Good Words from God’s Word

Our church begins its observance of the Advent Season today. We worship together this morning and throughout December in honor and celebration of the coming of our Savior into this world. I will be preaching a series of sermons for the next 4 weeks entitled “LOVE DOWNLOADED.” The apostle John said in his gospel, “…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). When Jesus was born, God downloaded His love in human flesh. He dwelled among men. People saw God’s glory in the life of a Savior.

The internet has taught us how to download. It has become a part of everyday life. When we find information out there in the digital world that we would like to have for ourselves, we simply make a place for it somewhere in our computer, click the save button and instantly what’s out there becomes ours. We download recipes, pictures, documents, quotes, all kinds of good stuff. As of right now, the internet and computers cannot transfer human flesh no matter how powerful and how fast your gigabytes process the data. Only God can download a life and He did it when Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born into the world by the Virgin Mary.

I pray that this series will help us prepare for Christmas Day and that we will download the true meaning of the Advent Season into our homes, families and daily lives. I heard this Christmas story the other day:

A little 10 year old boy asked his mother if Santa could bring him a new bicycle for Christmas. His mother told him by the way he had acted and because her funds were limited, Santa could not do everything he demanded. She told him that he should go into his room, write a letter to Jesus and pray for one instead.

The boy’s first letter read: “Dear Jesus, I’ve been a good boy this year. Can I please have a new bike for Christmas this year? Signed, “Little Johnny.”

The boy tore up the letter because he figured Jesus really knew he had not been that good. So, he tried again, “Dear Jesus, I’ve been mostly good this year. Can I please have a new bike for Christmas this year?” Signed, “Little Johnny.”

The boy knew that was not true either, so he ripped that one up as well. He left his room, went outside in the cold, walked down the street and wound up in the local Catholic Church. Sitting inside for a few minutes he suddenly jumped up, grabbed the statue of the Virgin Mary, ran home and hid the image under his bed. He wrote his final letter, “Dear Jesus, I’ve got your Mama. If you want to see her again, make sure I have a new bike for Christmas.”

Downloading God’s love is not possible because we deserve it. It is because God loved us so much that “…He gave us His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Good Words from God’s Word
 
When we understand what God has done for each of us to redeem and make us right before him, it is impossible to be ungrateful. Paul said, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in Him, having been firmly built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7). When you are thankful for Jesus and your salvation in Him, you demonstrate that you get it—you understand the magnitude of what happened when you got saved. Thanksgiving is the proper response when you understand that you were once lost, but now in Christ you have been found.
 
Do you remember the parable Jesus taught about the woman who had ten coins and lost one. She lit every lamp in the house. She swept the floor searching for the one lost coin. The Bible says that she did not stop searching until she found it. Think about what she did when she found her lost coin, “…she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’” (Luke 15:9). Joyous thanksgiving is what happens when you think about how Jesus saved you from those hopeless days when you were lost. No one fusses about finding a precious treasure. Listen to what Jesus said, “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Thanksgiving is not only a precious commodity here on earth, it is a quality from heaven in which we can participate.
 
Henry Ward Beecher said, “Remember God’s bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude.” The Psalmist expressed thanksgiving in the context of worship, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
 
Be thankful this week. Be thankful for God’s blessings. Be thankful for your salvation—it cost Jesus everything. Be thankful for your family and for your health. A good exercise would be to make a list of everything you can think of for which you are thankful. It will surprise you how long your list will be. You are never more spiritual than when you are thankful.  Let the joy of thanksgiving flood your heart today and all week long.

Good Words from God’s Word

The word “Ordain” means to “set in order,” or “to arrange.”  For instance, the Psalmist said, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained” (Psalm 8:3). What David is saying is God ordered and arranged all the stars by his fingers just as He planned.  The universe is not random or the result of a chance episode — What scientists call the “Big Bang.” Everything that is created is ordained — orderly and the product of God’s design.

