Tag Archives: spiritual growth

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 2

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Taking the Witness Stand is one sermon in a series our church staff is preaching following the NBC series A.D. The Bible Continues.

If you missed the first part of Taking the Witness Stand you can find it here:

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 1

Now  on to today’s portion…

Yesterday we finished up by saying Jesus is our foundation.

I can remember a point many years into my Christian walk when things weren’t going so well for me. My career choices were in question. Financially things weren’t so good. The future looked grim and I can remember looking up to Heaven shaking my fist at God and saying, “You call this a plan? I can do better than this!”

I stopped praying. I stopped reading my Bible. I acted like there was no God. Fortunately, God never acted like there was no me. He dogged my steps. He haunted my dreams at night. He withdrew but stayed just on the edges of my life for weeks, waiting for me to realize the truth that He is the foundation of life. The good news is that in my moment of rejection He remained faithful and when I came back to Him I had learned that there is no such thing as real life without Jesus. He is the center of everything living. He is the foundation of order, and He is the way, the truth and the life.

Today I am with Peter and John. I get it. I cannot help but testify to it. I know that Jesus is the only sure foundation and everybody ought to know who Jesus is. He is why I do what I do. He is my reason. He is my goal. He is my beginning and end.

How about you?

Understanding that Jesus is the foundation of life and everything has caused Him to become my goal. That understanding drove Peter and John to give their lives for the cause of Christ. I am trying to do the same thing.

How about you?

I have a friend, Ben Nelson, who pastors in New Jersey. He writes a blog called Another Red Letter Day . In one of his recent posts he wrote,

In Matthew 20 Jesus gives us a parable that’s full of wonderful images. He paints a scenario from life on the land to teach principles of the kingdom of God.

 

In this parable He tells of a land owner who owned a vineyard, and needed laborers to work it. I’m guessing harvest was in full swing. He heads to town, to the market, where he knows those looking for work assemble, and five times throughout the day, he hires groups of laborers. He brings people back to his field starting “early in the morning” right up till “the eleventh hour,” with groups starting at the third, sixth, and ninth hours as well.

 

What can we learn about the kingdom of God from this parable?….

 

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. – Matthew 20:1 NASB

 

The parable begins with a premise we have lost in our current day. The landowner (the Lord) went to the marketplace (the world) and looked for laborers (those entering the kingdom of God.)

 

It seems to me those entering the kingdom of God today, often look at it as an escape from work, a place of rest rather than labor. But Jesus speaks of entering into work.

I have learned that becoming a Christian is not really about having all your problems solved. Oh Jesus solves our problems: He heals; He delivers; He saves; He restores; He fixes broken lives  and we desperately need Him to do those things. In fact sometimes our brokenness is the starting point of our relationship. But it is not THE POINT. All of that is secondary.

At its heart becoming a Christian is about changing kingdoms. It is about declaring a new king over your life. It is about making Jesus Lord and master.  Romans 10:9 says

 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Jesus heals, delivers, saves, restores and fixes because that is the required state of everything in the Kingdom; But as you make your decision to serve Christ please understand that you are becoming a citizen in a Kingdom not a democracy. You leave your vote at the door and take up the decision to obey.

We are called to receive God’s gifts and to obey his commands and sometimes like Peter and John we are called to face opposition in this world for our obedience and yet because Jesus is our foundation.

 We Have To Obey God even in the midst of opposition

Taking the Witness Stand Pt. 1

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“Taking the Witness Stand”,  is one sermon in a series our church staff is launching off of the NBC telecast A.D. the Bible Continues.  The Scriptural reference is Acts 4:18-20

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If you remember the story….

After the experience the disciples had in the upper room with the baptism in the Holy Spirit something inside of them changed. Before the baptism in the Holy Spirit the disciples were men and women filled with fear, not knowing what to do. Peter had denied Christ three times at the scene of Christ’s trial and all the others had been so afraid they had not even shown up at the hearing. But after the baptism in the Holy Spirit something was different about them! They had a new boldness. They had a new sense of passion, a new understanding of the mission. They began to preach and teach the message about Jesus every day in the Temple courts and from house to house.

In Acts chapter 3 a spectacular miracle of healing is recorded that causes the disciples and their message to be catapulted to new levels of fame among the Jewish people. In a very short span of time the church grows from 3,000 to 5,000 souls.

