Past Messages

Mt. Hope & Wauzeka Methodist Churches

    Thistles
Matthew 13:22
Genesis 3:17-19

   At the beginning of the kid’s summer vacation Job stayed home with me one day to work. Our plan was to mow hay, but like almost every other day this spring it rained and was still too wet to cut. So, we had to move on to another job. The boys have the job of keeping the thistles cut out of our pasture, or anywhere for that matter. I have a strong hatred that was installed for thistles by my parents. The bottoms next to my place years ago was a cornfield and for 15 years was in set-a-side. It had thistles but not nearly as many as it does now.
   Isn’t it amazing how quickly a pasture can become completely overrun with thistles? Thistles take up so much space and block out good grass for my cows. As the get bigger and die off, they create issues with pink eye, by scratching the eyes and letting the infection in. You can’t stand to go through the pasture because everywhere you walk there are thistles. Needless to say my passion against thistles is pretty strong, and I am trying to pass that on to my boys. Since it was too wet to mow hay, and we had to go to Gasser’s anyway, I decided to pick up two new machetes and Job and I would together cut the thistles out od the pasture.
   With our new machetes in hand and soft hands we went to the pasture around 9am. We made a plan and worked our way down the bank through the thickest stuff first. After an hour and half and not even being half the way through the pasture Job was getting pretty tired and whinny. I kept telling him to look behind him and see how far that we had come. I also reminded him that I was helping and if he wanted I could stop and he could finish alone. That seem to motivate him more to keep working than telling him how far he has come. It was not very long before the blisters popped up on my soft hands. I was swinging the machete with both hands because I’m out of shape and my hands were getting pretty tore up. By the time we got into the thickest patch of thistles and almost to the end of the first third of the pasture, it started raining again. Job suddenly wanted to quit again and said that we should go in. I said not so easy buddy, be thankful the rain is keeping us cool, and if we don’t cut these thistles down now they will go to head and make a lot more thistles for us.
   We kept pushing our way through and that morning became a wonderful teaching moment for my son. Job was sore and tired, and mostly bored. I was very sore and tired, but I wasn’t going to let him know that! I kept telling him Job loo at how far we have come! Look at how much we have cut and ahead of us is the easy spots. I kept telling him that we are winning. Job said yeah but more will just grow and we will have to do it again. I said your right, but the more we cut today the less there will be to cut tomorrow. It took us over three hours to cut out the whole pasture out and y the time we cut the last thistle Job was eager and excited to cut it down with me. The joy of hard work and finishing a job. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that I told him we would get lunch at udder brothers if he worked hard enough. It was a good morning and I was glad to be done.
   The whole time I was cutting I was thinking about penitence. Penitence is the sorrow or feeling of guilt towards your own sin. I was also thinking about scripture out of Philippians and what it means to work out your salvation. You see I correlate thistles with sin. Which makes sense scripturally since sin brought about thistles. Genesis 3:17-19
“17And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
   While Job and I were cutting thistles I was having this discussion with him about how our sin in our lives is just like these damn thistles. There are different kinds of sin like different kinds of thistles. There are the big bull thistles that stand out and get huge. They are a big easy target and you take them out first. Just like our sins. We have our big sins that we need to work on right away. They are visible to ourselves and everyone else. As we become a Christian and acknowledge our sin we see these sins first and work to cut them out of our lives. Then there are the Canadian thistles. They multiply like crazy and cluster up. They get big but not as big as a bull and make some huge patches. These are our sins that we commit when we get around certain people. Alone there not an issue but when we get in a crowd with certain people we act a certain way and slide back into our sinful nature. These are the thistles and sins that we need to attack as a whole but do it one at a time. Then there are the Russian thistles. These are the little thistles that are scattered everywhere. Sometimes they hardly seem worthy of wasting the effort of cutting them, but if you don’t they will fill in all the spots where you cut out the bull and Canadian thistles. Just like our sin. We need to cut out the little sins too or the little sins take place of the big sins in our lives and once again we have a pasture full of thistles or a heart full of sin.
   As Job and I cut thistles I kept reminding him that we are winning! As we worked towards a goal as a Christian of living a perfect sinless life, we are reminded of our sin by looking at the thistles. I kept telling job we are winning, and he kept saying yeah but they’ll keep growing and there will be more tomorrow. I said “your right, but the harder we work today the less there will be tomorrow.” Just like the sin in our life. We are to constantly work today to rid our life of sin, so that our work tomorrow is less.
   Now I know that we will never completely eliminate thistles in our pasture. How can we? We bring in hay that has thistle seed in it, we have neighbors who don’t cut their thistles. The seed is always there, and new thistles will always grow each year. Your life is full of sin seed. Some comes from those around you like the neighbor’s thistles blowing across the fence line. Some sin seed comes from you bringing it into your life, like bringing hay full of seeds into your pasture.
   Yesterday before the wedding Job, Cane, and I were once again cutting weeds and thistles, and Job says to me, “Dad do you think every time someone sins, God plants another thistle?” I said I’m not sure, but it sure got me thinking. You know when I started I said that my pasture was a set-a-side filed and a cornfield before. I never noticed how many thistles were in it then. I only noticed them when the cows ate all the grass and all that was left was the thistles. The thistles were brought into the open. I am sure for years that pasture has been filled with thistles, I have just never noticed before, because I wasn’t looking.
   That is what the word of God does to us. When the Holy Spirit convicts us and opens our eyes, we see all the sin that is in our lives! After we cut out all the thistles, we see where new small thistles are growing. As a Christian you need to constantly be on guard as new thistles and sin grows. Because what happens to you if you never see the sin in your life? Well Matthew 13:22 says it best, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
   Those of you who hear God’s word but never work to remove the sin in your life will be like the seed that grows among the thorns. You will be choked out by your sin. So, what will you choose today? Will you allow the Holy Spirit to convict you and see the sin in your life like a thistle in an open pasture? Or will you allow yourself to be chocked out by sin? The choice is yours, and the work is hard but the salvation is worth it. Work out your salvation and cut out the sin and the thistles in your life! Cut out your thistles so that your sin won’t spread to your neighbor’s land. Let’s Pray.

