Sermon Video: "hope does not put us to shame" - Romans 5:3-5

Suffering is an oft misunderstood topic.  Many religions and philosophies, including people within Christianity, get it wrong.  Suffering isn't necessary, for evil will ultimately be vanquished, and it can be opposed and lessened, nor does God cause it in the hopes of bending it to his will.  Suffering is, however, a reality in this present life, but so is hope.  Hope is not only possible but guaranteed if we trust in God, live righteously no matter what, and persevere by faith.

Sermon Video: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away" Job 1:20-21

The day is coming: A day of joy or a day of sorrow, a day of victory or a day of defeat.  Such days are coming for all of us and each of us.  In the book of Job, Job learns first of the complete ruination of his family's wealth, and then on the back of that shock, the horrific death of ALL 10 of his children when the building they were in collapsed during a storm.  How does Job respond to this trauma worst than our nightmares?  He falls to the ground in worship of God.  What??  Rather than ignoring God or responding with anger, Job responds with reiterating his commitment to the will of God.  How can this be possible?  Job understood a profound truth: All of life's blessings are from God, and all of them are temporary.  That perspective allowed Job to survive the worst possible news with his faith intact.
Can we worship God on our worst day?  Will our faith hold firm?  Perspective is the key.

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Sermon Video: The Mystery of God: Christ in You, Colossians 1:24-29

How can someone like the Apostle Paul "rejoice" in the suffering he endured?  Not because he enjoyed it, far from it, simply because he understood the purpose to which God utilized his dedication in the face of opposition.  The "mystery" of God, that had been foretold by the prophets, had at last been revealed during Paul's lifetime, namely the advent of the Messiah and his wondrous victory over sin and death through self-sacrifice.  The "glorious riches" of God's will were greater than that, however, for God intended all along that the message of hope that resulted from the work of Jesus be sent forth into the world, to call all nations to repent and create a new people from among them of those who would become disciples of Jesus.

Consider for a moment the import of these words: "the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Christ in his followers, is the hope of glory!  The dwelling of Christ within his people (through the Holy Spirit) here on earth is a foretaste of the glory of heaven to come.  How do we know, for sure, that God's promises of life beyond death with him are true?  We experience Christ in us now, molding and shaping us into maturity.

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Sermon Video: Three insights into the will of God - Luke 13:1-9

A question from the crowd about a recent tragedy allows Jesus and opening to clear up one of the biggest false assumptions about the will of God: suffering is the result of specific sin.  Sin certainly causes suffering, there is no doubt about that, but ALL suffering is not the direct result of specific sin on the part of those who are the victims of human wickedness, natural disasters, disease, or accidents.  Jesus rejects the connection that would allow others to blame victims for their own misfortune, and instead Jesus lays the blame for suffering upon the rebellion against God of humanity as a whole by telling the crowd that they too are in danger unless they repent.  Self-righteous attempts to blame victims, and make God the direct cause of every act of human suffering, both great and small, are thus misguided, leading us to wrongly be uncharitable toward those who suffer and painting a picture of a God focused upon vengeance.
Following his comments on the recent tragedy in Jerusalem, Jesus tells a parable to further explain the will of God in which he demonstrates that God's primary focus is not upon judging the Lost, but in finding a way through his patience and grace to save them.  Lastly, the parable ends by reminding us that God's patience is not infinite, there will be a day of judgment if grace is rejected.
Thus in this one passage Jesus has corrected three misconceptions about God's will: (1) That those who suffer are directly connected to specific sin, (2) that God's focus is upon judgment of the wicked and not upon saving them, (3) and that God's focus upon grace negates the judgment that will come in the end.
The next time you hear of a disaster, personal or community, your first thought should be compassion, saying to yourself, "there but for the grace of God go I"; wondering what sin the person(s) committed to have such a tragedy befall shouldn't even enter into our thought process.