Wanting to quell the rising tide of revival the rulers of the Temple have Peter and John, the ringleaders of the Jesus circus, arrested. However, not having any valid charges to hold them on they prepare to release them And that is where our Scripture passage this morning picks up the story…

 

Acts 4: 18-20 New International Version (NIV)

 

18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

I don’t know about you but if I had been Peter and John I think I could have come up with a better response than that.

I could have:

Abandoned the message and just gone back to fishing because this was not what I signed up for.

Just told the men what they wanted to hear. I could have said something like, “As you wish gentlemen. We’ll stop.” Then I would have gone out and done the exact opposite of what I promised.

Tried to negotiate the message. I could have said,“Well what if we include the Kadosh and some really strong teaching about the 10 commandments in all our lectures? How about if we share time? We can share our message but give you a platform during the service as well?”

I am sure that all of these responses presented themselves to the rational minds of Peter and John in those moments. They were after all men just like you and me. But in those moments they chose not to take any of these options. Instead they openly defied the Sanhedrin and said “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard.”

You see they understood something about the life they were now living. Jesus was not just an addition to the 10 commandments. Jesus was not a new fad in the Jewish religion. They understood It was not Jesus and the Law. They realized when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit that Jesus was the Law. He was the One the prophets proclaimed. Everything in the Old Testament was pointing to Him. They understood that everything in history was His Story. Jesus was their foundation. They understood that without Jesus there was nothing to believe in because Jesus had become their foundation and today I would put to you that

Jesus is our foundation too!!!!

More Than Just Making It

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 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  Ma 24:12,13

I just finished reading two great posts at Faith and Footsteps and Justified Freely

Look folks, we all pretty much can read the handwriting on the wall. We are in a season of increasing wickedness and the love of many is certainly getting a little chilled.

There’s a lot of chatter going on about how we have to change the world. Questions like, “How do we fix this?” ,“What needs to change?” and “Who’s to blame?” all make a regular circuit across the interview tables of the reigning talking heads.

These are great questions. I’m just not sure they are the first questions we ought to be asking ourselves as individuals. After all we can’t change anything in the world without first changing ourselves.

I think the first question we each need to ask is, “In light of what is happening in the world, who do I want to be?”

I want to be a champion for Christ! I want to be a man of passion! I want to be  someone who at the end of his days has used every ounce of grace given him to make a difference! I want to be a guy who does more than just make it into Heaven! I want to be the guy who gets and keeps the victory in life’s battles by daily utilizing the power of God!

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Who do you want to be?

Not So Pretty Yet

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next door brook

My sister and I were driving to the grocery store last night and along the way I got thinking about how ugly the start of Spring can be. The grass is still brown. The trees all look like dead sticks poking out of the ground. The streets are covered with sand from the winter road treatment. What snow is left is black with mud and nothing is left to cover the damage the winter storms have done to the forest. Still, people are outdoors in the evening raking and cleaning up the mess. The stores are filled with pansies and marigolds hoping to be planted and the maples are beginning to bud, promising that soon and very soon beauty is going to return to the Earth.

Seasons of transition in life, like in nature, are not so pretty. They can be discouraging because they leave us feeling naked,  exposed, and feeling incapable. As we grasp to catch up with the next level of life the world around us can perceive us floundering gracelessly to make the leap, or at least that’s how it often feels to me.

Christianity, to me, seems sometimes like one long season of transition where my weaknesses are exposed and challenged and I am called to rise up to higher heights than I think myself capable of. It feels like I am constantly sweeping away last season’s sand to make room for some new planting of the Lord whose outline is yet to be revealed. Can anyone out there relate?

But I have been through enough of these seasons now to know that everything is going to be all right. The upheaval, the challenges, the feelings of being exposed and incapable all just go with the territory, They are things to be grinned at and borne with grace. The plans of God may not yet be fully revealed to us but that is to be expected. It is how God has made faith to work. What we can know in our seasons of transition is that like Spring our seasons of transition may appear at the first deformed and ugly but in a brief time they shall appear glorious!

With care my flowers tend, But keep the pathway open Your home is at the end.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. Romans 8:16-19 NIV

The Road To Powerful Prayer

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Our church is hosting Ron Auch this week author of several books dealing with The Christian’s Intimacy With God, including

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Ron taught on the subject , The Road To Powerful Prayer.

Here are some quotes from the conference.