Prayer
This morning we are going to talk about Prayer. But first before we go into it, I need to tell you a little story. This is story about an orphan. The little boys name was Tim. When Tim was a little boy he remembered his mom and dad a little bit. His dad had quite a temper and was a drunk. Tim does not remember his mom working, but he always knew somehow that she loved him. His mother always sang to him before he went to sleep, and would kiss him on the forehead and squeeze him tight. They had a rough life, but he had a bond with his mother. They moved around a lot and never really had a home. By the time Tim was 6 he took care of himself. One night when he came home, (to a parked car in a deserted parking lot;) his parents were really acting strange. His dad and mom got into an argument. His dad hit his mom in the face really hard. Harder than any other time that Tim saw him do this.
This made Tim made and he ran up to his mom laying on the ground in the parking lot outside the car, with blood coming from her mouth and lip. He held her tight and asked his mommy if she was alright. Tim’s mom did not respond, her eyes were open, but she wasn’t blinking, she didn’t squeeze Tim back when he tried to hug her. Tim knew something wasn’t right. Inside her felt this burning pain and anger towards his dad. He looked for his dad and then her heard the sound of a car door slam. Tim’s dad hoped in the drivers seat and sped away.
Tim was 6, he was abandoned in a parking lot with his deceased mother, his father had left and night was closing in fast. Tim stayed with his mom through the night, but in the morning when a patrol officer saw Tim and his mother, he ran away, being taught at a young age to be scared of cops.
Fast forward 20 years. Tim is alone and on the streets. Living a life similar to his father. Tim is a homeless bum. A man befriends Tim, and is invited to a free soup meal at a local church. The church is warm and Tim is hungry. There is a service for the homeless held after the meal talking about forgiveness. Tim doesn’t want to go and he finishes his meal and heads outside. It starts to rain and it’s cold, Tim decides to go back into the church to stay warm. While inside he listens to the preacher speak about forgiveness from a man who died thousands of years ago, named Jesus Christ. Something tugs at Tim’s heart and he connects with the preacher. The preacher is in his late 40s. He’s rough and has lived a life on the street too. This preacher has spent time in jail, and in jail accepted Jesus Christ. The words he preaches about forgiveness sound so good, and Tim knows in his heart he needs to pray. Something that is new to him, but he recites this new thing called the sinner’s prayer. He accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior and he feels something inside he can not explain. Peace, Joy, forgiveness.
Tim goes back to the church regularly and gets to know the preacher even more. The preacher and him relate, and as him and Tim talk more, the preacher opens up about his past. The preacher tells Tim about a time when he had a son and a wife. About how he was constantly drifting and living form one high to another. One night when he was on a high from Meth he got in a fight with his wife. He doesn’t remember exactly what happened, but he remembers the look on his 6-year-old son’s face. He didn’t know what to do so he got in the car and drove away.
Tim looks at his father and with a range of emotions he………………………….
Now we are going to move into our scripture for today. Matthew 6:7-13
7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! 9 Pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one.
This is a familiar scripture. It is known as the Lord’s Prayer. Where Jesus teaches us how to pray. We recite this every Sunday and Wednesday Night with the Kids. We have it memorized. We know it but do we know what verse 14 says about this scripture. Well let’s move to Mark chapter 11 before we go back to Matthew verse chapter 6:14
Mark chapter 11:20-24
20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”
22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
The “move a mountain scripture.” If you have faith enough you can pray for anything, and if you believe you will receive it. This is a challenging scripture. A tough one because we do believe yet God doesn’t always give us what we pray for, but scripture tells us he will. So, what are we missing here? Why is God says, if we pray for anything we will receive it, and we have why haven’t we received it. Well I am not going to answer this but I am going to keep reading the following verse that get’s forgotten after we read about moving mountains with our faith. Verse 25. But before we go to that I am going to go back to Mark and read verse 14 and 15, that comes directly after Jesus tells us how to pray the Lord’s Prayer.
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Ouch. How about Matthew verse 25?
25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”
Two of the most powerful verses about Prayer, are followed up with verses about us forgiving others. Guys this is not easy. I know this. I struggle with this myself. I have resentment in my heart towards others, I hold a grudge and I get so mad at some people that I do not want to forgive them. I know many of you hold grudges as well. But let me remind you what verse 25 in mark tells us about grudges. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” Do you want to be forgiven? Then Jesus commands us to forgive others.
Do you want to know how Tim’s story ends? When Tim and his dad realize who each other are? Does Tim offer forgiveness to his father or destroy the man who ruined his life? Will you offer forgiveness to the person who you are holding a grudge against or will you let your hate and hurt destroy you? Jesus commands us to forgive those who trespass against us. You have said these words many times. But how will the story end? Will you forgive or will refuse forgiveness.
The ending to your story is more important than how Tim’s story ends. Let’s pray and offer forgiveness to those who have hurt us.

    Mud/Spit/Persecution
John 9:1-34 New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes.
   Alright what have we learned in this story so far? Who are the main people? Jesus the blind man, and who are the people in the background? The pharisees. What is the pharisee’s question about this man? Who is guilty of sin? Is it him or his parents because he is blind? They are focused on who is wrong and who should be punished. The Pharisees are not focused on healing or helping.
   We learn quite a bit from this story and just the first 6 verses. What does Jesus do? He spits in the dirt, makes mud and spreads it on the blind man’s eyes? Why doesn’t Jesus just tell the blind ma that he is healed and give him back his sight? Jesus did that with the paralyzed man. He told him to take his mat, get up and walk. So why did he use mud? Any ideas? Let me give you a few hints. What did God first create man out of? That’s right mud. Who formed the man from the clay and breathed life into him? God. What does John 1:1 say? In the beginning the Word was God and was with God. Jesus is showing his authority with the mud and his spit as the creator by using the mud to heal this man.

