Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

A recent note from a friend passed my way that read, "Why do evil people always seem to win?" and it got me thinking. Yeah, why? Why do good things happen to bad people and, conversely, why does it seem like bad things happen to good people?

Just this past week we were studying the Book of James in our Wednesday night Bible study, and James was trying to make the point to the first century Jewish Christians that they shouldn't blame God for the temptations that come their way. "God cannot be tempted," James wrote, "And God does not tempt anyone with evil." He then made his case for that argument with the point that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above, from the Father of lights, and that God doesn't send evil. In the midst of our conversation on those verses, someone stopped me and said, "But that's not true, is it? What about plagues? What about hurricanes? Those aren't good. If everything comes from God, then how can those be good."

We continued on into a discussion of what it means to live in a fallen world, a world that has been corrupted by sin and evil and that seemingly exists with a mind of its own, although God does work in the midst of sin and evil to bring about good. Hence, we can point to God's grace and presence in the midst of September 11th and Hurricane Katrina while not throwing these into the categories of a "gift from God" or, as our insurance companies put it, "An act of God." They are just an artifact of a world gone wrong.

But, theological interpretations aside, what about the simple human observation that people who are not "good," that people who aren't living for God, who aren't trying to do good in their lives, who are just out for themselves, sometimes seem to get it better than the rest of us. And those of us who are trying to do what is right, trying to live out our faith in this uncertain world as best we can and to follow God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength seem to get continually screwed (pardon the expression, but you know exactly what I mean). Hence the comment from my friend, "Why do evil people always seem to win?" Good question.

I spent some time pondering that last night as I wrestled with the experience of a very bad week at work. It was only three days long, but I felt like I had been put through the wringer. Worn out emotionally and physically, I took Friday off just to try to recover and get ready for next week. But why is life so difficult for those of us who are believers? In John 10:10, Jesus said that He had come that we might have life and life to the full. Other translations render this as "abundant life," and we make the case in church that this life starts now and not in some distant future after we die. But where is this abundant life? Why aren't we enjoying it right now?

As I pondered the rightness and wrongness of life, God led me to the part of John 10:10 we don't usually quote -- "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy." Ok, I understand that, but why do only the believers suffer? And the answer I received was that it was only the believers who were in the battle. And then I understood. I understood why I get tempted the worst after a really good Sunday worship service. I understood why things get so bad at work and at home right before I go to minister in the prison. I understood why I have such problems in my life right before I go to serve at the Walk to Emmaus. I understood why things are so difficult when I do my best and am really trying to walk with God.

It is because I am in the battle. Theodore Roosevelt once wrote, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."


Why do bad things happen to good people? Because they are in the arena -- they are on the front lines of the battle. Because they are going face-to-face with the enemy, carrying the truth of God and the message of hope and life to a people held captive. Because they are the ones who are pressing against the Gates of Hell and who are suffering the constant attacks from the evil one who is trying to destroy them with all his might. These are the ones that Roosevelt talks about whose countenances are "marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strive valiantly" and who constantly get back up when they are knocked down to stand again against their foe. Of course Christians suffer. Of course persecution and trials and hardships come our way. Not only because we live in a fallen world, but because we are going toe-to-toe with an enemy who will do anything to discourage us and to discredit us and to bring us down. Bad things happen to good people simply because they are good.

And, conversely, good things sometimes happen to bad people. Sure, they face the same hurricanes and natural disasters as we all do because it's part of living in a fallen world. But, they don't face what the Christians do. They are not in the battle. They are not engaged. They pass by on the sidelines without a care in the world. They are not a party to the conflict, and, thus, are not of interest to the enemy. Why waste his time on those who are not fighting, on those who are content with just walking through this world seeking to serve self above anything or Anyone else? They stroll through the battlefield, seemingly unaware of the raging war, as all around them they are surrounded by those who are actually engaged in the battle.

This reminds me of the movie, "The Matrix." In the movie, the character Neo is told that everything that he knows, his whole life, is nothing but a manufactured mirage. It is not real, it has been created so that Neo will walk through life unaware of the real battle that is occurring around him. So, Morpheus offers Neo a choice. He can take one of two pills, a blue pill that lets him stay the way he is, returning to his old life and living in the same old way with the same old things. Or, he can take the red pill, which will destroy the power of the mirage and open his eyes to the reality of life around him, putting him in the midst of the battle being waged for his very soul. What does he do? If he takes the red pill, he will leave all the old behind and nothing will ever be the same again, but he will be putting himself into harm's way and bad things will happen.

That is the choice that we all have to make at some time in our lives, but rather than red and blue pills, we have to choose to accept and follow Christ or to walk in our world oblivious to the spiritual reality around us. It those who take the red pill, who accept and follow Christ, that find themselves in the battle and who sometimes ask, in the light of a particularly grueling campaign, "Why does it seem like the evil people always win?" The truth is that they don't. It just seems like it right now because the battle is still being waged, but in the end, they will get their due and we will enjoy the victor's rewards.

The message from God is to persevere, to endure to the end, and to know that He will see us through. As Paul wrote in Ephesians, "Stand firm" The battle may still be occurring, but the war has been won. The victory was secured with the shout, "It is finished," and with the triumph of an empty tomb. We have won the day, and despite the momentary hardships that life and Satan throw our way, we have prevailed and we will overcome.

SERMON: HEARING GOD THROUGH THE CHURCH

13 February 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Acts 13:1-3

1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

-- this morning we are continuing our series on hearing God -- we started out by looking at hearing God through His Word -- through reading the Bible with an open heart and listening for the Spirit to speak to us through what we read
-- last week, we looked at hearing God through prayer -- at using prayer more than just an opportunity to ask for needs and to put our requests before the throne but by remembering that prayer was communication -- two-way communication with God where God would speak to our hearts in response to our needs and requests
-- this morning, we are going to look at hearing God through the church -- and next week, our plan is to finish up by looking at hearing God through our circumstances

-- now, one thing we have to keep in mind as we go through this is that -- although God speaks to us in each of these ways -- these ways do not carry equal weight and are not mutually exclusive
-- let me explain what I mean by this -- when you are trying to hear from God -- when you are listening for His voice and trying to discern His will for you and your life -- the first place you should go is the Bible -- this is where we hear God’s voice the most clearly -- this is where He speaks to us the most
-- but, when you read something in the Bible and you think it’s God talking to you, then you should pray about it -- you should ask God to confirm that this is His will -- that this is His voice -- and then listen to what the Spirit says
-- after you pray, you go to the church and hear what God is saying through His people -- and then, lastly, you look at the circumstances in your life
-- if you are hearing from God, you will see all four of these ways start to line up -- in other words, what you read in the Bible and understand to be a word of God for you will be confirmed in your prayer time -- this will be reinforced through the church -- through the messages that the church gives you, and not just this group of believers, but the church of Christ in the world -- you’ll hear it in messages from individual believers for you -- through sermons -- through song -- through worship -- and, finally, you will see your circumstances line up as God directs your will and your path
-- and that’s the order of confirmation that you need to take -- the Bible first, then prayer, then the church, and then circumstances -- if you are just hearing something through the church or through your circumstances that you don’t see confirmed in Scripture, then it is not God’s word -- always, God will speak to you through His word first and foremost -- and then, if it is God’s word, then God will confirm it for us through prayer, the church, and circumstances
-- I can share with you what this looks like through my own life -- when Kim and I moved back to Georgia from Tennessee, we ended up joining a Methodist Church in Morven -- it was a small church, mostly older women when we started, and they just took us in like we were their long-lost children -- it became a true home for us -- it was like a family
-- and, because of this, we really got involved with the church -- every time the doors were opened, we were there -- Sunday School -- Sunday morning worship -- Sunday night services -- Wednesday night Bible study -- we really got involved in church and in the lives of these people
-- after a while, a couple of young couples started coming to the church and the pastor asked me to lead a new Sunday School class -- I had never done that before -- I loved Bible study -- I loved learning about God through reading His word -- but I had never considered being a teacher before
-- but, during my devotional times I had started reading some things that sounded like God was speaking to me -- passages where God was calling people out and sending them to teach others about Him -- to proclaim His word -- and when I prayed, I kept hearing a similar response from God -- so, I thought, o.k. -- maybe this is what God was talking about -- He wants me to be a Sunday School teacher -- so I took the job
-- and this class started to grow from two couples to three and then to four until we filled up the room where we were -- but, at the same time I was leading that class and attending Bible study, I kept hearing the same message from God’s word and from prayer, “Go -- I have called you to proclaim My Word -- I have called you to teach me people” -- and I was thinking, “But, I’m already doing that -- why do you keep asking me to do what I’m already doing?”
-- and, then it started -- when I’d leave church on Sunday morning, the pastor would shake my hand and, “Want to preach tonight?” -- and I’d just say, “No -- that’s not my job -- that’s yours” and then I’d go on -- and then, every now and then, people in the church would say in passing, “You’re good at teaching -- have you ever thought of being a preacher?” -- “No, never thought about it -- that’s not what I’m called to do”
-- I started hearing messages on the radio over and over about God calling people into ministry -- it reached the point I would just turn the radio off and not listen -- I started hearing it more and more in Bible study -- in the songs we sang in church -- from the people -- from everyone
-- at one point, we had a guest speaker come to church and he preached a message on the ministry of reconciliation from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians -- and as he preached on what it meant to be an ambassador for Christ, he said, “Some in here are called to go into the ministry” and when he said it, he looked right at me -- he didn’t know me from Adam -- but he knew what God was calling me to do
-- God was confirming to me through the church that what I had heard in the Bible -- what I had felt in prayer -- this call that He had given me to go into the ministry -- was real -- God used His people to speak to my heart about becoming a preacher
-- after all of this, I finally sat down with Kim and told her we had to talk -- and I said, “I think God’s calling me into the ministry” -- and she said, “Well, yeah -- everyone already knows that”
-- so I went to the pastor and talked with her -- and she agreed and she brought the issue before the church -- and the entire church affirmed that God was indeed calling me out to go into ministry -- they laid hands on Kim and me and prayed for us and started us off on this grand adventure that we are in today

