Matthew 15
The Miracle of Multiplication!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church. Today is Friday, April 3
This morning we are in Matthew 15. Listen to verse 32, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
Are you ready to collapse from the stress and anxiety, confusion and grieving of your life right now?
Are you hungry? Physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally…
In His compassion, Jesus asked His disciples to give of what they had to meet the needs (verses 33-36). Jesus miraculously multiplied the little to meet all the needs, to the point of every person being “satisfied” (verses 37-39).
Jesus’ compassion invites us to help meet the needs of today! The Lord is with each of us and has called all of us to work together! Are you ready to bring what you have to the Lord and see how He will multiply it for God’s glory?
You only experience the miracle of multiplication by opening up your heart and hands…
Seize the moment by making yourself available to help another person with what you have.
Please dial the phone number below if you have the willingness and capability to help another person or family with some practical assistance in the coming weeks. May this be a step of faith for you. We will call you when there is a need.
Please dial the phone number below if you need food or practical assistance as we head into this weekend. One of the elders will be in touch with you to see how we can help you.
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Matthew 14
Go to a Solitary Place!
This morning we are in Matthew 14. Listen to verse 13, “When Jesus heard about what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” John the Baptist had just been unjustly executed by King Herod. Jesus took time alone to grieve, to be with God.
Are you grieving right now? Exhausted and worn from being in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, with a constant barrage of feeds and needs pressing on you? The emotional weight of this moment is heavy. There is a persistent grief in this time that I have to continually bring to the Lord.
Jesus prioritized time for prayer. Jesus made this a pattern of His life: To seek His Father in prayer, apart from the opinions of people and the onslaught of demands. This is an essential rhythm of life that must be prioritized and protected or it won’t happen. This is one of the rhythms of the easy yoke of Jesus, a lifestyle pattern of Jesus’ grace-paced life.
Seize the moment to slow down and find your value and worth, not in productivity, but in relationship with the God who loves you and desires to draw close to you. He is inviting you to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10).
Please dial the phone number below if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 13
Let us Pray!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church. Today is Wednesday, April 1 .
As I was praying through Matthew 13 and asking God what He would have me say to you this morning, I felt in my spirit that God wanted us to pray together this morning. So, let us together, all 550 of us at one time, pray together:
Lord Jesus, we pray that the good seeds of the Word of God will grow in our minds and hearts, a great faith that prevails over all evil and perseveres through dark days. Your Word promises us that no weapon formed against us will prosper! Holy Spirit, activate within each and every person the faith to face this day and everyday called today. May your grace be our sufficiency. In our weakness, may we be strong because you fill our cup to overflowing with Your power and Your presence. Shalom: may Your peace that is above all human understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, as You walk with us through this valley of the shadow. May Your perfect love drive out all fear for You are with us, Your rod and Your staff they comfort us. May the joy of Your salvation be our strength as we learn to keep our eyes on You, the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.
Now and always. In Jesus’ mighty and triumphant name, we pray. Amen.
Seize the Moment: The Word of God will not return void. Pray the Word of God. Pray without ceasing. I am calling you to pray the power and authority through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Please dial the phone number below if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 12
Stand united!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church. Today is Tuesday, March 31
Two character traits I highly value in a person are integrity and loyalty. Integrity speaks to the unity within yourself and loyalty speaks to the unity without, towards others. We see them both in Jesus and He is our rock on which we build everything else!
Jesus said in Matthew 12:25, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” He was talking to religious leaders who were accusing Jesus of using evil forces to do His miracles. It’s amazing how people can turn against each other! And we are seeing plenty of that these days and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our current crisis is just helping us see the truth of how broken and divided we are. The new American past-time is to divide against each other!
My hope and prayer for you and your life is that you will be united with Christ and through His work in your heart and mind, you will use your words and time to build unity. That starts by being unified within yourself. That is your personal integrity. This comes through a personal relationship with God, where you walk and talk with Jesus and learn how to be gentle and humble in heart (also known as unity with God). Unity with God leads to loyalty in relationships.
Seize the Moment: A house divided will not stand the storm we are currently facing!
Everyone has opinions, those are easy! Not everyone has integrity; that is hard! Reach out to someone today to build a unified house. Let’s build on the Rock of Jesus Christ!
Please dial the phone number below if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 11
Rest!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church. Today is Monday, March 30
There I was in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, outside of Dahlonega, Georgia. I was in the Army’s highly-coveted Ranger School. And to be perfectly honest: I was beat! For the first time in my life, I couldn’t do it! To put it in the words of Jesus, “I was weary and heavy-burdened!” At the age of 22, those were the worst days of my early professional life. Looking back 23 years later, it was one of the most important experiences of my life.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus Christ invites all of us who are at the end of our own power, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Have you realized yet that you can’t control the world or people around you, nevertheless your own world? I truly hope so because the greatest gift I can give you today is the invitation to surrender control and to find rest for your soul. How? By answering Jesus’ invitation to enter into a personal relationship with God through Him! It’s freedom! It’s rest!
Seize the Moment: Take a break from social media & network news today, from your need to know all about it, and find rest for your soul with the One who does know all about it.
Please dial the phone number below if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Responding to the Passion of Jesus (Week 4)
2020 Sermon Series #2:
“Comfort the Suffering!” [Part 1 of 2]
Key Verses: 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Passion Narrative: Matthew 26:14-16, 20-25, 47-56, 69-75; 27:1-5, 24-26, 32-66
Today, we enter back into our series of messages on the Passion of Jesus Christ. Here is the big point of today’s sermon: Jesus suffered so that we can be comforted; so, let us comfort those who are suffering! Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
We think of Jesus’ suffering as primarily on the Cross of Calvary, but can you imagine the agony Jesus faced as He was abandoned by all of His closest friends, betrayed by one of them which led to incredible suffering at level of His human experience, and condemned to death by both the religious and political courts of His day. Jesus suffered all this so that, through putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we will never be abandoned, betrayed, or condemned by God. Jesus suffered so that we can be comforted; so, let us comfort those who are suffering!
I want you to realize how much God loves you and to what cost He demonstrated His love for you—not as a theoretical idea, but as a visceral reality—and how much security you have in your relationship with God. When we realize this, our faith response is to comfort those who are suffering—to be the hands and feet of Christ in a world that needs the saving love of the God. A world filled with people who are very obviously experiencing our fallen nature and who are living in the effects of a very broken world—death, loneliness, suffering… the list is too long.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a 20th century church martyr who stood up against evil and would not let the gates of hell prevail, said in his most famous of works, Cost of Discipleship,
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “[you] were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.[1]
God is with us through this because He has already poured out His wrath on Jesus as the propitiation for not only our sins, but “of the whole world” (1 John 2:2, 4:10) and He is now working to draw all people to Himself (John 12:32). The Church must seize this moment to lift up Jesus Christ and be the hands and feet of Christ to a world that God is redeeming and will one day make His home with us, in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21—22)!
As you read through the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 26-27, you see that Jesus was “social distanced”, too. To the max! As I read through Matthew 26—27 Jesus was:
- Abandoned by people: Matthew 26:69-75;
- Betrayed by people: Matthew 26:14-16, 20-25, 47-56;
- Condemned by people: Matthew 27:1-5; 24-26;
and then Jesus
- Died on the Cross for all people: Matthew 27:32-66.
What love! What grace! Jesus suffered so that we can be comforted; so, let us comfort those who are suffering!
I proclaim that “God is with us” because of the Passion of Jesus Christ, His finished work on the Cross, and His resurrection! The author of Hebrews teaches us in Hebrews 4:14-16,
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Because of what Jesus Christ has done and His finished work, you can hang on tightly to the following promises of God:
- In John 10:27-30, Jesus explains, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
- In Romans 8:38-39, Paul declares, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- In 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, Paul proclaims, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
- In Hebrews 13:5-6, the author commands, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”
Apart from the vicarious suffering and death of Jesus Christ, none of these promises could be yours. Through a faith response to Jesus Christ, all of these promises are yours.
What will you do with all that God has blessed you with through His suffering?
Right now, with the ongoing onslaught of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, people are scared and we are experiencing “social distancing,” which is increasing the enemy’s tactics of isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and fear. States are closing up, travel restrictions are tightening, colleges, schools, and churches have gone on-line, non-essential businesses have closed their buildings, including community gathering places such as churches, local restaurants and businesses, and social organizations like the YMCA. People are rightly taking robust steps of precaution to preserve their lives and the lives of their communities, such as not gathering in groups larger than 10 and keeping social distances over 6 feet.
While this has felt like a military siege operation by an invisible enemy, we as a church are inviting you to seize the moment: We are asking you to pray and to ask God for everyday opportunities to bring faith, hope, and love to our communities and the world. That is what my daily phone calls are attempting to do: To encourage you to seize the moment and to be on mission as more than a congregation who meets in a building once a week, but as the Church.
Our congregational community and our congregational work cannot be closed because WE ARE THE CHURCH! Our building may be closed, but we are not! In fact, I am seeing evidence that says FBC is healthier, more vibrant, and making a larger impact than ever!! We are not only going to survive the COVID-19 crisis, we are going to get healthier as we learn to be the Church in new, unconventional (if not untraditional) ways! Like every living organism, we are changing to survive and to thrive in our new environment!
Are you joining with us in this effort personally or are you just praying for Jesus to return and sticking your head in the sand hoping it can all go back to the way it was soon? I, too, want this to end sooner than later, but things will never go back to the way they used to be; they can’t!
As with so much else in the coronavirus pandemic, the response here will depend on the level of social solidarity we feel, and the degree to which we’re willing to look out for each other. Social isolation and loneliness among older, sicker populations isn’t something caused by the coronavirus, but it will be worsened by it. The question is whether the intensity of the problem will force us to see, and respond, to pain we typically ignore. “A lot of my work is premised on the idea that extreme situations like the one we’re in now allow us to see conditions that are always present but difficult to perceive,” Klinenberg says. “We’re going to learn a lot about who we are and what we value in the next few months.”[2] (emphasis added)
Jesus suffered so that we can be comforted; so, let us comfort those who are suffering!