7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
   What happens here in verse 7? What did the man have to do? He had to go and do. He had to listen to Jesus commands and do it. It was not enough to simply be touched by God something had to happen inside the blind man. He had to put his complete trust and belief in Jesus Christ. The blind man had to go and do what Jesus said. What happened when he did? That right, he could then see.
8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
   Skepticism when healing takes place. This man was blind and now he could see, yet people did not believe him. He had a physical deformity that was healed and yet people still would not belief. Think about how many people who have a bad past accept Christ and are changed on the inside. No one wants to belief that a thief and a liar has changed. We hold grudges and say it can’t be possible this is the man we used to know not the new creation that God that has made in them.
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
   Now the beggar had to stand up for his faith and defend Jesus Christ. When Christ does something in our life we need to tell others what Christ has done for us, regardless how well we think we are prepared to answer the questions. The blind man very simply explains how and what happened.
12 “Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
   Those that refuse to believe will continue to refuse to believe and find another reason for what happened. But the blind man still did his part. He boldy stood and said it was Jesus who healed me.
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
   Now the pharisees continued in disbelief and wanted to dispute the blind man. So they pressed him further and questioned him, and tried to intimidate him. Yet the blind man had to answer. Do you ever feel inadequate to answer some tough questions about God? Then answer like this man. In essence the blind man said, I don’t know everything about God, but what I do know that Jesus healed me so he must be sent from God.
18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and
could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
   Here you see that the Pharisees take a different angle. They decide to attack the family. They try to intimidate the family to get the blind man to recant his story. The pharisees put the stress on his mom and dad and the social stress to make him change his story about Jesus Christ. We don’t understand this part, but this is what is happening here. If this blind man’s parents admit that Jesus is the Christ and the Messiah, that would be blasphemy. Blasphemy could get them killed, but it for sure would get them kicked out of the temple. If they could not worship in the temple, they could not have their sins forgiven. So, the parents of this blind man used their son as a scapegoat. The passed the buck and said he is old enough to answer for himself, which in Jewish law meant that he had to be over the age of 12.
   Following Jesus’ commands and doing his will may and can cause family descension. The parents were worried about their own hide and how this affected them, yet the blind man stood strong because he knew what Christ had done for him.
24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
   I love the boldness of this blond man who we know to be rather young. He is standing in the Temple before the Pharisee’s who are in their culture the most educated men and someone to be afraid of. Yet he stands strong and insults them. Didn’t I tell you once he says! I can’t answer everything, but I know I was blind before Jesus and after Jesus I can see!
28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are
disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”
   I love the logic of this blind man. The blind man lays it out in plain language. You don’t know where Jesus comes from, he says? Well we know this and we both agree on this. God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to those who do his will and worship him. No one has ever been able to open the eyes of the blind since the creation of this world, if this man were not from the creator, how could he have done it?
   This was a logical and concise answer. Yet did the Pharisees believe it? Nope.
34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
   Just because we are right and we can easily explain truth, doesn’t mean that the other person will accept it. Ravi Zacharias has been given the opportunity to debate against Richard Dawkins, and he has refused the invite because Ravi believes that speaking truth to a fool will only fan the flame.
   When we are confronted about Jesus Christ speak the truth. When the person refuses to believe and will not listen to you; save your breath. Truth and knowledge become nonsense to the blind. This blind man teaches us a lot. You will need to do what Jesus tells you. Then you will have to stand up for him. You will personally be attacked, your family will be attacked, your family might not support you, the church might not support you, your logic might not heard, but always defend Christ. No matter the cost, your blind eyes will be opened.

   Humanities Greatest Injustice

   I read a story that came out of the country of Japan. It is about a man named Masao Akabori, and he hasn't had a good night's sleep in 35 years, not since he confessed to kidnaping, raping and strangling a 6-year-old girl in a mountain grove near the Oi River one spring day in 1954. Masao was a 25-year-old vagrant who has a speech impediment when he was arrested. Masao spent 34 years on death row in Japan. A Japanese custom does not allow for the person to know when their turn is on death row and the executioners all come for the inmates during the night. Masao suffers from insomnia now and after 34 years of living on death row he was released because he was an innocent man. Masao confessed to the rape and killing because of police brutality and torture. This is quite common in Japan and 4 other inmates have been released from death row because they have been found innocent years later. Masao remembers being beaten humiliated and tortured until he finally said what the interrogators wanted him to say. Masao after 34 years of jail walked out a freed man after a retrial found him not guilty. A case of injustice being corrected shortly before it was too late.
   The next case was not caught it time. William Jackson Marion and Jack Cameron met at a Kansas boarding house in 1872. The two men became fast friends and traveling companions, using Cameron's team of horses to go from place-to-place to find work.
Along their journey, the two made a brief stop in Beatrice, Nebraska to visit Marion's in-laws before moving on. After a few days, however, Marion returned solo, sporting clothes that belonged to Cameron and driving Cameron's horses. Then he left town again.
Weeks later, the body of a man was discovered with three bullet holes in his head. He was also wearing the same outfit that Cameron had worn the day he left town. Marion immediately became the prime suspect and a manhunt began. After 10 years of searching, Marion was finally captured in Kansas.
The trial and conviction of Jack Marion was seriously abbreviated. Marion's verdict was read after just one hour of deliberation, and he was hanged for his crime on March 25, 1887.
Four years later, Jack Cameron reappeared looking for his old friend. Apparently, he had run to Mexico to avoid a shotgun wedding in Kansas, giving his horses and other possessions to Marion. Now he'd come back to reclaim them.
   This story speaks of some grave injustice to our justice system. Now I spent quite a deal of time searching wrongful executions and believe it or not there are quite a few of them out there, and many of them are present day. This story happens to be one of the oldest I found, but unfortunately this happens much more often that we are aware of. Wed would all agree that this story is loaded with injustices, right? One man was found dead, wearing the missing man’s clothes. This story is an injustice to dead man who was found, was never identified and then it is an injustice to Marion who was executed for the death of a man who was not dead. To hear or read about these stories make you sick to your stomach. Now these men in this story lived almost 140 years ago, so it is hard to feel close to this situation. But now imagine if you were the mother, father, brother, sister, or best friend of Marion? Now try to imagine seeing this trial last only 1 hour long with the verdict being guilty. You know that Marion is innocent, Marion is pleading that he is innocent, and there is no solid evidence that proves otherwise. Then you have to stand by and watch your son, or friend be hung in public display.
   Now that makes it a little worse in your stomach to know that an innocent man is being murdered and he is being murdered by the very hands of justice. There is no one you can go to make the execution stop. Then you have to stand by look into his eyes and watch him die. When he is dead your then given the body of your innocent son or friend. The feeling of anger, sadness, hatred, revenge, and a complete loss of faith in humanity washes over you. Do you see where I am going with this story?
   Today is Good Friday. But what is so very good about this day? Let’s read the scripture for tonight. I want to read Mark’s version in chapter 15:16-37
   Mothers could you imagine having to watch your son stand up in front of all your peers and be sentenced to death? Then to listen to the people scream out Barabbas instead of your son’s name? Can you imagine as a man to see one of your best friends be tied to a block while two soldiers take turns beating your friend until he can barely stand, and your innocent friend’s blood is covering the entire ground and splattered on the soldier’s bodies as they laugh and continue. As a man how do you stand by and watch this? Then have to watch your son or friend be paraded through town while being cursed at, beaten, and publicly humiliated while carrying his own cross that will execute him? Jesus is taken all the way to the top of a hill so everyone coming in to town or leaving town can see him as they pass by. Then he is nailed to the cross and put up on display.
   Did you catch in scripture that it was 9 o’clock in the morning when he was crucified? Then he was left to slowly die. Think about how Mary must have felt as she witnessed this all happening to her son? Think of John as he stood at the base of the cross and looked into Jesus’ eyes? Both Mary and John knew Jesus best; they knew he was innocent and perfect. He was the Son of God, he was sent back to save his people and his people tortured and killed him. Could you imagine the huge feeling of injustice that was felt that day by both John and Mary?
The first convicted death row inmate that I read to you Masao, was convicted of rape and murder of a young girl. Murder and rape is horrible, but when you add a child into it then it takes it to a whole new level. Because a child is innocent. Nothing is worse than seeing an innocent person suffer and die. Yet that is exactly what happened to Jesus Christ on the cross on Good Friday. The most pervasive twist of justice and the greatest injustice was served on Good Friday some 2000 years ago. Yet why is it that we call it Good Friday?
This goes back to my last night sermon, and Ravi’s story about the Farmer’s luck. You see in the moment of the crucifixion we could not see what was happening. What appeared to be the pervasive twist of justice to humanity became the greatest gift to humanity. Because on that cross, Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins and God’s Grace was poured out to us. Was the first Good Friday an injustice to humanity, yes. Is our salvation through Jesus Christ death on that cross an injustice to humanity, yes! Good Friday is Good because God’s love shine through our sinfulness and the wages of sin; death is defeated! Today is a great day. Not because of anything we have done, but because of what God the Father in his all-knowing omnipotence could see when he sent Jesus Christ back to this fallen world to be humiliated, mocked, beaten, tortured, and crucified for us this day becomes a Good Friday.
I am going to finish tonight service with a song from Chris Tomlin, entitled “Home.” I am playing this song tonight instead of giving you a challenge. I always wondered what drove Jesus, with his free will being both man and God, to choose to love us so much. I think this song explains it well. Jesus knew what heaven is like and he was gonna go home. Nothing the devil could offer him in the desert could even come close to going home in Heaven. Jesus knew how amazing heaven is, and in his love for us all, he wanted as many of us to come and join him there, and that is what I believe drove him to willingly submit to the cross and to embrace it and he marched up Calvary.
   Play “Home” by Chris Tomlin