II. Scripture Lesson (Acts 13:1-3)
-- the message that we read in the Bible is that God uses the church to help us understand God’s will for our lives -- He uses the church to help us hear His voice and to confirm what He has told us through the Bible and through prayer
-- that’s exactly what He did when He called me into the ministry -- and that’s exactly what we see here in this passage

-- just to share with you the context of what’s going on -- all of us are familiar with the story of the Apostle Paul -- he started out as Saul the Pharisee -- the one who hated the Christians and who went about from place to place persecuting them
-- one day, while he was traveling to Damascus, Saul had an experience with Jesus on the road and became a believer -- he immediately started telling others about his experience and how Jesus had changed his life -- but Saul wasn’t accepted in the church -- the people were scared of him and thought this might just be a scheme to infiltrate the church and to find more Christians
-- but one of the early church leaders, a guy by the name of Barnabus, met Saul and heard his story and knew that Saul truly had changed -- so Barnabus took Saul under his wing and brought him to the church at Antioch -- and together, Barnabus and Saul started teaching in the church -- basically, they started a Sunday School
-- and, slowly, Saul started to gain the trust of the other people in the church -- in fact, when God told the church that there was going to be famine and the church took up an offering for the people in Judea so they could survive the famine, the church sent Saul along with Barnabus to carry the money to the church leaders in Jerusalem

-- so, let’s look at this passage again -- if you would, let’s back up just a little and start in Acts 12:25 and go through the first part of Acts 13:2

Acts 12:25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

Acts 13:1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting

-- now, the first we see in this passage is the church at work -- God had already identified and raised up leaders in the church -- men who were gifted in leadership and in teaching -- who were called to prophesy -- to proclaim His word to that local gathering of believers
-- just as an aside, notice that there was not just one leader -- one pastor -- but God had raised up several individuals who shared leadership responsibilities in the church as God had gifted them -- too often in our churches today, we assume that God has called one person -- the pastor -- to do the ministry -- but that’s not true -- God has called every person in a church to minister in the ways that He has gifted them -- ministry in the church is not limited to one person, but is given to all
-- as we look here, we see the church doing two things -- first, they’re worshiping -- they are going to God and praising Him for who He is and for what He has done in their lives -- that is our first act as Christians -- that is our main purpose as a church -- that is why God created us and why we exist -- to bring glory to God through our praise and worship and actions and to extend His glory to others
-- secondly, we see them fasting -- that means that this church was actively seeking God’s will and direction for their lives -- when we fast, it means we abstain from food and from other distractions so we can clearly hear God’s voice and so we can know what God wants us to do -- we put aside the things of the world so we can be open to listening to God
-- exactly what I asked you to when I challenged you to take thirty minutes to do nothing but sit and listen -- that was really just a lesson in fasting -- maybe not fasting from food -- but fasting from the noise and chaos of the world
-- as a church, we are called to worship God and to do what He wants us to do -- and the only way we can do that is to hear Him when He calls

-- look at the second part of verse 2

the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

-- as the church fasted -- as they listened with their whole hearts -- the Holy Spirit spoke to them and told them what to do -- He told them to set apart Barnabus and Saul for the ministry He had called them to do -- and that’s exactly what they did

-- now, there’s a couple of important things to see here
-- the first thing we see is that this calling -- this setting apart of Barnabus and Saul -- was done at the direction of God and not the church -- God is sovereign over all, and that includes the church -- the Bible tells us that Jesus created the church and formed it to be His body here on earth, but Jesus is the head -- the church should move and act based on what God tells it and not man and not tradition and not rituals
-- in this case, the church listened for God to speak -- and they didn’t move and they didn’t do anything until they heard from God -- the whole point of today’s message is that God speaks to the church just like He speaks to individuals -- and a functioning church should be hearing from God and receiving confirmation that what they are reading in their Bibles and hearing in prayer is what God is calling them to do

-- secondly, look what they did after they heard from God -- they confirmed what they heard through fasting and prayer -- remember what I said, when God speaks, He speaks to us in all four of these ways -- the Bible, prayer, the church, and circumstances
-- we have to be careful that when we think we have heard from God we don’t just move out and do it until He confirms it in at least one other way -- in this case, the church heard the Holy Spirit tell them to set aside Barnabas and Saul -- and then they waited until they got confirmation through more prayer and fasting

-- third, the church laid hands on Barnabas and Saul -- this is an act of confirmation and affirmation by the church for these two men -- there is no doubt in my mind that both Barnabas and Saul knew they were being called to go out as missionaries and spread God’s word throughout the Roman Empire
-- in fact, when Saul had his Damascus Road experience, Jesus told Ananias that He had appointed Saul to be His missionary to the Gentiles -- Saul was aware of this -- he was just waiting until he had confirmation
-- and the gathering of the church and the laying on of hands was confirmation that the church had heard from God what these had heard and were setting them aside as missionaries to the nations

-- and, finally, we read the church sent them off -- once God has spoken -- once we have received confirmation in other ways -- through prayer or the Bible or church or circumstances -- then we have to act on what God is telling us to do -- we have to do it

-- several years ago, one of the churches that I was pastoring was called to start a ministry to Hispanics -- I had felt this through my study of God’s word -- others had felt it, too, and had come to me about buying a van and going out and picking up the children of the migrant workers and bringing them to church
-- everywhere we looked -- everywhere we read -- we kept getting the same thing -- one day, I brought in a guest speaker to tell us about his ministry -- and when he started talking, he stopped and said, “you know, I’m not going to talk about Lifelines today -- I want to talk about your church doing a Hispanic ministry” -- and he spent the next thirty minutes laying out for us a plan to reach out to the Hispanics around us and to bring God’s word to them
-- it was obvious God was calling us to this -- we had confirmation from His word -- from our prayers -- from the church itself -- not only our local church but the body of Christ as evidenced by this guest speaker -- and then the way the circumstances just fell into place
-- I brought it up before the finance committee and the administrative council and they said, “No -- we’re not going to do this”
-- and when I heard that, I felt the presence of God leave that church -- not that God wasn’t there, because He promises to never leave us or forsake us -- but when we clearly heard what God wanted us to do and then refused to do it, He moved His hand off of us -- He took His blessing from that church -- and He sent that Hispanic ministry to another church in the area
-- from that point on, attendance in the church declined -- at worship -- at Bible Study -- at all events -- while this other church grew and grew and continues to grow and to see God work through them and in them in amazing ways
-- when we hear from God -- as individuals and as a church -- when we know that God is calling us to do something, we must do it -- just like the church at Antioch did
-- they heard from God -- they confirmed the message through fasting and prayer -- they affirmed Barnabas and Saul -- and then they sent them out
-- the lesson is, “When God speaks, we respond” -- plain and simple

III. Closing
-- so, let’s bring this all home -- what role does the church play in helping you hear from God?
-- the church is God’s megaphone -- through His church, God confirms to us the message that we have heard through His Word and through prayer
-- if God is truly speaking to your heart and is calling you to do something for Him, then He will confirm it through others -- you’ll hear that message reaffirmed in other ways -- through prayer, through the church, and through circumstances
-- when you think God is speaking to you -- when you think you are hearing God tell you or the church to do something, you should bring it before the church and seek confirmation from His people
-- as Dr. Henry Blackaby says, “Don’t ever be afraid to let the body of believers assist you in knowing God’s will -- take the counsel of the people and go to God for clear direction”
-- if the church is telling you the same thing that you believe God has told you through His Word and through prayer, then you can proceed with confidence
-- God speaks through the church, if you’ll just listen for His voice
-- let’s pray

SERMON: HEARING GOD THROUGH PRAYER

6 February 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Colossians 1:9-12

9. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11. being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