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Sermon Video: "Where is your faith?", Luke 8:22-25

Today is a good day, things are fine, but there’s no guarantee it will end that way.  Life is like that, one moment you’re floating across a calm sea on a sunny day, the next you’re being battered by the winds and the waves and just hoping to live to see tomorrow.  For the disciples, that scenario literally played out as they went across the Sea of Galilee with Jesus as their boat was in danger of being swamped by a sudden storm.  The disciples, certain that death was imminent, awaken Jesus who rebukes the wind and the waves and saves their lives. 

As the storm subsides, Jesus asks them, “Where is your faith?”  Most preachers or commentators would then talk about how the disciples needed to have more faith, needed to ignore the danger and trust God.  While that is true, it doesn’t answer the difficult questions about our doubts and fears, nor does it tell us what to do while we wait for God to calm our particular storm, or what we should do if God chooses to let us endure through our trial, even if it costs us our life.

We know that God is capable of calming any storm, Jesus’ power over nature is only a glimpse at what God can do, but we also know that God chooses, from our perspective at least, to intervene only a minority of the time.  The explanation that we’ve been given for this discrepancy by Paul’s words in Romans 8:28-29 may partially explain some of the difficulties that we go through in life, (that they’re part of refining our character and helping us become Christ-like) but still leaves us with many unanswered questions.  Ultimately, the only answer that we can obtain in this life is the answer that God gave to Job, in essence, you’re not capable of understanding the answer to your question, you need to trust me.

What is the purpose of faith?  It isn’t to get my own way and protect me from all harm, nor is it to keep us from having to go through hardships and suffering.  The purpose of faith is to allow us to continue to trust in the love of God through the dark times so that we can hold on to the hope that God has promised those who love him.

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Sermon Video 

Sermon Video: "worthy of the gospel of Christ" Philippians 1:27-30

What would your life look like if you lived one that was "worthy of the gospel of Christ"?  How can we, as believers, live up to God's expectations?  The answer begins simply with an imitation of Christ; be like him.
What will stop us from living as we should?  Most people might assume that persecution, like the imprisonment faced by Paul, would be our chief foe, but in reality, it is prosperity that is leading to empty churches in Europe and America.  The poor haven't walked away from God, they know they need him, and the rich have never been likely believers, but the middle class were once devoted to God until the lure of becoming like the rich swallowed up our time for God (and our families).
We need to return to full devotion to God, and we need to be prepared for persecution if it comes.  Being on fire for God often will result in troubles coming our way, but Paul reminds us that to suffer for the sake of the Gospel is truly a blessing and a sign from God.

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Sermon Video

Is being a Christian hard?

At our Bible study today we were talking about I Peter 4:17-19 which lent itself to the question: Is it hard to be a Christian?  The answer is a bit of a paradox until you understand it.  On the one hand, it is exceedingly easy to BECOME a Christian.  It is after all, a free gift of God given by grace.  Jesus accomplished all the work that was necessary on the cross and confirmed his victory over sin through the empty grave.  For us to accept what God has already done for us requires a simple act of faith; it's easier than a lot of people assume.  On the other hand, it is exceedingly difficult to BE a Christian.  It is after all, a calling to live a holy and righteous life in which our example to imitate is Christ.  If that wasn't difficult enough, we also can expect to face persecution precisely because we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, as well as the refining "fire" of God's will that helps us to become more useful Christians.  God is indeed looking for servants who can do his will, not fans to sit in the stands and cheer him on.
Is it hard to be a Christian?  Yes, yes it is, the more so when you take your faith seriously.
Is it hard to become a Christian?  No, no it isn't, all you need to do is accept God's gift of grace.

Sermon Video: Fighting Against God - Acts 5:33-42

As the apostles are once again brought before the Sanhedrin, it appears as if the jealousy and anger directed at Peter and the apostles may lead to bloodshed.  At this crucial moment, Gamaliel, a respected Pharisee, stands and speaks on behalf of the apostles.  He reasons with the Sanhedrin that they should do nothing to the apostles because if their enterprise is a human one it will fail on its own.  If, however, it is from God, it will succeed no matter what they do.  In the end, the apostles are flogged and then freed; after which they rejoice at having been counted worthy of suffering for the Name.  How would you or I respond to persecution?  Would we be worthy?  The only way to know is to begin to live for Jesus now, to take up our cross daily and follow him.