     1 Olive Please
Scripture: Mark 14:17-26
   Tonight we remember Maundy Thursday. This is the night that we remember the last supper, the washing of the feet, and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in the garden. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word mondatum which means commandment. The commandment that is being referred to comes from John’s version of the last supper when Jesus washes his disciple’s feet and then commands them to love one another as he has loved them.
   Now why do we call it the Last Supper? Because it was the last meal that Jesus would eat before the kingdom of God would come. Jesus knew what later that night and the next day would bring. Jesus knew that his earthly body would die tomorrow. Jesus shared his last supper with his friends and his betrayer. Jesus was sitting on death row and this night was his last meal.
   Now in the US we have a tradition that allows death row inmates to have their last meal be anything of their choice. A few states have taken that away, but most of them still allow this luxury. I was curious and spent a couple hours yesterday searching the internet for last suppers of death row inmates. I did not know what they would have or how the tradition went. I found a man who wrote a book titled “No seconds,” and it was about inmates last meals. He had pictures of serval inmates last suppers, and most of them were predictable like lobster, steak, chicken, pizza, or even candy. But there was one inmates Last Supper that really stood out to me; it was a man who for his last meal asked for a single olive with the pit still in it. That was it, nothing more.
   As you could imagine this intrigued me, as I am sure it does you. I researched who this man was that requested such a strange last supper. The convicted death row inmate’s name was Victor Feguer. Victor Feguer was a convicted murderer sentenced to death row in the state of Iowa. Feguer was allowed his last meal on march 14th 1963. The night before his execution Victor was up all night in a prayer vigil with a catholic priest. I do not know if he confessed his sins and accepted Christ that night, only Jesus knows that. Feguer by our standards was not a good man. The person he murdered was a doctor, a father of 3 whose wife was pregnant with their fourth when he was murdered. Victor picked this doctor’s name out of a phone book called him to his house and murdered him for his prescription drugs and his car.
But what about the olive? For his final meal, Feguer asked for a single olive with a pit, and said that he hoped that an olive tree, a symbol of peace, would sprout from his grave. Once again, we do not know if this murderer became a Christian the night before his execution, but we do know that Jesus pardoned a thief on the cross next to him only moments before that thief died and that thief was promised to be with Jesus in paradise. But why did I tell you the story of a convicted murderer who by our standards deserved the punishment he received and his unique choice of a last supper?
Well earlier this week I was listening to Ravi Zacharias again as he spoke on free will. Ravi was asked what is known in the philosophical world as the Soteriological problem of Good and Evil. The question is “how could an all-powerful, all loving God allow evil to exist.” The trilemma God is all-powerful, all knowing and evil exist. This story was presented to Ravi. A Jewish man in a concentration camp was shot while digging his own grave by a nazi. If God is all-loving and all-knowing why couldn’t God stop the nazi from pulling the trigger?
Ravi answers that the greatest gift from God is our love. But you can never have love without the freedom of the will. If you are compelled by some machine to a certain decision, then you can never love. You can comply, but you will never choose to love. If love is the greatest gift and our free will is tied to love, and God’s goal for you and me is to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves; then for God to violate our free will would mean that God would violate the necessary component for us to truly love.
What Ravi is saying is that if God takes away from free will from man, then man is nothing more than a machine and cannot choose to love. If God stops the man from pulling the trigger, why doesn’t God stop every little thing that goes bad in our life. Have him stop us from speeding before the cop meets us, have him freeze the boiling water that splatters out of the pan before it hit’s us, have our child choose not to ride the bike before they hit the ground. Do you see that what is being asked for is you not to be human, but a robot that is constantly in need of protection. When you have free will you are free to love.
I want to tell you this story that Ravi says about luck. It is about a man who’s horse runs away. The neighbor comes over and says it is bad luck. The farmer says what do I know about luck? The next day the horse returns with 20 wild horses, and the neighbor returns and says it’s not bad luck it’s good luck. The farmer replies with “what do I know about luck?” The next day the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the wild horses and the wild horse breaks the son’s leg. Neighbor again says that’s bad luck. Farmer replies what do I know about luck? The next day a band or thugs comes through taking young men off to fight and they come to get the farmer’s son, but when they see he has a broken leg they leave him. Neighbor again says that’s good luck. You see in a short period of time we cannot decide what is good or bad until more of the picture is revealed.
Why don’t you wait until you stand face to face with God and you will see that there are reasons why God did not stop that trigger, so that you could see the heinous of evil and the majesty of love and good managing to point you towards God.
The very same free will that allowed for Victor to pull the trigger was the free will that sent the doctor in love to help someone that he had never met in their house. Tonight I have talked about a murderer and his last supper. Tonight I read the story of Jesus and his Last Supper. What do these two last suppers have in common? Why didn’t Jesus stop Judas from betraying him tonight? Why didn’t God take away the cup that he gave to Jesus? Because in God’s all-knowing omnipotence God knew the great things that were about to take place.
Jesus’s Last Supper was spent thanking God for the food, serving others by washing their feet, and commanding them to love others as he has loved them. It was the love of Christ showed on Maundy Thursday commanded to the disciples that has been passed down to the catholic priest who sat up all night with a convicted cold blooded murderer and prayed with him until the time of his execution.
So tonight, as we partake of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday I challenge you to start living a life like Jesus commanded us to. To love the same way he did, the same way that catholic priest did. Look past what people who have hurt you have done and just love them. Show them Christ and serve them no matter by our standards how bad of a person they are, just love them! Jesus commands you too. Mondatum
Let’s Pray

