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This page was last updated 05/26/09
Week Of: April 5, 2009
Easter Musical - "Amazing Love"
Week Of: April 12, 2009 - Easter Sunday
Title: Theology of the Cross–John’s Gospel-Lifted Up
Scripture: John 8:19-30
1. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as our 44th President of the United States. Inauguration Day began with a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol. The president-elect and vice president-elect were sworn in on the 10,000-square-foot platform on the west steps of the Capitol. More than 100,000 people were present on the platform with over a 1,000,000 in the Washington Mall area. Don’t you wish you were there! J
2. What followed were parades, parties, and celebrations that went on well into the next day. Now I know I’ve just lost all the dyed-in-wool Republicans, but there is a point to this.
3. As far as I know, every civilized nation has a rite of passage, ceremony or something that stands for an orderly and peaceful transference of power. We call ours an inauguration; another nation might call theirs a coronation, etc. But usually there is a set and formal rite of passage that one becomes the legitimate leader of a large group of civilized people.
4. Does anyone know what ancient Israel did as a rite of passage for the transfer of power from one king to the next? They anointed their king with oil. 1 Samuel 10:1 says, “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance.’” They were anointed with oil after God called them to be king.
5. Does anyone know what the term messiah means? It means the anointed one. (True or False) Every king was a messiah or an anointed one. Some were good messiahs some were bad messiahs but the bottom line was they were chosen and therefore anointed ones.
6. Guess who was also an anointed one who never ruled as a king on this earth? Jesus!!! Look at John 11; Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died, been dead for four days, on Jesus’ arrival He is met by Lazarus’ sister—Martha. Her first remark was that Jesus “if you’ve been here he wouldn’t have died.” Jesus responded, “He will rise again.” Martha said sure he will at the resurrection at the end of time. Martha was one of those Jews who believed in life after death, not everyone did.
7. To which Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was come into the world.”
8. He is “The” Messiah, The Anointed One. Over and over the Gospels testify of Jesus being the Anointed One, the Son of God, the Lord of Lord’s. Except His anointing does not come by oil, it comes by crucifixion and resurrection.
9. Jesus said it himself when he said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claimed to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”
10. The lifting up is several things but first and foremost it reveals the true identity Jesus. It is like Jesus is saying: “When you execute me as a common criminal in the most demeaning way, you will reveal who I truly am.” Difficult times bring out the real person in us. The courage, the sacrificial love, and willingness to do the will of God in the face pain, suffering, rejection, and death showed the person that Jesus was. It showed in the greatest way possible that Jesus Christ was special enough to be Messiah, the Son of God.
11. In the Bible, things are often turned up-side-down. For example, the last shall be first, and first shall be last. The meek shall inherit the earth. We are the strongest when we are the weakest. There is contradiction of our world’s values, irony, and double meaning throughout the Bible. The Bible is a literary masterpiece in trying to get its point of kingdom values across to us.
12. Anyway, crucifixion is one of those things which appears to be one thing and then turns out to be something else. There is no doubt that crucifixion was to be a horrible and terrible ordeal that could last for days and sometimes a week or longer.
13. But in addition to killing the person by prolonged suffering, it was an instrument of humiliation. The Jews believed that anyone crucified was cursed by God. They were publically shamed as criminals and misfits, laughed at, spit on, and publically scorned and humiliated. It was such a shameful way to die that in the Roman Empire there was a decree that no Roman citizen could be crucified.
14. However, in the Gospel of John no matter what happens, Jesus cannot be humiliated. Their attempts to humiliate him only exalted and glorified Him.
15. The crucifixion seen through the eyes of John’s Gospel was honoring Jesus for who He really was—the Son of God. He does not appear as one who is suffering shame, humiliation, but rather the sovereign Lord of everything that is going on. Because instead of disgracing Him, the crucifixion is the means of exalting Him, showing what He is made of, and just how wonderful a person He really was.
16. Hence, the crucifixion is on one side of the coin suffering and death, but on the other exaltation and glorification (honoring Him). The world condemns Him to suffering, death, and humiliation, but God honors Him as The Messiah, the truly once and for all The Anointed One.
17. The term “lifting up” also has another connotation to it. The cross, depending on how high off the ground it put an individual, would almost be impossible not to see. The lifting up of something stands it out above everything else.
18. For the Christian “the Savior lifted up is the shining beacon of the love of God. Christians look at the cross and say: Yes it is terrible and horrible way for anyone to die, especially someone who was a beautiful person as Jesus Christ, but yet is wonderful that God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us.
19. Everyone needs a sign, an assurance. Everyone needs confidence to believe that they are loved. To the Christian, the Savior lifted up is a sign, it is our assurance that “God so loved us, God so love you and me, that He gave his only begotten Son.”
