that I really failed my family tonight because we missed the opportunity to worship together. We don’t get to partake of the Lord’s Supper as a family.
I want to challenge all of you watching this sermon today to learn a lesson from me. Don’t miss your chance to worship with your family. Do not depend on your own understanding and be impressed with your own wisdom.
You know this made me think about how much we miss in our life. How many people die and stand before God who missed their chance to worship him right here and now! Everyday, every hour, and every minute people die who miss their opportunity to worship Jesus Christ. Every Sunday there are countless Fathers who miss their opportunity to lead their families into worship. I made this mistake today, but hey I mowed the grass, right?
It is times like this that I thank God for his Grace. I thank him for his forgiveness each day I mees up and fail. As time and time again I fail, God’s grace never fails me. No matter how much I mess up, God is patiently waiting for me to ask for forgiveness and try again. This thought brought to mind a poem by an anonymous teacher entitled;
Do Better Now, My Child
He came to my desk with a quivering lip,
the lesson was done.
“Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted
and gave him a new one all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried,
“Do better now, my child.”
I went to the throne with a trembling heart;
the day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted
and gave me a new one all unspotted.
And into my tired heart he cried,
“Do better now, my child.”
Do better now my Child. This is a short sermon. Almost half of the previous sermon I worked 7 hours on that I threw away. It has nothing to do with the current events, the protest, the riots, the election, the coronavirus, or the economy. It has to do with a spoiled day. I messed up, and I failed again. In a couple hours after this post and probably as the sun comes up, I’ll lay down and go to sleep. And as I pray before I sleep, I will utter the words in the poem I just spoke, and I’ll ask God for a new day.
I went to the throne with a trembling heart;
the day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted
and gave me a new one all unspotted.
And into my tired heart he cried,
“Do better now, my child.”
My challenge for you is this. Don’t be afraid to admit when you mess up. Go to the throne in prayer, admit you’ve failed, and ask for a new day and another chance! God’s grace is bigger than our mistakes. I thank God that he humbled me enough to throw my hands in the air, drop the computer and scratch my sermon. I was trying to preach with my own wisdom, but God reminded me Proverbs 3:7, “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead fear the Lord and turn away from Evil.” Do better now, my child.
Let’s Pray
What time is it? SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020
Here we are once again worshipping through virtual church. Here in Wisconsin the Safer-at-Home Order has been lifted, and everyone is confused. Are we safe to go out, should we go out, should we stay at home? It seems like everyday things change like a pendulum swinging this way today and the next the other. I know I have been asked if we are going to return to in person worship this Sunday, and the answer is. (were here in the woods so you can answer that question). Both Wauzeka and Mount Hope are deciding when we will reconvene for in person worship. What I can say is that next week we will once again be holding online service. Please check the Facebook Page and Website for updates. As a United Methodist our bishop has recommended that we do not resume public worship in our buildings until June 23rd. We possibly could hold an outdoor service sooner, but I will keep you updated.
So here we are in this in between time. Some of us are rejoicing and rushing back into the public domain. Some are sitting tight fearful of the possible fall-out that may be looming over us. So, what do we do in this time? Well let’s look to God’s Word for some answers.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 New Living Translation (NLT) A Time for Everything
3 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12 So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.
14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. 15 What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again.
This scripture is commonly used at funerals, and in springtime/harvest time. Here we are in the great outdoors. Seeing the beauty of the new life, green grass, flowers, and trees budding. New life arising from the dead of winter. This is a beautiful time of year, but not everything in the 15 verses I read to you in Ecclesiastes is beautiful. Such as a time to mourn, a time for war, a time to hate, a time to tear down, a time to die.
Sometimes it is very easy to tell the difference in the time. When someone dies you love very much you mourn. When someone get’s married like the Coleman wedding yesterday it is a time to dance and celebrate. Now it is the time to plant in the spring, not the time to harvest, unless your harvesting morels and asparagus. But other times we do not know what time it is. Here is a comical example. I love wearing smedium sized shirts, always have. The problem is I’m not exactly a smedium sized guy anymore. The 40 plus pounds that is running belts out of belt loops is no longer allowing me to wear my smediums. I still have t-shirts form high school I’m trying to wear. There is a time to thrown away! But I don’t want to throw away the high school basketball t-shirt that I took from Adam Roth! I realize when Job can fit into my shirts better than I do it’s time to let them go.
Now on a serious note, when we lose someone we love who has suffered and struggled for so many years -and they are now home with the Lord we know that it is a blessing they are gone, but it still causes us pain. Sometimes it hard to know what time it is, and what we should be doing. Just like now. What should we be doing? Should we shelter in place, or should we get on with our lives and ride out the storm? I’m sure I have people listening to this sermon who believe it is time to shelter and some who believe we should get on with life.
You see it is not always easy to decide what time it is in our life. So what do we do with the first verses of Ecclesiastes, the verse that tell us about what time it is? They do not tell us if it is time to quarantine or mingle. This is what you do. You keep reading. When it is not a black and white answer you need to keep reading the Word of God. Verse 9-15 tells us the answer. Verse 11 gives us the first hint. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
God has placed eternity in our hearts and God can see his work from beginning to end. We cannot see the begging from the end. That is the first point, God knows the beginning of our story and the ending. Right now he knows all of our endings, we don’t. God knows the whole story. Keep that in mind as we move on. The second part is verse 14 that says this, “14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him.” Whatever God does is final, end of story, we cannot add or change what God has orchestrated and ordained. We should fear God.