“If you wonder if you have faith for a thing you don’t. Those who have faith know it and walk in it.”

“Worship is the one thing we can do to bless the Lord.”

“The Lord of the work is always more important than the work of the Lord.”

“Revival needs intimacy. Intimacy creates revival. Revival brings new birth. We want the new birth without the intimacy.”

“You can have church growth without prayer but you can’t have spiritual awakening without prayer.”

“Sometimes we think if we don’t give God good instruction, He might mess up.”

“Part of Satan’s plan is to make us fight him and stop pursuing Jesus.”

It was a great conference and we have more teaching today and tonight.

Which quote resonates with you?

The Jesus Code

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In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “I Walk the Line.”

The Daily Prompt today asks Have you got a code you live by? What are the principles or set of values you actively apply in your life?

I suppose it is trite to say but I try to live by the motto “WWJD” (What would Jesus do). I approach everyday with prayer directed to Jesus Christ and a renewed hope in His mercies which are new every morning.

Over time I have learned that trying to be like Jesus in my own strength is a fool’s errand. I can no more attain Christ-likeness by my own striving than a turnip can attain humanity by growing in the garden. Left to itself a turnip will always be a turnip and left to my own machinations I will always remain a sinner. But there is hope, for me at least. While  I am pretty sure nothing can make a turnip turn human there is something that can transform this sinner into a righteous man; That is the power of Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says, “whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

The code is “What would Jesus do”. The ability to live by the code comes through my daily inviting Jesus into my life, by prayer, to do what He would!

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Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 5

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Today we are concluding our conversation about complete worship. If you have missed any piece of the discussion you can go back to

https://josephelonlillie.com/2015/03/17/pastor-wrinkles-complete-worship-pt-4/

and work your way back through the links.

Today we leave off the public and private expression of worship in order to discuss the worshipper’s heart. In order for worship to be complete…

The act of publicly worshipping and privately worshipping must come out of a singular heart towards God. Lifting our hands, singing, shouting and dancing are indeed all forms of worship but if they are not done out of heart of worship to God they are nothing more than dead religion.

Matt Redman wrote these words about the danger of worship devoid of “the heart”,

When the music fades

 All is stripped away

 And I simply come

 Longin’ just to bring

 Something that’s of worth

 That will bless your heart

 I’ll bring You more than a song

 For a song in itself

 Is not what You have required

 You search much deeper within

 Through the ways things appear

 You’re looking into my heart

 I’m comin’ back to the heart of worship

 And it’s all about You

 It’s all about You, Jesus

 I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it

 When it’s all about You

 It’s all about You, Jesus

 Matt Redman – Heart Of Worship Lyrics | MetroLyrics

At the beginning of our time together I said “The Bible teaches us that the nature of worship is two-fold but that the heart of worship is singular.”

 I want us all to capture the heart of worship. That is a heart that has eyes only for Jesus. It is a heart that let’s go of every other care for the job, for the family, or for the bank account. It is the heart that knows Jesus will take care of all those things if we just make Him a priority. The heart of worship is the heart that believes Jesus when He says,

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? 

28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Ma. 6:25-34

Maybe you have lost your ability to worship God because you have begun to worry about your life, your family, your provision, your health. Maybe your worry about those things has dampened your ability to worship privately or together with other Christians. Please all me to call you back to the heart of worship this morning. Allow me to ask you, with Jesus, to seek first the kingdom of God, to focus on the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Doing that involves three steps:

 FIRST:  Admit the thing that is taking your focus away from Jesus.

SECOND:  Repent and decide that you are going to focus on Jesus and not that thing.

THIRD:  Practice focusing on and worshipping Jesus with the song below. Make some noise. Let Jesus consume your attention for the entire song!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MEYWmUYD5E&t=10

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 4

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Sunset Prayer

We have been discussing the nature of the discipline of worship over the last few days. If you have missed any of the discussion you can find it here and in the other links connected in that piece.

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 3

We have already mentioned that…

Those who say they can go and worship God alone in the forest show their ignorance of what true worship is because true worship must at some point involve the community.  Further though, those who come to public worship and who do not sing or shout or speak or raise their hands also show that they do not understand what worship is about. Yet those who come to public worship are still only doing half the act of worship. Praising God in the sanctuary is part of worship but it is not all of worship.

The second half of Psalm 150:1 says “praise Him in His mighty heavens.”