-- as we open this morning, I want with you a true story from John Ortberg about a guy named Bob
-- Bob was in insurance salesman in Washington, D.C. -- he had just became a Christian and was learning about the Christian faith when he came in all excited one day -- he had just read the part in the Bible where Jesus says, “Whatever you ask for in my name, you shall receive it.”
-- Bob wanted to know if that is true -- and his mentor replied, “Yes, it’s true -- but it’s not like a blank check -- you have to take it in the context of the teachings of the whole scripture and prayer and make sure what you are asking for is in God’s will -- but, yes, Jesus really does answer prayer”
-- so Bob says, “Then I want to test it -- I need to pray for something” -- so his friend Bob, “OK, let’s pick something for you to pray about -- and since I truly believe that God is going to answer your prayer, let’s make a bet -- if you pray for six months for this and nothing happens, I’ll give you $500 on the spot -- but, if you don’t pray, even one day, then our bet is off”
-- Bob agreed and his friend said, “What do you want to pray for?” -- Bob said, “Well, I’ve always been interested in Africa, so I’m going to pray for Africa.” -- His friend said, “Africa’s pretty big -- why don’t we narrow it down”
-- So Bob thought for a moment and said, “OK, then, I want to pray for Uganda” -- his friend asked, “Why? -- Have you ever been to Uganda?” -- no -- “do you know anybody in Uganda?” -- no -- “then why Uganda?” -- I don’t know -- I just want to pray for Uganda
-- so they agreed on Uganda and Bob just started praying everyday for Uganda -- and for a long time, nothing happened
-- but then one night he was at a dinner in Washington -- and he was making small talk with the lady next to him and he asked her what she did for a living -- she said she helped run an orphanage in Uganda -- the largest of its kind in the country
-- so now Bob began to pound her with question after question about Uganda and what she did there and how things were going -- after a while the woman said, “You’re obviously very interested in my country -- have you been to Uganda before?” -- “No.” -- then why are you so interested -- well, someone is kind of paying me five hundred dollars to pray for Uganda”
-- before the dinner was over, the woman asked Bob if he would like to come and visit Uganda and tour the orphanage -- Bob was so excited he couldn’t stand it and made arrangements the next day to visit
-- when he arrived in Uganda, the director of the orphanage gave him a tour of the capital city -- and he was appalled by the poverty and the lack of basic health care -- so, when he got back to Washington, he started to write to the large drug companies, describing to them the vast need he had seen -- He reminded them that every year they would throw away large amounts of medical supplies that went unsold -- “Why not send them to this place in Uganda?” he asked.
-- and some of them did -- they sent millions of dollars of medicine and supplies to Uganda to be distributed at the orphanage
-- the director of the orphanage called Bob and said, “This is amazing -- we have had so much help because of you -- will you come over here and join us at a huge celebration this year to celebrate what we have been able to do?” -- so Bob flew back over to Uganda
-- while he was there at the party, someone introduced him to the president of Uganda -- the president offered to take Bob on a tour of the city -- while they were riding around, Bob saw this brand new large building and asked what it was for -- the president said it was a prison for political prisoners who disagreed with the government -- Bob shook his head and said, “You shouldn’t do that -- you should let them go” -- and that was all that was said
-- they finished the tour and Bob went home to Washington and was surprised a few days later when he had a knock at his door -- he opened the door and there were two men in suits there from the Government wanting to talk to him
-- “are you Bob?” -- yes -- were you in Uganda recently? -- yes -- did you make any statements about political prisoners? -- yes -- what did you say? -- I told the president he should let them out
-- they went on to say that they had been working for years to get these prisoners released to no avail, but all of a sudden, the president of Uganda had released them -- and when the State Department asked why, the president said, “Because Bob asked me to”
-- by this time, the six months of praying were up -- and Bob went back to his friend and gave him a check for $500 -- Bob said, “You know what -- the Bible is right -- Jesus does hear us when we pray and He does answer our prayers”

-- this morning we are continuing in our series on hearing the voice of God -- as we have said, God usually speaks to us in four ways -- the Bible -- prayer -- the church -- and circumstances -- last week we looked at God speaking to us through His Word -- this week, we are looking at how God speaks to us through prayer

-- everybody knows that, as Christians, we are called to pray to God on a regular basis -- but the important thing to keep in mind is that prayer is two-way communication with God -- a lot of people think of prayer as us talking to God and asking Him for things -- but God always responds to us when we pray and we need to listen for His voice as we say our prayers to Him
-- in other words, not only is prayer a time for us to talk to God -- but it is a time for us to listen for God’s response -- the Bible is clear that God hears our prayers and meets our needs, but He does more than that -- through prayer, God changes us and helps us to grow more like Jesus
-- we see that clearly in this passage in Colossians 1 in the opening of Paul’s letter to the Church at Colosse -- let’s look at it in a little more detail

II. Scripture Lesson (Colossians 1:9-12)
-- look back at verse 9 with me if you would

9. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

-- now Paul had heard about the growing faith of the Colossians and of their love for all the saints -- so here in this letter he tells them how, from the moment he has heard of this, he has not stopped praying for them
-- there’s an important principle that we gain from Paul here in this verse -- our prayers should be constant -- Paul uses the phrase elsewhere that we should “pray without ceasing”
-- now this doesn’t mean that we should go around all day chanting prayers and doing nothing else -- but it does point to the fact that we need to be persistent in our communication with God -- especially our communication with God on behalf of someone else -- what we call intercessory prayer
-- if you’re like me, too often your prayer life looks like a rollercoaster -- there will be times when you’re really praying and really pouring your heart out to God -- and then you’ll have long periods where you don’t even really think of praying
-- Paul says that our prayers -- if they are to have any value -- have to be persistent -- they have to be constant -- they have to be done on a regular basis even if we don’t see any answers or any results to start with -- in my opening story, Bob didn’t see any results from his prayer for Uganda for months, but when they came, they really came
-- we need to get in the practice of setting aside a certain time once a day where we just spend persistent, regular time in prayer with God -- even if we don’t feel like it -- even if we don’t see any results -- the key is persistence -- the key is keeping on doing it because that’s what God wants -- that’s what we see Paul doing right here in this verse -- “We have no stopped praying for you”

-- now, Paul prayed that the Colossians would be “filled” with the knowledge of God’s will -- this word, “filled,” means something special in the Bible -- it’s not like we think of the word, “filled,” in our day -- it doesn’t mean the same thing -- it’s not like what we mean when we say we fill a glass to rim
-- the word in the original Greek that we translate as “filled” actually is the same word that is used to talk about a sail on a sailboat being filled with wind -- it implies being controlled and given direction and meaning by the item doing the filling
-- for a sailboat, this means that when the sail is filled with wind, the boat moves in a certain direction -- for a Christian, to be “filled” with the knowledge of God’s will means that we are filled with His presence -- we are in such close communion with Him that we know what He wants us to do and we get up and do it -- we are moved to follow Him -- we are given direction and we head out to do what He has called us to do and to become the people He has called us to become -- to be filled in this way is to be active and not passive
-- if there is ever a prayer that we need now-a-days for the church and for American Christians, it is that we be filled with the knowledge and the presence of God in this way so that we would quit just sitting around but would actually go out and do something for Jesus

-- Paul prays that the Colossians would know God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding -- this points out to us that, as Christians, we are operating on a whole nother level -- we may be living in this world, but the Bible says that we are not of this world any longer -- we are part of God’s kingdom -- and we live and move and have our being through God and not through the ways of the world
-- Paul doesn’t pray that the Colossians become wise in the world’s ways -- he doesn’t pray that they become educated in the things of the world -- but that they would become wise in the spirit -- in other words, Paul is saying that he wants the Colossians to learn God’s ways and to follow God even if it leads them to do things the world wouldn’t understand -- just like Bob praying for Uganda -- that makes no sense from the world’s perspective -- but God made a difference through Bob because he prayed with spiritual wisdom for God’s will to be done

-- so, what happens when we pray?
-- well, two things happen -- first, God hears us and answers us -- the Bible tells us in Psalm 138:3, “when I called, you answered me” -- and in Daniel 9:23 we read, “as soon as you began to pray, an answer was given” -- and Jesus said, “Whatever you pray in My Name, you will receive”
-- when we pray, God hears us and answers our prayers even though the answer may not be what we want -- sometimes the answer might be “no” or “wait” -- but, always, God hears and answers us when we pray at the very moment we pray

-- secondly, when we pray, God changes us -- remember that prayer is not just tapping into a heavenly vending machine where we ask for stuff and it drops out of the sky -- prayer is communication with God -- it is part of our relationship with God -- and when we pray, God not only answers our prayers, but He uses this time to change us and make us more like Him

-- look at verse 10

10. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11. being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

-- when we pray and are filled with the knowledge of God’s will and move out under God’s control and His direction, we live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way
-- Paul describes for us here what a life that is pleasing to God looks like:

-- first, it bears fruit -- that means that we are doing good works for God -- we are touching other people’s lives as God leads us and directs us -- we are meeting people’s spiritual and physical needs and they are coming to know God through us -- that is what it means to bear fruit for the Kingdom

-- secondly, we are growing in the knowledge of God
-- the more we talk to God through His Word -- the more we pray to God -- the closer we grow to Him and the more we become able to hear His voice -- kind of like a couple that is just starting to date -- when you start a relationship, you don’t really know the other person -- you don’t know about them and you don’t know them
-- but, over time, as you spend time with them and you talk to them, you begin to know them -- you know what they like and they don’t like -- you know what they want to do -- you know what they don’t want to do -- and you even know what they’re saying when they say nothing at all -- it’s the same way with prayer
-- the more time you spend with God, the more you know God and the more you start to become like God

-- third, we are strengthened with God’s power -- we learn to trust in God and His power rather than in our own strength -- we can do nothing of lasting significance in our own power -- but when we rely on God, we can do things that we couldn’t even think of doing in our own strength
-- through prayer and through God’s strength, we can move mountains -- we can part seas -- we can even change the hearts of African dictators and see entire countries like Uganda change for the better
-- as it says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” -- and, as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With God, all things are possible”

