Sermon On Acts 14:8-20 For 3/30/2014

Acts 14:8-20 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Paul and Barnabas at Lystra 

  8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,[a] 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

  Paul Stoned at Lystra 
  19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

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How many of you know someone with more money than you have?

How many of you know someone with a bigger house?  How about a better job?  Know anyone who seems happier than you are?

How many of you know someone who goes to church at a place where the sermons don’t try to make you feel inadequate right off the bat?

The point of this is that if you want to be number one in a category, you’ve probably got some work to do, right?  All of us know someone who might be doing better in one category or another, someone who might seem like they have it all together in some way, shape or form.  Advertising is great at reminding us of our inadequacies, because someone out there has a product or system they want to sell you that will enable you to do better in a certain category.  Want to make more money?  Get a bigger house?  Be more attractive?  My email spam filter is filled with people promising just such results.  We are inundated with reminders of our how inadequate we are.

Why start out talking about this?  Because I believe that it’s important to think about our sense of self and how we allow ourselves to be defined.  Hopefully, over the last 6.5 years you’ve heard me emphasizing that you are a child of God, precious in his sight, worthy of love.  The message of the Christian church should be that each and every person on the planet is completely worthy of Christ’s, and therefore our, love, not because they have earned it but rather because we worship a God who lavishes love on his unique creations, each one made in the image of God.  We carry an inherent dignity within us because of who made us and how we are made, not because of what we have done.

But the world wants to label and define us based on its standards, and this is very, very easy to buy into.  Think about it—if you meet someone, what one of the first questions they’re going to ask you.  Easy—they’ll ask what you do.  It’s a way we define each other.  We form impressions of one another by our interior judgments of certain jobs.  Also, we judge one another based on how we look and what we drive and where we live.  We do this to one another, and we do this to ourselves, and we often find ourselves not measuring up, and what happens is we end up in these vicious cycles trying to keep up with a certain level of living only to discover that, once we have achieved what we thought was a comfortable level of living, there is still more work to do.  It’s impossible to ever get ahead, because the world is telling us that there is always someone ahead of us, and that we have to be number one.  We’re never allowed to rest.

See, this all matters because if we believe what God says about us, rather than what the world says about us, I believe it can fundamentally alter the way we think, live and treat one another.

Today’s Scripture lesson is a great example of what can happen if you place your sense of self in the hands of others.

Paul and Barnabas are in Lystra, and they are there to proclaim the Word of God.  Paul has been talking about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world who loved us enough to die for us, and all the while a crippled man has been listening intently.  Paul notices him, and he reaches out by the power of God to heal him.  The man leaps up and begins to walk, and the crowd is amazed.

In fact, the crowd is so amazed that they believe that Paul and Barnabas are gods who have taken on human form.  They’re ready to worship Paul and Barnabas.  The fatted calf is about to be killed and the entire city is going to celebrate Paul and Barnabas!  They are enraptured by the presence of these two men.

Now, let’s pause for a moment.

This probably feels pretty awesome, right?  An entire city suddenly thinks that you are a god.  You’re going to get a ticker-tape parade, right?  Everyone is going to adore you.  People will throw parties for you.  They will give you food and money and fancy clothes and nice things just because they think you’re the best.  You are awesome, and everyone wants to be near you.  You could get used to this, right?

In America today, we have such a celebrity culture that it doesn’t take much of an imagination to think about what this might be like.  The paparazzi spend their lives chasing celebrities to take pictures of them, and we buy their products.  We want to dress like the celebrities, do what famous people do, and it comes dangerously close to idol worship.  Entire magazines are dedicated to celebrities.  And most of them love the attention.  They love having the eyes of the nation upon them.  If I were in their shoes, I might, too.  It’s an easy thing to get caught up in, right?

When we let the world, define us, things like this can make us feel on top of the world.

But here, in a few short verses, we recognize how fickle the world’s attention can be.  We see the danger in allowing ourselves to be defined by the opinion of the world, by the adoration of the masses.  If we pursue worldly fame and adoration, we may get it.  But we may lose it, too.

Here, Paul and Barnabas are about to have a sacrifice made to them, but in verse 19, suddenly the passion of the crowds is stirred against them, and suddenly these folks who were worshipping Paul and Barnabas are ready to kill them.  Just like that, the crowds are persuaded and Paul is dragged out of the city and stoned, and the crowd only leaves him when they believe he is dead.  Like flipping a switch, the world turned on Paul and sought his life.

Friends, if we allow the opinions of others to define us, we will find ourselves crushed, because the world is a fickle place.  If our sense of self depends on the affirmation of others, we’re in big trouble, because you can’t please everyone, and if you spend your life trying you, too, will feel like you’ve been run over. 

So where does your heart receive satisfaction?  Do you hear the still, small voice of God reminding you that you are precious in his sight?  Do you let God satisfy you?  Is your identity rooted in the fact that you have been made in the image of God and called to a life of discipleship?  Or are you so busy trying to catch up with the people ahead of you that you’ve missed the voice of the Holy Spirit calling you into authentic discipleship, in which the ears of your heart listen to God’s voice, and it is God that defines your life and its purpose.

If you let God, the one who made you and calls you by name, satisfy the desires of your heart, which he created, I promise that you will not live your life chasing other people.  You will spend your life pursuing the vision of God, serving him by loving others, and your life will be a witness to his glory.

But it’s hard work to ignore the siren call of the world, who wants to offer you its adoration.  It’s much harder work to let God satisfy us.  But it is the work that will last forever.

