Sermon Video: Jesus calms the storm - Mark 4:35-41

 In an episode that reveals his true power to his disciples, Jesus calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee with a word. Lessons for us? Whether the storms we in life be literal or metaphorical, God is in control. The will of God is not altered by tragedy, the love of God is not lessened by dangers, and God will finish what he has begun in us (our transformation into Christ-likeness). God has not made the storms disappear for his people, and while he may intervene to spare some, the true power of God is in overcoming the 'storms'. Get in the boat with Jesus, let him worry about the storm.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

The future of the Church, why do I keep worrying about it?

We spend a lot of time and a lot of energy worrying about the future of our own local church.  We also spend a lot of time and energy worrying about the future of the Church in America, or in the West, perhaps even globally.  Is my church heading in the right direction?  Is my denomination heading in the right direction?  How will the Church respond to the increasingly secularized culture of the West?  What about millennials, everybody keeps saying they aren't going to church anymore?...

These worries, or "concerns", if we want to feel better about what we call them and avoid admitting that we're worried, are probably unavoidable, to some extent.  We all want to know that our contribution and sacrifices will stand the test of time, that they are "worth it" and not wasted, and we have a natural and appropriate place in our hearts for our own local church, our denomination, and the Church in our nation.  If any one of those levels fails, or seems to be failing, it will be emotionally brutal for those for whom much of their identity is defined by being an American Christian, from this particular church, in that denomination.

Our emotional investment is natural, and for the most part a good thing, but it may also be somewhat misguided.  The Church, from the local one that you are attached to (hopefully), to the denomination to which it belongs, to the collection of churches throughout this nation (or any nation), doesn't belong to you.  The Church is the bride of Christ, the object of the New Covenant, the subject of Jesus' promise to his disciples that, "the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Mt. 16:18)  The Church in our generation will have its ups and downs, it will win some and lose some, it may shrink in one area only to grow in another.  Through it all, from this generation to the next, and the next after that, the Church will continue to be the instrument of the will of God for declaring the Gospel and making disciples here on Earth.  And as an instrument of the will of God, it cannot be defeated, our worst or best effort notwithstanding, for its success or failure is not predicated upon our power, but God's.

Does what we do matter, then, at our local church?  Absolutely, for we have been given charge over the sheep of this particular pasture, we have been entrusted with the words of Life, and we have been tasked with making disciples here in our midst.  We have, as a local church, much responsibility of the utmost importance.  What we don't have, what we can't have, is responsibility for the future of the Church, from the local to the universal level, that power rest, thankfully, solely in the hands of God.

Is the Church shrinking in the West?  Statistics seem to say yes, but you and I will not be judged by God according to statistics.  What we will answer for is the quality of our prayer, worship, and service in the name of Jesus.  It has always been the work of the Holy Spirit to bring salvation to the Lost, to spur revival among the people of God, and to overcome the forces of darkness in this world with the light of Christ.  If the Spirit of God sends revival upon our local church, our denomination, or our nation, God will deserve the glory, for the power of God will have been the cause.  What then does the future hold for us?  As our church here approaches its 150th anniversary in July, we can't help but wonder.  God knows, God alone has the power to shape the future.  Our task, our responsibility, is the present.  Our own lives, our own discipleship, our own community and our role within it as servants of the kingdom of God.

How does the story end?

"Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." (Revelation 19:7)

God will have the victory, his Church will be victorious, for the uncountable throng of redeemed saints who comprise it are the bride of Christ, and their celebration of his victory in the glory of heaven is already certain.

Am I optimistic about the future of the local church where I serve?  Yes.  Am I optimistic about the future of our denomination, the American Baptist Churches?  Yes.  Am I optimistic about the future of the Church in the United States or in the West?  Yes.  But my optimism or pessimism alone won't determine anything.  There will always be reasons for optimism and reasons for pessimism, regardless of them, we have a task to accomplish, a mission given to us by our Lord, and we are responsible for our effort on behalf of that cause, God, and God alone, is responsible for tomorrow.

"at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11)

Sermon Video: What, me worry? - Luke 12:22-34

In this passage, Jesus offers some of the most practical, yet difficult, advice you will ever hear when he says, "do not worry about your life".  Worrying is exceedingly detrimental to our health and well-being, and we'd all love to worry less, but the problem is that we don't know how to make this happen; worry, anxiety, and fear seem to strong for us.
Jesus offers multiple reasons why his followers ought not to worry, even about the necessities of life like food and clothing, beginning with the reason that "life is more than food, and the body more than clothes."  Even if the bulk of our time and resources are devoted to the act of living, that is not the purpose of life.  We were created to be more than just alive.  In addition, Jesus offers the example of the ravens, who without effort are provided for by God, and the lilies who make for themselves a flower more beautiful than human hands could make.  Both of these forms of life are the result of our Creator's joy in the creative process, and neither are beneath his notice.  If God cares for such as these, surely he cares for you whom he values far more as a human being created in his likeness.
The reasons from Jesus for us to not worry continue with his assertion that worrying doesn't accomplish anything positive, but is itself evidence of faith that is lacking.  If we trusted God more, we would worry about our lives far less.  In the end, the perspective of knowing that God is in control, we certainly are not, and that God's care and concern for us extends from the basics of life all the way up to our hopes and dreams, is the key to keep worry at bay.  We already trust God with our souls, having chosen to live by faith, we just need to keep going and trust God with a far smaller thing, our tomorrow.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Luke 10:38-42

Life can be busy, it can be hectic, stressful, and frustrating.  Work needs to be done, things need to be taken care of, we have responsibility.  All this is true, and the Word of God doesn’t attempt to gloss over such concerns, but it does offer hope.  In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is confronted by a frustrated hostess Martha whose efforts to prepare for Jesus’ needs and those of his disciples, has been hampered, in her mind at least, by her sister Mary’s lack of contribution to the work.  Martha interrupts Jesus to complain about this unfair situation and request, with much emotion, that he order Mary to help out.  What was Mary doing this whole time, why wasn’t she helping?  Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking up the wisdom of his teaching, and acting as if she too, even though she is a woman, is going to be his disciple.

