What is the reason for your existence?

What is the reason for your existence? Philosophers have raised that question for centuries. What is my purpose? The answer is simpler than you think. You exist to give praise and give glory to God who created you, knowing, because of the free will he gave you, that you would choose to sin. And knowing this HE paved a pathway back to fellowship with HIM, God, by coming to Earth as a sinless man, Jesus, to be scorned and ridiculed by those he was here to serve, sacrificing Himself on a Roman cross as a substitute for our sins. Our purpose is to worship the creator of the Universe for HIS greatness, HIS mercy and for HIS grace. We praise HIM when we use our talents to do work to HIS glory, we share HIS gospel, the good news of his mercy, with others, when we lift up our voices in praise like we just finish doing, and we give HIM praise and worship in communion when we remember the last night Jesus spent with his disciples. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. We do this in remembrance of a perfect life sacrificed because it was the only way to restore relationship between sinful man and a righteous God. If you have made Jesus the LORD of your life and follow him, we ask you to join us in this time of communion.

The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation

Tuesday, October 31st was the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 point theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Though this started the Protestant Reformation, other elements of the reformation are found in our contemporary worship of today. Prior to Luther, the mass was witnessed by, but not participated in by the congregation. Gregorian chants were performed by the priest in a ritual form, the mass was spoken in Latin and elements of communion were withheld from the people because it was deemed only for the priests. Martin Luther believed the church service, much like it was in the early church during the first and second century, was for the believers. He commissioned students who were poets and musicians to write hymns in the language of the day that were scriptural, memorable, and could be sung outside the church while in the field, or while at work in daily praise of Christ. He translated the scriptures from Greek into contemporary German, he was German, so it could be read by all instead of having to learn Latin to read the Vulgate. He preached sermons in German in stead of the Latin mass so it could be understood by all, and opened all aspects of communion to the masses because all believers who wished to remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for their sins needed to be shared by the congregation. As we come together to worship Jesus, the son of the living God, in songs of praise, hear a sermon spoken in a language we know from scriptures we can read for ourselves, we also give thanks sharing in communion where we remember that just prior to Jesus being crucified for our sins, he sat with his disciples and told them that as often as they ate the bread and drank the cup, they remembered his death till he returned. If you are a believer in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins his resurrection and his promise of eternity with him, we ask you to join in our time of communion by taking and eating the bread as it is passed and drinking the juice and passing the tray to the next person. Let us pray.

All You Need is Love...Rump Da Da Da Da

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. But, what does that mean? What is love? Love, love, love. All you need is love. Book of John….John Lennon. What is Biblical love? Does God have a warm feeling in his tummy for us? Love is a verb…an action, a conscious decision which, at times, surpasses all reason and understanding. For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only Son, so that whosoever believes on him would not perish, but have everlasting life. When we show Christ like love, it is conscious and it is fearless. If a situation should occur where it came between a non-believer and ourselves needing to give up life for the other, out of Christ like love, I should be willing to give up my life for someone I may not even like, but have Christ’s love for. I would be able to do this because I have the confidence of my assurance that my salvation is secured, and in that the non-believer would be provided an opportunity to come to himself and find Christ love at some later point. Romans 5:7-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for us on a rough wooden cross so that his sacrifice would be the payment for my sin. We give thanks during our time of communion for this act of true and undeserved love that surpasses all reason and understanding. If you believe Jesus paid the price for your sins on the cross where he sacrificed his life and have made him your LORD, we ask you to join us in this time of communion.

Leadership or Ownership

Back in the 90’s I was a GM of a corporate run restaurant and our district manager was into all the management books that came out. He would give us a copy and at our next managers meeting, he would ask us to review them. You know the short books, the One Minute Manager… Who Moved My Cheese. The book he gave us was James Belasco’s “The Flight of the Buffalo.” The premise was the reason the buffalo nearly went extinct because they had a single leader and if the Indians could get that one buffalo, the others would be easy pickings. Geese, on the other hand, took turns leading and encourage each other with honking and that is why they were successful. I read the book and said hogwash. The reason the buffalo nearly went extinct was because no one owned them. They just wandered around. You could pick them off from a train and no one would say anything. Now cows, someone owns them. You cannot just go around shooting cows. Some farmer will come looking for you. He purchased his cows, sometimes at great expense. They belong to him and he watches over them. They are his. We belonged to the world wandering aimlessly, but Christ purchased us at a great price. We have been purchased with his own blood he shed on a wooden cross. When we accepted his Grace, we became his. This is good, because this world is perishing, and God is eternal. In John 10:28 Jesus states, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. We do not serve a fallen leader, but a risen savior who we belong to and are cherished by. This world is passing away, but we shall never pass away. We have been promised eternity with the risen Christ. We take time to think about this and give thanks when we gather for communion.