We are called to respond in faith! Don’t let people’s fear and rejection get into your heart. Don’t take it personal when people move away from you, whether physically or socially or emotionally. People are scared and when we are scared we make decisions that hurt others. This has more to say about the fallen world we live in, than about you or me and how we feel. There is much to lament in our world situation; that is real and undeniable.
Please don’t give into despair! Hang onto hope because God is with us! Remember the sufferings of Christ and to what end He was willing to go for our salvation. Let us conduct ourselves, in remembrance of Him with a certain hope for the New Heaven and New Earth.
God’s peace and presence, all of His promises, are ours because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, and can’t be shaken by these dark days of suffering or taken away by even death itself.
It is by how we conduct ourselves during this coronavirus pandemic that the world will determine the Truth of the Gospel.
Will the world see the Suffering Servant of humanity, the Crucified Savior of the world, through our practical words and actions of faith, hope, and love?
This is our time to shine, people of God. The darker the night, the brighter the stars shine!
Jesus suffered so that we can be comforted; so, let us comfort those who are suffering!
You can listen to this message here:
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship (New York, NY: SCM Press Ltd, 1959), 45.
[2] https://www.vox.com/2020/3/12/21173938/coronavirus-covid-19-social-distancing-elderly-epidemic-isolation-quarantine [accessed March 12, 2020].
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Matthew 10
Faithfulness in the Face of Fear!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, March 28: this is the Day the Lord has made, let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it.
Over 20 years ago I served in the Army as a paratrooper. A paratrooper’s job is to jump out of an airplane in order to seize a foothold deep behind enemy lines, to help the Army win the war.
The Army’s secret to a successful military jump is TRUST! Every paratrooper goes through rigorous training to learn to trust the jumpmaster, trust the training, and trust the equipment. To say that I got over the fear of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane and hitting the ground with the force of jumping out of a 2-story window, with full combat gear, at night, is to miss the point of how the army trains its paratroopers—you learn to trust your jumpmaster, your training, and your equipment, so much, that you remain faithful in the face of fear!
It’s the same now, in my daily walk with Jesus… The key to successful Christian living is trust! Jesus taught us in Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” I have learned that fear is real and the only way to be faithful in the face of it is to trust the Jumpmaster of my soul, His training, and His equipment—His Word and Spirit.
Until we learn to trust God with our lives and our death, and until that trust is worked deeply into us, fear will limit our ability to be faithful in the face of it.
Seize the Moment: Start your day off with God every day. Pray and ask God to build your trust in Him. God has a mission for you: Are you ready to jump in?
Dial the phone number below if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 9
Compassion Acts!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, March 27.
This is the Day the Lord has made, let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it.
Being a parent can be very challenging and scary. When my first child was younger he had night terrors. It was scary because we couldn’t wake him up when he was having an episode. Oh, how we prayed because it felt like he was harassed and helpless! We prayed out loud over our son and we spoke lovingly and reassuringly to him knowing that our voices would help him through his dark and scary experience. We gave him a way home and we called upon the Good Shepherd to help him.
Matthew 9:36 shares, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, which is a title of intimacy, much like that of a parent to a child. A shepherd knows His sheep and cares for them personally. He leads and guides them to safety because He has compassion on them.
Compassion is like the love of a parent for a child in need. We wouldn’t let our son go through his night terrors alone because compassion acts!
Seize the Moment: Who do you feel compassion for? Pray for that person or situation and then act. Allow compassion to lead you to where the Good Shepherd needs you.
Please press 9 if you would like a personal phone call today and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
God bless you.
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Matthew 8
Outcasts, Outlaws and In laws!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and I am reaching out to you today with a message of faith, hope, and love.
Today is Thursday, March 26
This is the Day the Lord has made, let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it.
Have you ever heard my joke about in laws and outlaws? It’ll make you laugh, or grimace: What’s the difference between an in law and an outlaw? The outlaw is wanted! 🙂
Jesus loves with the perfect love of His Father in Heaven. Matthew 8 is a dramatic chapter, on purpose! Because it is the illustration of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Like any good teacher, Jesus demonstrated His teaching with real life illustrations.
Jesus heals a leper, who back in the day was an outcast of society. They were “social-distanced” to the max, but Jesus met His human need by touching and healing him. SCANDAL!
Then you have the Centurion, the Roman oppressors of the Jewish people. Jesus not only heals the Centurion’s servant, but Jesus praises the Roman’s faith. SALT IN THE WOUND OF THE SCANDAL!
Then, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law… WHAT!?! DOES GOD’S LOVE KNOW NO BOUNDARIES??!!??
It doesn’t! To drive home the illustration: Matthew 8 ends with the healing of Legion, which by the way got Jesus kicked out of town!
God’s love has no boundaries! How about your love?
Seize the Moment: Reach out to an outcast, outlaw, or an in law, today. We all need love! And you never know how one act of kindness can make a difference in someone’s life!
I am personally praying for you… Please the number at the bottom of this page if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 7
Shine Bright in this Dark Night!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and I am reaching out to you today with a message of faith, hope, and love.
Today is Wednesday, March 25. Today is the Day the Lord has made, let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it.
Years ago, we were tent camping in the Badlands. The night sky was captivating! I was overwhelmed with wonder at the vast multitude of individual lights that were piercing the darkness of that pitch black night. It was a holy moment that changed my focus, in an instant.
I learned that the darker it gets, the brighter the stars shine!
Many of us are scared, disappointed, and overwhelmed, right now. That is real and there is no denying it. This is one of those times where it is easier to stay in the comfort and safety of our “tent” because it is cold and dark out there.
But, there is something waiting to captivate us and change our focus in an instant: It is the awe-inspiring love of God!
Just as a vast multitude of individual lights pierce the darkness of the pitch black night, so God’s love pierces the darkness of our current world situation when we, a vast multitude of individual lights, proclaim God’s love in practical ways.
How?
Jesus invites us in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” And you thought your mother made that up… J
You are called to be one of the lights that pierces the darkness. But you have to get out of your “tent” to shine the love of God to another person. Yes, it is really dark out there, but trust me: The darker it gets, the brighter the stars shine!
Seize the Moment: Shine!
God loves you with an everlasting love. I am personally praying for you… Please dial the number at the bottom of this page if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 6
Prayer is about Relationship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and I am reaching out to you today to bring you some hope.
Today is Tuesday, March 24 and a lot has been happening around us that could cause us to worry about tomorrow, but Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Isn’t that a truth we all need to hear—simple to agree with, but not easy to live (almost superhuman, especially in today’s world). I am not inviting you to experience guilt this morning because you are worried or anxious. No! Rather, I am inviting you to the heart of Jesus’ ministry and teaching: Jesus is inviting each of us to a grace-paced life with His Father—into a vital, life-giving relationship, day by day, moment by moment. Jesus is inviting you to walk with Him on a daily journey, that has no ending!
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus’ teaches us how to experience the heartbeat of this relationship with God! Please join with me in the prayer He taught us to pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.'”
God doesn’t want you to walk alone through this time, so why don’t you consider starting an ongoing conversation with Him right now? Is there someone you can invite to join you along the way? Consider sharing this message with one other person today.
God loves you and your church family is praying for you… Dial the number at the bottom of this page if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Matthew 5
Seize the Moment!
A Devotion
Today is Monday, March 23
The days may feel dark and the news gloomy, but let us learn to “Seize the Moment” and not lose perspective. This too shall pass.
Seize the moment to love God and to love people!
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus teaches His people: “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world”. You are God’s plan to show the world God’s love and compassion. Jesus is calling us to be a different kind of people by giving our life a new purpose!
How will you be salt and light to at least one person today?
In light of the Henry County decision to close all non-essential businesses until May 23, please don’t allow yourself to get paralyzed by the news or let fear, anger, anxiety, or any such emotion to get the last word. Instead, make a choice right now to invest your time wisely, and choose to “Seize the Moment” as a divine opportunity.
Remember, the Church of Jesus Christ can never be closed because we are the Church!
Please pray with me, “Jesus, my life has been disrupted. I cast all my fear and anxiety on you and I ask You: how do YOU want me to be the Church today? In Jesus’ Name. Amen.” Now, be open to His still quiet voice and His providential opportunities.
God loves you and we are praying for you…
Please call the number at the bottom of this page if you would like a personal phone call and someone from First Baptist Church will get back to you as soon as possible.
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A New Message in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Week 2)
“Be the Church of Jesus Christ!”
Once again, I have put aside the message the message for this Sunday, to bring you a special word. This is a pastoral word, that both informs and encourages the people of God to stop seeing church as a building they are to attend a meeting in once or twice per week and to be the Church of Jesus Christ. I am blending a pastoral update on the state of FBC, as we enter week #2 of “The Siege”. That is my name for what is happening and I am actually calling my daily devotions, “Siege Devotions”, but I am getting ahead of myself. More on that in a minute. Today’s message, once again, is not my normal preaching style as I am not walking you through a scripture and teaching it to you verse by verse. This is a pastoral message for a time such as this.
Please lean in and don’t get distracted. I understand that it is easy to get distracted at home, too. Trust me; I get it! If you do, then this will be ready for you to go back to and listen or read as many times as you need on our media page and possibly through social media platforms. We are even considering a YouTube Channel because I have a group of brothers (a congregation I preach to at GEO, one of our state prisons in New Castle) who are missing my preaching, or at least that is what I’ve been asked to consider providing so the prisoners can get God’s Word into their hearts from trustworthy teachers. All Glory to God and for His grace to empower us all!
Here is the Scripture for today. From Matthew 16:13-20,
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
PRAYER. Let us pray for people as they are being drawn to God for answers at this time.
Last week’s message is a must listen-to. If you did not listen, then please go to our webpage and click on it. There are other key communications and resources listed, right there on our homepage. Here is the link: www.newcastlefbc.org and you can scroll down on our homepage where we are putting COVID-19 resources & food resources. You can go to the media page to watch/listen. You can also go to our blog page where you can find my daily devotions, which I am writing and then calling you with every day and we are posting them as blogs so people who missed a call can go back and see what they missed. If you haven’t noticed, that 10 AM phone call is a not-so-subtle hint that every one of us needs to be reading God’s Word, every day, in unity as the one body of Christ—your leadership and I will do everything WE can during this siege to keep us united to Christ and to one another. As pastors and elders, WE will not let the enemy win! If you have not been getting those calls, contact us through the webpage or get us your phone number, today so that you can start with us tomorrow in Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount & the Beatitudes. This is a TEAM effort because no one of us can do it alone!