-- finally, we will reflect God’s own character in our lives -- we will demonstrate endurance and patience and joy -- we will live lives not focused on this earth or on today -- but lives that are focused on tomorrow -- on eternity -- on the things that have eternal significance
-- we will become people aware of God’s presence in our lives -- not just on Sundays but every day -- and we will become people of thankfulness -- of gratefulness -- who continually recognize God’s blessings and thank Him for all that He is and all that He has given

-- prayer not only changes the world -- it changes us and makes us more like Christ

III. Closing
-- so, as we close, let me just remind you once again that Christianity is not about church -- it’s not about reading your Bible or just praying for things because that’s what Christians are supposed to do
-- Christianity is about relationship -- it’s about a relationship with God -- it’s about coming to know God in a real and personal way, just like you would come to know a spouse over time
-- and we do this through communication -- through talking to God and listening as He responds -- through prayer, we offer up our praise and thanks to God for who He is and for what He has done -- through prayer, we let God know of the needs in our lives and in the lives of those around us
-- and through prayer, God speaks to our heart -- He changes us from the inside out -- He makes us more like Him and fills us with His presence
-- through prayer, we know more about God and we know God -- we know what He likes and what He doesn’t -- we know what He wants done and we know what He doesn’t want us to do
-- and, through prayer, we come to know God in a way that most people never will

-- so, as I close, I want to encourage you to take some time today to just sit in the presence of God in prayer -- go to Him today -- talk to Him today -- don’t even ask for anything -- just praise Him for who He is and listen for His voice to respond
-- my prayer for all of us is that we would come to know God and experience Him more in our lives through a vibrant and real prayer life
-- let’s pray

SERMON: HEARING GOD THROUGH THE BIBLE

30 January 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Timothy 3:14-17

14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15. and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17. so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

-- if you’ve turned on the TV lately, you’ve probably noticed how there are lots of shows about Alaska out there right now -- I was pointing this out to Kim the other night as we were flipping through the channels -- it used to just be the Deadliest Catch -- but now you’ve got Sarah Palin’s Alaska, Ice Road Truckers, Gold Rush, Alaska State Troopers, Flying Wild -- just show after show after show
-- and one thing that’s common about all of these shows is the isolation -- at some point, all of the people who are up there living and working in Alaska are going to find themselves isolated from the world and from their boss -- the only way they can get instructions and help when things go wrong is to either rely on their radios or on the instruction manuals for their job
-- most of us are used to having our boss right there with us, at least part of the day, to tell us what to do and to give us instructions -- but just imagine what it would be like to be up there in Alaska -- isolated from everyone and without your boss right there to help
-- let’s say that you were hired to open up an office in the interior of Alaska -- before you leave your boss gives you a radio and a policy and procedure manual and tells you that you will receive further instructions when you get there
-- when you set up the office, you hear your boss’s voice over the radio saying, “The only way I will be able to communicate with you is through this radio -- I won’t talk to you every day, so you’ll have to keep your ears open and listen for me when I call
-- but, be careful, because our competitors also have access to this channel -- and they are going to try to imitate my voice with false messages and instructions because they want you to fail in your job
-- “because of this, you have to be real careful to make sure you are hearing from me and not the enemy -- when you hear a message, always check it against the manual that I gave you -- since I’m the one who wrote the manual, I’m not going to ask you to do anything that goes against it -- also, if I am not talking on the radio, don’t focus in on the background noise, pretending that you’re hearing my voice -- If I am not speaking, let the manual be your guide
-- well, it’s not long before you hear your boss’s voice on the radio again -- he says, “Take all of the money from the cash drawer and give it to the next person that walks in, no questions asked” -- that seems a little curious, so you look in the manual and you see that this is specifically forbidden -- besides, you know your boss well enough to know that he wouldn’t tell you to do something like that -- you quickly realize that this voice is an imposter, and because you trusted in the manual, you don’t do something wrong that your boss wouldn’t like [illustration adapted from Sandy Gregory’s story of The Remote Employee -- http://www.acts17-11.com/hearing.html]

-- we are continuing in our series on hearing the voice of God -- as I said last week, God usually speaks to us in four ways -- the Bible -- prayer -- the church -- and circumstances -- Christian tradition and experience over the last 2000 years have shown that these are the ways that God normally chooses to communicate to us now although they are not equal in importance
-- this morning, we are looking at hearing God’s voice through the most important way that we have -- reading God’s Word -- the Bible

II. Scripture Lesson (2 Timothy 3:14-17)
-- the story that I gave in my illustration is a pretty good picture of where we are as Christians today -- the Bible tells us that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father -- because of that, we can’t see or touch or hear Jesus like the disciples could when He walked with them on earth
-- we are separated from God right now in a physical sense -- but, even though we are physically isolated from God, He made sure that we could stay in touch -- through His Spirit and through His instruction manual -- the Bible

-- the Bible is God’s primary source of communication with us as Christians today -- and as Paul tells Timothy here in this passage, it is of utmost importance in our spiritual lives
-- let’s look at this passage in a little more detail and see what we can learn from Paul’s instructions to Timothy here in his second letter to Timothy -- just to remind you of who Paul and Timothy were -- Paul, of course, was an apostle -- a leader of the early church who wrote a good portion of the New Testament
-- on the road to Damascus, Paul had an experience with the risen Christ -- and Jesus changed his life forever -- Paul went from being a Pharisee who persecuted Christians to being a mighty evangelist who carried the word of God to the far-flung reaches of the Roman Empire
-- during his travels, he came to know Timothy -- a much younger man -- who Paul took under his wing and mentored and raised up to be a leader in the church -- Timothy took over as pastor of the church at Ephesus when Paul left and we see him mentioned in many of Paul’s books
-- so, let’s look here at what Paul tells Timothy about the Bible and let’s see what we learn together

-- vs. 14 --

14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,


-- Paul instructs Timothy to continue in what he had learned and had become convinced of -- and that’s a very important point
-- a lot of Christians start well -- they hear the word of God and they get convicted of their sins and they ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior and then they really start to grow in Christ -- they’re constantly reading the Bible and going to church and praying and ministering to people they know
-- but, before you know it -- they start to slow down -- they start to slip back into their old ways -- and they find themselves not reading the Bible as much as they used to -- or they’re not praying like before -- and then they start missing church and just aren’t walking with God like they used to -- I think most of us who have been Christians for some time can relate to this
-- so, Paul tells Timothy here -- “continue in what you have learned” -- in other words, “keep going -- press on -- Don’t hold back -- but keep on growing in Christ through what you have learned and become convinced" of
-- this is more than just reading through the Bible quickly and trying to get through a certain number of verses or a certain number of chapters -- Timothy had learned and become convinced of the truth of God because he had absorbed it -- he had made it a part of himself -- he meditated on it -- he weighed whether it was true or not and in the end he became "convinced" of it -- he believed in what he had read because he heard God’s voice through the Bible

-- this tells us that we are supposed to do more than just casually read God's word -- we are to take it in and examine it -- God's word is to be our standard and our manual which we use to know what to do and to judge whether things are right or wrong
-- let's say somebody shows up at your door and starts telling you about God -- how do you know if what they are saying is true or not? -- how do you know if what they are saying is right? -- there’s a lot of religious people and a lot of religious groups in our area that sound pretty good and that make sense when you talk to them -- so, how do you know if they are truly Christians or not? -- you know by testing what they say against the standard of God's word -- if what they say they believe in does not agree with God’s word, then they are not Christians -- no matter what they call themselves and no matter how holy they look on the outside
-- it’s not to say they’re bad people -- but if what they are teaching does not agree with the basic foundational beliefs of God that we see in the Bible, then they’re not Christians -- they’re another religion
-- God gave us His Bible so we would know Him and His truth and not be led astray by false teachings -- the Bible is God’s written word to us -- His instructions -- that are meant to help us see and understand His plan for our lives and to help us continue on in what we have learned and become convinced of

-- look back at verse 15

15. and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

-- Paul points out to Timothy here that the Scriptures are able to "make you wise for salvation through faith"
-- now what means is that God speaks to our hearts through the Bible -- He speaks to the hearts of Christians and to the hearts of unbelievers -- God uses the Bible to convict people of their sins and to bring them to the saving knowledge of His Son, Christ Jesus
-- probably all of us know that if you go to a hotel room that you usually find a Gideon’s Bible in a drawer there in the room -- sometimes we wonder if that does any good or if the Gideon’s are just wasting their time
-- a couple of years ago, we had a man from the Gideon’s come to our church and he told us his story -- he had with him a Gideon’s Bible that he had taken from a motel -- he said that when he was younger, he was in a bad place -- things were not going well in his life -- he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and he just found himself in that motel room thinking about how bad his life was and wondering if things could ever get any better -- he had hitten rock-bottom -- and when people do that, they sometimes turn to God because they don’t know what else to do
-- so, he took the Bible out of the drawer and started to read it -- he said he had read it before and gotten nothing out of it -- but this time, I guess he was ready to listen -- and God spoke to him as he read through the book of John
-- he heard the good news of salvation -- he read what Jesus did for him -- how Jesus died on the cross for his sins so that he might live forever in heaven -- and all of a sudden it clicked -- he understood and he prayed to receive Jesus as His Lord and Savior -- all because he picked up a Bible and God spoke to him through its pages
-- not only does God’s word make it possible for the Christian to continue in what they have learned and become convinced of -- but God’s word makes the unbeliever wise for salvation through faith -- it is the way God speaks to those who are lost and needing a Savior