Let us pray

March 27 E-News

Announcements

Mark Your Calendars-- On Wednesday, April 2 @ 6:45 we will have a representative from Jews for Jesus to explain how the traditional Passover meal foreshadowed Jesus' death & resurrection.

Potluck!-- This Sunday!

Devotionals-- If you're interested in having all of the New Testament daily devotionals on your e-reader, they can be purchased on Amazon. Just click here for 6 years worth of devotionals that cover the entire New Testament.

Community Kitchen Spot

There are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the bookshelf.

Plastic Forks, Knives, Spoons

Dinner Napkins

Heavy Duty Sectional Dinner Plates

Dessert Plates

New Hope News

Sunday School—Don Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class in March & April.

Easter Egg Hunt—Sunday, April 20 @ 10. Please bring plastic eggs filled with non-chocolate candy to the Narthex over the next few weeks!

Pray For:

Norma Capone

Peggy & John L.

For Nelson, Judy's brother

For those who mourn, that they may recognize the presence of the risen Christ with them, and that they may lean into the promise of resurrection.

For the kids in confirmation class: Ashley, R.J., Chase, Jade & Jackson

Links

An interesting letter about marriage

What does it mean to be a public church?

Why do we exist?

Low wage jobs & poverty

The problem of envy

People...

Keith's Random Thoughts

A week ago, you never would have believed that it would have been possible to fit a riding lawnmower into my mother's garage. It was filled with stuff, from raccoon traps to a snowblower to a chainsaw to a sled. There was room for the cars, but little else.

I'll admit to a moment of trepidation before I rolled up my sleeves to get working. (Ok, it actually entailed putting on a sweatshirt, since it was cold, but that metaphor doesn't work as well.) The tractor needed to fit, because otherwise the mice in the barn would make a home in it, and they're much better at breaking things than fixing it. (Just think—if we could harness the destructive power of small critters and put that to use fixing things like potholes and leaking pipes... But I digress.)

I moved a lot of things around. I tried a few things that didn't work. I made multiple trips to Lowe's. It took 3 days before I was finally happy with the general structure of things, and even then I had to do some minor adjustments to make sure that everything fit. New things needed to be added. Old things needed to be discarded. Existing things needed to be re-imagined and re-purposed.

Sounds a bit like a spiritual life, doesn't it?

First, we have to know our priority. What do you want your life to be about? What are the most important things? What absolutely has to fit? (At first glance, you may wonder how something else will fit in to your already-packed life. It may not the way you live now. But with changes, you can fit new priorities in if you're willing to de-prioritize other things.)

Secondly, you have to take some things apart, move things around, to see what the empty space looks like. You might be astonished how much room you have if you take everything out, and then it might go back in much more orderly.

Finally, you have to be willing to discard some things, to try new things, and to admit that some ideas won't work. They may work for a neighbor or friend, but it's ok if they don't work for you. Not all of us are meant to spend hours in meditation. That's ok. Find what works. Make room for it. You might be surprised at the results of intentional action.

Text for this Sunday

Acts 14:8-20 (Common English Bible)

In Lystra there was a certain man who lacked strength in his legs. He had been crippled since birth and had never walked. Sitting there, he 9 heard Paul speaking. Paul stared at him and saw that he believed he could be healed.

10 Raising his voice, Paul said, “Stand up straight on your feet!” He jumped up and began to walk.

11 Seeing what Paul had done, the crowd shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have taken human form and come down to visit us!” 12 They referred to Barnabas as Zeus and to Paul as Hermes, since Paul was the main speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was located just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates. Along with the crowds, he wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

14 When the Lord’s messengers Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes in protest and rushed out into the crowd. They shouted, 15 “People, what are you doing? We are humans too, just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you: turn to the living God and away from such worthless things. He made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.[a] 16 In the past, he permitted every nation to go its own way. 17 Nevertheless, he hasn’t left himself without a witness. He has blessed you by giving you rain from above as well as seasonal harvests, and satisfying you with food and happiness.” 18 Even with these words, they barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19 Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won the crowds over. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead. 20 When the disciples surrounded him, he got up and entered the city again. The following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

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An Offering

  As a pastor, looking back, I think Moses had to deal with a lot of things I've never had to deal with.  That whole golden calf thing, for example, hasn't been a problem here.  The people have never complained because they didn't have any water to drink.  I was never worried about the Egyptian army catching up to us.

  Also, I never had to ask the people to stop giving.

  In Exodus 36, the tabernacle is being made.  Moses calls every skillful person, every person whose heart is stirred, and he asks them to do their work.  Also, the Israelites are asked to bring gifts for the construction of the temple.  They are supplying the artisans, and every morning they bring their freewill offerings.

  And they don't stop.

  Each and every morning, they bring more and more, so excited are they by the Lord's work.  They don't stop, and eventually the artisans complain to Moses, The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.  So Moses gives a command:  No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.

  That's right--Moses asked the people to stop making an offering, because they had given so much it was becoming an overwhelming burden.  The people were so excited by the work of God in their midst that their generosity overwhelmed the stewards of the gifts and they were asked to stop their giving in order to use the gifts already given.

  Can you imagine?  What a problem to have!  Can you picture a society in which the people of God are so excited about the work of God in their midst that their generosity and desire to be a part of God's ongoing work overwhelms the structures in place to handle such gifts?

  What would it take for the church to have this problem?

  According to this website, three to five percent of Christians tithe.  From various articles, including this one, I think the average percentage given to a church is around 2-3%.

  Are we just not excited about what God is doing?  Are we too distracted, too interested in other things?  Is God low on the priority list?  Have churches done a poor job teaching the tithe?  What constrains our giving?