As Pastor Ken announced earlier in this broadcast, WE are investing the financial resources of our church to connect you—the Spirit-filled people of God, our church’s most precious resource—with everything WE can to help you during “The Siege” of 2020. As I said, last week: There is an enemy at our gate and one of the enemy’s tactics is to cut us off from one another so that he can divide and conquer. Remember, my first vocation was as a professional military officer—I am professionally trained as a Battle Captain by Fort Leavenworth’s CAS3 course—the Combined Arms and Service Staff School. The best defense is a strong offense! That is why we are all doing the intense cleaning at home—by the way, thank you to Jamie Forrest, our amazing custodian, who is cleaning champ and working super hard for you and the safety of the Henry County Health Department and any other civil authorities who have been given use of our church building to do blood drives, mass testing, whatever is needed to bring thriving to our communities! FBC desires to lock arms with the community and be 100% in to defeat the enemy at the gate. We are all in this together!
Beyond cleaning the building and practicing CDC-recommended and government-mandated “social distancing policies” until further notice, your church is going on the offensive in new and creative ways! The CHURCH of Jesus Christ is NOT CLOSED, even if our building is not available for our traditional usage. Even if we can’t gather again for a while, we can still take steps towards growing our church in depth and breadth. God is with us!!! By the way, please pray for your elders who are gathering tomorrow (Monday, March 23) night to discern and determine how long we will be closed and doing on-line services beyond our current March 28, 2020 date. As we all must agree to at this time, that date is no longer responsible or right, though at the time of setting that 2-week date, I couldn’t have imagined what I am seeing happen before my very eyes throughout our community and country. This is truly unprecedented! It’s an impossible task we have been given, but, honestly, any and all community organization leadership feels next to impossible right now. Please pray for all the leaders: your church, and leaders of all sectors throughout the community, state, nation, and the nations. We need you!
Pastor Ken and the Family Ministries leading this initiative and paying the $200/month bill for you are putting RightNow Media (https://www.rightnowmedia.org) in your homes. If you don’t use this, then you are making a strategic error in your personal & family practices to seize this moment for good and God’s glory. Additionally, your church, with Scott Underwood (elders) and Tiffany Lee (staff) are ensuring 572 people (as of Saturday) get a phone call every day from me personally by paying $110/month for Call Multiplier (https://www.callmultiplier.com). Delora Hartsock (with many volunteers helping her, especially to stay informed about prayer requests) is working hard to ensure you are getting updated via emails for information and prayer requests. In fact, we willingly doubled our monthly bill for our Constant Contact email platform to increase how many people can get email updates from the church. Utilizing Remind App and other technologies, Kevin King (youth ministries director) and Jody Maddy (children’s ministry director) are working hard using our text (Remind App) and Realm systems to keep families connected and equipped. If you haven’t been hearing from us, get us your info. Please, don’t add to your “social distancing” by not trusting your church with your contact information. Get that to us right now by clicking on “contact us” at the bottom of your screen.
After you do that, consider clicking on the “give” button on the top right of our webpage because during “The Siege” all that we are doing takes your prayerful commitment to keep us going. Don’t let the enemy win! The Church must remain healthy through this time for our culture to come out better than before on the other side. Please contact Lisa Abrams, our bookkeeper, if you have questions about how to get your gifts to the church at this time, especially if giving on-line or through texting is not an option for you. Thank you!
Our webpage and social media presence, combined with all the additional resources I mentioned above, are essential to your local church’s response. Please take time to thank Mr. Dick Kinnaird, who is an unsung and invisible hero, before and during all this. He is working with staff, elders, and people from our congregation to keep our webpage up to date. Him, with our Worship Planning Team (Kevin Stonerock, Winnie Logan, David Maddy, Emily Hurst, Brandon Atwood, Christy Ragle, Curt Ferrell, and Pastor Ken Durham) are working so hard to put these on-line services together.
Finally, brothers and sisters in Christ, let me tell you the final and critical aspect to our plan to be on journey together during “The Siege”: IT’S ALL OF US, YOU AND ME BEING THE CHURCH!
Listen to Matthew 16:13-20 again:
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Allow me to read from a fellow Bible teacher who provides material for Logos Bible Software,
The rock which Jesus referred to in this passage was neither Peter nor Himself; it was the rock on which they were standing—the foot of Mount Hermon, the demonic headquarters of the Old Testament and the Greek world. We often presume that the phrase “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” describes a Church taking on the onslaught of evil. But the word “against” is not present in the Greek. Translating the phrase without it gives it a completely different connotation: “the gates of hell will not withstand it.” It is the Church that Jesus sees as the aggressor. He was declaring war on evil and death. Jesus would build His Church atop the gates of hell—He would bury them.[1]
“Blessed are you, enter your name here! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail enter your name here. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
I believe, with the full weight of God’s Word behind me, that you are just as important to this generation as Peter was to his generation. YOU ARE THE CHURCH!
Pray and then start doing whatever God tells you to do! I won’t limit you. Let the Holy Spirit lead you because the gates of hell will not prevail. Use common sense principles to stay healthy in this time and get focused on doing the work of God. DON’T GET SUCKED INTO THE PATTERNS OF THIS WORLD! Which is self-medicating with Netflix or Marijuana. Now, is not a time to numb yourself and lose yourself in entertainment. Don’t put your head in the sand! That is not faithfulness!!! ENGAGE! WIN THE BATTLE! SEIZE THE MOMENT CHURCH! Make phone calls, send cards, text message, use Social Media like a champion for God, take care of your neighbors and love them as yourself, share what you have!! YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING! Let God lead you to be the Church! Let God break you of the lie that being a Christian is about going to a building once per week. It is not! It is about living for Jesus according to faith God has given you and saved you with. You are the Church of Jesus Christ! WE ARE THE CHURCH!
There is an enemy at the gate and the Church must arise because only we have the promise of Jesus Christ: “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This is a promise to and for the Church of Jesus Christ.
None of this is flippant—this is the strategy of God to defeat the enemy at our gate—your pastors and elders and leaders at FBC are connecting you to God and to one another and resourcing you to be in the Word of God to grow in what you know, how you feel, and how you live with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Why? Why spend more money at a time when money is not coming in due to us not meeting in person? BECAUSE YOU ARE THE HOPE OF THE NATIONS—YOU ARE THE CHURCH!! And God will always provide for HIS CHURCH, when HIS CHURCH IS DOING HIS WILL!!!! The gates of hell shall not prevail!
As a pastor and fellow elders, I can say with confidence: We, the pastors, elders and leaders of First Baptist Church, are confident that we will not only survive in this time, but that on this Journey that God is inviting us all to be on together—as ONE PEOPLE CALLED THE CHURCH, that we will each be transformed more and more through a deeper more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but we will also be experiencing thriving happening in our community that could not have happened any other way. Because we believe God will take what the enemy intended for evil and use it for good!
Here is OUR leadership call to you: Press into Jesus and pull together so that we can defeat the enemy at our gate! People pull together when we KNOW that we have a common enemy. I pray that all people in all places will realize that we always have had a common enemy–the devil, the enemy of all our souls! We are not one another’s enemy—we all need Jesus and we all need one another!
Join me again real soon because in my next message, I want to teach you about this Jesus and how knowing Him can help you live your life in a victorious way that helps you be part of the solution to bring about VICTORY!
You can listen to this message here:
Footnote:
[1] Michael Heiser, “What did Jesus mean by ‘Gates of Hell’?” https://blog.logos.com/2018/04/jesus-mean-gates-hell/ [accessed March 22, 2020].
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Matthew 4
Follow Jesus!
Today is day 4 for our daily devotions so please turn with me to Matthew 4, which is an amazing chapter of how Jesus faced His wilderness experience and the temptations to give into His circumstances. Jesus was victorious and used God’s Word to win the day! So can you!
Jesus’ promise is fulfilled through the work of the Holy Spirit, in and through you. God’s desire is for you to trust the work of God’s grace in you to do the impossible through you. God is going to use you today when you trust the Holy Spirit’s power and presence to show the world Jesus, in and through you.
YOUTUBE:
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Matthew 3
Bold, yet Humble!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and I am reaching out to you to bring some hope to your day with a short, daily, devotion.
Today is Friday, March 20
Each day I will share a short devotional thought from my personal Bible reading, as we walk through the New Testament, together.
Today is day 3 for our daily devotions so please turn with me to Matthew 3, which focuses on John the Baptist, and I must admit that I am a huge fan! What a perfect guy to introduce Jesus to the world—bold with the truth and humble in his relationships.
John knew that his calling in life was to point people to Jesus, not call them to himself. Therefore, he could be bold and humble. Remember, humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is simply thinking about yourself less.
In Matthew 3:14, when Jesus approached John to be baptized, John’s response was one of recognizing Jesus as the Lord, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Yet Jesus needed John to fulfill his life purpose; so that, Jesus could fulfill His purpose in coming to earth. Wow!
Friends, let us be bold with the truth of God and humble enough to fulfill our purpose in this time, no matter the cost! God will use us in all of our circumstances, including these scary days, to point others to Jesus. God is taking that which the devil intended for evil and is using it for good!
YOUTUBE:
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Matthew 2
Light in Dark Places!
Today is Thursday, March 19
Matthew 2:10 highlights one of the details of the Christmas story, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” The story of Immanuel (“God is with us”) is the light of God piercing into the darkness of this world situation and our human brokenness.
Jesus Christ is the Light of the World and He calls Christians to be the light of the world (see Matthew 5:14-16). Yes, the world is a dark place. Yes, our circumstances are challenging, if not scary. Yes, life is not always the way we hoped it to be. But, there is hope! As long as the sun rises in the East there is hope, because with the light, comes hope.