   Why Ashes and a Cross?
Genesis 3:19
   “By the sweat of your brow you will have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust and to dust you will return.”
   Job 42:6 “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

   Why do we put the sign of the cross made from ashes on our foreheads each year on Ash Wednesday? Ash Wednesday emphasizes two themes: our sinfulness before God and our human mortality. The first scripture that I read came from Genesis. This scripture is God’s words spoken to Adam directly after the fall. This is where mortality begins. When Adam decided to join his wife, and eat form the tree of good and evil, he brought mortality onto human kind. Man, was created to be an immortal being like the angels, but our inward sinfulness separated us from God’s goodness. God and sin do not mix, that is why when Lucifer rebelled against God he was cast out of heaven. That is why when Adam sinned God cast him out of the garden of Eden and removed Adam from his presence. That is why we cannot live with God in heaven as sinful beings. Only through the grace of Jesus Christ can we be made pure and sinless and acceptable to God.
   Adam in the creation story was created from God by dust and then God breathed life into him. When life leaves our bodies, the wonderful order of circulation, oxygen exchange, digestion, and all the other wonders of the body cease and disorder takes over. Our bodies breakdown and decompose and turn back into dust once again. That is why at a committal service, you will typically here the words spoken by the pastor “ashes to ashes’ dust to dust” But where do the ashes come from?
   Ashes signifies mourning and repentance. The scripture I used comes from my favorite book Job. These are the last words that Job speaks to God before God restores Job once again. The book of Job is 42 chapters long. The majority of the book Job is yelling at God, and Job’s friends are yelling at Job for the wrong they believe Job has committed against God. Over 30 chapters Job or his friends are trying to figure out why God allowed for these evil things to happen Job. God answers and after 3 chapters none of his friends say another word and Job only speaks 6 verses and finishes it with repentance. Job says “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
   Job sits in the dust to signify that is all he is compared to God. Dust is what he came from, dust is what we all shall return too. Ashes signify mourning and repentance. It is an outward and visual sign that says to everyone who sees you, that you are sorry for what you have done and that you are not perfect. Ladies why do you put on makeup? To make anything that you feel like is an imperfection, perfect. You want your skin to look flawless and beautiful. Ashes are the exact opposite. You are putting a mark smack dab in the middle of your forehead telling the world that you are the far from perfect, that you have messed up and you are sorry. You’re showing that you need forgiveness.
   Have you ever thought about the word forgiveness before? Do you know that you cannot earn forgiveness or do anything to get it from someone else? Think about that. Emily found a statement on Pinterest, that goes something like this, “it is not up to you to decide if what you said hurt me or not.” Sometimes we hurt people, and we cut them deep. We can try our hardest to tell them how sorry we are, we can do everything in our power to try to get them to forgive us, but it is ultimately up to the person who was hurt to offer forgiveness.
   Forgiveness can only be given from the one who was hurt, not from the one who did the hurting. So when we put those ashes on our head, we are telling our friends, our family, and our enemies that we have hurt others, that we have messed up, that we are bad. No makeup can ever cover our sins and the black smudge on our forehead shows the world what kind of person we really are. We make the smudge of ashes into a shape of a cross for a reason.
   Do you know what that reason is? Because on that cross God offered us his forgiveness, by sending his son down to nail our sins with his hands and feet on that cross. We show the world on Ash Wednesday that we are not perfect, were bad people, but the Son of God, Jesus Christ was so perfect and his love is so great that we are made perfect through him. No makeup can cover up our sins, but the blood of Christ washes away all of our sins.
   So tonight, as I ask you to come forward and I make the sign of the cross on your forehead with the ashes; I want you to really think about its significance. If you are not in the same mindset as Job, saying “I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes in repentance”, don’t get the ash on your head. This is meant for those who are willing to admit to the rest of the world that they are not perfect, but the exact opposite, and that they are only accepted by what Jesus did on that cross. Tonight, we accept our mortality and eagerly look forward to Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through his resurrection, we to them are granted immortality.
Let’s Pray
Please come forward.
    It’s Time
   We have jumped ahead in Ecclesiastes to the third chapter today. We will jump back next week and finish chapter 2. Today we will be using the familiar scripture about time, a time for this and a time for that. We will be focusing on then a few of those verses for todays sermon.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 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.
   How many would you agree with this statement? Timing is everything. Of course it is. I remember being in high school driving up our driveway and seeing a buck standing 50 yards off our driveway with a doe. He was a nice buck not huge, but he was quite decent. It would have been a chip shot and he would have been on my wall. You know why he wasn’t on my wall? Because it was Friday afternoon the day before gun season opened. I never saw that buck again the following nine days and he never ended up on my wall. Timing is everything. Now that was kind of a lame example of timing, but we all have some examples of bad timing that are better than others.
   Like maybe the first time I asked my father-in-law if I could marry his daughter. I was in the ER right after my accident, timing is everything Sam wouldn’t talk about it then. There is an appropriate time for everything in life. That is what these 8 verses about time are trying to explain. You must read the situation and react accordingly. We just had this conversation with Job our oldest yesterday. Emily and I were driving down the road, and all of a sudden, Job says Dad check this out and unbuckles and comes to us while driving to show us something. Do you know what that was? It was a comic in the newspaper that he thought was hilarious. We had to explain that while I’m driving down the road is not a good time to be showing me the comics.
   Verse 2 is commonly used at funerals. It is the verse about a time to be born and a time to die. We are given a natural life cycle. I think farmers understand this life cycle a little better than others. We deal with life and death all the time. We see animals being born and we see animals die. It is natural to see life’s cycle of birth to death. Now today we are celebrating the life cycle of those who have completed their cycle. When our loved ones were born we celebrated their birth, and when we lost them we mourned their loss. We still mourn their loss years later, and we still celebrate their birth and cherish the memories we have of them during our lives.
   Solomon is explaining this is right and just, this is normal. We experience pain and joy through life and death. Through our life cycle and through our loved ones life cycle we have witnessed all of these “times” listed in the first 8 verses. Solomon’s point in this section is that God has a plan for all people, and that is why he provides life cycles for each of us. Now we may look at some of the problems we have faced or the shortened life of our loved ones, and we may think that it contradicts God’s plan. These times in our life when we think that God’s plan is being contradicted is not meant to be barrier in believing in God, but rather opportunities to discover that, life without God our problems have no lasting solutions.
   The secret to peace with God is to discover that God’s timing is right. The danger is to doubt or even resent God’s timing. Now trust me, I know what I just said there. I know how difficult that is. I know it is difficult to accept God’s timing when we lose our loved one. But when we allow to second guess or question God’s timing it leads to despair and rebellion. In a time of loss, despair in not needed. Despair does not bring about healing. Rebellion does not draw us closer to God, it only separates us farther from God. We are naturally wired to want to have a relationship with God, and when we despair or rebellion, we make unnecessary stress on that relationship.
   I preach quite often at funerals this scripture. 3:11. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart. God has planted eternity on our hearts and we will not be satisfied with anything in life until we find eternity. Earthly pleasures or pursuits will never satisfy us. We are created in God’s image, we have spiritual thirst, we have eternal value, and nothing but an eternal God can satisfy us.
   It is this verse that gives us hope after we lose a loved one. We are made to be eternal. That means that as this life cycle ends another immediately begins. To God life is never lost, it is only transformed. A life lived in God and through Jesus Christ is a life that gives us eternity. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, and our loved one has as well then we will once again be reunite with them. You see to God timing is something outside of time itself. I know that is confusing but God is outside of time a day is like a thousand years to him. So in the grand realm of eternity through God’s eyes timing is perfect.
   God has your life and the life of your loved ones taken care of. It is difficult for us to see, even more difficult for us to comprehend when we lose someone close out of the natural order, but in his timing has this taken care of. Do not despair in death and loss, but further trust that God the one who placed eternity on your heart has your life and your loved one’s life under his control. My challenge for you as you contemplate life and death to not despair and rebel but rather draw closer to the God who loves you and your loved one more than you could possibly imagine. Let’s Pray


