Sermon Video: Building up the Church - 1 Corinthians 14:1-12

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul established the supremacy of Love, but how would one rank/evaluate the lesser gifts of the Holy Spirit?  In order to impart perspective, Paul compares the efficacy of two of these: prophecy and speaking in tongues.  Prophecy is designed to encourage, strengthen, and comfort, it 'edifies the church' by sharing with the people of God the Word of God.  Speaking in tongues (foreign languages) has potential, but without an interpreter it can only benefit the one to whom the gift is given.  Thus comparing the effects of the two upon the Church, Paul strongly prefers gifts that are outward focused, rather than inward, and gifts that help the many, rather than the few (in this case individuals).  This then is our principle: seek gifts from the Spirit that build up the Church, by building up the local church, through help that is truly beneficial, in particular the sharing of the Word of God.

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Sermon Video: The Greatest of these is Love - 1 Corinthians 13:8-13

In the culmination of his ode to the supremacy of Love, the Apostle Paul emphasizes the permanence of love by comparing it to the temporary nature of three other spiritual gifts: prophecy, tongues, and knowledge.  These gifts exist because of the flawed nature of humanity.  In order for the Church to function, it needs spiritual assistance from God, but this will not always be the case.  After the establishment of the Kingdom of God, when humanity is fully reconciled to our Creator, there will no longer be a need for assistance in bridging the current gap between God and man.  Yet in that day, Love will not cease, but fully come into its own.  Rather than a limited version of God's love, in imitation of Jesus, the children of God will have and experience love in its pure form, no longer marred by the selfishness of sin.  Finally, while faith and hope are also foundation with love, Paul declares love to be the greatest of these, for one day faith will be sight, hope will be fruition, but love will be fully realized and once more in its glory as it was within the trinity before Creation.

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Sermon Video: One body, many parts - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Having expressed the variety of gifts given by the Spirit to the Church (local and universal), Paul next emphasizes the unity within that church, as one body made up of many parts.  The analogy emphasizes both the need for each part to be connected to the body, and the need for the body to have all its parts both connected and functioning properly in order to be healthy.  Thus the church needs to be unified, a status that is much easier when each part (person) within it feels both welcome and appreciated.

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Sermon Video: Many gifts, one Spirit - 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

As he introduces ten gifts given by the Holy Spirit to benefit the Church, Paul emphasizes that while they may look different, they are all given at the discretion of the Spirit for the same purpose: the common good.  Given this, the Church requires the contributions of numerous people who have received those blessings from God, working together and sharing responsibility, for the sake of the Gospel mission.

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Our warped definition of Christianity is disastrous

What, and how, we think is important; very important.  What we believe in, and what we believe about important topics and issues profoundly shapes who we are.  But there is more to it than what and how we think.  It is absolutely true that an individual cannot be a Christian if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, in other words, they believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and that he lived, died, and was raised to new life in order to set us free from sin (enslavement to, and debt because of).  {See John 3:16 as an example of this explained in one sentence}  Belief is not the end of the road.  Belief has to be accompanied by repentance {a turning away from sinful behavior} and has to lead to righteous living {by the power of the Holy Spirit} in order for belief to be effective.  In order for it to be real.  A belief in Jesus which does not change the trajectory of a person's life, in ways both small and great, is meaningless.  Herein lies the problem.  Consider the two passages of Scripture below which together illustrate the absolute necessity of "fruit" (ethical behavior) and give nine prime examples of what it looks like:

Matthew 7:16-20 New International Version (NIV)
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Galatians 5:22-24 New International Version (NIV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

To say, "I am a Christian" is not enough.  To have a particular political viewpoint is not enough (and often misleading).  To know the key words one should say in order to "sound like a Christian" is not enough.  To attend a church at Christmas and Easter, or even more often, is not enough.  To own a Bible, or even read it, is not enough.  To give money to Christian charities, or the Church itself, is not enough.  A person could have all of those things, and outwardly look the part, but without love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; they would have nothing. {See 1 Corinthians 11}  Don't get me wrong, someone who goes to church, reads a Bible, and gives money to Christian charities is better off than someone who doesn't; but only if those factors eventually lead to the radical change of mind and heart that gives evidence to the presence of the Holy Spirit and results in the outflow from that person's life of the fruit of the Spirit.  If a person remains "associated with" Christianity, but never moves forward, they will actually be worse off on the Day of Judgment for having known better without acting.  {See Hebrews 6:7-8}

The Church in America, in particular, has a self-identification problem.  We've allowed cultural distinctions and political viewpoints to more strongly define our view of what Christianity is than righteous living.  We've minimized the immorality that doesn't bother us, pride, lust, and greed in particular, and allowed ourselves to accept the delusion that anyone who looks the part and is on "our side" in the Culture War is Christian enough.  The Word of God says otherwise.  We will be known by God by our fruit, judged as genuine believers in Jesus, or not, by it. 