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Sermon Video

The Road to Freedom, April 9th, 1945

On the monday morning, with the war only weeks from ending, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Gestapo.  It marked the end of a decade of resistance by Bonhoeffer, first to the offical German Church's embrace of Hitler's Nazi racial theology, eventually to the Hitler regime itself culminating in his joining with the plotters in the failed Valkyrie plot.  In the end, Hitler personally ordered the death of Bonhoeffer and many other of the conspirators while he cowered in the rubble of Berlin awaiting his own suicide.  Evil, when it cannot have victory, is content with spite.  Similiar scenes were taking place all over Nazi occupied Europe as concentration camps hurried to kill as many innocents as possible before Allied troops arrived.

To Bonhoeffer, this end was a choice he would embrace if it was what God asked of him.  He could have stayed safely in America with rewarding teaching opportunities at seminaries that certainly would have benefited from his wisdom, but he chose to return to Germany to be with the Confessing Church (the opposition church formed to counter the Nazi takeover of the offical German Lutheran Church) pastors in their ongoing struggle against Hitler.  To give oneself wholly to God was the passion of his life.

If we allow ourselves to be sub-divided into a spiritual side that we give to God and a secular side that we reserve to ourselves, we will never be the Christians that God wants us to be.  Nor will we ever be as useful for the Kingdom of God as we could be.  It is only when we have decided firmly in our hearts that our lives are not our own that we can truly find lives of purpose and meaning.  This radical wisdom comes from Christ himself who said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)  Bishop Bell, a friend of Dietrich from his ecumenical efforts in London, ended his memorial sermon with the words, "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church".

Sermon Video: John 9:1-12, the Sin of the Man Born Blind

Why was this man born blind?  Jesus' answer to his disciples question shows us that we cannot view all suffering as a punishment for sin.  Sin causes suffering, but not all suffering is from sin.  God wants us to help the less fortunate, not blame them.  Jesus offers light in the darkness and truth for those who seek him.

To watch the sermon, click on the links below
Sermon Video Part 1
Sermon Video Part 2

Those Who Don't Learn from History

The sad lesson of the book of Judges is repeated over and over, "the Israelites once again div evil in the eyes of the LORD." This phrase invariably follows after the death of the latest Judge who saves Israel from oppression and leads the people during the rest of his/her lifetime. When that judge dies, however, the people forget the lesson of being true to God and stray once again into rebellion and sin. Their sin leads to God allowing oppression (because they aren't keeping the Covenant), the people cry out to God in their misery, God raises up a judge to deliver them which he does, and the people have peace until that judge dies. The process repeats itself so many times in Judges that it the lesson we should be learning from this bit of history is inescapable. IF we do not learn from what God has done already, we will be doomed to make the same mistakes as those who came before us. Most of us are confident enough that we don't think that we'll make such mistakes, but we should ask ourselves, do we even KNOW what God has done in the lives of our family before we came along; what did our parents learn about God that we should know, what about our grandparents? What did my church learn in the past that I don't know about? Take the time to have those conversations with those who have LIVED through the ups and downs of life; whatever else, you won't be wasting your time.

II Corinthians 1:4 "so that we can comfort"

Why do we endure troubles and trials? No simple answer will satisfy the question that has echoed since the days of Job (beware of those peddling simple answers), but in II Corinthians 1:3-7 Paul offers us one reason why we may endure such difficulties. The answer is that we learn to comfort others when we ourselves receive comfort from God. Because God is merciful, we can learn to show mercy, because God is forgiving, we can learn to forgive, and because God comforts those in need, we too can learn to be comforters in the imitation of our Father. It's not a complete answer, it isn't supposed to be, but perhaps the next time you stare into the heavens and ask, "Why me Lord?", it'll be a bit of comfort for you to know that you may be learning to be a more useful child of God.