  I'm sure the answer is complicated, but it's a question worth asking.  When we look at the Israelites excitement to give, and we look at our own giving, when I look at my own giving, how excited am I to give to God's work?

 

Witness to the Resurrection for Viola Baxter

2 Cor 1:20-22

Viola Baxter loved to say yes.  It was her nature to agree to help others.  This is what she was most certainly about—the selfless service of others.  When her husband was bedridden for 8 years, Viola said yes to his needs, turning him constantly to ensure that he didn’t get bedsores, feeding him through a tube, doing whatever was necessary.  She said yes.

When a coworker needed a ride to work because she didn’t have a car, Viola said yes.  When the Cub Scouts needed a den mother, it was Viola who said yes.  When family needs arose, Viola said yes.  Even when her granddaughter needed someone to teach her to drive, she hoped Viola would say yes, because it was Viola who could get from Ooltewah to the mall in 3 minutes, it was Viola who beat the ambulance from Chattanooga to Murfreesboro. 

Viola said yes, because it was in her nature to be selfless.

So it makes sense that we spend some time today focusing on where that selfless nature in Viola came from.  Here, in 2 Corinthians, we find that her ‘yes’ is anchored in Christ’s yes to her.  In Christ, we find the ‘yes’ to all of God’s promises.  Christ is the fulfillment of our greatest hopes, and so when we look to him, we see yes.  When we look to Christ, we see selfless service and a desire to reach out to others.  When we live well, we imitate this selfless love, and so when we celebrate what was good about Viola, we are celebrating what is good about God, for when we are at our best, we are imitating God.

God’s love is an amazing thing.  As a whole, humanity turned from the worship of God and chose to put other things before him.  As a result of this, sickness and death entered the world.  This beast has been tearing at our weak underside, trying to get us to despair and give up hope.

But God refuses to give us over to the powers of sin and death.  God will not simply allow his beloved, unique creations to be destroyed as a result of our choices.  Instead, God reaches out to us in love, coming to us in Christ Jesus, a Savior who is stronger than death and able to deliver us from the powers that ensnare us.  Our captors do not suspect his power, and it is too late when they realize that he is the Savior, the Deliverer, the one who is able to redeem us from all that seeks to enslave us.  In Christ, we are made free.

So when we gather to remember the life of Viola Baxter, we also gather to remember the promises of God.  This is where we remember the Easter story, the Sunday morning when we stare into the empty tomb in wonder and amazement.  Jesus Christ has conquered death, and because he lives, we, too, shall live.  We shall conquer death.  We shall wander through the valley of the shadow of death and be not afraid.  We shall pass through death as though it were a shadow and come into the light on the other side.  This is the promise of God, the promise to which Christ was the resounding ‘Yes!’  We shall not die, but shall live, and we shall reign with Christ forever and ever. 

In Christ, death is no more.

In Christ, life is eternal.

Today we celebrate that Viola has passed through death into life, and in completing her baptism, she realized the fulfillment of the ‘yes’ that Christ said to her.

May all who believe have confidence in God because of Christ’s life, death and resurrection, and may we look forward to the day when we, too, shall pass into eternal life.

Romans 6:1-11

Sermon for March 23 2014 on Acts 12:6-19

Acts 12:6-19
English Standard Version (ESV)

  6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
  11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” 12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
  15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.
  18 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

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Pizza tastes better when it is delivered.

As a kid, our house was too far away from any pizza chain that would deliver, so ordering pizza meant we had to make the long trek to go pick it up.  At one point, though, an Italian restaurant began a pizza delivery service, and we thought it was the greatest pizza ever.  It didn’t matter that the pizza didn’t actually taste that good—it was great because it was delivery, because all we had to do was make a phone call and an hour later, fresh, hot pizza showed up at the door.  We weren’t the ones responsible for picking it up.

Delivery is a great option in many cases.  Once, at IKEA, our eyes were bigger than our car and we ended up with more than could fit in the car.  Delivery would have been perfect.  If you order something from Amazon, you have to choose delivery—you can’t swing by the warehouse on your way home from work and hope to pick up your order.  Only delivery can get you what you want.

What is delivery, essentially?  It’s the act of someone else to bring you something that you are unable, or unwilling, to get yourself.  To be delivered from a situation is to have someone get you out of a situation that you could not have extricated yourself from otherwise. 

Which brings us to today’s passage, the story of Peter’s deliverance from prison.  Peter is in jail, bound by chains.  There is a soldier on either side of him, and two more at the door.  All told, there are sixteen soldiers guarding Peter, who has been arrested on Herod’s orders.  In other words, Peter isn’t going anywhere on his own accord.  If this were a James Bond movie, it would be no problem for James to beat up sixteen soldiers and waltz out while the jail exploded behind him.  Instead, this is real life, where there is no hope for Peter to escape on his own. 

But Peter isn’t on his own.  Scripture promises that we are never on his own, and pretty soon an angel shows up.  Soon Peter’s chains fall off and he walks out of the jail, free as can be.  He thought it was a dream, but when he was standing in the street he soon realized that this was indeed real life.  Peter had been delivered from jail.

Now, imagine how smug the Roman empire had been in the moments before this.  They had Peter trapped in jail, with 16 soldiers surrounding him.  There’s no escaping from this, right?  What hope did Peter have?

Now, this is an important story, because each and every one of us is Peter.  Each and every one of us is surrounded by the powers of sin and death, and they have this smug, false confidence that we are under their power, that they are in control.  Nothing could be farther from the truth. 