       My Story
   The reason the title is My Story is because I’m going to tell you about when I accepted Christ. When I was 7 years old, I was going to daycare and I asked my dad how old he was when he accepted Christ, his answer was 7.
I asked him how do I accept Christ and he explained to me that all I need do is pray and ask for forgiveness. The thought of accepting Christ was stuck on my mind for a while. Later that day we were in the woods pretending we were Indians or something and cane and Eli left to go get something and I took a knee and accepted Christ. It was a long talk. When I had finished, I felt changed big time. The feeling was like when your cold and you have hot chocolate and you warm up almost immediately. It felt good to have finally accepted him.
Being at such a young age it is difficult to understand christ and his power and ability. Going through day to day in my life as a 12 year old I am always busy. Whether it’s helping dad with chores, mom with kids, or having fun I always have christ in mind with everything I do. I have accepted him and therefore follow him through my struggles. Many things have happened in my life to help me be positive that christ is there and watching over me and my family.
This is the best way I remember christ, and helps me at school and in general talk to people about christ. We as the church body are the sheep dogs. The people who don’t have christ are the sheep. There are 2 gates, the gate to heaven and the gate to hell. It’s our job to move them in the right direction. To help them find and follow christ and his path to righteousness.

With this brings us to our scripture today. It has to do with my teachers that have taught me and made me understand who jesus is and how to properly be a believer of christ.

Our scripture is from Luke chapter 2 241-247. About jesus and the temple in Jerusalem. The best thing about this scripture is that I can relate to it so much. Jesus’ parents had went to the Passover festival. Which was the most important festivals and recalled the night of the jews’ escape from Egypt. Where they took jesus, who at the time was 12 and also was considered an adult. They traveled to the festival in caravans or big groups of people for safety from robbers along the Palestine roads. The problem is being a 12 year old boy jesus could be up front with the females and children or in the back with the men protecting the rear. When Mary and Joesph got back Nazareth they couldn’t find jesus anywhere. This is where I can relate, because my parents have the same problem. They can NEVER find me! After awhile they asked themselves where could jesus be, and after looking at relatives and friends’ home with no luck they traveled back to Jerusalem. After three days of no luck they finally found him in the temple amongst the teachers talking and answering their questions. Although I am a young kid this is what I want in my life. To be able to talk about and know jesus christ and be able to amaze people about his love and power that can help them in everyday life. Back to the story- when they found him they were shocked and asked why, why would you do this to us? We were worried sick, and jesus answered, Why did you need to search? Didin’t you know I was in my father’s house? They didn’t understand, but he knew that he was in the right place. As soon as they got home jesus was obedient and do everything he needed.

The challenge I extend to you guys today is to find the young kids, and teach them something about christ. Whether it’s big or small the difference makes the world showing them the love of jesus christ and can help them better understand his power.
Lets pray.

    Lies and Hallucinations
1.   Did Jesus really die?
2.   Was He buried?
3.   Was the tomb empty?
4.   Did he appear to the disciples?
a.   Lied about it?
b.   Hallucinated?
c.   It’s true!
5.   Did the resurrection really happen? Is it Legend or True?

   Alright so after a short hiatus from my sermon series on the resurrection of Jesus Christ due to Mother’s Day we return to the question of “did Jesus really resurrect from the dead?” Last week the sermon was on Mother’s Day, and Mother’s Day history, but May 13th was something else. DO you know what last Sunday was? It was 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. 40 days after, notice the 40 days again? Jesus then Ascended into heaven on this day. Last Sunday was Ascension Sunday. It was the time that Jesus stood among his disciples, told them to stay in Jerusalem until they are Baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus was taken up in a cloud while everyone was watching and two angels came down and told the men to get to work. Jesus was gone but he will return someday in the same way they saw Jesus go.
Scripture: Acts 2:1-15
   Now today we celebrate something that happened 10 days after ascension Sunday. Jesus’ ascension happened 40 days after Easter, and then 10 days after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven, we have the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Can anyone do the math for me? 40 plus 10 equals, 50, hence the term Pentecost. Pentecost is the day that Holy Spirit is poured out on the now apostles like tongues of fire. The disciples change drastically on this day and the church explodes.
   But where does this leave us if the Resurrection of Jesus Christ never happens. So, let’s back up a little. We have already discussed if Jesus was really dead and I went through a medical analysis of what would have happened to Jesus during the beating and crucifixion and medically we have proof that Jesus was truly dead. I also pointed out that serious skeptics do not consider the option that Jesus only appeared dead. Then we talked about the fact that he was really buried. The customs of the time, the historical evidence, and ancient tombs found exactly where scripture tells us they were, and the fact that Joseph of Arimathea used his own new tomb to bury Jesus. Jesus was buried in the ground. They we talked about the Empty tomb. This bomb shell showed proof that the tomb was truly empty. Everyone knew where his tomb was, and no one could provide a body. Historically we have the Jews from the early 1st century trying to cover up the empty tomb, and not denying the tomb was empty but rather saying the disciples took the body. So the tomb was empty. Then I explained how Jesus appeared to his disciples, women, and many others as well. Corinthians records 500, Acts records 120, and the gospels record the disciples and others. Jesus physical body was recorded being witnessed over multiple locations at multiple times by different people for 40 days after his resurrection from the dead. So we know that Jesus was dead, he was buried, the tomb was empty, and that people witnessed the resurrection and saw Jesus alive again.
   But that leads us to these three questions then. Maybe the disciples lied about the whole thing and made up a great story about Jesus to save face.

