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.

A Picture of Grace

The event. Three men hanging from rough wooden crosses on a hill above Jerusalem, one with a sign over his head, King of the Jews. A crowd surrounding them hurling insults and spitting on them. The two thieves hanging on either side; both ridiculing the man in the middle. “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us,” they both gasp with the air they have. Then, the man in the middle, Jesus of Nazareth, does something amazing. He cries out, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. At that moment, one of the thieves comes to himself. He tells the other, “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” And here you see a perfect example of grace. The one thief admitted to himself and confessed before men he was deserving of the punishment he was receiving, asked for forgiveness and mercy, and showed faith that Jesus was the Christ whom could give life after death. And Jesus, seeing his change of heart and faith, gives mercy and promises him life eternal with him in Heaven. We have come to our time of communion. Our communion is open to all who have come to yourselves and admitted they are a lost sinners in need of a perfect savior and have given your faith and life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead and will bring you to live with him in paradise when you die. As the trays are passed, you take the bread and eat it and drink the juice and pass the tray to the next person.

Common Unity

We come together each Sunday to share in community, in oneness in faith in our salvation through one savior, Jesus Christ. We share this common unity in that we have been adopted into one family, brothers and sisters, sharing one belief, that Jesus, God in flesh, born of a virgin, came here to walk among us and live a sinless life so he could be a sinless sacrifice to pay for our sinful nature. When we accepted his grace through faith in Him as our one savior, we became part of this family who gathers weekly around this table to remember Jesus’s love for us and his taking our sins upon him on a rough Roman cross. We share in a mercy unheard of in any other belief. We share in a love that is based not on what we have done, but on what Jesus did. We also share in a common unity that will extend beyond the bounds of this lifetime into eternity, because of a promise of Jesus, “because I live, you also shall live. We shall share in that eternity, because we will be covered by the righteousness of Jesus which will allow us to be in the presence of a Holy God. One belief in common, in one God, one way, one salvation, through one savior, Jesus Christ. If you have accepted King Jesus’ grace through faith, we ask that you join us in this time of communion as we share in remembrance of Jesus’ sacrificial love. As the trays are passed, take the bread and juice and pass it to the next person. Would you pray with me.

Simeon Meets His Deliverer

In Jerusalem lived a righteous and devout man by the name of Simeon. His name meant God Receiver. He knew the prophesies of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets and was expecting a Messiah, a deliverer. Simeon was waiting for the Consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit visited him and informed him he would not see death before he witnessed the coming of Christ, the Lord. It was about a week after the birth of Jesus and as custom, the child was being taken to the temple to fulfill the customs of the law. When Simeon saw the child, he took Jesus in his arms and as it is written in the second chapter of Luke stated “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. How those words must have echoed in Mary’s memory as she saw her son hanging from a cross. As his side was pierce, she probably felt it pierce her very soul. She had raised her son, followed his ministry, then, witness her miraculous son beaten and hung on a cross, ridiculed, and his clothes gambled for. Through this, he had forgiven those who had crucified him, encouraged a thief on the cross next to him, sacrificed himself for the sins of the world and then took time to encourage his mother by asking John to watch over her in his absence. Not one detail missed. From the beginning of creation, God knew that man given the gift of free will would choose to sin and would need a savior. From the beginning, the Law and the Prophets proclaimed there would be a Messiah who would deliver them from sin. That he would be a perfect sacrifice for us and would come back from the dead to redeem us from our sin. We come together during communion to remember and give praise to God who provides us in our sinfulness a way into his Holy Presence. We take and eat the bread to remember his beaten body and the juice to remember his shed blood. Please pray with me.

The LORD'S Supper is the Gospel

This is a great part of our worship. This is when, on a weekly basis, we proclaim the Gospel. No matter what the message is, we take time to proclaim of the Kingdom to come. That Jesus, God in flesh, came to give up HIS life as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could be made righteous by Him and have the promise that we could be in the presence of God when that Kingdom comes when Jesus returns. It is that Gospel that separates Christianity from all other religions. We do not claw our way to God by what we do, but he comes down to us. It is not what we do for God, but what God has done for us. Jesus, on the last evening he had with his disciples, took on the character of a servant, washed their feet. And then as Paul writes in the first letter to the Corinthians, The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. You proclaim the good news, the Gospel. That though we were sinners, Christ died for us. Tim Keller said, “this is the Gospel, You are more sinful then you ever believed, and you are more loved than you can ever hope. We live in a broken world, and it is not getting any better. And that is why the good news is so important. That no matter what happens, we know there is a Kingdom to come that not even death can keep us from if we have made Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. We will be taken into his presence and enjoy eternity with him. That is some good news. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord, would you join me in remembering the Gospel in this time of Communion.