The great news is that Peter had a deliverer.  Peter has a God who is mightier than whatever forces oppose him.  Peter has a God who can deliver him from whatever situation he faces, even though he may not be able to deliver himself.  Peter is set free by the power of God.

Now, we have a deliverer, too.  We have a God who is able, who is stronger, who is bigger than whatever opposes us.  We have a God who wants to free us from the forces that enslave and set us free into the world.  We have a God who is able to deliver us from death into life.

It’s an amazing story, one that demonstrates the power of God and his great love for us.  But it’s not just about Peter, just like it’s not just about us.

Because what happens when Peter is in jail?

Go back to verse 5—the church never stops praying for him.

The Christian Church, friends, should be a place where, when one of us is suffering, the entire body rallies around us.  When someone is hurting, we should all be affected.  When sin is imprisoning and threatening one of us, we need to all be concerned.

This also means that when one of us is delivered from difficult circumstances, we need to tell the story.

This is exactly what Peter goes and does.  He goes to the house of Mary and tells his story.  It takes him a little while to get in, on account of the servant’s excitement, but eventually he goes in and tells his story in the hopes of encouraging the entire congregation.

See, when one person is delivered through difficult circumstances, this serves as an encouragement to others. When the story is told, those who are suffering are encouraged, because they recognize the power of God to deliver them through their own difficult circumstances.

See, here’s what I believe—there are two types of imprisonment from difficult circumstances.  The first is the type from which we have been delivered, the type that has stories that we need to tell.  The other is the type through which we will be delivered.  This is the suffering in which people are currently in the midst of.  This is the state of those who suffer with medical problems.  This is the state of those who mourn.  This is current suffering, but it will never overcome us.  We will be delivered through it, we just haven’t been yet.

So, when we’re in the midst of this suffering, we need to hear the stories about people who have been delivered—we need to hear this encouragement, to be reminded about God’s greatness and power.  We need to be reminded about God’s ability to deliver us.

This is what Peter is getting at in verse 17.  The story needs to get out, so that the whole church can rejoice at God’s great love and deeds of power, and then as we tell the story to others in the world around us, they, too, want to come and worship this amazing God, the one who has the ability to deliver us from evil. 

So friends, you have a story to tell.  You’ve been delivered from sin and death.  Difficult circumstances in your life have imprisoned you, and you have a responsibility to share that story to encourage others.

And if you’re in the midst of suffering and mourning and pain, may this be a reminder to you that there is a deliverer who cares about you, and he promises to deliver you through this.  It may not be easy, but I promise it will come, because God has never left someone behind.  God does not abandon or forsake us, but delivers us through sin and death and into eternal life.

Let us pray 

Ugh

  As a minister, I hear about a lot of terrible things that happen to people.  There's something about ministers that encourage people to open up.  If someone doesn't have something terrible in their own life, they'll often share the most tragic medical situation they can think of that's going on in someone else's life.
  For a time, I tried to come up with pastoral answers.  There is an implicit pressure to say something wise that will explain this all away, that will somehow make it right and balance the scales in life.

  But let's be honest--sometimes, things in life just suck.

  There's no explaining it away.  There are times I would shake my fist at the heavens and cry out 'Why?' if I wasn't so burdened with despair.  There are times when things are so bleak for some people that trying to find the immediate silver lining is just trying to rush through the grief.  Sometimes, there is just pain and misery in life, and there's no good reason and no good explanation and no good.

  It's just evidence of the broken world, and it reminds us that it's not the way it's supposed to be.

  And while I believe that all of this strongly points to our need for a Redeemer, sometimes it just feels right to mourn the fact that while this is not the way it's supposed to be, it's the way it is--it's awful, and we don't know why or how or what comes next.  Let's just own the awful situation in front of us, acknowledge that there may well be nothing we can do about it, and sit in that place for a bit.

  Sometimes, I just have no words.  Not just because I haven't figured them out.  But because there simply are no words for some of life's deepest pains.  There are only tears and heartfelt sobs that break the hearts of family and friends, but immediately trying to fix the pain isn't the right next step.  Sometimes, as I explain to Caleb, things are just broken.

  I believe they'll get set right eventually, but that's for another day.  Right now, it's just broken.

  And that sucks.

Sermon on Acts 10 for 3/16/2014

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Friends, I don't know about you, but the mystery and tragedy surrounding the disappearance of this Malaysian Airlines flight has fascinated me. Whenever planes crash, the tragedy of the situation always overwhelms me as I think of the stories of the people on board. Lives are devoured in the unexpected, and the ripples carry throughout lives, through families, for decades to come.

This situation has proved particular tragic, as the search goes on for the missing plane. There are far more questions than answers, and for so many families the sad saga has drawn on, increasing their pain with each passing day.

It seems as though new information is coming to light with each passing day. One day, we're learning about stolen passports and wondering if that lead will bring us closer to a conclusion. Another day, we're learning about transponders and how they work and whether they would have been turned off. We've learned about the pilots and mysterious radar readings and Chinese satellite images. With every new piece of information, the search changes. One day, people are scouring the sea in one area, and the next another search area has been added. With each passing day and each new piece of information, the reality of the search is transformed, and the search broadens. They initially began searching in one place, and now the area has expanded to include more and more possibilities. It has become a far greater challenge than initially thought.