20. We believe this because we believe that God is love. We see life a lot more positive with Him than without Him. The crucifixion and resurrection literally colors our world.
Week Of: April 19, 2009
Title: Expressions of Worship
Series: Ministry of Worship - Part 4
Scripture: Psalm 40:1-8
1. One Sunday morning, little Alex stared at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The seven year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so Pastor Moore walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, “Good morning, Alex.
2. “Good morning,” said the boy, still absorbed in the plaque, “Pastor Moore, what is this?”
3. Well, son, all these people have died in the service.” the Pastor said.
4. Quietly they both stood together, staring at the large plaque.
5. Then little Alex asked very seriously, “Which one, the 11:00 or the 6:30 service?”
6. In more ways than one a lot people die in the service, don’t they?J Over the next several weeks, I want to continue talking to you about worship so that people only die in the right spiritual way in our services.
7. I think it is very important that Pastors educate and then, if necessary, re-educate churches in what it means to worship God. There is just too much confusion and wrong information about worshiping God. A lot of folks believe that any kind of worship is really worshiping God, but that is not so.
8. So today I’d like to talk to you about what it means to just go through the motions of worship compared to a heartfelt worship.
9. By that, I mean there are two expressions of worship—one, an outward expression of service and deed, the other is an inward expression of worship. Both are necessary, one is primary.
10. If you took today’s scripture on its own, you might imagine that God didn’t and does not want any outward expression of worship. Verse 6 says: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire…offerings and sin offerings you did not require.”
11. But yet that’s not entirely true…because a great deal of the Old Testament (Exodus 19-40; Book of Leviticus) does give a lot of attention to what God does require in those areas. The outward expressions of worship are the burnt and blood sacrifices, gain offerings, the songs, the reading of scripture, the prayers, the tabernacle, the Temple and, in general, the external motions that God’s people go through to worship. These external motions of cultivating worship are called the cult or the outward ways that people have worshiped and still in some ways worship today.
12. We could literally spend hours and hours together talking about all the things that God wanted His people to go through to be culticly or outwardly and religiously correct. Read your Old Testament and see just how particular God really is. We serve a very particular God that wanted His people to worship in a very particular way or manner.
13. For example, turn to Exodus 24. Twice during the first 8 verses of this chapter the children of Israel say in one accord “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”
With the last “everything the Lord has said we will do” followed by “we will obey.” Their lives and the presence of God depended on them dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” culticly.
14. However, even if they “dotted” every “i” and crossed every “t” and weren’t inwardly pleasing to Him and they didn’t try to obey His moral law, then things could be difficult to say the least. Turn to Leviticus 26:14-16: “But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commandments and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenants, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life.”
15. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? Well, what about their “dotting every i and crossing every t in worship”? Look at verse 31: “I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.”
16. In other words, it is saying “your sacrifices and burnt offerings will be a stench in my nostrils.”
17. So, if our hearts are not right then our attempts at going through the motions in worship are not going to get us anywhere with God. You might say that if our hearts are not right, we are just stinking up the place as far as God is concerned.
18. Is this just an Old Testament concern… no, not really. Look in Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
19. True worship is based upon having a right relationship with God and one another. In other words, have you tried to reconcile with your friend or neighbor that has something against you?
20. Preacher, are you saying that if I’ve got something against someone here or if I know of someone who doesn’t like me for a particular reason that I just shouldn’t come to church. No, first of all that would leave very few of us here today? Down through the years you don’t know how many people have said that they cannot come to church because of so and so. Or I am going elsewhere because of so and so. Or I am coming here because of so and so.
21. Well, church where ever you are at is about trying to learn to get along with other people. It is about letting bygones be bygones. It is about practicing forgiveness. It is about forgiving and being forgiven, and if you stay in a group of people long enough then you’ll get ample opportunities to do both.
22. For the most part, if you just get around people that like you and agree with everything you say and do then you are not going to grow as a person. Church and really worshiping is about growing inwardly as a person.
23. To the people who have problems with their brothers or sisters I tell them, as I tell myself, try to work things out—maybe in time with God’s help and an honest effort things can be different. And you know “many times things do get better, time and the Holy Spirit does usually help reconcile people together.” If both sides can stop striking out!
24. The bottom line is that in order to worship God and get the most we possibly can out of worship, we have to go through the outward motions, we attend church, sit in our little pews, we bow our heads, close our eyes, we sing, we act respectful in God’s house, but if we are going to get the most out of worship we can then inwardly we are going to have to do what Jesus says.