Lied about it.
Or maybe the disciples hallucinated and thought they saw Jesus alive again.
It is true, and they really saw Jesus alive

First let’s discuss the option that the disciples lied about it. Did the disciples lie about Jesus resurrection? Well, how many of you are willing to die for a lie? Now in history we see a lot of people who have gone to great extremes to promote what they believe. The Mayans sacrificed humans all the time to please the God’s. They did this because they believed it was the only way, not that it was a lie. We see in the Bible talk of people sacrificing their own children to Molech by binding them together and rolling their children down the arms of a statue into a fire. They believed that they had to do this, they didn’t think it was a lie. When Hailey’s comet flew over a bunch of people drank poisoned Kool Aid to catch a ride on the comet, not because they knew it was a lie but they believed it. You see people are willing to die for what they believe and that is not anything new to us or history, but it is new to think that people would die for a lie. 10 of the 11 disciples died for what they believed and the 11th was exiled to a desolate island for criminals and lepers after being boiled in hot oil. Not to mention the perfect harmony of the 4 gospels and how beautifully articulated the New Testament is in relation to the Old Testament. This was written by mostly uneducated fisherman, tax collectors, and carpenters. You see the disciples really believed that they saw a risen Jesus Christ.
   Ok you say then, well maybe they only thought they saw something. If people throughout history are willing to die for what they believe is true like the Mayans, or devil worshipers, or comet riders then the disciples really aren’t any different. Just because the disciples believed in what they saw doesn’t mean that it makes it true. Maybe they all hallucinated and thought they saw Jesus Christ. The Hallucination theory holds very little weight in the phycological world for more than one reason. You see the disciples record physically touching Jesus, (Thomas) and eating with Jesus (breaking of the bread, eating fish by the sea). This typically does not happen with Hallucinations. And even more improbable in the hallucination theory is the possibility that multiple people hallucinated the same thing. Think about it this way. If I stood up here and said, “Wow what a crazy dream we all had last night, huh?” You would all look at me like I was crazy. Hallucinations are very real, I know, I hallucinated when I was heavily medicated in the hospital and saw some really vivid creepy things. Hallucinations though are very individualized. You do not see group hallucinations. Then the hallucination theory also gets blown away when you look at Paul, who meets Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus over 3 years later after Jesus has returned to Heaven. The hallucination theory does not hold water.
   So, if the disciples didn’t lie about the resurrection, and they didn’t hallucinate about it, then it leaves us with only one option. And what is that option? That the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true. Remember how I told you about Canaan and the chicken coop. How he swore he picked up eggs for two days and he couldn’t find any eggs. 2 days later we got 7 eggs from 4 chickens, and all 7 were brown and one of our chickens lays blue eggs. Canaan still swears it was a miracle and won’t change his story. I told you to look at the facts and test it for yourself. I want to let you know that OI have recently been picking up the eggs and three times now we have gotten more than 4 eggs in one day. You see sometimes the evidence points to the truth, and sometimes it confusing. There is plenty of evidence that points us to the FACT that Jesus Christ resurrected, but we chose to not believe it.
   If you want to know why we chose to not believe the facts, then join me next week as I cover, the last option of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that it is TRUE!
   Let’s Pray.


       Super Life
Scripture: Timothy 2:5
   “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victors crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
   1st Corinthians 9:24-27
   Today is the Super bowl. How many of you will be watching it? Do you know it is expected that over 100 million viewers will be watching or following this game? Most of course watch only for the commercials. This is the only time anyone sits down to watch a show and is excited when a commercial comes on. Do you have any idea how much a 30 second commercial now cost during the super bowl? 1 million? 2 million? Double that and then add the one. That’s 5 million dollars per 30 seconds of advertisement. Americans this year are expected to spend 14.1 BILLION dollars this year on the Super Bowl. That breaks down to an average of $75 dollars per person that is spent on this one game. Each player on the winning team gets and additional $97,000. Don’t worry each player on the losing team each gets $49,000. In a Sunday afternoon that kind of money can be spent on entertainment. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?
   Keep these statistics in mind today as you are watching the game. Now I want to read to you out of 2nd Timothy 2:5. Play by the rules. That is not always adhered too. Especially in the New England Patriot realm. People will do about anything to win. Win at all cost they say. Winning nothing else matters. But why? What do they really win? Paul gives us a good answer in 1st Corinthians. This is a scripture I have used in the past so maybe it will sound familiar to you.
   Read 1st Corinthians 9:24-27.
Paul goes on about athletes who adhere to strict rigorous training to run a race. They all run the race, but only one wins it. And for what? What do they win? A crown or a prize that loses its glory and value. 14.1 Billion dollars is being spent on the Super Bowl today and last year 15.5 Billion was spent, yet as time goes on we barley remember who even played and won year after year. You can watch the TV show Pawn Stars and see Super Bowl rings being pawned. They lose their lust and value. All things are temporary. But Paul talks about something more than a perishable crown.
   Paul says I do not run like a man beating the air and running aimlessly. NO, I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. He ends were Timothy picks up. Similarly, an athlete does not receive the victors crown unless he competes by the rules.
   If a coach openly cheats, will his players play fair? No why would they? That is what Paul is eluding too. I must run my race so that others see how to run it. What does Paul gain if he fills the streets of heaven with converts to Christianity but never gets to set foot inside that pearly gate? What do I gain if I continually preach the good news of Jesus Christ, but never know him personally? What witness do we have if we will be disqualified for cheating?
   I want you to think about this today during the game. Think about the wasted money that is being spent on this game. It will make you sick. That much money spent on entertainment for an afternoon. Then think about how much your monthly cable bill is and how much you spend in a year on TV and Movies. Now most of you have probably received your tax statements and now I want you to think about how much you gave this last year to charity. Ouch. It is easy for us to look at someone else wasteful spending and criticize them. But as I say to my boys as they nit-pick at each other. Glass Houses. People that live-in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
   Now I try to make it very clear when I mention money in a sermon. God does not need your money, he never has, and he never will. I do not care if you give a penny to this church. I just want you all to realize how much you have been entrusted with. We are disgusted by the wasted money spent on one day of entertainment for the Super Bowl, but we ourselves could do so much more with what we have been given.
   I want to challenge you with this today as you watch the Super Bowl. Think about how much is being wasted on each commercial, and how much good could have been done with that 5 million dollars that was blown in 30 seconds. Then think about how long your life has been. Use your time and resources wisely and you can live a Super Life! Let’s Pray

   Intro: How many of you have ever got your butt chewed by your parent? (Pause and let the people answer) Do did you like it when that happened? Think about a time when you got chewed out preferably by one of your parents. I want you to just let that memory stew in your mind for a while, because later we are going to talk about those time when we are being corrected and how it is good an necessary for all of to get a good chewing once and a while.