I'd like to propose that this can be fairly common in life. Often, when you start working through a problem, you believe that things will go one way, and the deeper you get, the more information you learn, and the more the situation changes. By the time you've finished, the solution looks very different then when you first imagined. Have you ever taken a car in for an oil change and then discovered that you need $800 worth of work done? New facts change the situation. My mom recently had someone come do some work on her house, and she's discovered she needs entirely new siding on the house. A rather simple project has transformed into a massive, multi-year undertaking. New facts change our mission.

In the early church, everyone was Jewish. Even Jesus was Jewish, a fact that is often forgotten by the church. Christ didn't come to set up a new church—he came to reform Judaism. The disciples, all Jewish, wanted to convince their Jewish communities to believe that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. The Jewish tradition had been anticipating the coming of Christ for centuries—Jesus was the realization of the promise made to the Jews. While Jesus constantly reached across established societal lines, the early church, that group of disciples trying to be faithful after the ascension of Jesus, was still primarily focused on the Jewish community.

But new facts changed their mission.

Here, in Acts 10, we see the introduction of something new, a transformation that is going to alter the direction and focus of the early church. God sends visions to two men, Peter and Cornelius, and by the end of the chapter, the arc of the church will have fundamentally changed and the focus will no longer be merely on the Jews—it will now include the Gentiles, meaning you and I. We are directly affected by this story.

<Read Acts 10:1-16>

So Peter and Cornelius, a Roman centurion who is devout towards God and humble towards others, both have visions when they are praying. Notice when this happens—when they are praying. I do not believe this is an insignificant point. If you want to hear from God, you need to put yourself in position to listen to God. You need to pray more. I need to pray more. We can't complain that God never speaks if we're not busy listening.

Cornelius gets the easier vision—he is called to bring Peter to his house, even though he doesn't know why. Peter has the tough one, a vision that threatens to undermine the Jewish dietary laws that serve to separate Jews from the larger community. This is a core part of their identity, and Peter doesn't understand why he's being asked to set it apart. This will all become clear later, as God is setting the stage to have nothing outside that distinguishes and defines the community, but rather God is hoping for a community that is primarily defined by worship of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and service to all people.

So Cornelius obeys his vision, and he sends men for Peter. Peter is still trying to work out his original vision when these men show up, and God gives Peter and extra nudge and tells him to go with the men. Peter obeys, and when he arrives at Cornelius' house he asks why he was sent. At this point, Cornelius reveals to Peter the details of his vision from God, and Peter recognizes that God is reaching out to the Gentiles.

New information has changed the direction of the church. The mission has been altered because God has revealed something new to Peter, who suddenly realizes that the church isn't meant to be filled only with the Jews who believe, but with all people who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The traditions that limited the community are altered because of this new information. Life is transformed.

So Peter begins to preach.

<Read Acts 10:34-43>

This is a foundational shift in the history of the church. No longer do we believe that God shows partiality toward anyone. Everyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to God. It's no longer about having the right background or lineage. You can't be excluded from the community because of your background or heritage or origin—you are welcome if you fear God and do what is right. You belong in the house of God if you're willing to serve others and worship Christ. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness, regardless of age, race, sex, etc. It's no longer about worldly culture, but it's now about belief in Christ alone.

New information transforms the mission of the church. They're no longer sent by God to just a certain community. They now recognize that they are sent by God to the whole world. Their mission is huge, and only God can make this possible. With this new information, the disciples see God's radical, non-exclusive love in action. The Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and his entire household, and all are baptized. They are welcomed by Christ into life in Christ.

And so it falls to us, the church today, to look at the world around us. Do we believe that we are sent to the whole world? Are there traditions that are keeping us from serving certain communities, certain people? Is there new information from God that sends us in new ways to proclaim the endless and inclusive love of God? Are we willing to follow God into the world, no matter where he leads, to proclaim salvation in his name alone?

These are all questions we need to wrestle with. We are the reformed church, always being reformed according to the word of God. We need to listen, to pray, and to have the courage to reach out to all the world with the Good News of God's great love.

Let us pray

Random Friday Thoughts

  In Exodus 24, verses 9-11 tell us that Moses, Aaron and 72 other elders in Israel saw God.  They saw the God of Israel, and it says that his feet were perched on top of 'something like a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness'.  There, they saw God, and they ate and drank.
  They saw God.  They saw God in his glory, and clearly struggled for the words to describe God.  It's a moment many of us long for.
  And yet, after Moses had been on the mountain for 40 days, these were the folks in charge of making the golden calf to worship.
  The ones who saw God.  Less than 6 weeks later, they were ready to worship a calf of gold, despite having seen God in his glory.

  Such is the condition of the human heart.  We have such short memories, and are always so tempted to reach for what is easy and convenient.

  It's easy to believe that a vision of God would compel us to live properly for the rest of our days.  Here, we have evidence that it barely sustained Aaron and the elders of Israel for 6 weeks.  They got distracted.  They must have forgotten, although that is hard to believe.  Their human minds turned from the vision of God to the immediate situation around them, and they were soon so distracted that they had wandered from the path altogether.  They were so lost, despite this glorious vision.

  There is no easy solution to living faithfully.  There is never going to be a pill that we can swallow to keep us from sinning.  It's going to be a struggle to stay faithful, and temptation to stray is constant.  Let's not fool ourselves and think there is an easy way out.  Instead, let's wake up every day and put our faith into action, living out what we believe, and gathering as a community be strengthened together for our faithful service and worship.  We can't do this on our own.  We will fall short.  We believe that God is merciful and gracious, and we need to remind each other of this fact.  We have short memories, but together we can remember all that God has done.