Those who mimic the look of being a Christian, without the heart-motivated acts of righteousness to go with it, are either self-deluded or charlatans, either a danger to themselves or to the church as a whole.  As long as we accept those who are "like us" as being good enough because we view Christianity as cultural/political feud to be won, rather than a call to self-sacrificially serve the Kingdom of God that must be obeyed, we will continue to warp Christianity into something which is was never intended to be, with disastrous consequences.

Sermon Video: "In this place I will grant peace" Haggai 2:1-9,20-23

As the people have already returned to working on the temple following the urging of the prophet Haggai, what message does God have for them one month later?  Surprisingly, God chooses to point out to the people the vastly diminished scope of their effort in comparison to the glory achieved by their ancestors.  The Jewish remnant, now a province of Persia, have no hope of matching the results of their ancestors who built Solomon's magnificent temple during the height of the power and wealth of the Kingdom of Israel.  So why would God remind them of the fact that things are not what they once were?  Because they already knew it.  God chose to confront the issue head-on because he wanted to reassure the people that he was still with them, that his Spirit would still be among them, and that he would indeed be glorified in the temple they were rebuilding, even if it was but an imitation of the temple destroyed in 586 BC.
Here at 1st Baptist of Franklin we can understand the emotions of the Jewish remnant when they contemplated the glory of a few generations previously.  One hundred years ago our church building had 2,100 seats in the sanctuary (since renovated into an auditorium and recreation area, capacity now about 300), and the Sunday School attendance books show weeks with over 1,000 people.  Those huge numbers were doing the height of the oil boom, an era long past in Venango County.  What then do we do with less than 1/10th of their numbers?  Mourn the loss of that "golden age"?  No, we hold fast to the promises of God that he is with us in our generation as well, that God has a place for us in his will, that his Spirit remains among us, and that he most certainly will be glorified in our generation as he was in their generation.

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Sermon Video: Trying to persuade people about Jesus - Acts 28:17-31

In the finale to the book of Acts, Luke shares the story of Paul's attempt upon his arrival in Rome to share the Gospel with the leaders of the Jewish community there.  It was not their first encounter with Jesus, they had been a divided community regarding the question of whether or not Jesus was the Messiah since at least AD 49 when Claudius expelled the riotous Jewish community from Rome about twelve years prior to Paul's arrival.  After a whole day of explaining the Gospel on the basic of the Law and the Prophets, Paul is able to persuade some, but only some, of the group.  Why is that?
Paul's explanation for the failure to see the Truth of the Gospel echoes that of the prophet Isaiah and of Jesus himself who also quotes Isaiah 6:9-10.  The problem is a hardened human heart.  It is not a matter of the eyes or ears (i.e. an intellectual problem) but of the heart (i.e. a spiritual problem) which has become calloused.  That frustration, of Paul, which echoes God's frustration, results in a decision that is relevant to the Church to this day.  If the Gospel will not be accepted by those privileged enough to receive it, it will be sent to others who are willing to believe.

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Sermon Video: "Persuade me to be a Christian"? - Acts 26:17-32

As his defense before Agrippa continues, Paul explains that God gave him the mission of leading people from the darkness of rebellion and sin, to the light of forgiveness and sanctification by faith.  Paul was opposed for this effort, because it included the Gentiles, even though it was a continuation of what God had previously spoken through the prophets and Moses.  Having said this, Paul confronts Agrippa with the key question, "do you believe the prophets?"  While Festus think that Paul is out of his mind, Agrippa knows the validity of the words of the prophets and interprets Paul's question as an invitation to become a Christian, which he declines.  Agrippa's response raises important questions.  How does someone become a Christian?  Is it an intellectual, emotional, or spiritual pursuit, or some of all three?  Can a person be persuaded, making it partly a matter of human freewill, or is it solely a matter of the will of God?  In the end, Paul proclaims that he will continue to hold out hope, and pray, that not only Agrippa, but everyone listening to his words will accept the gift of God's grace in Christ Jesus.

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Sermon Video: "How will this be?" The Miracle of Christmas - Luke 1:34-38

In a key passage of Scripture, the angel Gabriel responds to Mary's question, "How will this be?" with an explanation of how the Son of the Most High will actually come to be.  He makes it clear to Mary that the child she will bear will not be conceived in the natural way, he will not have a human father, but instead will be the result of an encounter with the Holy Spirit.  The combination of humanity and deity, allowing Jesus to be both the Son of God and the Son of Man, was a unique miracle, an entrance of God himself into his creation.  As further assurance, Gabriel offers to Mary the example of Elizabeth's unexpected pregnancy.  The response of Mary to this stunning news is both simple and correct, "I am the Lord's servant."