God is not surprised by the current darkness, but if we let it, the darkness can prevent us from being the light of the world. Don’t let the darkness prevail—we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! Shine the Light into the darkness. Reflect specifically, today, on how you can help others to see the light of God in the midst of all the darkness. Be a hope-bearer, not a Doomsdayer!
Your church family loves you and is praying for you today! Consider reaching out to at least one person, today, to share this encouraging message from God’s Word. You never know how you can bring light to another person’s darkness.
YOUTUBE:
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Matthew 1
God is with us!
Today is Wednesday, March 18
These daily devotionals are our church’s effort to create some family unity and community well-being.
Each day I will share a short devotional thought from my personal Bible reading as we walk through the New Testament, together. Consider this a great time to get into God’s Word and follow along each day.
One of my good friends, an ICU nurse, shared with me the profound comfort this promise gives her. No matter the trauma or heartache of her daily experiences, she knows that God is with her. This is a promise she holds on to tightly: day after day, heartbreak after heartbreak.
Your church family loves you and is praying for you! Consider calling one person today to share this encouraging message from God’s Word. You never know how you can bring comfort to another person.
YOUTUBE:
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A New Message in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Week 1)
“Fear Not… GOD IS WITH US!”
On 9-11-2001, I was a Captain in the US Army and was away from home on assignment at Fort Carson, Colorado when the planes flew into the towers. I remember exactly where I was the moment I found out: I was in line for breakfast at Burger King before heading to my meetings for the day. Needless to say, life changed, not just for us soldiers, but for everyone! The base locked down and airports closed for day. In fact, I was on the first flight out of Colorado Springs a few days later to head back to my home at Moffett Airfield, to be reunited with my wife, and life was different. People were very scared! I know people, 19 years later, who still are…
In the same way that the National Guard was called in to protect us in 2001 and Americans experienced a change of lifestyle, this time it is our Health Department who have been called in to work for our safety and security in the face of an enemy that, once again, threatens our safety and security, and is confronting the illusion of invulnerability that we Americans like to return to as quickly as possible.
In both cases, we are called to respond to the enemy at our gate. We must respond as a community and as a nation. Our response will be different this time than it was after 9-11-2001 because the threat is different, but this one thing I know, God is with us!
The enemy may have different packaging, but the enemy is the same: FEAR!
As I was reading from the Psalter this morning, as part of my daily, early-morning rhythm of getting in the yoke of Jesus (I read 1-2 chapters from the OT, I read and reflect on a Psalm and then write and do a “breath prayer”, then I read a chapter of the NT, and then pray). It is a way of focusing my mind and heart on Jesus and getting my body in rhythm with Jesus for the day.
Psalm 64:9-10 said this morning, “Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!”
I wrote this breath prayer in response to this:
- Get your body in a good physical posture to focus your mind and heart on God.
- Take a deep breath in through your nose for 5-7 seconds, “The Lord is my refuge!”
- Hold slightly and focus your mind on God’s Truth.
- Breathe out for 5-7 second through your mouth, “Fear not, I am with you!”
- Repeat as many times as necessary to align your mind, body, and soul to God’s Truth.
Reading your Bible and praying, including what I am calling a breath prayer, are not new practices to God’s people, and please know that just because I am asking you to breath while you pray does not mean that this is not some new age thing. This is a focused way of praying to learn how to love God with all of you heart, soul, mind, and strength. God wants to align your whole human person to His will and His ways. And trust me when I tell you this: FEAR will find a way into your mind, heart, body, and soul if your faith is nothing more than an intellectual understanding of God!
In moments like this, when there is real reasons to be scared, nervous, worried, or anxious, God is not discounting the human reality of fear, He is inviting you to a better way to deal with your fear, anxiety and worry than giving yourself over to the fear, anxiety, or worry.
The reason the Bible says so much about the human experiences of fear, anxiety, worry, and such joy-robbing, life-threatening realities is because they are a reality of the human experience!
To fear is to be human and to be confronted by a fear-inducing situation is to be alive in a broken, fallen world where people fly airplanes into building and viruses exist that threaten national security and community well-being.
Let me give you a biblical principle from the Bible. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26-27, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”
Here is what we need to know:
- Anger is real and in and of itself, a human emotion, not a sin.
- When you have a real human emotion, do not give yourself over to it and sin.
- Deal with the situation, QUICKLY, in such a way as to invoke God’s power and presence.
- If you give yourself over the human emotion, you are not helping yourself, or others, because you are giving the devil a foothold.
This teaching is focused on the human emotion of anger in Ephesians 4:26-27, but the principle applies to all human emotions that can lead to sin: sexual desire, ambition, fear, worry, anxiety…
With that principle in mind, you should hear the following promises of God:
From Philippians 4:5-7, “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Let’s apply the principle:
- Anxiety is real. Anxiety is generalized fear (like a spider web that captures us when there is an enemy at our gate). For Americans, anxiety is the current reality, if not a predisposition that threatens any aspect of our way of life.
- Name it when you experience it, but don’t give yourself over to it.
- Deal with the situation QUICKLY through prayer and thanksgiving!
- God’s Peace will guard (military imagery) your heart and mind from the Devil.
Again with James 4:6-8, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Let’s apply the principle:
- Pride is a real threat for every human. Pride is the opposite of humility, the enemy of meekness and submission.
- Confess and repent of your pride by humbling yourself before the Lord.
- Deal with the situation, Quickly, by drawing near to God and resisting the devil’s urging of you to give yourself over to arrogance (the American mindset that I know better than those in authority over me, in fact, I don’t need anyone over me…)
- God will draw near to you!
I could go on and on. In fact, as you are hearing on Christian radio and as many Bible teachers are teaching right now, there are so many verses about “Fear Not!” in the Bible that you can follow this template with a unique Bible verse for every day of the year. I read one Christian author say that God has given us a reason to not to fear for every day of the year, including leap year.
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
There is way of victory in this time, as there is in every human encounter with fear: “God is with you!” This is His promise and it is the one that I have been reminding you in every communication I have made to you all week as the Coronavirus has escalated to where we are today. I don’t know what tomorrow holds for our nation, our community, or your family, but I do know this, this one thing I know: GOD IS WITH US!
That sign that we put out on SR3 on Friday will stay out there as long as needed. It says, “Remain Calm & Pray… God is with us!” That is my message to you today in the face of a community trying to brace itself for an unseen enemy at the gate. The reason we are cancelling programs and events for 2 weeks, including providing an on-line (instead of in-person) service, is because we are locking arms with our community leadership and health department to respond as one people.
This is not a lack of faith! Anything but that. Your elders, staff, and leaders have been praying and are faithfully responding to the needs of the community. This is community cooperation that shows our community that we love them and are here to serve them. If our vision statement is “we desire to see communities thriving to the glory of God” and when we ask the health management experts of our community the best way possible to bring human flourishing to our community and love our neighbor as ourselves right now and they tell us to limit the exposure of people to the virus for 2 weeks (that allows for 2 cycles of exposure and manifestation of symptoms according to what they know about COVID-19 as of yesterday at 4 pm) by closing down our big venues of gatherings, then that’s what we are going to do. This is not a government edict, it a request for our participation in a potential public health crisis that would overrun our hospitals and capacity to care for the least vulnerable in our community—the elderly, the children, and those with preexisting medical conditions. Friends, if you know our congregation, that is a lot of our gatherings—our elderly (defined by the healthy management officials as 60 and older), our children, and our people going through cancer or who have complicated medical situations. Have you seen our prayer guide lately? That’s us!
Let us be honest, if we opened our doors for services today or next Sunday, guess who would show up, even if I asked them not to—you got it, the faithful remnant of God would be here because we, your pastors and elders, opened the doors of the church—our elderly, our people with complicated medical situations, and many of our families. And I love that about us and you, but that is the very reason we are closing the building. Because our faithfulness to gather no matter what is what could rapidly spread a virus that doesn’t show symptoms right away. By closing down our large gatherings, cancelling events and meetings for two weeks, we are giving our community leadership and health experts time to get ahead of the Coronavirus.
I join with other community leaders in this sentiment,
As I said in my announcement to the church last night, “By making this decision, we are locking arms with our community and its leaders, instead of standing opposed to them. Please pray for us as we continue to make decisions and please pray for all of our community leaders and all who are being impacted by the COVID-19” (https://www.newcastlefbc.com/hp_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/2020-03-14-Closure-Announcement-Letter.pdf).
We love you! I love you! “Fear not… GOD IS WITH US!” And yes, I already know it is happening, judge me and us—your elders and pastors—as you may, to your own detriment. Someone has to make the hard calls and until you’ve sat in the seat of responsibility for one of the largest gatherings of people in our community that gathers on a weekly basis, then please know that your judgments are nothing more than the rantings of children. We love you as parents love their children. We are prayerfully providing faithful, wise leadership to you in this time. And just like every parent has had to tell their children, “no, you can’t have that” or “no, we can’t do that” even in the face of their cries and anger and protests, we, as under shepherds of Jesus, are prepared to provide that same kind of loving care to you now.
We applied the principle:
- The enemy is at the gate and fear is gripping the hearts of people. This is real!
- We brought it to the Lord: confessed, repented where necessary—our pride to think our plan to have 2 services and keep all programs and services open, no matter what the experts said, because we are people of faith and that’s what the world needs to see. Honestly friend, we, as elders, didn’t want our standing upon faith become a mutation of American arrogance or lack of submission to experts or straight up stupidity in the face of common sense requests made by the health department at this once in a generation threat.
- We are dealing with the situation QUICKLY, rebuking the devil, with prayer and thanksgiving. We believe God is going to use this time to confront the idols of Americans, the hypocrisy of the American Church, and call many to faith and repentance.
- God’s peace is guarding us! His presence is with you and me, with us!
After days of gathering in prayer about this and after last night’s meeting with the Henry County Health Department, this is the best way for us to fulfill our vision as a church to see our communities thriving to the glory of God. This is the first, but not last, step on how we can love our neighbors as ourselves. I am calling you now to love your neighbors in real and practical ways:
- Call on the elderly, those shut-in, those who are the most vulnerable.