25. We are going to have to love God with all our hearts, soul, and mind. And love our neighbor as our self….assuming we really do love and care for ourselves. rrrrrr
Week of: April 26, 2009 Title: Outward Reflections of an Inward Grace
Series: Ministry of Worship - Part 5
Scripture: Revelation 4: 6-11
1. Last Sunday morning I tried to talk about worship! I said that our worship revolved around two major expressions of participation—an outward expression and an inward expression.
2. The outward expressions were, among other things, coming to church, sitting patiently and reverently in our nice little pews, singing our hymns, listening to our music specials, bowing our heads and closing our eyes in prayer, giving an offering, occasionally by the grace of God listening to the sermon, and leaving pretty much unaffected. J
3. The inward expressions are more important and more to the core of who we are in our relationship to God. They are representative of our faith, trust, love, joy, passion, praise, thanksgiving, and devotion to God.
4. However, while the inward expressions are the most important, the outward expressions are very important as well. In fact, our worship is at its very best when our outward expressions and inward expressions are in sync with each other—when we worship the Lord God with our body, mind, and soul. When every fiber of our being is declaring our love for God—then worship is at our best.
5. Look at our scripture this morning!!!! We are looking to heaven as an example of what we need to try to imitate because if you remember the Lord’s prayer Jesus said, “Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” The goal of every Christian should be to pray with all our heart that God’s kingdom will come and His will be done on earth, just like it is done in Heaven.
6. Well, look at the worship in heaven. In chapter 4, John is taken through a door that he believes is the doorway into the throne of God. Inside the throne room is our Heavenly Father who is sitting on a throne. According to John, the One who is sitting on the throne has the appearance of the precious stones jasper and carnelian.
7. Jasper, according to Wikipedia, is the birthstone for you who were born in what month? March! What does Jasper look like?!? Yellow, red, green.
8. Carnelian is an interesting stone. It is a semi-precious stone that is usually red in color. Carnelian was widely used in the Roman Empire to make signet rings for imprinting a seal with wax on correspondence or other important documents. Hot wax does not stick to Carnelian.
9. Anyway, around the throne is an emerald rainbow and surrounding the throne are twenty-four elders and twenty-four smaller thrones. In addition, before the throne of God there are seven lamp stands which stand for the seven spirits of God. From the throne it’s self comes rumblings, waves of thunder, and lightning pulsating all around it.
10. There are also four living creatures presumptuously representing all the creatures of the earth, one a creature like a lion, another a creature like an ox, another, a strange creature having the face of a man, and still another like a flying eagle. Each one of these creatures had six wings, and was covered with eyes all around, even under their wings. And day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
11. And whenever the creatures said “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty…,” the twenty-four elders fell down before Him who was upon the throne, and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor, and power, you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
12. Now I don’t know about you, if I had the opportunity to experience this kind of heavenly wonder I would be flat on my face as well, wouldn’t you? To experience the presence of God so immensely and intensely that you could reach out and touch it with all five of my senses would put me down on my face. Yelling “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).
13. In the Bible and in the Christian faith there are experiences in which the only proper response is to fall down on our face before God. In Nehemiah 8:6, “They bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Luke 5:12 says: “When (a man with leprosy) saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground.” Falling with our face to the ground is a reminder that we are flesh and blood, that from dust we come and dust we return. And before the awesome presence of God the only appropriate outward expression and inward expression of our being is lying face down on the earth. To get as low as we can get…
14. Another way of expressing humility and reverence in the Bible that is a little less aggressive and severe, is kneeling. In Acts 9:40, Luke tells us that Peter “got down on his knees and prayed.” Some churches have an altar call where everyone comes and kneels before the altar and prays. To which some might be thinking “I can pray just a well in my seat, thank you.” To which is true, but in kneeling, your body as well as your heart is making a statement of your humility, reverence, and your need for God to hear your prayers. Isn’t there a prayer need in your life that you will feel is important enough to literally get down on your knees before God?
15. Another appropriate expression of prayer and worship is “uplifted eyes.” It is a way of saying that God is always watching us and that our help comes from God alone. The Psalms writes: “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven” (Psalm 123:1-2). John 17:1 says, “After Jesus said this; he looked toward heaven and prayed.”
16. Still yet, another form of an outward expression of worship that is expressing an inward grace is outstretched hands and arms. Lifting up our arms or hands is a posture that opens the core of our body to God. It is the same outward expression of us greeting someone who is a dear friend with an outreached hug and embrace. It is our way of showing that we are eager to embrace the Spirit of God. I love Psalm 141:2. It says “May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” Paul says in 1Timothy 2:8 “I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.”
17. Standing is a way of honoring the presence of another and giving him or her your full attention. We stand before the majesty of God.
18. If the President of the U.S. where in our midst, or a bride comes into the church…you do what? When the bride and groom leave the church you do what? Out of respect you stand.
19. Mark 11:25, Jesus says, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him.”