Scripture: Revelation 3:15-19
This scripture was written by the apostle John at the end of his life. He was given a revelation by Jesus Christ of what was to come. From this revelation we have warnings and promises, and now we are going to talk about one of those warnings to Christ followers. The church in Laodicea was a very wealthy community and their church was also very wealthy. The problem was that in their wealth they had become complacent. They no longer relied on Christ to support them, but rather their own material possessions. John describes them as being lukewarm. Does anyone like lukewarm coffee on a cold day? Or lukewarm water on a hot day? Or a meal lukewarm? Luke warm just doesn’t cut it does it? I would rather eat left over cold pizza, or fresh out of the oven hot pizza than rubbery lukewarm pizza. The believers in Laodicea did not take a stand for anything, and their indifferences led to idleness. By neglecting to do anything for Christ the church had become hardened and self satisfied, and thus were destroying themselves. Now I do not have a hidden sub message here, I am not referring to our church, but just follow me.
Laodicea was not doing what needed to be done, they were really messing up and failing Christ and everyone around them. They needed their butt chewed, and needed to be corrected quickly. Laodicea as I said earlier was a very wealthy city and therefore the majority of their church members were wealthy too. That’s why Jesus speaking through the apostle John tells them to buy Gold that has been purified in him. Jesus tells them to focus on spiritual wealth not monetary wealth. Spiritual wealth will carry with you to the next life not so much for monetary wealth. Now apparently Laodicea was known for their expensive dies and colorful clothes and also for an eye ointment. Now I did not do my research here and I am taking the word of my leader’s bible, and so far my leader’s bible has not led me wrong. So now listen to Jesus’ words when he says to them, “You say I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing! And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked!” To the town that is rich, known for its fancy beautiful dyed clothes, and for its miraculous eye ointment, Jesus says your poor, your blind, and you’re naked and you don’t even realize because of your pride and arrogance! It was time for Laodicea to get their butt chewed and to straighten them out.
   In my intro you were asked to remember a time when you got your butt chewed out by either a parent or someone else. Now I was intending for you to think of a time when you deserved to get your butt chewed out. I will tell you a couple of mine. The first one was not with my Dad, but rather my best friends dad of whom I have great respect. We were supposed to leave for Wyoming late one evening with a bunch of friends and long story short at 3am we still hadn’t left and the trailer was still broke, so we all decided to go home and come back at 8am. At 3am in the middle of town I got into my diesel pick-up that had had no exhaust and stuck that gas peddle to the floor board. My truck was very loud and I was showing it off. Did I mention that it was 3am in the middle of town? When I showed up at 8:15 because I am always so prompt, I was not expecting to meet my friend’s very unhappy father in the driveway. Let’s just say that he or his neighbor who let him know were nearly impressed with the sound of my truck at 3am. I got a real good butt chewing and trust me I deserved it, and I promise you I never did that again well at least at his house!
   Of course there is also the time that I flipped the skid steer over on its side when I was way too far down in the woods trying to pull firewood out. I knew there was no way dad would let me go down that far to drag our firewood so I just didn’t ask him and did it. That was not a fun call to make when I needed his help to flip the skid steer back onto its wheels. I deserved both of those butt chewing’s. My behavior was not acceptable, and it needed to be corrected. The loud exhaust at 3am didn’t really hurt anyone, but it was the fact that I was being disrespectful, rude, and inconsiderate of everyone else at 3am. It was the disrespect that needed to be corrected. When I flipped the skid steer, I could have been hurt and dad saw that coming before it happened, luckily I did not get hurt but I needed some correction so it didn’t happen again.
      Both of these times was the person chewing me out doing it because they didn’t like or love me? No they did it because they did love me and they wanted to see my behavior corrected and see that I was a respectful young man who continued to live a long life. Now I am sure that most of you have been on either side of the butt chewing equation. Sometimes you are the one chewing and sometimes you’re the one being chewed. Parents when you chewed out your kids why did you do it? Because you loved them right? Kids when you got your butt chewed and you knew you were wrong it still hurt when you got chewed out right? I hope you understand that your getting chewed out because your parents love you so much.
   Verse 19 says “I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.” I try to write sermons that are very timely and relating to my life at the time that I give them, so let me tell you what has spurned this sermon. My nephew who I love and am very close too, goes back to college tomorrow. He has made some stupid freshman mistakes, and I had to have a butt chewing session with him late last night. It took me a couple of days to get up the courage to do this because it was very uncomfortable to do. He is 18 and I consider him to be a man and to act like one. It was hard as the one chewing his butt because I realize that some of the things that he has failed at is partially my fault. He was hurt when I said what I had to say, but as a loving parent I would rather see him suffer momentarily and to correct his wrong doings than watching him fail for a lifetime. “I correct and discipline everyone I love.”
   This is what Jesus is doing to the church in Laodicea. They don’t realize that they are failing and that they need to be corrected. They are living a lukewarm life. They on the surface believe in Christ yet they put their faith and trust in their own wealth, fancy clothes, and eye ointment. Christ had to give them a good butt chewing to make them see things from a different perspective. Sometimes we need that too. Sometimes our mistakes and failures aren’t as obvious as other times. Like the 3am peddle to the floor, I did not expect the next morning to get my but chewed, but when I called dad when the skid steer was no longer on its tires I knew that chewing was coming. Brandon probably didn’t realize how far he was slipping down the wrong road until it was brought to his attention, and it was necessary.
   Maybe that’s you this morning. Maybe you know that you are not living the life that Christ has called you to live, and you know your tires are not on the ground anymore. You got a chewing coming to ya, now listen up and change. “So be diligent and turn from your indifference.” Maybe your living your life like me at 3am and are not expecting a chewing the next morning. Maybe you slipped for so long you’re too far away to see the butt chewing coming. Either way it is time to get your life straight!
   My challenge for you today is to stop being so lukewarm. Either you love Jesus Christ and your gonna follow him or you don’t. It really is that simple. When your dead and you stand before him that’s the only thing that is going to matter. Yes Jesus “I Love you and I’ll follow you.” There is no room in heaven for lukewarm Christians. You need to either be all in or all out. With that I will finish and let you ponder these thoughts this afternoon, and your actions will tell me your response.
   Let’s Pray