                This passage can be viewed as a sibling rivalry, the struggles of an older sibling to deal with responsibility and the younger of shirking it.  Or it can be looked at as a clash of personality types, with Martha’s “A” personality being frazzled by Mary’s laid-back attitude.  We’ve all experienced such turmoil, in our family, at our work, or in our church.  When people work together on projects it always seems that some are left holding the bag and doing all the work while other skate by.   

                How will Jesus respond?  Will he scold Mary for not helping out?  Keep in mind that the previous passage was the Parable of the Good Samaritan, a message about helping out someone in need, and Mary isn’t helping out.  Are the situations parallel?  They are not, and therein lies the key to Jesus response.  In the parable, it was a question of life or death, right and wrong were clearly in the choice, to help was righteous, to fail to help was a sin of omission.  Here in this situation, Martha and Mary are not dealing with a right vs. wrong decision, but rather a good vs. better comparison.  Is it better to work hard to provide for the needs of others, as Martha is doing, or is it better to satisfy the spiritual hunger of learning from Jesus?

                Much of the commentary on this passage attempts to point out that Martha’s preparation were overly indulgent, that she had put too into it, and thus the lesson for her from Jesus is one of simplicity.  While there may be some truth to that line of thinking, it isn’t necessary that we criticize Martha in order to understand why Jesus takes Mary’s side by declaring that she chose something “better”.  Martha’s didn’t do anything wrong, per se, she just didn’t make the best choice possible.  There will always be more work to do, but Mary recognized that learning from Jesus was a unique spiritual opportunity not to be missed.  That was the better choice for Mary, it would have been the best choice for Martha as well.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video

Sermon Video: Do we need to look anywhere else? - Luke 7:11-23

If you or I were arranging the material that Luke had to work with when writing his Gospel, I don’t think we would have placed the episode of the doubt of John the Baptist while in prison immediately following the healing of the centurion’s servant and the raising from the dead of the widow’s son.  These two demonstrations of Jesus’ intimate connection with his Father should be proof for even those who were skeptical beforehand, let alone for the man whose mission in life was to prepare the way for his cousin to be the Messiah of Israel.  And yet, as John’s time in prison grows, doubt has crept into his mind.  After early success in the wilderness, with throngs of people proclaiming him a mighty prophet, maybe even the Messiah, John’s career has taken an abrupt about-face with the arrest by Herod for daring to publicly denounce Herod’s clearly sinful stealing of his brother’s wife.

            How will Jesus respond to John’s doubt?  Will he criticize him from not holding firm, or offer him solace in the same way that God comforted Elijah when his strength failed?  Rather than directly addressing John’s most pressing need, freedom from prison, Jesus tells John’s followers that the proof of who he is has been made clear in the healing of the sick, blind, lame, deaf, and the raising of the dead.  Why doesn’t Jesus offer his cousin a word of encouragement, John is after all in dire circumstances at this very moment?  The truth of the person of Jesus Christ, that he is indeed the Son of God and the Son of Man, that he has come to save the lost through self-sacrifice; this truth is greater than the circumstances that John is facing.  It may not be the easiest thing to hear when we ourselves are enduring suffering, but God’s plan to redeem humanity is far greater than anything we are, or will, ever endure.  The difficulties we experience in life are very real, the pain or sorrow equally so, but in the end, the love shown to us by God will have the victory.

            If you doubt, you are not alone, if you are afraid, you are not alone; God is greater, his love for you is greater, you don't have to look anywhere else.

To watch the video, click on the link below:

Sermon Video 

What are we all in such a hurry for?

On our way back to Pennsylvania from Michigan yesterday, after visiting both sides of our family for Christmas, Nicole and I passed 50 cars and 3 semis that had crashed or slid off of the road into the ditch.  The roads we certainly slippery, and some of the people may have ended up wrecked through no fault of their own, but there we plenty of people still trying to go 70 m.p.h. regardless of the road conditions.  That sort of casual refusal to acknowledge the laws of physics makes me wonder where they were heading in such a hurry.  The trip normally takes us 6 hours, but it took 9 1/2 this time.  I could have shaved an hour, maybe more off of the time by putting my car and our lives at greater risk, but why?
This may on the surface just seem like an observation about driving in snow and ice, but I think it touches something deeper about the modern world.  The world that we live in exists in a perpetual state of hurrying.  Tomorrow isn't quick enough, we need it done today; later today isn't soon enough, we need it now.  We have next day delivery, fast food, instant communications, and yet the anxiety that exists with all this speed about things taking too long only seems to get worse.
What is the end purpose of all of our striving?  For what lofty goal have we given up the joys of a quiet afternoon spent outdoors among God's wondrous creation alone or with our loved ones? 
As it always does, the Word of God offers us wisdom when we have gone astray, as Jesus told his disciples, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?...So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' of 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."
(Matthew 6:27, 31-34)
Amazingly, the phone hasn't rang while I was typing these thoughts, but one e-mail has popped into my inbox, I've got a lot of work left to do today; no time left to waste on trying to think too much. 
Slow down, where are you hurrying off to anyway?  Seek God first, enjoy your family, live life as God intended for you with both purpose and joy.