- Check on friends, family, neighbors who have complicated medical situations to ensure they have food.
- Send cards and hand-written notes to people.
- Help deliver food and be a part of the solution in our community.
- Be the hands and feet of Christ. I’ve asked our elders to lead us and organize us in this effort, not only for our congregation, but to help our communities.
- Volunteer your time to the Henry County Health Department and become a part of the response effort.
- FBC is going to partner, as a church. Will you, as a member of the church?
As we always say, “Don’t tell God how big your storm is, tell your storm how BIG GOD IS!” Yes, we must take sober steps in this time, but we do so in faith, wisdom, and partnership, trusting God’s providence to use His Church in this time. We are God’s people and we trust in the promises of God, so we can respond with faith and not in fear!
Let me close with the reading of Psalm 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Are you dwelling in God? Are you trusting Him in how you now talk about this, pray about this, and serve others in this time?
You can listen to the Audio here:
You can watch the video HERE.
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Responding to the Passion of Jesus (Week 3)
2020: A Year of Celebration!
“Keep Journeying Together!”
Key Verses: Matthew 21:12-13
Our goal for all of 2020 is to do one thing: LIFT UP THE NAME OF JESUS! Our theme verse for 2020 is John chapter 12, verse 32 (John 12:32, ESV), which proclaims, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This verse explicitly points to the fact that Jesus would be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary to give His life as a payment for sin, as the very next verse says, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”
The implications of this verse go beyond Jesus’ death and influence every area of our lives: we are called to live our lives in response to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as the Savior for all the World! In response to His Passion!
Throughout this series, the word “Passion” has a more technical meaning that in Biblical Studies points to the suffering of Jesus Christ, specifically from the historical events of the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion.[1]
The Passion of Jesus cannot remain a once-upon-a-time idea in your head captured in the icon of the Cross, just as our call to follow Jesus and share in His sufferings cannot remain an abstract concept. There are real implications to the Passion of Jesus, not only in what He did to rescue us and give us life, but in how we should live our lives in response to His life, death, and resurrection. As we prepare our hearts and minds for Easter, we are walking toward the Cross in order to hear personally, from the Spirit, how each of us is invited to respond to Jesus’ Passion.
Today, we are going to learn: As the Body of Christ, members of Jesus’ Church, we must keep journeying together, even when we experience disappointment in fellow members of the Body. Jesus experienced deep disappointment through His ministry, with His followers, the clamoring crowds, the religious establishment, the political authorities, His own hometown and family. Even so, Jesus did not let His disappointment or pain stop him from journeying with them and for their good—to the Cross! In the same way, we can’t let our disappointment or pain with one another stop us from journeying together because we are the Body of Christ.[2]
Paul states in Romans 12:4-5, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
Jesus experienced significant disappointment during His earthly ministry, but He still gave His body to the Passion so that we can be His Body to proclaim His love! Love is when we keep journeying together even when we face significant disappointments with one another and in the church as a whole—that is a part of our sharing in the fellowship of His suffering that conforms us to His death (Philippians 3:10).
That is why we can’t forsake the gathering (Hebrews 10:24-25)—it short circuits God’s plan to reach the nations: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
If you didn’t know this—there is no Plan B—we are Plan A of God’s plan to show the world His love! I bet that sounds pretty crazy to you. But no crazier than the whole Gospel story and that the way God decided to save humanity was through the Passion of Jesus Christ!
If Jesus had to pay such a high cost for our salvation, what cost is His body willing to pay to carry on the work of God in the world? Reflect on things in your life that are not pleasing to God or are not working in agreement with His Plan A for your life and invite the Holy Spirit into that place. Are you willing to let God work in you and through you?
Honestly, going by what I see in how easily and how quickly people jump ship from the Body of Christ, or remain ineffective because they habitually forsake the gathering of the saints or are unwilling to let anyone do any kind of “stirring up” in their lives, people are not willing to suffer at all for the privilege of being a member of the Body of Christ, nevertheless, doing the necessary work to fulfill God’s plan to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).[3]
Most people I know are too distracted by the world and when they do get involved with the church, they are too preoccupied with their own comfort and preferences to join with Jesus in His Passion as a member of His Body. And I know mostly church people…
You are a member of Jesus’ Body and His Body is God’s chosen vehicle of salvation to the world…for the lost of our community and every community. We must return to a high view of Jesus’ Church.
Allow me a personal illustration. After decades of not doing it or not enjoying it like I did before my military days, I am back to enjoying running. I was a runner a long time ago and I’m back at it. Funny thing though is that one of my toes does not consider itself a runner and it has a black toenail to prove it. Every time I go running, it lets me know that it’s not a runner. Not too loud, but loud enough for me to question whether or not it is really committed to the fellowship of the body. I have not yet gotten to the place of questioning whether or not I should cut it off… J Really, it’s a part of me, a member of the body, even if it’s not quite on board with this whole running thing. Do you know what I do with this toe? I give it more attention. I use my wife’s fancy little stone to rub down the ever-growing callous at the end of it and I make sure my blackened toenail is hanging in there… It must feel beaten and battered, but I keep telling it that it’s doing it to itself if it would just get with the program like the other 90% of my toes. J
That reminds me of Paul’s teaching about the Church—the Body of Christ—in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. Listen to Paul talk about my toe, hidden to you, but trying to take over my whole body:
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
Jesus’ Passion gives us the motive to stay together as the body of Christ, whether we are that “toe” or find ourselves disappointed in it because it likes to let us know it’s still there from time to time. Maybe, that toe thinks it’s calling in life is to keep everyone patient and graceful.
Jesus had some “toe-pain” over 3 years of journeying with His disciples for 3 years. We think that the only suffering Jesus had was during His Passion. To capture this, I walked through the Gospel of Matthew, just took my Bible out during my morning quiet time, and read through it seeing the places Jesus experienced moments with people who are the people Jesus was inviting to become members of His body and instead might have felt some “toe-pain”:
- But what about how painfully disappointing the whole state of affairs were with the Jewish religious leaders: Matthew 9:3, 11; 12:2, 14, 24; 15:12; 19:3; 21:12-19 and throughout the rest of His time in Jerusalem until He is crucified He is in constant conflict with the religious elite. Talking about toe-pain! I’m sure I would have cut these people off, but Jesus didn’t. On the Cross He forgave them (Luke 23:34). What an example!
- How painfully disappointing His chosen followers—the future church leaders—were: Matthew 8:26; 14:31; 16:8, 23; 18:1 and that is just through His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and doesn’t cover their abandonment and betrayals up to His crucifixion. But upon His resurrection, He spends 40 days with them and forgives them. Empowering them at Pentecost with the Holy Spirit to be His Church—the Body of Christ.
- He experienced disappointment and pain with the crowds: Matthew 8:34; 9:24; 17:17; 19:23-24. With the cities and the generation as a whole: Matthew 11:16-24; 12:38-39; 16:1-4, 5-6, 11-12.
- Maybe most acutely, He experienced “toe-pain” with His hometown: Matthew 13:55-58.
So often, in the life of Christ, we are called to love people who have been hurt by so many others. And you have heard me say it: “hurt people hurt people!” It’s true! Part of responding to the Passion of Jesus is being a healing person in those hurt people’s lives, not adding church hurt to an already long list of offenders.
A pastor once said to me, there are people in the church who are EGRs—Extra Grace Required! They are in every church and if you leave a church because of them, you will just find them eventually in your next church. And if you don’t know who the EGR is, then you are probably the one and everyone else knows it! I laughed… I cried… I am the EGR…
Jesus was constantly surrounded by EGRs! I guess, when we view it from His point of view on the Cross, we are all extra grace required folks. Starting with me…
Do your daily behaviors reflect and point to Jesus? Are we pausing in difficult decisions? When dealing with difficult people are we submitting our emotions to the Lord and waiting on the Lord to guide us? Love flows out of patience and meekness…
Do we love others as God first loved us? As Paul taught in Romans 5:8, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Hurt people may hurt people, but Forgiven people forgive people!
Which are you? Have you been forgiven?
Do we know that our love for one another is a primary way we lift up the Name of Jesus as His disciples (John 13:34-35)? Are we willing to suffer with the members of the Body so that we may persevere in belonging to the Body?
To practically know how to do this, read Romans 12:9-21.
We are God’s Plan A! There is no other plan to reach the nations with the Gospel of Jesus.
What’s your Plan A?
Listen to the Message here:
To watch the video click HERE
Footnotes:
[1] For a short article that explains the technical usage of “Passion” in Biblical Studies, please check out: https://www.gotquestions.org/passion-of-Christ.html (accessed February 20, 2020).
[2] A colleague wrote back to me in response to this paragraph, “This really puts into perspective of how long-term care for people is so hard. Addictions, rebellious lifestyles etc.… The fleshly reaction is to cut that person out of your life, so you don’t have to deal with their brokenness. Please help me Jesus to love others and see others how you see them with Kingdom eyes not worldly eyes.”
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Responding to the Passion of Jesus (Week 2)
“Rest in Meekness!”
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
“Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
“I am gentle and lowly in heart.”
“Cease striving and know that I am God!”
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble [meek], and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (39).
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
James 1:21-22: “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 3:13-16: “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
1 Peter 3:14-17: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness [meekness in KJV] and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
“Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9-13).
Listen to the Message here:
To watch the video click HERE
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Responding to the Passion of Jesus (Week 1)
2020: A Year of Celebration!
“Jesus stayed on Mission!”
Key Verses: Matthew 16:21-23; 17:22-23; 20:17-19
Welcome to 2020, A Year of Celebration at FBC! This is our 110th anniversary year as our church was chartered on July 7, 1910. We are planning a big celebration the weekend after our anniversary date, so save the date for the weekend of July 11-12, 2020.
Who are we celebrating? We are celebrating Jesus and in doing so we are going to do one thing all year long: LIFT UP THE NAME OF JESUS!
Our theme verse for 2020 is John chapter 12, verse 32 (John 12:32, ESV), which proclaims, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This verse explicitly points to the fact that Jesus would be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary to give His life as a payment for sin, as the very next verse says, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”
The implications of this verse go beyond Jesus’ death and influence every area of our lives: we are called to live our lives in response to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as the Savior for all the World! In response to His Passion, by which we are saved!