-- verse 16

16. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17. so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

-- as it says in Hebrews 4:12 God’s word is living and active -- even though God gave the words in this book to men over 2000 years ago, it is “God-breathed” -- inspired by the Holy Spirit and infused with His life -- God still speaks to us today through its pages
-- He uses the Bible to help us grow more like Jesus -- He uses it to turn us into the people He wants us to be -- and He uses it to equip us to go forth and to do great things in His name

-- Paul points out four uses of the Bible in the life of the Christian: teaching -- rebuking -- correcting -- and training in righteousness

1. Teaching -- that means learning more about God and in His purposes here on earth -- not only for us but also for us to pass on to others -- as I’ve said often in Bible study, it does no good to just study the Bible unless you do something with it -- you’ve got to apply it to your life and then you’ve got to teach it to someone else
-- if you read the Bible and listen for God’s voice and His instructions, He will teach you what you should do and how you should live

2. Rebuking -- to rebuke means that you reprimand someone who is doing something wrong -- you show someone the error of their ways -- rebuking is for the person who is knowingly caught up in sin and won't do anything about it -- when you read God’s word, He will speak to you through its pages and He will convict you of your sin and will warn you to repent and to turn around and follow Him

3. Correcting -- to correct someone means you show them the right direction if they start out wrong -- correcting is for those people who are making an error but haven't gone full-blown into sin yet -- when you are learning to walk with Christ, it’s easy to get off course -- it’s easy to take a wrong step here or there because you just don’t know
-- I was watching True Grit with John Wayne yesterday and in the movie John Wayne heads out across this prairie for the town of McAlister -- there’s no road -- no trail -- nothing but a sea of grass as far as the eye can see -- and it occurred to me how hard it would have been to live in those days -- if you headed out and were just off by one degree in your course, you could miss where you were going by hundreds of miles
-- that’s why God uses the Bible to correct our path before we get off-course -- it’s kind of like our compass in life -- if we start to drift off course, God steers us back onto the right path through His Word

4. Training in righteousness -- this has two aspects
-- first, it is the training of children in the way they should go -- directing them in what God's commands are -- back in verse 15 Paul reminds Timothy that he had known the Scriptures from infancy -- in other words, from the time Timothy was a small boy, his parents and his grandparents were training him in Godly ways -- they were teaching him the truth of God through the Scriptures so that he might grow up to be a Godly man
-- the second aspect is training in righteousness is the continued training in God and His commands so that we will become more and more righteous and we will continue in our spiritual journey, becoming thoroughly equipped for every good work
-- I have been a Christian for a long time -- and I have read this Bible through several times -- not always cover to cover but various books and passages on a regular basis -- and even though I have read this time and time again, I am always finding new things -- I am always seeing things that I have never seen before or understanding things that I didn’t understand before -- that’s because God is constantly speaking to us through His word and as we read it, He will use it to train us in righteousness and to give us what we need in that moment
-- you will never reach the point where the Bible is stale and you’ve learned all you can learn -- God will always show you new truths through His word as you stay in it on a regular basis

III. Closing
-- Scripture is valuable to us -- it should be regarded as a gift from God because it is a means of grace -- a way that God has chosen to make Himself known to us -- it is living -- it is ever new and ever fresh -- it is just as relevant to our lives today as the morning newspaper -- and it is the very word of God
-- it says in verse 16 that all scripture is God-breathed and inspired by the Holy Spirit -- and this means ALL scripture -- the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, can be used by God to speak to our hearts and to change our lives if -- if -- we will read it and listen for God’s voice and apply it to our lives
-- the Bible is God’s primary way of speaking to us today -- and we need to be in His word and listening for His voice on a regular basis -- if you do nothing else as a Christian, then you need to be reading God’s word daily

-- let me close by leaving you with this quote from an anonymous author:

-- "This book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers -- its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true and its decisions are immutable
-- read it to be wise -- believe it to be safe -- practice it to be holy
-- it contains light to direct you -- food to support you and comfort to cheer you
-- it is the traveler's map -- the pilgrim's staff -- the pilot's compass -- the soldier's sword and the Christian's Character
-- here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed -- Christ is its grand subject, our good its design -- and the glory of God its end
-- it should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet -- read it slowly, frequently , and prayerfully
-- it is a mine of wealth -- a paradise of glory -- and a river of pleasure -- follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary -- to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ -- yes, to glory itself, for eternity"

-- let us pray

SERMON: WHAT DO YOU HEAR?

23 January 2011

I. Introduction
-- if you have your Bibles, turn to 1 Samuel 3:1-10

1. The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.
2. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.
3. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.
4. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."
5. And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.
6. Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."
7. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.
9. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

-- it's hard to believe in our age of instant communication with cell phones and the internet and 24-hour television, but many years ago, the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication -- and just like today, young men and women rapidly embraced this new technology and wanted to learn about it and to be a part of it
-- well, this one young man saw a newspaper ad for a job as a Morse Code operator -- as you know, that's how the telegraph worked -- it would send out clicks over the wire -- dots and dashes in Morse Code -- that the telegraph operator would then translate into letters and words
-- this young man had just graduated from a school that taught him how to do just that, so he went to the office address that was listed to apply for the job
-- When he got there, he entered a large, busy office that was filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of a telegraph in the background -- There was a sign on the receptionist's desk that told job applicants to fill out a form and wait until somebody called them to come into the inner office.
-- The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants who were already sitting there in the waiting area -- After a few minutes, the young man stood up, went across the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in.
-- Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on -- they began to murmur among themselves and said that they hadn't heard anyone call them into the office for an interview yet
-- They assumed that the young man who got up and went into the office made a mistake and would probably be disqualified.
-- just a few minutes later, though, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled."
-- you can imagine what the other men did -- they got upset and started complaining and one spoke up to the boss saying, "Wait a minute, I don't understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet you gave him the job. That's not fair!"
-- The employer said, "I'm sorry, but the whole time you've been sitting out here waiting, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.' -- Apparently, none of you heard it or understood it -- but this young man did, so the job is his."

II. Hearing from God
-- isn't that story a lot like us? -- We get so busy living in a world that is full of noise and clatter -- just like that office -- that we get distracted and we either don't hear God or don't understand God when He calls
-- The Bible tells us that God is always with us -- He's never going to leave us or forsake us -- and it tells us that He speaks to us on a daily basis -- the problem is that we just don't know how to hear Him with everything else that is going on around us
-- God is not going to compete with the world -- He isn't going to try to outshout all of the noise and chaos around us just so we hear Him -- despite what we see in the movies, God doesn't thunder down from heaven in a big voice when we're in the Walmart parking lot and say "Greg, this is God -- listen to Me"
-- in fact, the Bible tells us that when God speaks to us, He speaks in a still, small voice -- He speaks in a whisper -- He speaks to our hearts in ways that may not be audible -- and only those who are listening for Him can hear Him when He calls
-- this morning we are going to be starting a sermon series that I have called, "What do you hear?" -- it's about learning how to hear God's voice in the midst of all the chaos and noise of this world -- it's an examination of the various ways that God typically speaks to us today -- His word -- prayer -- the church -- and circumstances
-- let me go ahead and say up front that these four ways are the normal means through which God speaks to us -- but, keep in mind that God is God and that He may choose to speak to you in a different way -- He may use other means to reach out to us other than through His word or prayer or the church or circumstances
-- I actually know people who have heard God in an audible voice -- I know others who have had experiences with angels who brought God's message to them directly -- but these are extraordinary experiences and not the normal means by which God chooses to communicate with us today
-- so, we may touch on these at the end of our series, but primarily, we're going to focus on the four normal ways that God speaks to us today
-- let's start by looking at the story of the boy Samuel here in 1 Samuel 3

III. Scripture Lesson (1 Samuel 3:1-10)
-- look back at verse 1

1. The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.


-- in this verse we are introduced to Samuel -- a very young boy who was ministering in the temple or tabernacle under the priest Eli so that he could learn how to serve God and follow in Eli's footsteps as a priest
-- just to give you the background of Samuel -- Samuel's mother Hannah had been barren -- she had been unable to bear children, and in that day, this was a shameful event -- it was taken to mean that you were out of favor with God -- and, as a result, Hannah was bullied by her husband's other wife who did have children -- the pain became so bad that when her family would go to the feasts at the tabernacle in Shiloh, she would pray to God to take away her shame and to let her bear a child
-- in exchange, she told God that if He would answer her prayer and give her a son, that she would dedicate her son to full-time service with the Lord
-- well, God heard her prayer and Hannah became pregnant and bore Samuel -- and after he was weaned and while he was still very young -- probably no more than 5 or 6 year old -- Hannah brought him to the tabernacle and placed him under the guardianship and instruction of Eli -- which is where we find him here at the opening of this passage

-- one important thing I want you to see in this verse -- it says here that "In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions"
-- now, understand this -- the way God speaks to us now is not the way that He spoke to the Israelites in the Old Testament -- Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son"
-- in the Old Testament, God did not speak to individuals on a daily basis like He does now -- instead, He would speak to one person -- His prophet -- who would then tell everyone what God had said
-- think of the story of Jonah and the whale -- that book tells us that God spoke to Jonah and told him to carry a message to the people of Ninevah -- that's the normal way that God spoke to people in the Old Testament
-- when God would speak to the prophets in the Old Testament, He would usually speak to them through dreams or through visions, although on rare occasions God would speak to a person in an audible voice -- the difference between a dream and a vision is that in a dream you usually asleep and not really an active participant -- a vision typically happens when you are awake and you actively speak with God
-- here in this verse, we read that visions were rare at this time and that God was not actively speaking to the people of Israel -- probably because of sin or disobedience on their part that alienated them from God's presence

-- verse 2

2. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.
3. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.
4. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."
5. And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.
6. Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."
7. Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
8. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.