 

March 13 New Hope E-News

Announcements

Mark Your Calendars-- On Wednesday, April 2 @ 6:45 we will have a representative from Jews for Jesus to explain how the traditional Passover meal foreshadowed Jesus' death & resurrection. If you're interested in helping prepare for this event, please send me an email. We need someone willing to host the representative on the night of April 2 and some help preparing for the event.

Youth Committee-- Meeting on March 18 @ 6:30

Devotionals-- If you're interested in having all of the New Testament daily devotionals on your e-reader, they can be purchased on Amazon. Just click here for 6 years worth of devotionals that cover the entire New Testament.

Community Kitchen Spot

There are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the bookshelf.

Plastic Forks, Knives, Spoons

Dinner Napkins

Heavy Duty Sectional Dinner Plates

Dessert Plates

New Hope News

Sunday School—Don Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class in March & April.

Fruit of the Spirit-- Sunday evenings @ 6:15

Pray For:

Norma Capone, Christine Dyer

Peggy & John L.

We need to continue to pray for a cure to cancer, a beast that continue to tear our families and society apart.

For the kids in confirmation class: Ashley, R.J., Chase, Jade & Jackson

Links

What Will You Remember?

Save the Penguins (Or at least keep them warm and stylish)

Why Colleges should teach Religion

Play & Work

The Best time to be creative

Watch out for cats.

Keith's Random Thoughts

Purim begins this Saturday evening. It's the Jewish festival that celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from wicked Haman. This deliverance is made possible through the courage of Esther and the cunning of her cousin Mordecai.

What is so appealing about this little-read story (it's the only book in the Bible that doesn't mention God) is that everything works out in the end. The Jews, who had done nothing wrong, are saved. The heroes are rewarded. Haman and his wicked friends are killed. It sets the scene as a just world.

Many of today's movies and books are like this. By the end, everything is set right. The culprits are caught and punished, the heroes rewarded and lauded for their efforts, and the victims are often compensated for their loss, even if its nothing but a sense of satisfaction that justice has been done.

We love these stories because something within us is drawn to the neatness with which they are concluded. The real world rarely resembles these fictional tales.

In the real world, the bad guys are sometimes caught, sometimes punished, unless they have enough wealth and/or privilege to get around the system. Justice is sometimes accomplished, except for when it is delayed or wrongly delivered. Often, things go unsolved or unsettled. Heroes are sometimes rewarded, unless they are pilloried. Situations get complicated and messy and often stay that way for years and decades.

So it's nice to 'escape' to fiction and enjoy a tale when things are set right. It's even better to take confidence in God and trust that all things will eventually end up that way. God promises that, in the end, justice will be done. The martyrs who are crying out for justice in the book of Revelation eventually see their murders avenged. The poor will no longer be trampled upon. The hungry will eat their fill. Evil will be destroyed.

In the end, all will be set right. Let us trust in God, and in the meantime, may we work for a more just world, joining with God's ongoing Kingdom work.

Text for this Sunday

Acts 10 (Common English Bible)

Click here for a link to Acts 10

NewHopeChattanooga.org

New Hope on Facebook & Twitter

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Keith's Blog & Devotionals for your Kindle

Hoping

It's been an interesting winter for weather. There's been a lot to talk about when it comes to the weather, particularly if you live in the north, where it has snowed a lot. If you donated money to charity every time it snowed, you'd have been a very generous person this winter. (And what's with naming winter storms? I'd like the record to show that I strongly oppose this movement. Hurricanes are one thing. But are we going to be naming every weather pattern that crosses the country soon? Will I soon be enjoying 'Sunny Day Violet'? Will the weather channel tell me that Tuesday might be 'Overcast & Grey Greg'? Does July hold 'Heat Wave Hamlet'? How come no one ever consults me on these decisions? [editor's note: the reason no one consults Keith is because of paragraphs like this one.])

Where were we?

Right—weather.

If you're like me, you hope the weather will be nice this weekend. But what is that hope rooted in? Basically, you hope that atmospheric conditions work themselves out in such a way that nice weather happens to coincide with the days we're off work, rather than, say, on Monday, when we're stuck inside staring out the window. The atmospheric conditions, as far as I know, don't care one bit about our weekend. Come to think of it, I doubt they even know what a weekend is. I don't see many desk calendars littering the skies whenever I'm on an airplane.

We hope for a lot of things that don't have much grounding. Have you ever hoped a car wouldn't break down, despite the horrible sound emanating from under the hood? Hopes don't do much good then. Have you ever hoped a person would changed, despite the fact that every piece of evidence suggests that the person has no interest in changing? What is that hope rooted in, other than your own desire?

But when we talk about the Christian hope of life beyond death, we're talking about a hope that is rooted in something real—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don't idly hope for resurrection because it's some bright idea we came up with. We hope with confidence in resurrection because Jesus himself was raised from the dead, and he promised that we would have a resurrection like his. Our hope is rooted in history, in the idea that what has happened will happen again. Jesus' resurrection is the assurance that what he said is true, and so when we wonder how we can have such bold a hope, we look to Christ and remember that he has been raised, and so we, too, shall be raised.

This is why Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, takes such pains to list the number of folks to whom the resurrected Christ appeared. They were proof of the boldness of our hope. They had witnessed Christ, raised from the dead. Because he lives, we, too, shall live.

What great hope we have!

Sermon on Saul's conversion, Acts 9:1-22 (For 3-9-14)

Acts 9:1-22
Common English Bible (CEB)

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still spewing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest, 2 seeking letters to the synagogues in Damascus. If he found persons who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, these letters would authorize him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 During the journey, as he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven encircled him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?” 5 Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are harassing,” came the reply. 6 “Now get up and enter the city. You will be told what you must do.” 7 Those traveling with him stood there speechless; they heard the voice but saw no one.

