Sermon Tidbits 1/24

On This Holy Day - Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. 2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law...5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, "Amen! Amen!" Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground...8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. 9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. 10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

What a beautiful picture we have in this passage today of a returned people from exile and dispersion gathering at the gate of city. The people have come to the priest/scribe Ezra and asked for the Law to be read to them. We get the sense here of the importance of the Word of God to these people and what it should mean for us. They have only recently been settling back into their land and when they have assembly they want the Law (Word of God to them) to be at the center of the assembly. Not a small part, but the center of the assembly. This shows us the importance of the word in our own lives and in our gatherings. We are called to keep God at the center of our lives and there is no better way to do this than by making God's word a centerpiece of our fellowship. Whether we are studying it or simply living it out in our lives, the Word of God should always be central for us.

The reaction of the people to the reading is also important here I think. They have been standing or sitting listening to the word for probably about 6 hours based on what verse 3 tells us about the time frame in which Ezra read. The people are brought to weeping by this reading though, but why? Lets think for a second. Can you imagine the impact of hearing God's Word for them again after all that has happened to them? They were taken out of the land God promised them, taken to a foreign land under foreign leaders, and put into servitude. Now though, they have returned to the land of the promise are together again with the promises being read in what undoubtedly was a great reminder that God never left them. It serves to remind them what they are called to and that they are a called people. The Bible functions much the same in our own lives. We too can go through tough times, but in the Word of God we have a great reminder of the promises of God to us including that he never leaves us. We have one advantage though that the people of that day did not have. We have the Word of God at our fingertips each day. How much more then should we feast on the word taking it in and constantly being drawn closer to God through our reading of it.

Finally, I think we can learn a thing or two from the people in this passage about gathering together. The day in the passage is declared a holy day just as each Sunday we gather in this church is a holy day. The Word is read and proclaimed. We sing songs as I am sure they probably did at some point during that assembly. We also draw into the presence of God during these times as well. Sometimes this can bring us to weeping but as Ezra proclaims to the people, "the joy of the Lord is your strength." The joy of the Lord over us strengthens us day-by-day. It enables us to face whatever grief may come. There are times for weeping but we are called to let the joy of the Lord be our strength today. Can we live in the spirit of our brothers and sisters from this passage and go forth today truly living out the Word of God in our lives allowing the joy of the Lord over us and in to be our strength?

John

Sermon Tidbits 1/17

A New Name - Isaiah 62:1-5
1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride so will your God rejoice over you.

What is in a name? That is a question that we don't ask much anymore. We forget who we are and we can lose a bit of our personality because of it. There is no place where names mean more than in the Bible. What you were called defined you.

Take Peter for example who in John 1 has his name changed from Simon to Cephas (Peter). The change has great meaning because Peter means "rock" and later on Jesus will call Peter the "rock" on which the church will be built. Think also of Paul, whose name change is a little less notable but nonetheless marks a drastic change from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle spreading the Word of God across the nations.

In our passage today, we find a God speaking to the people in Isaiah and promising that He has not forgotten them. For a people that are called "deserted" (or "forsaken" in some translations) and have their land described as "desolate," we find a people on hard times. We know because of our times today that hard times were not exclusive to the Israelites. We face different sorts of hard times, but they are hard times nonetheless. I am sure we can identify with these feelings in our own lives and spiritual walks with God. For those of us that can (which is probably all of us), it would do us good to hear the promise here.

God calls the people "hephzibah" meaning "my delight is in her." What a wonderful promise to know that God delights in us. Just as we delight over children or spouses, so too does God delight in us. The land of the people is called "beulah" which literally means "married." It is a wonderful illusion to verse 5 in the passage when we get a picture of God rejoicing over us just as a bride and groom at a wedding rejoice over one another. Take a second and think about a wedding you have been to and the absolute love and adoration and bride and groom look at each other with. This is a perfect picture of the way God looks at each and every one of us.