-- one night, after Eli and Samuel had fallen asleep, Samuel got woken up by the sound of a voice calling his name -- he thought it was Eli, so he ran to Eli and asked him what he wanted -- but Eli said that he hadn't called him and to go back to sleep
-- so Samuel went back to sleep and it happened again -- he heard his name being called and so he ran in to Eli once again -- this time, Eli figured out what was going on -- he realized that God was calling to Samuel

-- verse 9

9. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

-- Eli sent Samuel back in to the temple with the instruction to listen for the voice and to respond when he heard the voice calling again -- and Samuel went back and did just what Eli told him to do


-- now I think there are a couple of important lessons that we can learn about hearing the voice of God from this story about Samuel

-- first, you have to be in a place where you can hear God when He calls
-- notice where Samuel was when he first heard God calling him -- notice what is going on around him -- Samuel wasn't out in the town square -- he wasn't down at the market -- he wasn't sitting in his room surfing the internet or watching TV or listening to his i-pod -- he wasn't even talking on his cellphone
-- he was by himself -- he had isolated himself away from the noise and the hustle and bustle of the city and he was in a quiet place where he could hear the Lord if the Lord spoke
-- and that's a very important point -- if we're going to hear God when He speaks, then we're going to have to get in a place where we can hear His voice calling to us -- for most of us, that means that we're going to have to isolate ourselves from the world -- that means that we're going to have to set aside all the noise and the chaos and the distractions and everything else that keeps us from hearing that still quiet voice of the Lord calling and find a place where we can hear God when He speaks
-- that is the pattern of Jesus that we see in the New Testament -- throughout the gospels, we read about Jesus going off by Himself -- getting away from His disciples and from the crowds -- and going to a place of solitude to pray all night -- to talk to His Father and to listen as His Father spoke to Him

-- second, you have to be actively listening for God
-- the last time, when Eli sent Samuel back with instructions to respond to God when He spoke, Samuel didn't go back to sleep -- he lay there listening -- he lay there waiting on God to call again -- and when God spoke He heard Him
-- this is one of the biggest problems that we have as Christians today trying to hear when God speaks to us -- we're not actively listening -- we're listening to everything else around us and we're just not hearing God when He speaks
-- in the last several years I have become aware of a hearing problem that I have -- not that I have any great hearing loss -- I've had that checked -- my problem is that I tend to hear background noise more than what I should be listening to
-- just as an example, Kim usually leaves the TV or the radio on to help keep the animals quiet when no one is around -- and what I have found is that when we have Bible study or other meetings up here, I tend to focus on the background sound of the TV or the radio and miss what the person right in front of me is saying
-- I've had to practice active listening -- really paying attention and focusing on the other person so I don't miss what they are saying -- and that is key in hearing from God today
-- and that's the big problem with hearing God -- we've got so much background noise going on around us -- from other people talking to radios and TVs and I-pods and everything else -- that we might focus on all that noise and miss hearing God when He speaks
-- in order to hear God, we have to be actively listening for His voice -- we have to be aware of His presence and focused on Him in order to know when He is talking to us -- once we learn to recognize His voice when He calls, then it will be easier to hear Him and focus on Him even in the midst of the noise and chaos of this world
-- that's why it's a good idea to follow the examples in Scripture and get away to a quiet place when you are trying to hear from God -- over time, as you walk longer with God and get used to hearing Him on a regular basis, you might reach the point where you can hear Him at any time and in any place -- no matter what is going on -- but to do that you need to be actively listening for Him

-- third, you need to respond when God speaks
-- when God spoke to Samuel that last time, Samuel responded to God by saying, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
-- when God speaks, He does so for a reason -- God doesn't just call us up to chat -- He calls us because He wants to tell us something or to have us do something -- for that reason, when God speaks, we are expected to respond -- we are expected to acknowledge His presence and to actively wait to do what He tells us to do
-- it does no good to learn to listen to God's voice if you don't do what He tells you to do
-- you can go to church and you can to Bible study until you get calluses on your backside from sitting in the chairs so long, but unless you respond to God's word, you are just wasting your time
-- let me borrow an illustration from Francis Chan -- let's say that this afternoon I get Brooke's attention and I call out to her and she stops everything she's doing -- she turns off the radio and TV and she comes out and actively listens to me and I tell her, "I want you to clean your room"
-- then she goes into her room and comes out after half an hour and says, "I've been studying what you said about cleaning my room and it's awesome wisdom! In fact, I can now say "clean your room" in Greek'! Also, I came up with a point-by-point plan on how I would go about cleaning my room if I actually did it and what it would look like. Isn't that great?"
-- What would your response as a parent be? You're missing the point! -- I didn't just call out and speak to you so you would study what I said -- I spoke so you would respond and do what I said
-- that's the same way with God -- when we get in a place where we can hear God's voice and when we actively listen for Him to speak and we actually hear what He is saying, we need to DO what He tells us to do! -- we need to respond to His call -- not just through another Bible study or taking notes in a sermon but actively doing what He has told us to do
-- When the God of all the universe takes the time to speak to us, we need to respond to His word

IV. Closing
-- over the next several weeks, we're going to be looking at the various ways that God normally communicates with His people in the world today -- and so next week, we're going to start with looking at how God speaks to us through His word

-- as we close today, though, I want to issue a challenge to you
-- in this passage that we looked at today, we saw three steps that Samuel went through to hear God when He spoke
-- first, we have to be in a place where we can hear God over the noise of this world
-- second, we have to be actively listening for God to speak to us in whatever way He chooses
-- and, finally, we have to be ready to respond to God and to do what He is telling us to do

-- this week, I want you to do that first step -- and I'll do it, too -- I want you to set aside thirty minutes of time for you just to sit in a quiet place -- get away from the TV or the radio or crowds of people or barking dogs -- whatever it is that occupies your background noise -- I want you to just get away for thirty minutes and just sit quietly
-- don't read your Bible -- don't pray -- don't try to do this while you're driving -- don't actively do anything but get away for 30 minutes and be quiet and still
-- I've done this before and it's hard -- we have been trained to have noise and distractions around us at all times -- but if we're going to start hearing from God as individual Christians and as a church, then we've got to learn how to do this

-- so, I'm going to challenge you to just take 30 minutes and do this sometime this week -- and next week, we'll see how it went
-- as we close in prayer, let me invite you to respond to God's word as you feel led -- if you have a specific need or request or want me to pray with you about anything, just come up while we play the closing song and I'll do so
-- let us pray

SERMON: SEARCHING FOR JESUS

9 January 2011

I. Introduction -- The Epiphany
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 2:1-12

1. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
2. and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
3. When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
5. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6. "`But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
7. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
12. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.


-- as I begin the message this morning, there is one thing you need to know about me -- I notice things -- I am what is known in the business as a details-oriented person -- which, as Kim so lovingly points out, means that I sometimes focus too much on the nit-picky things of life
-- I’m in that category on the Myers-Brigg personality test that they call a “sensing” person -- According to this test, I pay attention to “the specifics of what is going on around [me]” -- I am “practical and realistic” -- I “focus on details and may ignore the big picture.” -- and I “tend to be literal in [my] words and would rather do than think.”
-- you know that old saying, “you can’t see the forest for the trees?” -- well, that describes me to a “T” -- I notice things that other people don’t see and I pay attention to the finer points of life that others might miss -- it’s just who I am and how God made me
-- so when the church on the way to Moody put up their nativity display in the church yard before Christmas, I noticed -- I thought about how nice it looked -- it was pure white -- silhouettes of the main characters in the nativity -- Mary and Joseph and Jesus in the manger -- along with the animals -- all standing together in a stable
-- well, I was off a few days over Christmas -- and then when I went back to work on the Monday after Christmas, I noticed something -- there was something new in the church yard -- about fifty yards from the nativity display there was a camel -- actually three camels -- silhouette cut-outs just like the other -- over towards the corner of the church and almost in the bushes -- needless to say, they caught my attention
-- so the next morning, I looked over there at the camels again -- and I swear they had moved -- they had actually gotten closer to the nativity display and now there were three men silhouettes with them
-- the next morning, I looked again -- and, sure enough -- those camels had moved again over night -- day after day after day -- they kept moving -- they kept getting closer and closer to the stable until last Thursday when the camels and the men finally were positioned around the stable and the baby Jesus -- and then it hit me and I knew exactly what was going on