8 After they picked Saul up from the ground, he opened his eyes but he couldn’t see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind and neither ate nor drank anything. 10 In Damascus there was a certain disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Yes, Lord.” 11 The Lord instructed him, “Go to Judas’ house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias enter and put his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 Ananias countered, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 He’s here with authority from the chief priests to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” 15 The Lord replied, “Go! This man is the agent I have chosen to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

 17 Ananias went to the house. He placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—Jesus, who appeared to you on the way as you were coming here. He sent me so that you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly, flakes fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. 19 After eating, he regained his strength. He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. 20 Right away, he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. “He is God’s Son,” he declared. 21 Everyone who heard him was baffled. They questioned each other, “Isn’t he the one who was wreaking havoc among those in Jerusalem who called on this name? Hadn’t he come here to take those same people as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 But Saul grew stronger and stronger. He confused the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

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18 months ago, I went to the doctor with a terrible infection.  I had a fever of 104 and thought that this was, perhaps, a bad thing.  So I wandered into the office and told them about my day.  Then, they told me that it was pretty tough luck that I had gotten sick, and they wished me well. Right?

Of course not.  That’s not how the doctor’s work.  When you go to the doctor, you expect them to cure you, right?  If they know how to relieve you of your disease, they’ll do everything possible.  In my case, I received a strong dose of antibiotics and a steroid shot to bring the fever down.  By the next morning, I was better.

We expect the doctor to do everything in their power to bring us back to health, right?  If they have the ability to restore health, they will. 

The same is true of a car mechanic, right?  If your car is broken down you have it towed to the mechanic.  If your mechanic can figure out what is wrong with it and is able to fix it, they will.  It may be astronomically expensive, but we expect them to fix the car.  Sometimes, this may require replacing the engine or doing something similarly dramatic, but if they have the power and know what is wrong, we expect them to fix it.

So why would we expect anything less from God?  If we believe that our mechanics and our doctors will do everything possible to restore a car or a human to full health, then won’t God do the same for his beloved creations, the ones he made in his own image? 

In today’s Scripture, we dive into the story of Saul.  Saul was not a fan of the early Christian church.  In Acts 8:3, we find Saul ravaging the church, entering houses and dragging off men and women to prison for their worship of Jesus Christ.  Saul was a leader in the Jewish church, and he believed this new development of faith was a terrible thing, errant thinking that was destroying the Jewish tradition, and he was willing to fight to save Jewish purity.  Who knows how many Christians died whom Saul was responsible for?

Saul was sick.  He would never have admitted it, but his mind was not healthy, for he refused to believe the truth about Jesus Christ and, as a result, he was actively persecuting the church.  He was a thorn in the side of the church, and if he was successful the consequences could have been catastrophic for the church.

If there was ever someone that God should have smote, it was Saul.  Saul was approving of the killing of Christians.  Saul was committed to destroying the very church God was hoping to build.  Saul was trying to banish the legacy of Jesus Christ from the earth.  The church could have been much more successful without Saul around.

But God didn’t smite Saul.  God didn’t have Saul killed.  God saw Saul as in need of redemption.  Saul, the foremost enemy of the Christian church, was going to be redeemed.  God was going to intervene in a dynamic way, and Saul’s life would be transformed.  Rather than just tell Saul that he had chosen wrongly, God heals Saul and begins to use his life to further the cause he once actively resisted.

In the beginning of chapter 9, we find Saul breathing threats and murder against the church, and he is on his way to Damascus to have the Christians there arrested.  Instead, on the way there a bright light shone from heaven and God himself asked Saul why Saul was persecuting God.  From this, we can learn that the violence done to the church is violence done to God himself. 

Saul, once the master of his fate, the one proud to go and persecute, is then put in a humbling position.  His sight is taken from him, and for 3 days he has to be led by others.  3 days.  Sound like a familiar length of time?  For 3 days, Saul was dead.  When his sight was restored, he, too, would be raised to new life in Christ.  The old has died.  The new life has begun.

Friends, Saul’s encounter with God forever changes his life.  God reaches out to Saul, despite the fact that Saul has given no indication that he would react positively to this, and Saul is transformed by Christ.  He sets down his old ways and begins to be a passionate advocate for the church, spreading the Good News about Jesus Christ around the known world.

But Saul couldn’t have done this without the faithful love of a community.  God reached out to someone else, someone who would have every right to be nervous about what God was asking him to do.  God appeared in a dream to Ananias and asked him to go visit Saul. Ananias is understandably nervous about this, because Ananias knows what kind of man Saul is.  Ananias knows that Saul is there to punish, to arrest, to persecute, and Ananias isn’t excited about the thought of becoming the next target of Saul. 

But Ananias trusts God, and so he follows.  And with Ananias’s help, Saul’s vision is restored.  Then Ananias baptizes Saul.  Saul then begins to proclaim the glory of Jesus Christ in the synagogues, and while the Jewish community is shocked, the Christian community is thrilled.  Their greatest enemy has now become an asset, and he will use his knowledge and passion to proclaim the Gospel.  Saul needs help, though, for the Jewish leaders are plotting to kill him, and the Christians help Saul escape using a basket.  Saul can’t do this on his own—he needs a community.

And so, friends, we gather around this text today.  We wonder at the amazing thing God did in the life of Saul.  We wish we could have such a dramatic story to share, for we feel that our own stories pale in drama to the story of Saul.  But this is good news—it means you are not off persecuting the church.  Your heavenly Father does not want you to wander this far from the path, but the amazing part of the story is that God is willing to restore you to life if you do wander.