Throughout this series, the word “Passion” has a more technical meaning that in Biblical Studies points to the suffering of Jesus Christ, specifically from the historical events of the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion.[1] As I will teach today, I believe the suffering of Jesus began, with intentionality, well before the Garden scene when it was first put on public display.
Throughout this series, here is my overarching teaching goal: The Passion of Jesus cannot remain a once-upon-a-time idea in your head captured in the icon of the Cross, just as our call to follow Jesus and share in His sufferings cannot remain an abstract concept. There are real implications to the Passion of Jesus, not only in what He did to rescue us and give us life, but how we should live our lives in response to His life, death, and resurrection. During this Lenten season, as we prepare our hearts and minds for Easter, we are going to walk toward the Cross and learn together how we are invited to respond to the Passion of Jesus.
Today, we are going to learn: Jesus stayed on mission by long-suffering with His followers, not just suffering for them! The mission of Jesus to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19) is not a one-time event of saving a soul, just like Jesus’s Passion was more than one week of events. The mission of Jesus was, and still is, a long slow obedience in the same direction of seeing people transformed by the love of God. This requires long-suffering with people!
Did you know the word for patience in the KJV is “long-suffering”? Long-suffering means patiently enduring lasting offense or suffering, especially those caused by other people. As a friend said to me recently, “Committing to having patience isn’t just agreeing to passively wait without worrying or complaining, but rather it is a commitment to be willing to suffer at the hands of others.”
There are three passages we are going to look at this morning as we start our journey towards the Cross of Calvary and Jesus’ vicarious death and victorious resurrection. Along the way we are going to study the Passion of Jesus and how we are invited to respond.
The first time Jesus clearly and explicitly states the plan of God to His disciples is found in Matthew 16:21-23:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Peter is the voice we hear, but it’s very plausible that Peter’s voice represents the community voice of all Jewish people’s expectations of their Messiah: the anointed one of Israel would not die at the hands of Roman imperialism, but He would be the right hand of God to rescue God’s people from all foreign oppression, once and for all.
A real part of Jesus’ suffering was how much He was misunderstood—throughout His ministry. Even those who knew and believed He was the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God misunderstood His actions, because they did not know the plan of God.
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ’ ”
Both were attempting to thwart Jesus from the plan of God—the devil maliciously with evil intent and Peter ignorantly with ethnocentric intent.
The Passion of the Christ, which we have typically focused on as a Holy Week reality, was for Jesus a ministry reality. As we see in three allusions to His crucifixion before this first overt announcement of His coming death: Matthew 9:15; 10:38; and 12:40.
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast’” (9:15).
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (10:38).
“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (12:40).
The followers of Jesus did not/could not/would not hear it at the time.
“As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed.”
This time, instead of being a stumbling block to Jesus, they were “greatly distressed” by Jesus’ insistence that betrayal, suffering, and death was coming His way. They most likely never heard Jesus mention being raised on the third day and if they did, they did not understand Him.
How is that possible? Have you ever received really hard news? Once the person dropped the diagnosis or bad news on you, did you hear much of anything after that? Nope… The disciples of Jesus are in a state of shock, disbelieving shock…
The third and last time Jesus tells His disciples is in Matthew 20:17-19,
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Jesus tells them in the greatest detail of any of the three times. He is forecasting what is coming. Clearly demonstrating a firm grasp of what He must do to fulfill God’s plan for His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is also expressing His willingness to submit to His Father’s will in order to fulfill God’s plan.
As one commentator wrote, “It is the Son of Man, the Son of David, the divine Son of God, who would voluntarily undergo such treatment to save others. His humility would contrast starkly with the arrogance of the sons of Zebedee in the following section.”[2]
Jesus’ pronouncement is contrasted vividly by Matthew 20:20-28 when we see the followers of Jesus jockeying for power positions in the coming kingdom. Clearly, they still don’t get it after three years with Jesus, after three clear articulations of His coming Passion. Jesus responds with abounding grace and honest truth to His followers,
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I say, “UGGHHH!!!! Frustrating people!!!” Jesus says, “Grace Abounds! These are My people!”
Why? Because Jesus was passionate about making disciples (a.k.a. training apprentices)—passionate about taking people who believe in Him on the Journey of being transformed from what they were in the world to what God intended them to be in His Kingdom!
Jesus was about to pay the ultimate price and hand this entire operation over to His apprentices after training them 24/7/365 for 3 years. Can you imagine His internal suffering at their thick-headed insistence to not understand Him or His mission? Can you imagine the amount of passion Jesus must have had for these disciples for Him to keep on keeping on with them?
It couldn’t be that He was stuck with them—they were chosen by God to be His Apostles! Jesus didn’t tolerate them being in His life, He loved them. They were His mission and the reason for His Passion! Do you see people this way? Do you tolerate difficult people or love them with long-suffering? Is this even possible apart from the Holy Spirit?
Jesus’ journey to the Cross demonstrates the entirety of His Passion! But, it wasn’t just the Passion Week where we most clearly saw Jesus’ transformative act of love for all sinners. Jesus was passionate about making something out of these ragamuffins—of walking with them and loving them through their doubts, uncertainties, and stubborn refusals to change their minds on preconceived notions. He’s still doing the same today, with us!
He is still patiently loving those who have been chosen by God to be His followers!
Time after time, situation after situation: Grace Abounded! Jesus kept showing His followers the way to be on mission, even though they did not fully understand Jesus’ mission.
Jesus’s journey to the Cross was a long, slow obedience in the same direction! It was a Passion Journey and on His journey we see Jesus on mission the way we are to go on mission: with a persevering and transforming love for others, starting here, but going out beyond the borders… out of our comfort zones!
Jesus long-suffered (showed patience) with His slow-to-get-it followers, soon-to-be-called the Church. Their transformation did not happen because of one moment (the Cross) alone! It happened because of three years of Jesus’ long slow obedience in the same direction of love that lead to the Cross, but did not end there!
Jesus’ mission carries on today, after the Cross, after the Resurrection, after the Ascension, because of those 3 years of Jesus’ long slow obedience in the same direction of love! These men may not have gotten it until after all these major events happened, but it was the love of Jesus on the Journey that led them to carry on the mission of Jesus to a new generation.
Let me say it this way: it took 1,095 days of persistent love for that one triumphant day to make sense. But, then only in hindsight after 3 long days apart from that love, followed by 40 glorious days of experiencing Jesus’ resurrection and redeeming love for them to finally get it, and now for an eternity without a day apart from God’s love living in us through the Holy Spirit.
Don’t bail before the blessing! God is with you and He has a better plan for your life than you currently have for your own life. God is in you…patiently loving you to work in you His love and through you His love to the world. Be patient with others as God is patient with you!
This is our mission, so be like Jesus in His Passion and be long-suffering with people on the journey, just as God is still being patient with you on the journey. Go as Paul commands in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
You can listen to the message here:
To watch the video click HERE
Footnotes:
[1] For a short article that explains the technical usage of “Passion” in Biblical Studies, please check out: https://www.gotquestions.org/passion-of-Christ.html (accessed February 20, 2020).
[2] Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Matthew,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1490.
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Responding to Jesus (Week 7)
2020: A Year of Celebration!
“Jesus is Lord of the Harvest: Go with Him!”
Key Verses: Luke 10:1-3
Welcome to 2020, A Year of Celebration at FBC! This is our 110th anniversary year as our church was chartered on July 7, 1910. We are planning a big celebration the weekend after our anniversary date, so save the date for the weekend of July 11-12, 2020.
Who are we celebrating? We are celebrating Jesus and in doing so we are going to do one thing all year long: LIFT UP THE NAME OF JESUS!
Our theme verse for 2020 is John chapter 12, verse 32 (John 12:32, ESV), which proclaims, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This verse explicitly points to the fact that Jesus would be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary to give His life as a payment for sin, as the very next verse says, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” The implications of this verse go beyond Jesus’ death and influence every area of our lives: we are called to live our lives in response to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as the Savior for all the World!
Today, we are going to learn: Jesus is the Lord of the Harvest and He has invited us to pray for people to work His fields. Let’s look at the text where Jesus teaches us this.
Turn with me to Luke chapter 10, verses 1-3 (Luke 10:1-3):
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
This is not the only place Jesus gives His followers a command to take the good news (gospel) to other people—we call this evangelism or missions.
Jesus famously commands in Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”
In our lesson today, we see that Jesus instructs His followers:
1. The work is not just for pastors and missionaries.
Jesus sent 72 followers, not just the 12 Apostles. This is the mission of the church—all the people of God are to go!
2. Don’t go alone!
In the Army, we were trained to have a battle buddy… [I will tell a story of my battle buddy linking arms with me in Ranger School to illustrate what a battle buddy is and why they are important.]
Do you have a battle buddy? That question may seem out of context, but when you listen to Jesus’ words, they make sense: “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” There is hardship and pain awaiting each of us in the world we live and attempt to serve in the name of Jesus. We live in a very broken world, filled with sadness and grief, sin and selfishness. Bad things happen to all of us and all we have sometimes is our faith in this message of hope, to reminder ourselves and to share with others because so many are feeling hopeless and beat up by a world that doesn’t seem to care.
If you got at it alone, there is a very good chance that your initial excitement to be a part of the work of God will waver and fail in the midst of so much pain and hardship. It is amazing how much life can beat us down, circumstances and chronic pain, alike, can distract us and keep us from seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.
Listen to three promises from God’s Word about spiritual relationships:
- 1 Corinthians 16:17-18 states,
“I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:13 reiterates,
“Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.”
- Hebrews 10:24-25,
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
3. Go to every place Jesus would go! Stay in His yoke!
Jesus commands His followers to follow a certain path in how we plow the field: I want you to listen to some teachings from Jesus that help us understand how we are to work His harvest fields.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
This scripture has 2 lessons I want you think about: 1) start where you are because this is where you are (Jerusalem, your home community), but be willing to move outside of your comfort zone as the Lord leads you. That can include our region/state (Judah), the nation (Samaria, this also has the implications of people who may not be like you, maybe people considered outcasts or “not like us”), and to the end of the earth (anywhere and everywhere, people distant from you in every way).