-- you see, last Thursday -- January 6th -- was Epiphany, the day that the church recognizes the coming of the magi to visit the Christ Child based on the passage that we just read from Matthew
-- a lot of people think that the wise men were at the manger when Jesus was born -- we see that idea in the Little Drummer Boy movie -- and so you see the wise men put up in a lot of nativity displays
-- but, the wise men actually weren’t there when Jesus was born -- the Bible tells us that they came much later -- in fact, they may not have come until about two years after the birth of Jesus
-- so with their moving camels, this church was trying to help people understand a truth about Christmas from the Bible and see how the wise men actually searched out Jesus over time and found Him after His birth -- apparently, quite a few people have started doing this with their nativity displays -- I didn’t know it, but a friend of mine at work has been doing the same thing and, so for two weeks, the wise men have been wandering around his yard until they finally showed up at the manger last Thursday on Epiphany

-- the Day of Epiphany isn’t just another Christian holiday -- it’s actually the climax of the Christmas season -- historically, Christmas was not just celebrated on just a single day like we do it -- Christmas was a festival that lasted for a period of almost two weeks -- the church held worship services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then the day after Christmas marked the first day of the celebration of the coming of the Messiah -- everybody here knows the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas," right? -- that song refers to the historical Christmas celebration, with the first day of Christmas occurring on December 26th and the last day -- the 12th Day -- being Epiphany -- January 6th -- it was on Epiphany that carolers would go out and sing and this would be the day that people would exchange gifts with one another -- not December 25th
-- a lot of cultures still do that -- especially the Hispanic cultures with Catholic traditions
-- so, if you happen to see camels and wise men wandering around church yards next year, you’ll know why -- or if you happen to notice that your calendar has a day marked off as “Epiphany,” you’ll know what that means

II. Scripture Lesson (Matthew 2:1-12)
-- but, the word "Epiphany" does have another meaning -- according to the dictionary, the term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal."
-- maybe a better way to explain it is to say an epiphany is one of those "Aha!" moments -- it is one of those moments when you have this flash of inspiration or understanding or insight -- when an idea just jumps out at you -- when all of a sudden you have some great revelation of truth or some great idea that has never occurred to you before

-- so, why do we use the word epiphany to recognize the day the Magi came to visit Jesus?
-- well, as we said, an epiphany occurs when something is made known or revealed -- in this case, we see how the good news of the coming of Christ was revealed to the Gentile world
-- the story of the Old Testament is largely the story of the nation of Israel -- it tells us how God chose Abraham as the patriarch of a great nation from which the Messiah -- the One who would redeem the world of the curse and save us from our sins -- would come -- and so the entire Old Testament concerns the revelation of the coming of the Messiah to the nation of Israel
-- for thousands of years, the Jews had been looking for the Christ to come -- that is why the chief priests and the teachers of the law could answer Herod's question about the site of the birth of Christ so quickly in verses 5-6 -- God had revealed to His prophets where and when and how and why the Messiah would come through over 60 individual and specific prophecies given to the nation of Israel -- but, God didn’t reveal the message of the coming of the Christ to the Gentile world at that time
-- so, when Jesus was born, God sent out divine notices about the birth of His Son -- to the Jewish people He sent angels -- heavenly messengers -- because the Jewish people were the people of the covenant -- this is the way they would expect God to speak to them
-- but, the Gentiles didn’t know God in this way -- they were aware of Him, because of the great things that He had done among the Israelites and the Egyptians and the Babylonians -- but, they were still a pagan people by and large -- they didn’t worship the One God of Israel the way the Jews did
-- if God had sent angels to them, they might have mistaken the angels for gods and tried to worship them -- so God reached down and spoke to them in a way they could understand -- their spiritual leaders were magi -- wise men -- who looked to the heavens for signs in the sky
-- so when God wanted to get the attention of the Gentiles in the east, He created a new star in the sky to announce the birth of Christ, and when the magi saw this star in the western sky, they knew it had to be a sign from God
-- Matthew tells us that when the magi saw the strange star in their western sky, they immediately began looking for the one it heralded -- they left their far off land and journeyed all the way to Israel -- making their way across the Jordan River and crossing over to Jerusalem -- to the area where the star was located -- and they began asking all those they saw, "Where is the king of the Jews? We have come to worship Him."
-- at this time the Magi really didn’t understand the truth of who this baby was -- I think they were a lot like me -- I think they were hung up on the details of the star and the new-born King, but they weren’t looking at the big picture -- they didn’t know why this baby had been born -- they didn’t know that this baby had been born to save them from their sins -- they didn’t know that Jesus had come to die for them and the whole world -- they just knew that a king had been born, and they were coming to bring Him gifts -- their epiphany doesn’t occur until later on their journey

-- look back at verse 9

9. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
12. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

-- do you know what Matthew is showing us here? -- he’s showing us an epiphany -- the moment that God revealed the true Jesus to these men -- the moment that God gave them the understanding and the knowledge and insight about Jesus and who He really was -- in one moment, these magi have gone from men following a star and seeking a baby to believers worshiping their God and King
-- in verse 12, we read that the Magi left for their own country by another road or another route -- obviously, Matthew is talking about the physical route that the Magi took back to their land -- but this statement is also true in a spiritual sense as well -- when the Magi came seeking the newborn King of the Jews, they came as pagans -- as Gentiles -- unaware of the One God of Israel -- unaware of the role of the Messiah in redeeming the whole world -- unaware of the promise of a King who would save the world from its sins
-- they came searching for the King of the Jews by one road -- but when they left, they left by another road -- the road of faith in the Christ who had been sent to save them -- in John 14:6, Jesus told the disciples that He was the Way and the Truth and the Life -- He described Himself as the narrow way and the only gate -- this was the path that the Magis took when they returned to their country -- this was the epiphany of God that showed them and the entire Gentile world the way of salvation through Christ

III. Closing
-- so, as we think about the epiphany of the Magi -- as we remember the revelation of God that He gave them when they saw Jesus, let me ask you -- "Have you had an epiphany lately?" -- Has God been revealing Himself to you as you have studied His Word and worshiped Him and ministered to others in His name over the past year?
-- Have you learned anything new about Jesus lately? -- Have you experienced Jesus in a new way lately?
-- these are things that we should all be seeking -- these are things that we should all be searching for in our lives
-- so, as we close this sermon and start a new year seeking Christ, let me leave you with a couple of principles that you help you on this journey

-- first, never forget that God is always at work around us -- God's work did not end when the Bible was written -- it did not end when the apostles all passed away -- it did not end when the Magi finally found Jesus -- God continues to work in the world today through the presence of His Holy Spirit in the church
-- one of the signs of a maturing Christian -- of someone who is starting to grow in their faith -- is that they start to notice things -- they don’t just see moving camels or know how many buttons are on their shirt -- but they look at the world and they see the fingerprints of God all around them -- the signs of His presence and His work in the people they come into contact with
-- and when they see these signs of God -- when they see God at work -- they recognize that these are epiphanies -- revelations and insights from God to them and invitations to join Him in His work to make Jesus known to others

-- secondly, never forget that God still speaks to us today -- God still reveals Himself and His ways and His purposes through the Bible, through prayer, through circumstances and through the church
-- 2 Tim 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." -- God continues to reveal Himself and His ways through the Scriptures and through His people
-- God wants us to know Him and to hear Him and to join Him in His work -- and, as 2011 begins in earnest, we need to actively look for God -- we need to actively listen for God -- we need to see where He is working and join Him -- we need to hear His voice and obey Him

-- as Christians, we should be having epiphanies on a regular basis -- we should be like the wise men in this passage -- we should be actively searching for Jesus -- listening for His voice -- looking for His presence -- so that we can learn new truths about Him and be filled with a desire to go forth and share the message of Christ with others
-- not only with our words as we witness to them who Jesus is and what He has done for us -- but also with our hands, as we share the love of Christ with others in tangible ways through our service and love to them
-- when the Magi left home, they didn’t know exactly what they were seeking -- they didn’t know what God was going to do to them or how He wanted to use them -- but when they finally saw Jesus face-to-face, they knew -- they had their epiphany -- and they were never the same
-- my prayer is that each of you have such an epiphany in this new year -- and that 2011 will mark the time when your life and the lives of those around you are forever changed through an epiphany of Christ
-- seek Jesus as the wise men did -- search for Him with your whole heart -- and let Him change you in this new year -- let Him use you as He did the wise men -- and do something great for Him
-- let us pray

SERMON: NEW BEGINNINGS

2 January 2011

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 24:13-32

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”


-- welcome, 2011! -- we are glad you are here -- you know, that always seems to be the case, doesn’t it? -- whenever the ball drops at midnight on New Year’s Eve, we always celebrate -- we always get excited -- because we know that the old is past and the new has come -- we have an opportunity to begin again -- to do more -- to be more -- to be better -- in this next year
-- I think that’s why most people make New Year’s resolutions -- we look at a new year as a clean slate -- no matter how good or how bad last year was, we have a new year and we can start all over again and do it better this time around
-- just yesterday I was reading a blog from a friend of mine -- and my friend wrote that she is making a resolution this year to do something that matters -- she had looked at her life over the past year -- at what she had done -- at who she had been -- and she realized that she really had not done anything of any lasting significance over the course of the last year
-- but this year was going to be different -- this year, she was going to resolve to do something that counted -- to do something that made a difference -- not only in her life -- but in the life of someone around her
-- that’s what’s so good about new years -- they offer us the opportunity to begin again -- to start over -- and to make a real difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us