Friends, God is the seeker of the lost, the one willing to do whatever it takes to restore you to the Christian community.  Saul was not too far gone.  You are not too far from the grace of God.  God could heal Saul.  God can heal you.  God wants to transform your life, reaching in by the power of the Holy Spirit to change the way you think, speak and live.  He will sometimes go to dramatic lengths to do so.

But it also takes a community.  When we have been blinded, it takes a friend, even a nervous friend, to help us see once more.  When we are in danger, it takes a community to help us take the next step.  When we are alone, we need the strength of friends.

So do not be afraid to lean on the community with which God surrounds you.  It may come from uncertain places, as this story tells us.  Also, perhaps you are called to be Ananias to someone else.  Who needs to hear about the grace of God?  Whose eyes can you help open?  Who can you bring into the Christian community?

May we go with courage, trusting in the God who can restore and redeem.

Let us pray

March 6 New Hope E-News

Announcements

Mark Your Calendars-- On Wednesday, April 2 @ 6:45 we will have a representative from Jews for Jesus to explain how the traditional Passover meal foreshadowed Jesus' death & resurrection.  If you're interested in helping prepare for this event, please send me an email.  We need someone willing to host the representative on the night of April 2 and some help preparing for the event.

Youth Committee-- Meeting on March 18 @ 6:30

Community Kitchen Spot

There are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the bookshelf.

Plastic Forks, Knives, Spoons

Dinner Napkins

Heavy Duty Sectional Dinner Plates

Dessert Plates

New Hope News

Sunday School—Don Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class in March & April.

Fruit of the Spirit-- Sunday evenings @ 6:15

Pray For:

Norma Capone, Christine Dyer

Peggy & John L.

This whole situation in Crimea. I think we especially need to pray for the individual people. It's easy to focus so much on the global implications and the bigger situation that we forget about people like you and I who are just struggling to live their daily lives in the midst of this chaos.

For the kids in confirmation class: Ashley, R.J., Chase, Jade & Jackson

Links

Thoughts from the moderator

Why you should go see Noah

What would Jesus brew?

Money Anxiety

Death Row Stories

Why Ash Wednesday?

Could the role of women within the Catholic church be changing?

Save a Drink. Save a Life

Keith's Random Thoughts

I get pretty excited about baseball season. To me, there is something grand about stretched out in the sun with a baseball game on the radio... it just feels right. The long months between the end of the Reds' season and the beginning of Spring Training games can be pretty bleak for this baseball fan. The rhythm of pitching and hitting brings an added joy to my life.

It's pretty easy for me to get caught up in baseball. I can spend a day thinking about it, wondering how the Reds will do this year, examining their flaws and rejoicing in their strengths. I can wonder about the other teams in their division and how other moves might affect the team. I can think about the matchup tonight and wonder why player X is struggling so badly. In short, it can occupy my mind.

Baseball is one of many things that can do so. We all invest a lot of time thinking about things, about people and situations. Most of our thoughts don't lead us toward resolution or progress, they just turn the wheels of our minds. We think about our jobs and our health and our families and our friends and the future and the world news and the weather and we often speculate about the many possible ways life can go wrong. We think a lot.

What happens, at least with me, is that I think about all these things so often that I forget to think about God. I don't mean to, I just get so caught up thinking about everything else that I don't have any leftover time to give to God, and while I promise to do better tomorrow, there is often a new batch of thoughts (or the old ones) then.

It's not that these things are bad. It's just that God doesn't want to be resigned to the leftovers. God wants to be first in our minds, and he wants the awareness of his presence and love to permeate our family, friends, jobs, etc. We can enjoy these things as faithful disciples.

It's a tough balance. It requires intense re-training of our hearts and minds, and it requires hard work that is easily avoided. I think it's worth it, though. I think that investing our time and energy in such training will yield peace in our hearts and minds down the road. A confidence and awareness in God's presence is worth working toward, isn't it?

Maybe I'll think on that during the next ballgame...

Text for this Sunday, March 9

Acts 9:1-22 (Common English Bible)

Meanwhile, Saul was still spewing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest, 2 seeking letters to the synagogues in Damascus. If he found persons who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, these letters would authorize him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 During the journey, as he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven encircled him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?”

5 Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

“I am Jesus, whom you are harassing,” came the reply. 6 “Now get up and enter the city. You will be told what you must do.”

7 Those traveling with him stood there speechless; they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 After they picked Saul up from the ground, he opened his eyes but he couldn’t see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind and neither ate nor drank anything.

10 In Damascus there was a certain disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

He answered, “Yes, Lord.”

11 The Lord instructed him, “Go to Judas’ house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias enter and put his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 Ananias countered, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man. People say he has done horrible things to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 He’s here with authority from the chief priests to arrest everyone who calls on your name.”

15 The Lord replied, “Go! This man is the agent I have chosen to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

17 Ananias went to the house. He placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—Jesus, who appeared to you on the way as you were coming here. He sent me so that you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Instantly, flakes fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. 19 After eating, he regained his strength.

He stayed with the disciples in Damascus for several days. 20 Right away, he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues. “He is God’s Son,” he declared.

21 Everyone who heard him was baffled. They questioned each other, “Isn’t he the one who was wreaking havoc among those in Jerusalem who called on this name? Hadn’t he come here to take those same people as prisoners to the chief priests?”

22 But Saul grew stronger and stronger. He confused the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

NewHopeChattanooga.org

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