No, I Won't Go

If we are not careful, we can take Grace for granted. Especially during a Holiday weekend such as this, we get distracted. There is a lot going on in town. We get busy. From the beginning of time, God understood that our gift of being created with free will would lead us to sin. He was never distracted. He knew the price that would ultimately have to be paid for our sin nature. We see that knowledge in the prophesies of the Old Testament. When Jesus was in the garden on the night he was to be betrayed, he knew the suffering he would endure, and it was coming fast. Although fully God, he was also fully man and would experience the pain and suffering. He prayed to the father, “if this cup could pass from me…” and then, what if he said… No, I am not going to do this. I am not going to go through this for these sinful people. At that moment, the great chasm in Sheol disappeared plunging the Old Testament saints into the same torment as the unbelieving pagans. Lazarus, as well as Abraham, Moses, Daniel, David, Joseph, and all others of faith would find themselves in the same Hellish place as the rich man of Luke 16. All who had died, were living, or to be born would carry the same price for the sin of Adam. But no…..Christ at that moment said, Not my will, but yours, the Father’s will be done, rescuing from eternal torment all who put their faith and trust on the saving and redemptive Grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He allowed himself to be scorned, beaten, and nailed to a Roman cross so we would have a sinless sacrifice worthy of covering our sinfulness. Something to think about as we take time during communion to remember Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, but because he lived, we too shall live in paradise and not in torment in the presence of a Holy Father.

A Salvation We Do Not Deserve

We come together at this time of the service to celebrate a salvation we do not deserve for a sacrifice we did not make. We enjoy a gift supplied by a righteous and sovereign God who knew before the creation of the world that we would need a savior because of our desire to sin. We enjoy a promise of a life in the presence of a Holy God because Christ Jesus, his Son, left the perfection of Heaven to be born in a stable and live a sinless life here on Earth in order to be a sacrifice on a cross for us in order to pay for that sin. Out of thanksgiving, we do our best to reflect that life well lived, not to earn, but to give thanks for that sacrifice. During this time of communion, we take pause to reflect on that gift and to remember that sacrifice made for us. We take a bit of bread to remember Christ’s body, beaten by those who did not believe in him and we take and drink the juice which represents the blood spilled on a rough wooden cross for our sin. But, most of all, we give thanks for a promise of a life after this one with Christ Jesus in eternity with our fellow believers. Because he rose from the dead on the third day, conquering death, we know we will also be raised to be with him when we die. This promise means so much more to me now because as some of you may know, my dad passed away a week ago. I have the joy and the confidence that I will see him and my mother who passed before him again. Death has no victory over a believer in Jesus the Christ, the King. The sadness of the loss of my parents’ company and guidance is overcome by the knowledge that this separation is temporary. They brought me up with the knowledge of the goodness of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Would you pray with me, please?

And then.....

A young man with a face beaming with delight came to an aged Professor of a distinguished continental University, whom he had known as a boy and informed him that his parents had given their consent to his studying the profession of the law. As the University presided over by his friend was a distinguished one, he had resolved to spare no labor or expense in getting through his studies as quickly and ably as possible. He spoke with excitement for some time; and when he paused, the old man, who had been listening to him with great patience and kindness, gently said, "Well! and when you have finished your study, what do you mean to do then?" "Then I shall take my degree," answered the young man. "And then?" asked his venerable friend. "And then," continued the youth, "I shall have a number of difficult cases to manage and I shall attract notice by my eloquence, and wit, and acuteness, and win a great reputation." "And then?" repeated the professor. "And then!" replied the youth, "why then there cannot be a question- I shall be promoted to some high office in the state, and I shall become rich." "And then?" "And then," continued the young student, "then I shall live comfortably and honorably in wealth and respect, and look forward to a quiet and happy old age." "And then?" repeated the old man. "And then," said the youth, "and then- and then- and then I shall die." Here his venerable listener lifted up his voice, and again asked, with solemnity and emphasis– "And then?" Whereupon the aspiring student made no answer, but cast down his head, and in silence and thoughtfulness with no response to this last "And then?" You want to see God laugh, tell him you long term plans. A couple of months ago I was blessed with a new knee. For those of you who have prayed for me and for this to happen, you pray real good. But, regardless of what medically is done during my life, though, at some point I am going to die…and then? Fortunately, that question was answered for me in an upper room two thousand years ago when Jesus gathered with his disciples around a table said, as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim my death until I come again. Jesus sacrificed his life on a rough wooden cross as a sin offering so that I might be forgiven of sin and can stand in the presence of a Holy and Righteous God. Because of the promise he made during that last supper together and his resurrection, I am not concerned with the question….and then? I have the confidence of knowing where I shall spend my eternity. If you have accepted Christ sacrifice and made him your Lord, we ask you join us during communion.