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There are no racists at the Cross

As recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia remind us, there is a segment of the white supremacist movement that insists upon following in Hitler's footsteps by appropriating Christian symbols and claiming to defend Christendom.  As it has always been, racism in no way defends Christianity or Christendom, it is an abject mockery of it.  There is no common ground between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and any theology/philosophy/political movement that seeks to divide the world into groups of "us" vs. "them" and thus foment bigotry, hatred, and violence.

At its very founding, the Church was given the mission of taking the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.  Jesus said to his disciples, "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) echoing the promise of God to Abraham, "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3).  Paul would later clarify the import of Jesus' words by declaring that, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).  This list of Biblical references to equality in Christ could continue, for it is absolutely clear, without a doubt, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's message of salvation for ALL people, and that race, nationality, class status, and gender are in no way at all a barrier to God's grace, so much so that the Gospel destroys all such distinctions within the Church.  We, the people redeemed by God's grace, CANNOT allow discrimination and stratification to continue, as it does in society, within the Church.
The racists are not working for the Church and Christianity, they are working against it.

Can the Gospel save a racist?  Absolutely, by destroying in him/her that same sin nature that all mankind shares, that same sin nature shared by murders, rapists, thieves, liars, adulterers, lovers of money, the prideful, hateful, and narcissistic.  Racists are no worse sinners than anybody else when compared to the holiness and perfection of God, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ." (Romans 3:23-24).  The Gospel, that is the power of God, can save anyone, even the must vile among us, but that person won't remain the hate-filled sinner they were before the grace of God, they cannot.  If they remain enthralled to sin, of any kind, racism included, they cannot be a true child of God, born again in Christ.  John makes this point repeatedly in his first letter, "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (I John 1:6-7)  John goes on to speak of the absolute necessity of love among Christian, ALL Christians, "Dear friends, let us love on another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (I John 4:7-8)  If you don't love your fellow sinners saved by grace, if you hate the people who don't look and act like you who are a part of the Church, then you are not a Christian, period.

If you are a racist, right now, it is an ongoing part of who you are, then you cannot be a Christ-follower anymore than a person who right now continues to walk in the darkness of lust, greed, or pride.  The people of God are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, here and now, they cannot continue to walk in the darkness.  The people of God are not perfect, they will fail and need to repent, but they are not, nor can they be, people who walk in darkness, they cannot be racists.  The White supremacists are not defending Christendom, they are anti-Christs.

"In Every Age, O Lord" - Reflections on 150 years from Psalm 90

When First Baptist of Franklin celebrates its 150th year of existence this July 30th, the choir will sing a version of Psalm 90 entitled, "In Every Age, O Lord" by William Monaghan.  Psalm 90 was written by Moses in acknowledgement of the providential care of the LORD for Israel throughout each generation.  After contemplating the briefness of man in comparison to the eternality of God, the psalm ends with this prayer, "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands."

God is indeed the Alpha and Omega, the author and finisher, but in his wisdom, God has chosen to work in and through his chosen people, first Israel, and now the Church.  This willingness of God to work out his will through the efforts of mortal men and women makes the prayer of Moses entirely appropriate.  We plan, strive, and hope, seeking to fulfill God's will and be useful servants for his kingdom, but we need the power of God to establish the work we have undertaken.  Why?  To make it effective, to make it last.  The Church has been able to endure, as a whole, because of the empowerment it has received from the Holy Spirit at work among its individual members.  If we were but a human institution, we would have surely collapsed long ago, like Rome itself, under the weight of our own foibles and follies.  But the Church of Jesus Christ has endured, despite the faults of those who comprise it and their foolishness, for it is an expression of the power of God.

Here at First Baptist we have had ups and downs.  We had a generation where a 1,000 people came to be a part of this church's worship, and we have had a generation where a couple dozen were all we could muster.  And yet, the work of God has endured here among his people.  Those redeemed of the Lord continue to be trained and equipped, worship and prayer still rises up from our gatherings, and ministries of outreach both local and global continue to be undertaken.  God, in his wisdom, has been with us thus far, allowing us today to stand at the end of a line of God's people stretching back at this location to the 19th century.

God has been our refuge, in each generation, and God has established the work of our hands for his kingdom.  May God continue to bless his people, gathered here in Franklin, in his name and for his glory, for many generations to come.