II. New Beginnings
-- in a very real way, today is all about new beginnings as we start our Sunday morning worship services here at Koinonia -- this all started a couple of years ago, as I felt a little urge from God to do something different -- to do something more
-- I was pastoring two Methodist churches at the time -- my ministry there was going well -- attendance was up -- membership was at its highest -- but, I just felt a stirring in my heart that I should be doing something more than what I was doing -- that I had gotten comfortable with life and with church and with God
-- and after fighting this calling for a couple of years -- after arguing with myself and with God that it was stupid to leave a successful ministry -- that it made no sense to walk away from the security of the Methodist Church -- I finally gave in and took that first step and resigned my position as a pastor in the Methodist Church and started Koinonia
-- and, folks, you don’t know what a step of faith and of fear that this is -- I am not an extrovert -- I am not one of those Type-A personalities -- I am not a person that likes to get out and talk to strangers and make myself known to all around me
-- I like to hide in the shadows -- to be behind the scenes -- to never say a word -- exactly the last type of person that you would ever choose to plant a new church or to start a new ministry
-- but, you can’t argue with God -- Moses tried at the burning bush, and God still sent him into Egypt to bring the Israelites out -- Jonah tried and ended up in the belly of a whale -- so, I took a deep breath and stepped out and here we are on this new journey together

-- I kind of feel like Samwise Gamgee -- Sam -- from the Lord of the Rings -- I don’t know if you saw that movie or not, but the Lord of the Rings trilogy is, without a doubt, one of my favorite movies of all times -- and, let me go ahead and warn you that if you hang out with me for any length of time, you’re going to hear me refer to movies, so just be prepared
-- anyway, in the first of the three Lord of the Rings movies -- the hobbit Frodo is given a ring of power and is told by Gandalf the wizard to carry it to Rivendell, the home of the elves, and to meet him there
-- so, Frodo and his friend Sam set out on this great adventure -- they leave their home in the Shire on a bright sunny day -- and they are walking and talking and laughing as they head out towards Rivendell -- at one point, Frodo and Sam are walking through a cornfield and Sam just stops -- Frodo keeps walking and realizes that Sam is not moving -- so he goes back and he asks him, “What is it?”
-- and, Sam gives this profound statement that I think tends to be forgotten by all except those who look back and see the overall theme of the movie -- Sam looks at Frodo and says, “This is it -- this is the farthest I have ever gone -- if I take one more step, I will be farther away from home than I have ever been.”
-- this scene is just such a pivotal moment in that movie -- and every time I watched it, I just wanted to be Sam -- I just wanted to be standing in that spot -- knowing that I was about to step out of my ordinary life and into something that mattered -- into something that was going to make a difference -- something that would change my life forever -- do you know what I'm talking about?
-- I believe that God has put this desire in our hearts -- a desire for adventure -- a desire to step out of our humdrum, everyday lives and to be part of a grand adventure -- a great quest -- filled with excitement and danger and with the promise of a great reward at the end
-- this, I firmly believe, is where we are at today as we join together to launch this new church and this new ministry called Koinonia
-- we are standing in a pivotal moment in each of our lives -- we are standing in the metaphorical cornfield here at the beginning of a new year -- and we have to decide what we are going to do -- are we going to take that first step and move out into the great unknown with God? -- to see what He is going to do in this new community of faith -- to see where He is going to lead us and who He is going to make us -- or are we going to be content with our lives as they are?

III. Scripture Lesson (Luke 24:13-32)
-- these same questions are really what this passage in Luke is all about -- this passage is about choosing to start a journey -- it is about stepping out in faith into a new and grand adventure with God
-- real quick, before we look at this passage again, let me give you the context so you know where we are -- this passage occurs after the crucifixion of Jesus -- Jesus has already been betrayed and has died on the cross at Calvary -- He was buried in a borrowed tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus -- His disciples have either scattered or gone into hiding
-- as this passage opens, it is Sunday morning -- the third day after the crucifixion -- the women have already gone to the tomb and found it empty, but no one really know what has happened
-- in the midst of everything that is going on, two of Jesus’ disciples decide it is time to go -- we don’t really know why -- the Passover Feast has ended -- the Sabbath is over -- and it’s the first day of the new week -- regardless of the reason, Luke tells us these two disciples leave Jerusalem as soon as they can and head out towards the village of Emmaus

-- let’s pick up their story again here in verse 13 (read Luke 24:13-24)

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

-- here we read about two of Jesus’ disciples -- Cleopas and his friend -- they have left Jerusalem and have started out on a journey to Emmaus, a village about seven miles outside of Jerusalem -- keep in mind that these men were followers of Jesus -- we don’t know how long they had been with Him, but Luke tells us that they had been there long enough so that they were counted in the number of true believers -- as he writes in verse 13, they were “two of them”
-- these were men who knew Jesus -- who had walked with Jesus and listened to His teachings -- who had probably seen the miracles -- and had come to put their faith in Jesus as their Messiah
-- they may not have understood what was going on at this moment -- they may not have understood why Jesus had to die on the cross or why the tomb was empty -- but one thing stands out as we read these verses


-- as they walked along, they continued to share their faith with one another -- they talked about more than just the weather or the economy or the politics of their day -- they talked about God and what He was doing and how He was affecting their lives even to that very moment
-- Luke tells us that as they were walking, Someone came up and joined them -- and they immediately included Him in their conversation
-- isn’t that a great picture of the church? -- we tend to think of church as something we do on Sundays -- but one of my hopes for Koinonia is that we break that mode of thought -- church is not something we do -- it’s something we are -- it’s a community of faith -- living and walking and talking with each other as we journey together through life
-- it’s a group of people who come together to bear each other’s burdens -- to share each other’s hopes -- and to do life together with God
-- that is the picture that we are given here of Cleopas and his friend as they journey together on this road to Emmaus

-- verse 25 [read Luke 24:25-27]

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

-- Luke tells us something that Cleopas and his friend didn’t know at the time -- the person who had joined them on the road was Jesus Himself, although the two disciples didn’t recognize Him
-- as Jesus talks with them, He reveals to them the truth of what they had experienced -- as He opens the scriptures to them, He reveals God’s word to them and explains why the Messiah had to die and encourages them to look for the glory that would come when Jesus returns again
-- as we step forward in faith and begin laying the foundation of Koinonia -- as we walk together and do life together, we can never forget the source of truth -- the foundation of our faith
-- what makes the church different from any other organization? -- what makes the church different from any other gathering of people who come together at a regular time? -- the presence of God -- the very presence of Jesus living within us as the Holy Spirit -- guiding us and leading us and revealing to us the truth of God’s word
-- if you don’t have God, you don’t have a church

-- verse 28 [read Luke 24:28-32]

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

-- our goal should not be just to start a new journey -- our goal in this new year shouldn’t be just to make resolutions once again that will be broken and forgotten within a month -- our goal should be to see Jesus
-- Phil Vischer, one of the creator’s of the Veggie Tales Cartoon series, summed it up with this quote: “The impact God has planned for us doesn't occur when we're pursuing impact. It occurs when we're pursuing God.”
-- in other words, as we stand here at the start of this new journey -- as we begin this new ministry together called Koinonia -- we need to remember why we are here
-- we’re really not here to make a new church -- we’re really not here to build a building or to raise money or to increase in numbers at our worship services
-- we’re here because we want to see Jesus -- we want to journey together along life’s highway -- walking together as Cleopas and his friend did -- with the goal of seeing Jesus revealed to us along the way
-- if we make Jesus our goal -- if we never take our eyes off the prize at the end -- God will bless us and change us and make us into the people He has called us to be -- just like He did Cleopas and the other disciple
-- the impact will follow as God wills -- it may be that this community of faith never grows in numbers more than it is today -- or it may be that God will increase us to the point where we need a church building of our own -- but, really, that doesn’t matter
-- the only thing that matters is seeing Jesus with our own eyes and knowing Him in our hearts

-- let’s finish up -- verse 33 [read Luke 24:33-35]

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

-- what happened to Cleopas and his friend once they saw Jesus?
-- they got up and went back to Jerusalem and spread the news about what they had heard and seen
-- this is our mission as we begin this journey together -- I heard a preacher say one time that if you know about Jesus and don’t tell anybody, then you are just plain useless
-- as Christians, we are called to share with those around us the message of Christ -- we are commanded to tell others about Jesus and to share with them what He has done for us and through us and to us so that they may join us on our journey
-- that is what Jesus created the church for -- and that is why I think He has called us together in this place today

IV. Closing
-- everyone is on a journey -- every person you meet is traveling somewhere
-- some are walking away from God while others are walking towards God -- I am nothing but a fellow traveler on this road -- and I am asking you today
-- will you journey with me over the coming year on this great adventure called Koinonia as we seek out Christ and as we spread the good news of the risen Lord?
-- will you walk alongside me and the others on this journey? -- picking us up when we fall? -- rejoicing with us in our happiness? -- sharing your faith with us and others along the way?
-- will you take that last step of faith into the unknown -- going farther than you’ve ever gone before -- will you join us on this journey of faith? -- will you commit to being the church in 2011?

-- I’m going to close in prayer now
-- and while I know we don’t have an altar of wood or stone -- and we don’t have a chancel rail for you to lean on in quiet prayer
-- I’m going to ask that if you have a need or if you want to make a decision to follow Christ or to rededicate your life or whatever it is you need to do in this new year -- that you just come up as the last song is played and let me know -- and I will pray with you
-- let’s pray