Jesus is tearing down the cultural and religious prejudices of His day and He’s still doing it, today! Are there people or places you are not willing to go?
Don’t just think about way away out there, think about in here (around this room) or around our city or your school or workplace or extended family… Are their barriers in your mind and heart that disallow you from loving people the way Jesus loves you? Do you need to seek forgiveness or forgive another person today? Are there a few difficult minutes of a hard conversation ahead of you so that you can be free forever?
Does this sound like a heavy-burden to you? Does it cause anxiety or fear just thinking about going across this room or across the street in your neighborhood or across town or across the lunchroom or across the world?
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I want you to get one thing out of this passage today: when you take on Jesus’ yoke, He will direct your path and set your pace in the harvest field. When you are yoked to Jesus, you are now working under a different power source that causes His yoke to be easy and His burden to be light. We are in the yoke of Jesus when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. You are not alone!
And when you are not alone, you can do whatever it is God is putting on your heart to do! You can go where He leads you, even if others don’t understand why you are going to that place or to those people. We all needed someone to come to us at some point in our life… Let’s return the favor and reach out to others where they are.
‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”
Where is God calling you to go? Then, you go there! If each of us would just go where we each were called to go, then how many more people would have Jesus in their lives?
4. The final point for today is this: Pray for God to capture the hearts of more people to come on journey with Jesus and share in all the work.
Don’t go alone means praying to God and inviting Him to go with you. He also invites you to bring a friend with you as you go. If you are currently going alone, pray and ask God to raise a worker to join you.
If you currently see places of need that you aren’t called to go to, then pray that God would raise up people to go.
I can’t go everywhere, because that would be disobedience to what I am called to do. No guilt to you, nor will accept guilt to come back on me. We each are called—I’m in the yoke of Jesus learning to go where He calls me.
Whose yoke are you in and where is that yoke taking you?
It’s time to pray…
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the video HERE.
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Responding to Jesus (Week 6)
2020: A Year of Celebration!
“Jesus is our Example: Serve Like Him!”
Key Verses: John 13:1-20
Who are we celebrating? We are celebrating Jesus and in doing so we are going to do one thing all year long: LIFT UP THE NAME OF JESUS!
Our theme verse for 2020 is John chapter 12, verse 32 (John 12:32, ESV), which proclaims, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This verse explicitly points to the fact that Jesus would be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary to give His life as a payment for sin, as the very next verse says, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” The implications of this verse go beyond Jesus’ death and influence every area of our lives: we are called to live our lives in response to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as the Savior for all the World!
Today, we are going to learn: Jesus is our Example in all areas of life. We are called to serve like Jesus served. That is why He came and that is why we have been saved: Jesus emptied Himself, took on the form of a servant, and died on the Cross so that we can live an abundant life. We are Blessed to be a Blessing! Serving is a life of giving away what you cannot lose: God’s grace!
Jesus said to His first followers (the disciples) in Mark 10:42-45,
You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many [by being lifted up on the Cross].
Jesus makes it clear in His teaching that He came to set us an example: one of a servant who was willing to put aside His own comforts, in fact His very life, so that we can return to a right relationship with God that was intended for us from the beginning of creation, but was destroyed by human sin. Jesus came to rescue us and to show us what our lives can look like when we are completely submitted to the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit, God’s presence in us.
The example Jesus came to set for us is found in our theme verse of John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” It was on the Cross of Calvary that Jesus demonstrated what true service looks like! As we talked about last week, it was not easy for Jesus to do this: in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus sweat blood leading up to the Cross because of the extreme anguish He felt (Lk 22:44; Mt 26:38; Mk 14:34), but loved compelled Him to serve us this way; as Hebrews 12:2 says, it was for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM!
Just like Jesus, we are called to be different and live different than the ways of the world: to die to self-service and live for God-service. The world says look out for number one and use other people to get your way. The world teaches us self-service and most everything that makes a profit in today’s world is something that caters to the whims and desires of “self”. Just think of the billions of dollars the advertising departments of multi-million dollar businesses spend on wooing you to invest your time and money into yourself.
Unfortunately, this includes in the American-led church growth models if you want to have a “successful” church. I don’t know what to tell you other than that I, and your elders, won’t pander to that mindset and false definition of success for the church. With that said, for us to remain in our community, the faithful need to step up in even greater ways, in both serving and giving, to keep a Jesus-centered church thriving in our self-centered culture. Giving in to the self-centered culture is idolatry and we must flee from it and not cooperate with it. Lord Jesus, please forgive us for the ways we have already.
Jesus says that the only way to glorify God through your service and to truly be great is to not to self-serve, but to serve people by submitting to God first; this is God-service. In fact, Jesus’ life glorified God for this exact reason as we learn from Jesus’ prayer in John 17:4, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” Jesus did not heal every person that needed healing, teach in every synagogue, feed every hungry person, tackle every social evil, tear down oppressive regimes and solve economic disparities between the haves and the have nots. Jesus did not do everything that would have been on each of our agendas for this world and all of its problems, but Jesus did everything His father asked Him to do!
Jesus rescued humanity from the damaging effects of sin so that we would be “free” as God-centered people to do all these things and even more—to do even “greater things” (John 14:12).
“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”
Jesus has given us the same glory that His father gave Him and that glory is to do the work God has given each of us to do. We are called to be pleasing to God by doing what He commands us to do. People will often misunderstand how we serve them, because we are pleasing them in the Name of Jesus, not in our own name (personal self-interest), or the name of our church (corporate self-interest), or even in the name of our city, state, or nation (ethnocentric self-interest). We are God-serving people: God-pleasing service not people-pleasing service!
The bottom line is that living a non-serving life or self-serving life is not the real thing—neither biblical Christianity nor Jesus following. It’s disobedience to Jesus because you are still living according to your selfish nature. Following Jesus means your faith produces acts of obedience. Not to save you, but because you are saved! Not as works of the Law to attempt to please God, but obedience that flows from faith. Faith and good works are inseparable, and if you are separating them and you think that is OK, that is a problem.
I do not have permission from God as your pastor to allow you to sit there and think that it is OK to live disobedient to the teachings of Jesus Christ. With truth and grace, I say to each of you: you are blessed by God to be a blessing to others—to real people with real issues in real everyday life! Put some feet on your prayers and go serve in such a way to meet the needs of a lost and dying world. Faith compels you! The Holy Spirit within you empowers you… take a step of faith and follow your Lord and Savior Jesus by putting on the towel of service.
Even Jesus’ closest followers did not understand the example of Jesus. Grace abounds for those who do not get it, but we can’t stay there. God is calling you to understand this very basic teaching—to get it and to stop making excuses for disobedience. Even Jesus’ closest followers were consumed with self-interests. Listen to this very famous real story, the historical account of Jesus Christ putting on the towel of service, from John chapter 13, verses 1-20 (John 13:1-20):
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
Jesus emptied Himself in this moment by doing the work of a slave by washing their feet. In the times of Jesus, the person who was to wash the feet of guests was not the husband or wife, nor the children or hired hand. It was the work of the lowest person in their culture. Jesus took on the form of the lowest person to wash the feet of His followers. But Jesus’ followers did not want this kind of example nor understand Him.
It’s not that Jesus wasn’t clear in His teachings or in the example He set—how could Jesus have been any clearer in either?—it was just that His followers were blinded by their own self-interest. They wanted Jesus to be greatest of all (not least of all) and to lead a revolution against Rome and liberate them so that Israel could be great again and they could then personally rule their country (and then the world) with Jesus (not to be a part of some spiritual kingdom that gets you ridiculed, side lined, and eventually crucified).
Jesus’ followers were still consumed with self-interest, but Jesus did not have an ounce of self-interest in his example. Jesus did not have an ounce of self-serving in mind when He went to the Cross—Jesus experienced extreme anguish in going to the Cross, but He did so because of the Joy of knowing that we would be rescued from sin—the very sin that keeps us yoked to SELF!
You are either yoked to Jesus or yoked to yourself! As Paul said in Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Sin has been defeated, now abide in Jesus and God-serve—that is true freedom!
Are you free in Christ?
One of the core values of our church is, “Developing people for a life of service.” Over the last year and a half I have often talked to you of the “7:1 initiative”, which is an FBC initiative to: 1) invest in 7 relationships through a small group, Sunday School class, or Bible study opportunity where you are learning from God’s Word and one another how to love others like Jesus first loved you; and 2) invest in 1 place of service in the church where you can be involved in a ministry team or mission partnership to serve like Jesus. If you don’t know where you can find a place of service, we have provided you with an updated 2020 “service opportunities” handout that has lots of places for you to prayerfully consider.
- lack of sustainable financing, evidenced by a huge deficit in the maintenance budget and the recent cutting of the mission’s section of the 2020 budget.
- struggles of the Meal Trains, which get sent out to 118 +/- families every time:
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- missed 3 of 8 days for a member.
- missed 5 of 10 days for a member.
- missed 4 of 10 days for a member.
- struggled to fill out for a member.
- If you look at who is taking the meals, it is a relatively small group.
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- lack of volunteers in the Children’s area, leading to the closing of the elementary children’s church during 1st Sunday services.
We do this, not because it will get you respect from other people or make our church better or will cause God to love you more, but because it is obedience that comes from faith—in other words, it is a faithful response to the gospel of Jesus Christ when you put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. To say it another way, it is what the Holy Spirit will compel you to do because He lives in you and He is forming you into the example of Jesus Christ.
As you examine yourself about your area(s) of service, please remember that we do what the Spirit leads us to do, the way the Spirit has gifted us to do it, and in the way of Jesus—for the glory of God! I am not asking you to do anything more or less than obey Jesus! For me, that caused me to resign my career as an Army Officer before I hit my 20 years with no retirement or medical benefits. To leave all that I knew as security, to find my security in Christ alone. Then, again to leave all of our security at our first church in Sunnyvale, CA to come to New Castle, IN over a decade ago. And again and again, to die a hundred little deaths to obey Christ to love and serve like Him, instead of loving and serving myself and my own self-interest.