Well that’s nice Lance, Que sera, sera; whatever will be will be then! It doesn’t matter what we do, God’s in control and whatever happens in my life God has ordained so I’ll do whatever I want and throw caution to the wind. I don’t need to fear Covid-19 I just need to fear God. Well slow down, and let’s think about this. Earlier this week the bee man showed up at our farm, and dropped off a bunch of bees from Texas. Dad asked how he knew they were from Texas and he said they all have cowboy hats and boots, that’s how he knows there Texas bees. Now I drove by the bee hives the other day only a few hours after he dropped them off. The bees were swarming like crazy and the boxes were covered with honey bees. Now I only Fear God, so would it be wise for me to try to walk through the hives, open the boxes and check on their honey supply?
No way. That would be stupid. But the bee man does it with no fear. So why can’t I? The difference is he has the protective gear and the knowledge how to handle the fear and risk. I am wise to fear the bees. But I have not answered should I fear Covid-19? Fear is a sin so the answer should be no right? Maybe. Fear is a sin only when we are fearing that God is not in complete control of everything. Let me put it this way. When your new teenage driver get’s their permit and it is the first time they have driven in heavy traffic should you fear? Of course, fear in this case is used to protect us, like the fear of a rattlesnake buzzing, it is a warning of something bad about to happen.
Having the fear that is a sin is saving that God is not in control. The word we use in the church is sovereign. The meaning of Sovereign is that God is in ultimate complete control of everything that happens in this world. Nothing catches God off guard or catches God by surprise. As it said in verse 11 God can see the beginning to the end. In verse 14 whatever God does is final nothing can be added to it or taken away. This whole Covid-19 thing God knew about it when Adam was made. God didn’t get caught off guard by some government cover-up, God knew this would happen. God is in complete control of this. Covid-19 may be a new to us disease and we might not know how to handle it but what does verse 15 say?
15 What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again. The sermon title is What Time Is It? Should we be staying home and sheltering in place or should we be back to work and back to normal? I’m not going to answer that for you. But I am going to tell you what time it is. It is time that we truly believe that God is Sovereign and int control. As verse 15 just said, “What is happening now has happened before, what will happen in the future has happened before.
God is completely in control of this Covid-19 outbreak. I’m not going to tell you to stay home, or go out. I’m going to remind you of the bee man. The threat of the bees is real. Without his protection he is likely to get stung. As United Methodist we are called to do no harm, and that is why for now we will remain apart to protect those most vulnerable.
Now as Christians what should each one of you do? The first 8 verses of today’s reading did not tell us to stay quarantined or to go and mingle. The first 8 verses told us there is a time for everything. It did not answer What time it was now, but the next 7 verses did. In order to find the answer to what time is it, we had to keep reading the Word of God. So here is your challenge for this week. Keep reading the word of God. Trust that God is Sovereign and no matter what happens God is in absolute control of Covid-19. Nothing is new to God; this has happened before and it will happen again in the future! No scheme of man can add or take anything away from God’s Sovereign plan! So what time is it? It is time for us to Fear God and to trust that God is Sovereign.
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But I Mowed the Grass, Do Better Now My Child SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020
Well here I am filming and giving the sermon alone. Saturday is my day to work on my sermon. Emily is home so I can kick everyone out of my room and focus on preparing and writing my sermon. But this Saturday was different. I had something planned for the morning and was going to do my sermon in the afternoon. That’s kind of normal. But when I got home, I got tied up with a few other projects. I knew I needed to get my sermon done, but I really needed to get the grass mowed. I felt ok because I had a sermon idea so I knew what I was going to preach on. At 6pm, I was feeling good. I sat down to start writing with a plan in place. Emily stayed up and made a really late supper with everyone, but at 9:30 she couldn’t wait any longer. We ate supper, I told the kids a story, we prayed and they went to bed. I still felt ok, I was ¾ done with my sermon so I was ok.
Shortly after midnight, I scratched my original 2000-word sermon, and started fresh. 500 words into my second sermon I combined the two and was feeling Ok. After 1:30am I gave up walked outside and knew that those two sermons were not what I should preach on. I had to toss out almost 7 hours of work. I had worked hard on preparing a sermon that would follow up last week’s sermon. I wanted my sermon to be powerful, timely, and pertinent to the current events in the nation. I wanted it to catch people’s attention.
And here I am sitting in my living room with the sun about to come up. Giving you a short sermon entitled “But I Mowed the Grass.” I was pretty frustrated with myself when I had to toss my first 2000-word sermon. I inadvertently woke up Emily when I tossed my computer down and tossed my bible in frustration. She asked what I was doing, and I said I have to go for a walk, I’m blocked, I can’t write. I put my headlamp on and walked outside. I sat at the picnic table and starred at the grass. Seeing the fresh cut grass and smelling it, it hit me. But I Mowed the Grass.
You know I don’t even like mowing grass, but I took my precious time Saturday afternoon making sure I got it all done. And you know what I lost? I lost the opportunity to worship with my family. I was so focused on two different things. I wanted to get the stupid grass cut, and I wanted so badly to have a follow up sermon talking about the riots and protesting. I spent some serious time and research on my sermon. I had a lot of notes and points that I wanted to talk on. I focused on it so much that I missed the opportunity to WORSHIP with my family! Here I am now giving a sermon as everyone sleeps because I need to get it posted before Sunday Morning.
Honestly, I got too proud. I saw last week’s sermon hit 2000 views and I really wanted to top that this week. Then God humbled me really quickly. It is my calling to preach God’s word. Unfortunately, I am a natural sinner, and I allow pride to over take me. I thought I could do it on my own. I had the idea o wanted to preach on. I knew how I wanted to present the sermon. I had a bunch or points, that I tried extremely hard to twist together to
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