Worship ends up in the sanctuary, but that is not where it starts. The people who go out in the woods to privately worship God but who refuse to join themselves to a church do have it half right .They are just refusing to participate in complete worship.On the other hand people who come to the sanctuary every week and worship with in a church body, but who never spend any private time in praising God also fail to completely worship.In fact, you can have a daily devotional and go to church weekly and still not have a vibrant complete worship life. Let me ask you is praise and worship a part of your private prayer life? Or is private prayer for you just a recitation of a prayer list?

Do you spend time during the week thanking God for His work in your life? Do you spend time singing love songs to God at home like you do in church? Do you put on the Christian station at home and dance before Jesus? Do you lift your hands in praise to Him at home like you do in church? If not try it. Praise will revolutionize and empower your prayer life.

What does your private worship life look like?

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 3

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We have been discussing the discipline of worship as a method of deeper connection to God. If you missed either of the previous conversation you can find them at

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 1

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 2

Here are our thoughts for the day:

The Bible teaches us that the nature of worship is two-fold but that the heart of worship is singular.

Worship can be expressed through music but it is not just music. It is about the heart changed in private and expressed publicly.

Some people say worship is everything we do, and I suppose in one sense that is true.

Romans 12:1, 2 does say, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship or service rendered unto God.”

The word used for worship in verse two  is the word “latreia” and it is usually translated as “sacred service.”

The worship we are speaking of here is the discipline of worship. It is the word “proskuneo”- and it means to  kneel or prostrate to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication

Worship is a very specific discipline and for it to be complete in our lives it must express itself in two ways out of one particular attitude. Psalm 150 talks to us about the ways we need to express worship.

First, worship must be public. Psalm 150 1 calls us tp ” Praise God in the sanctuary.”

In other words, half of worship is something you do with other people. It is a community activity. You can no more completely worship alone than you can play basketball alone. Further, worship is like a sport in that It is not enough to show up at the game. You aren’t worshipping if you come to church and watch any more than you can say you have played basketball by going to a game and watching from the bleachers. You must participate in the worship.

To participate you must:

Halal (from which we get the word hallelujah. It means to boast loudly about something.

Now, there is a place for quiet introspective worship, but at some point if you are going to praise God you are going to have to make some noise. Some of us have trouble getting into the presence of God simply because we won’t make any noise. We are so dignified in our manner of worship we’ve starched the presence of God right out of our lives. If you want access you are going to have to

“sound  the trumpet,”

“play the harp and lyre,”

“shake the tambourine and dance”

You’ve got to pluck a string or toot a flute or crash a cymbal or at least sing the songs!! Or thank Him audibly for something!

Psalm 150 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Are you breathing? Then you ought to be making some noise for Jesus.

You say, “I’m too shy Pastor J.”

Then you need a healing.

You say, ” It’s not dignified.”

You are right. It’s not. Praise is not dignified. It’s humbling. Worship involves putting aside your pride and it is admitting you are desperate for God, and frankly sometimes the act of doing that is downright indecorous.

Those who say they can go and worship God alone in the forest show their ignorance of what true worship is because true worship involves public community worship. Those who come to public worship and who do not sing, or shout, or speak, or raise their hands also show that they do not understand what worship is about.

So what does worship look like to you?

Pastor Wrinkles: Complete Worship Pt. 2

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We are currently in a series considering ways to connect with and deepen our relationship with God. Last week you will remember Pastor Risto spoke to us about how we have access to God through the blood of Jesus. This week we are talking about connecting to God through the act of worship.

 C.S. Lewis said, “It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.”

King David wrote in Psalm 100, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Christian this morning I am here to tell you if you want to come into the presence of God you will do it through the avenue of praise and worship.

 I think many have come to understand worship and praise in a very limited sense. I think many of us have a wrong or at least a limited definition of praise and worship.

Temi Peters, Author of Instruments of Praise & Acts of Worship said- “Worship is not about having a fantastic voice.”

 AND

 “God is not looking for incredibly high notes, intricate riffs or award-winning ad-libbing. God is looking at the heart.”

 AND

 “Vocals do not make a worshipper.”

 IF WORSHIP GETS US THROUGH THE GATES INTO THE COURTS… INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD THEN AS CHRISTIANS WE NEED TO HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT IS SO THAT WE CAN DO IT!

SO LET ME ASK YOU WHAT DO YOU THINK WORSHIP IS?