Sermon Video: Often imitated, never duplicated - Acts 19:13-20

How genuine does your faith need to be?  Can you get by with the equivalent of a generic version?  In Acts 19, the people of Ephesus learn the answer to such questions when seven Jewish men attempt to utilize the name of Jesus, without actually believing in Jesus, in order to cast out a demon from a possessed man.  Their attempt didn't go according to plan, the demon recognized their lack of faith and instead of obeying those empowered by Jesus as per usual, it beat all seven men brutally as they barely escaped with their lives.  Still think that a knock-off or diet version of the Gospel is good enough?
When news of this spread to the people of Ephesus, those who already believed publicly confessed their sins to each other, and brought a huge pile of scrolls used in their former life for sorcery to be burned.  The people of Ephesus got the message: Take God seriously.  Will you?

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Sermon Video: Paul and the Power of the Spirit - Acts 19:1-12

As Paul continues on his third missionary journey, he first visits churches that he had helped found during the 1st and 2nd journey, and then returns to Ephesus where he had stopped briefly the previous year.  At Ephesus, Paul finds some disciples who had not yet received the Holy Spirit.  Questioning them, Paul realizes that they only knew the baptism of John (the need for repentance) but nothing about the one whom John had prepared the way for, that is Jesus.  Upon hearing about Jesus, and believing, these disciples also receive the Holy Spirit.
Paul continues his mission effort by spending the next several months teaching in the synagogue until opposition there forces him to seek out a new venue.  Undaunted, Paul continues teaching in Ephesus, ultimately spreading the Gospel message throughout that province.

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Sermon Video: Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit - 1 Corinthians 6:14-20

Why does God care about what people do with "their own body"?  As our creator, God has the right to judge those to whom he has given life itself, but for the people of God, for those who by faith have become disciples of Jesus, the reason for God's concern is even deeper.  One of the benefits of being born again in faith is union with Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  This union means that sexual immorality (for example) on the part of the people of God ought to be inconceivable, for it would be uniting the unholy (immorality) with the holy (the person whom Christ has redeemed).  Likewise, with the presence of the Holy Spirit within each believer, God's people have become the temple of God, thus bringing immorality (sexual or otherwise) into that temple is to profane it.  Lastly, if those warning are not sufficient, Paul reminds the people of the church at Corinth that there is no such thing as "their own body", for all those who are in Christ have been purchased by God, a debt that can never be repaid.

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Sermon Video: You are God's Temple - 1 Corinthians 3:16-23

What value do the people of God have in the sight of God?  In addition to our value as those created in his image, an inherent value we share with all of humanity, the people of God are also valued as the metaphorical temple of God.  From the creation of the Tabernacle until the Temple of Solomon was destroyed in 586 B.C., the glory of God dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.  The prophet Ezekiel saw that glory leave the temple prior to its destruction, but it did not return when the temple was rebuilt by Ezra, instead, God sent his Spirit to dwell within his people after Pentecost.  The glory of God began to dwell within his people instead of within a physical temple.
The implications of this blessing include a heightened sense of the purpose of God's people as his servants, and an increase in the seriousness of any who might harm or even destroy this temple of God by attacking individual Christians and/or the Church.

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Sermon Video: Spiritual Discernment - 1 Corinthians 2:10b-16

Why is it that two people can look at the same evidence and arrive at contradictory conclusions?  In the case of the spiritual things of faith, it should come as no surprise when an unbelievers and a believers do not see things the same way.  That which we know about God has been self-revealed by God, but it also requires a further act of grace on God's part to enable us to comprehend spiritual truths because it is not only sin that separates humanity from God, but a rebellious heart and darkened mind as well.  Those who have been reborn in the spirit have also been given the Holy Spirit to indwell them as a counselor and guide, thus enabling them to bridge that gap and begin to understand the mind of God.

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Sermon Video: "the power of the Most High" - Luke 1:34-35

The basic elements of the Christmas story are well known, but what of the deeper questions of purpose and meaning?  To know that Jesus, the Christ, was born of Mary is of course important, but our understanding needs to be more than that, we need to know why Jesus came, and why he had to be who he was, and nothing less, in order to fulfill that purpose.  The conversation between the angel Gabriel and Mary that informed her of her impending pregnancy contains the answers to those two questions.  Gabriel tells Mary that her pregnancy will not be the result of any normal biological process, her betrothed Joseph will have nothing to do with it, but instead the power of God himself, the Holy Spirit, will "come upon" her and "overshadow" her.  This unique conception will eliminate the stain of original sin, Adam's curse, from the child, and also be the key to his all important dual nature, both man and God, for as Gabriel further explains, the child to be born of Mary will not only be holy, but also be the Son of God.  These details are crucial to the Christian understanding of who Jesus was, and is, and what he would later accomplish through the Cross and Resurrection.  He had to be sinless to escape the penalty of death hanging over us all, and he had to be God in the flesh in order to accept our penalty for sin upon his shoulders and share his righteousness with us.  The sorrow of Good Friday and the celebration of Easter are not possible without the Virgin Birth, the conception by the Holy Spirit, and the pre-incarnate Word of God made flesh as Jesus, the Son of God.