God has given us new names in Christ now as well. We are:
1) Sons and daughters of God - people who love God, worship God, and receive the blessings of our heavenly Father
2) Brothers and sisters in Christ: people who love one another, people who are a family together, and those who share in blessings and encourage in hard times together
3) Disciples of Christ - people who put Christ first, live and proclaim the Word of God, and take up our cross and follow Christ

These names are what we are called to live into today. So we must ask ourselves, do we hear what God is saying to us in our passage today? And are we living into these new names we have been given in Christ? Something to ponder for the week ahead.

John

Sermon Tidbits 1/10

Spirit Control - Acts 8:4-22

⁴Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. ⁶When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. ⁸So there was great joy in that city. ⁹Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." ¹¹They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. ¹²But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. ¹⁴When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money ¹⁹and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." ²⁰Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²²Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

In our world today, we often encounter the idea that "everything has a price." It could be anything from a product to an idea to a company or even a person. In the midst of takeovers and bailouts in the financial sector and rising coaching and player salaries in sports, this is becoming even more evident.

We meet Simon Magus in our passage today who falls into this trap of believing money can buy everything. Simon was an influential magician in Samaria who many believed before the arrival of Phillip proclaiming the Word of God to the people. The people start to believe and even Simon, who had called himself great, believes. Phillip's baptism of these people in the name of Jesus is supplemented here later in the passage by the arrival of Peter and John to baptize the people in the Holy Spirit (as would have been custom in those days since they were apostles and Phillip was not). We see that this baptism of the Spirit intrigues Simon Magus and he wants to buy the ability to do. We don't know if he knew any better or not but we still get a valuable lesson here.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift from God, just like grace. With the Spirit, just like many other aspects of the Christian life, we believe we can work hard enough, be good enough, give enough to the church, attend church enough that God will give it to us. Peter's response in this passage crushes that notion. Our faith in God is the path to the working of the gift of the Holy Spirit within us. It is also futile to take the gift of God, whether is be the Holy Spirit or something else, under our own power. We try, just as Simon in the passage, to take God under our control, but that only leads us farther away from God. We must accept God's control and his gift of the Holy Spirit to us in order to draw closer to him as we are called to do.

The question for us is can we let go of ourselves and let God be active in us through the power of Holy Spirit? The Spirit will guide us and lead us closer to God and deeper into God's work in this world if we will. Something to think about for this week.

John

Sermon Tidbits 1/3

Come to God - Isaiah 60:1-5
¹ "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. ² See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. ³ Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. ⁴ "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. ⁵ Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

We serve a God today that is calling us to come to him. A God that is calling us to enter into a relationship with Him. It is a call that each and every one of us is called to answer. We often find ourselves stumbling to find our way into this relationship though. I want to offer to you today three ways that we live into this relationship with God drawing closer to Him.

1) READ the Scriptures - God is revealed to us in the Bible. We learn about who God is through reading the story of salvation history in the Bible. The Bible is also the place where we can learn about the teachings as promises of God. Many people went to great lengths that the people of God would know Him through the Scriptures which should give us a good idea of the importance of reading the Scriptures closely.

2) PRAY often - Prayer is our one stop shop for communicating with God. It is the way God we meet God personally and God speaks to us. God reveals His wisdom to us through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. In a relationship, we all should know the importance of communication. Prayer is our way of communicating with God. We cannot push it to the side because otherwise we cannot hear from God.

3) LIVE a life worthy of God - Finally, we live according to Scriptures and the revealed wisdom of God given to us through prayer. Our lives are our best witness to a world that God has called us to go into and make disciples. We live not part of the Christian life, but the whole. From tithing/giving to the offering of forgiveness. This is not just a church life either. This is an all the time life. We should be living our lives in God so much so that people should see what joy we have from the Lord and want to be involved in it.

Let us go this week draw closer to God as the people in our passage today were drawn to God. Let those three key words (READ, PRAY, LIVE) go with you as a constant reminder to that relationship in which we are called into in God. God will surely meet us as we go.

John