The apostle Mark used the word in a different way. He said, “And He (Jesus) appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons"(Mark:3-14-15). In this instance, the ordination was about the right of Jesus to choose, equip and send messengers to proclaim the gospel. These 12 disciples were given the privilege to be close to Him, learn from Him and be empowered to do ministry like He did. Ordination was not only an appointment; it was a granting of ability to do the work of Jesus.

The apostle Paul used this word in another way when he said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepare (ordained) beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). God’s plan of salvation which is available to the whole world is not a developing plan worked out is phases or different periods of time. God’s plan which makes it possible for us to live for Jesus was ordained from the very beginning of time. Our salvation and our discipleship were ordered and arranged by God’s hand. Every one of us is ordained to not only be the people of God, but to do the work of God. Think about that. You have been ordained — set apart by God, and for God.

This morning we are ordaining two of our men to serve as deacons, Mike House and Doug Hutson. After we have prayed and asked God to show us who within our church should serve, the church chose 6 men: Doug Bryant, Bill Gabler, Phil Callahan, Edward Grant, Mike House and Doug Hutson. All chosen have previously been ordained except the two we ordain today. In ordaining Mike and Doug this morning, we believe that God has not only ordained them, arranged them, appointed them to be saved, but we believe God has put His hands on them to serve, to lead, and to minister among us for His glory. They are not better than any other believer in our church.  Their ordination as deacon does not make them higher or more in touch with God than anyone else who has been ordained as a believer. What it does mean is that they are “set in order” to carry a heavier load, a greater burden for Christ. They are taking on, by the appointment of God, the care, health and well-being of our church fellowship. By ordination of these good men, we believe God has done His work in overseeing and strengthening our church’s fellowship. Praise God for what He has done and praise God for every one of our new deacons.

Good Words from God’s Word

I am amazed by the servant ministry of our church over the last several days. While we were all busy praying for and getting ready for Family Day and Parent Child Dedication last Sunday, our church family ministered to two families that had experienced the death of a loved one. Our ladies prepared food last week for 36 in one family and again prepared food for over 70 this past Wednesday afternoon. Both families were hosted and fed by our church family and greeted with the warmth and love of a caring church of believers in Jesus name. It was genuinely an outreach of compassion equal to what Jesus commissioned His church to do, “…whatever you do for one of the least of these my brethren, you have done unto me” (Matthew 25:40).

I am grateful for all those who cooked food, served tables, cleaned up after the meal, greeted our  guests offering encouragement to over 100 people during their time of grief and loss. The Bible says that believers who pass away are ushered into the heaven where they have a place prepared at the “BANQUET TABLE” of the Lord, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear. Then the angel said to me, Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:7-8). There is no better way to minister to a family after the death of a loved one that to offer them a great meal to enjoy. I felt both last Saturday and this past Wednesday that our church had prepared food, set the table and offered the hospitality of the Lamb so that while people ate around the table in our church, those who had gone on to be with Jesus joined in. Let’s call it THE MINISTRY OF THE BANQUET TABLE.

Then we enjoyed fellowship and worship Sunday morning with 89 attending Sunday School and 184 present during worship. We dedicated and committed ourselves to assist parents and grandparents in raising children to follow and honor Christ. There were 10 families who participated in the dedication ceremony. The church was electric with the spirit of the Lord and the worship was genuinely an exaltation of Christ.

After reflecting all week on what happened this past Sunday, it seems to me that our ministry of compassion and care results in the continuing growth of our church family. Multitudes of people followed Jesus wherever he went, not because of what they could get out it, but because of what he gave freely to them. He gave them compassion (Matthew 9:36). He ministered to and healed their infirmities (Matthew 4:23). He preached the good news of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17). He fed the multitudes (Mark 6:30-44). When the ministry of our church looks like the ministry of Jesus, multitudes of people respond. Let’s keep on serving, preaching, and doing the things that Jesus did. When we do, the multitudes will show up.