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Sermon Video: "I have come to bring fire on the earth" Luke 12:49-53

Contrary to the expectations of the people that Jesus had come to bring peace, following his parables on the faithfulness needed by the servants of God, Jesus goes on to explain that his mission is actually to bring "fire" to the earth, and not peace but division.  Since we know that he is the Prince of Peace, and that he is the creator of the reconciliation between God and man that is our peace, it seems odd that Jesus would talk of such things resulting from his ministry as fire and division.
The "fire" in this context is closely related to his previous remarks about the faithfulness required of God's servants, a refining fire, that melts away impurities.  Before that process of transformation of God's people can begin, Jesus himself must undergo his own baptism, a time of trial unlike any that other.  Once Jesus' mission is accomplished, his people can begin to be made new by the fire that he will send of the Holy Spirit.  It is because of that transformation process, a process of leaving behind the old life and adopting new life in Christ, that Jesus' mission of reconciliation actually causes division within the families of those who believe.  Why?  Because all those who follow Christ walk upon a path that diverges greatly from those who remain on the path of self-destruction, even if it is their own families.  Father and son, formerly as close as can be, drift apart as one follows Christ and the other remain enslaved to sin.  This same division can occur between spouses, parents and children, siblings, and friends.  It is inevitable, to an extent, as long as one follows Jesus and the other remains apart from God's redemption.  What then do we do, knowing of the fire and division that Christ has brought?  Continue to pray for our Lost loved ones, continue to show them the compassion of Christ, continue to demonstrate to them the righteous living of his disciples, and continue to hope; hope that the same Gospel that saved you and I out of the darkness will one day bring them into the light of the Son as well.

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Sermon Video: "because of his mercy" - Titus 3:4-7

Following his description of the wretched state of humanity apart from God in verse three, Paul highlights the dramatic turn in human history when the kindness and love (lit. philanthropy in the Gk.) of God appeared.  Instead of wrath, justifiable, especially from our Creator, God sent his grace, in the person of Jesus Christ, propelled by his kindness and love.  Why?  Because certain individual people deserved to be helped?  No, because of his mercy.  It had to be mercy.  It needed to be because God's holiness and justice were at an impasse with God's kindness and love.  Mankind could not be reconciled to God, as is, because of our rampant sinfulness and rebellion, nor could we obtain enough righteousness of our own to ever make up for the guilty verdict outstanding against us; mercy was the only option.  The mercy of God was not found in ignoring the consequences of sin, but instead in redirecting the cost of sin from those who were guilty and deserved no mercy, but received it anyway, to the one who was guiltless yet willingly died without mercy to provide it for us.  The cross and resurrection made the mercy of God possible, enabling his love and kindness to triumph, and opening the door for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to not only wash us in rebirth, but continue to cleanse an renew us as we await the promise of the children of God, a reunion in heaven with our Father, our Savior.

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Sermon Video: Peter and the Gentiles, Part 2 - Acts 10:30-48

Whether it is among family, at work, or in the justice system or government, favoritism or partiality can be a huge problem.  The question that Peter answers, as he speaks to a crowd in the home of the Gentile Cornelius, is whether or not such a charge can be made against God as it often is against man.  Peter declares to this crowd of people who are earnestly seeking God, but are outside of the Covenant of Abraham, that he is absolutely certain that "God does not show favoritism".  How can this be when God has a Chosen People, a holy nation that has received the blessings of the Covenant?  The answer, although radical to mind of the Jewish nation, is that God is willing to accept all people who "fear him and do what is right."  Peter then proceeds to explain to the people that Jesus Christ has made this relationship with God possible through his death and resurrection.
The results of Peter's message are immediate and dramatic.  The Holy Spirit comes upon those listening and confirms without a doubt that God is indeed amongst these Gentiles who demonstrated their faith by gathering to hear the word of God from Peter.  Peter, along with the Jewish Christians who traveled with him from Joppa, can now see that the same Spirit of God has been poured out upon all who believe in Jesus, regardless of their past, race, or gender.  Is there any favoritism with God, no, he gives grace to us all if only we will accept it.

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Sermon Video