I am not asking you to do anything more or less than I have done, I never will! I am only asking you to respond to Jesus’ example by completely submitting to God and by asking the Holy Spirit to show you how He wants you to respond to Jesus’ example. Through God’s grace and only by God’s grace can we serve like Jesus!
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the video HERE.
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Responding to Jesus (Week 5)
“Jesus is Savior: Love as He First Loved You!”
Who are we celebrating? We are celebrating Jesus and in doing so we are going to do one thing all year long: LIFT UP THE NAME OF JESUS!
Our theme verse for 2020 is John chapter 12, verse 32 (John 12:32, ESV), which proclaims, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This verse explicitly points to the fact that Jesus would be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary to give His life as a payment for sin, as the very next verse says, “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” The implications of this verse go beyond Jesus’ death and influence every area of our lives: we are called to live our lives in response to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as the Savior for all the World!
Today, we are going to learn that if Jesus is Savior, then a way we can respond to His love is by loving other people as He first loved us. This will be my outline: 1) I will teach from the Bible that Jesus is the Savior and show a video to help you decide for yourself, and 2) I will explain how we are invited to respond by loving other people as Jesus first loved us and then invite Katie Kinnaird up to share a testimony that leads us to make a decision on how we will respond.
First, Jesus is Savior. In fact, this is why He was lifted up on the Cross of Calvary (John 12:32)—to show the world the love of God to all people. As Paul stated 1 Timothy 4:10, “we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
To make it even more clear, Paul explained in Romans 5:8-10, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
To understand what Paul is saying about Jesus saving us (being the Savior), let’s take a quick walk through a historical account of Jesus’ life, seeing and hearing what first-hand witnesses recorded about Jesus in this reliable historical document called the Gospel of John:
The author of the Gospel of John, the Apostle John, starts his historical account with a big picture statement about Jesus in chapter 1, verses 9-13 (John 1:9-13), “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John is teaching us that this is why Jesus came: to give us every opportunity to be saved from the damaging effects of sin that separate us from God and His family. Jesus makes a way for us to have our sin forgiven, so that we can return to the household of God.
We this when John the Apostle quotes John the Baptizer, who declared about Jesus in John 1:29-34, “‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John bore witness: ‘I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.’”
John the Baptizer gives witness to the fact that Jesus is the One who can return us to God by taking away our sin and filling us with the presence of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which happens when we put our faith in Jesus, as the Son of God who died on the Cross as the Savior of the World.
Jesus is recorded of saying this so clearly about Himself in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Then to illustrate that His salvation is available to all people (those who were near and far away from God, then and now), John 4 gives us an historical account of when Jesus saves a Samaritan woman. But Jesus’ encounter not only impacted her life, but the whole community because she shared her transformed story with her town. Listen to John 4:39-42, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”
This historical account makes it clear that Jesus not only came to be the Savior, but He came to be your savior. He doesn’t want you to only know about Jesus and how He has impacted other people (maybe a family member or someone at work or that person at the YMCA), but Jesus wants you to know him personally.
John records Jesus’ words about Himself in John 12:44-50, “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.’”
These are the words of Jesus Christ, and prior to these quotes from Jesus, I quoted two other primary witnesses about Jesus—John the Apostle and John the Baptizer—both of whom had direct encounters with Jesus. I also quoted to you from Paul who met Jesus after he died and was resurrected. Today, we have a decision of what to do with not only these historical witnesses of Jesus, but two thousand years of historical witnesses and most intimately, what to believe about the transformed stories of those six people who got baptized today.
Jesus: Lord Liar or Lunatic? (@CFIMission)
John testified of Jesus in his first letter, chapter 4, verses 14-15 (1 John 4:14-15), “we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
Will you confess Jesus Christ as your personal savior today?
Let’s pray together and invite God to lead us in making a decision that leads to life.
Second, and very practically, in response to Jesus being our personal savior, we are called to love others as Jesus first loved us.
Before I invite Katie to come up here and share her testimony and invite each of us to respond to this message, I want to share a part of Jesus’ story that most people miss. It is so important for us to know this about Jesus so that we can respond to Jesus being lifted up on the Cross as Savior.
While Jesus did endure the Cross because of the Joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), it was not easy. We miss this point! It was hard for Jesus and it will be hard for us; but it is worth it! We love others as Jesus first loved us because we know there is a greater joy in seeing people respond to the love of Jesus than our own anxiety, fear, and insecurity in trying to do it!
Just like Jesus had to face His Garden of Gethsemane moment in order to share God’s love with us, so will we face our own Garden of Gethsemane moments. In Luke 22:44 we see this historical account of Jesus’ human experience of anxiety to in going to the Cross, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Do you see how hard this was for Jesus?
Jesus literally sweated blood in anticipation of the suffering He would endure to be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary so that we would know the love of God. Listen to the medical science behind this historical event, “Hematidrosis is a rare, but very real, medical condition where one’s sweat will contain blood. The sweat glands are surrounded by tiny blood vessels. These vessels can constrict and then dilate to the point of rupture where the blood will then effuse into the sweat glands. Its cause—extreme anguish.”[1] (emphasis original)
In the other Gospel accounts, we see Jesus’ level of anguish that aligns with this medical condition: “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34).
The intense agony and sorrow Jesus felt was certainly understandable. In John 18:4, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the guards came to take Him to be abused, beaten, falsely accused, put before a mock trial, brutalized to the point of death, and then murdered on the Cross, Jesus willingly gave Himself to them, “knowing all that would happen to him”. But we must never forget that while Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human: Because Jesus knew what He was about to go through, He experienced extreme anguish as He willingly went to the Cross to show us God’s extravagant love and amazing grace.
This is how God first loved us! Jesus took His extreme anguish and agony to God in prayer and still decided, “Your will be done” was what was going to lead Him to share God’s love. And in order for us to love others as Jesus first loved us we have to bring our own insecurities, fear, and anxieties to God in prayer and decide “Your will be done” allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us to share God’s love.
I don’t know what is holding you back from practically loving others as Jesus first loved you, but I do want you to know this: It wasn’t easy for Jesus and it won’t be easy for me or you, just like it isn’t easy for me or Katie Kinnaird. We all look at Katie and see fruit of how she brings the extravagant love and amazing grace of Jesus Christ to the youth of our community through Young Life, but what we can’t see are her Garden of Gethsemane moments, each and every time.
Katie Kinnaird is going to share a part of her story and then call us to action and pray for our time of response. She and I, and others, will all be up front ready to pray with and for you.
(Katie shares her testimony – You can listen to it in the recording below or you can watch it on the video link below that.)
You can listen to the Week 5 message here:
You can watch the video HERE.
Footnotes:
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Responding to Jesus (Week 4)
Jesus is the Head: Belong to His Body!
In a recent devotional (by Jeff Randleman) I read, the author wrote about the different ways people responded to Jesus in just one chapter in the Book of Matthew. If you read chapter nine, you find that people were in awe of Jesus (v 8) when he healed the paralytic; Matthew followed him and invited friends to meet him (vs 9-10); sought after by a woman with a blood issue (vs 19-22); they laughed at Jesus (vs 23-26) when he went to pray for the ‘sleeping daughter’ of a church leader; pursued by two blind guys who wanted healing for their sight (vs 27-31); marveled at the power he possessed (vs 32-33); and criticized him, saying this power came from the prince of demons (v 34).
So responding to Jesus does not always have a positive connotation. But it does always align with the person doing the responding. When we take and place Christ as the priority or main focus, then we find ourselves on target. God created us to have a choice, never forcing himself upon us, but always longing for us to come back into right relationship with Him! He moved the access point to him from the Temple Holy of Holies, where only the priests could enter in; to His Son, where all who accept Him as Lord and Savior could come to the Father.
Today we are going to further respond to Jesus by declaring him as the head of the church (us) who is the body of Christ, and how we are to fulfill our part in serving Him as our Lord and Savior.
Frank Viola writes:
“To be subject to the headship of Jesus is to respond to His will regarding the life and practice of the church. Submission to the headship of Christ includes obtaining God’s mind through mutual ministry and sharing, obeying the Holy Spirit through the mutual subjection and servanthood, and testifying to Jesus Christ collectively through mutual sharing and corporate witness.”
Jesus is to be Lord of the individual and Head (Master) of the corporate body. When we have those in alignment, then we are truly functioning, as God desires us to be.
Let’s see what God’s Word has to say when we recognize:
- Christ is the Head
- We are the Body
- We have to Submit
I. Christ is the Head
Psalms 118:22
“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
Ephesians 2:20
“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
1 Peter 2:4
“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.”
Ephesians 1:15-23
- God appointed Him & placed all things under His feet
- The power of God is at work
- We are made full & complete
II. We are the Body
III. We have to Submit
Ephesians 5:21
“And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Reverence defined:
“honor or respect felt or shown : deference especially : profound adoring awed respect”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
OT: Joshua 24:15 – choose who you will serve
NT: Luke 16:13 – cannot serve God and money
Romans 12:1-2
- Not a dead sacrifice, but a living one – alive to serve
- Allowing God to transform us, not the world.
- The results will be called ‘good’ by God. (morally honorable, pleasing to God, beneficial)
That is the ultimate meaning of submission. Surrendering what you want to do by saying “not my will, but YOUR will be done.” Jesus did that for you and me so that we would have a way to have our relationship with God restored. He is also making a way for us to never have to ‘go it alone’, for He is always beside us, in every situation. With Christ as the head, His vision is so much clearer that He can see the bigger picture so we can “count it all joy”, no matter what we are faced with in this life.
So, as I have presented God’s Word to you today I need to ask… How will you respond to it and to Jesus? I know in this world there are some who may not see a need for church or faith or even Jesus. And there are others who may just have a hard time letting go of the control. But maybe you finally have realized your need to let go and let God have control. Whatever your response, that choice is up to you. No one can make that choice for you. But know that you have a church body that will love you and support you as you submit to God and His plan for your life.
Listen to the Message here:
You can watch the video HERE.
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