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Becoming 1 in 1000

By 1in1000 | August 11, 2008

Becoming 1 in 1000

Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

I was raised a heathen and for the first 27 years of my life I lived as one. God saved me at that point through the personal witness of a couple of people that He had brought into my life at the right time for the circumstances that He had allowed to come to pass which prepared me for that moment.

• I have been told that there is no zeal like that of a convert. Someone who is not raised with these truths gets more excited about them than one who has grown up with them.

• After 16 years I want to tell you that I am still excited about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Early in my Christian life I began to share my faith, as I had been taught, give them the Gospel and have them pray to receive Christ.

• My first year as a Christian I “lead 13 people to Christ” or so I thought.

• As far as I know there is only one who remains faithful today.

• I was disillusioned by this and in the course of time as I began to teach I made a serious study of the Gospel and I learned that the Law must precede Grace so that people see their need for the forgiveness of God that is offered in the Gospel.

• God gave me the opportunity teach a class at my first church on evangelism.

• Then to train three sets of people to share their faith on short term missions to Mexico.

• From this was born my Internet ministry which is called 1in1000.org.

• You may say as my unsaved brother has said, a little cocky, aren’t you?

• The name comes from Job 33:23 and this is the text that I want to preach this morning.

• This will help you to see where I am coming from as a preacher and pastor.

I am reasonably sure that you are familiar with the story of Job.

• Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

• We see at the beginning that Job was a good man.

• Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” ⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

• You probably remember that from here he loses all of his children and his wealth in one day.

• That did not do the trick though, Job 1:22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

• So in chapter 2, God allows Satan to afflict Job’s body and again, Job 2:10b In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

• Then Job’s three friends show up and everything changes.

• Job 19 :6 God has wronged me

• Job 23:3 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! ⁴ I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments.

• From Chapter 3-31 we have a great debate going on as to whether Job is a wicked sinner who has hidden his sin and is now being judged by God as his friends suppose or whether he is perfectly righteous as he maintains.

• Job certainly is a righteous man! We see this in Ezekiel 14:14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God.

• Job was a good man! As judgment came upon Judah in its final days and was very certain, God makes the declaration that only these three men are righteous enough to deliver themselves from His fury.

• That is saying something!

• I don’t think any of us can claim to be in God’s top three like he is here.

• His friends were wrong to accuse him of sin because he was going through a trial.

• I think this is really representative of humanity’s view of God.

• Job’s view, I’m good and God has no excuse to mess up my life.

• His friends view, If you were good God would not be messing with you.

• People tend to judge God by themselves rather than the other way around.

God afflicts him for a reason. Why?

• I am going to say it is because it is not by trusting in our own goodness that we are saved, Job had to know God better than he did.

• He had some inkling of the truth as we see in Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; ²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

• God sends a fourth man to speak to Job and his friends. In chapter 32 we are introduced to a man named Elihu.

• This is where the story of Job really gets exciting for me.

• Job 32:1 So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ² Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. ³ Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

• And here is the principal issue of man’s understanding of God. Man wants to be right even if it makes God wrong.

• Even we who have no hope of being as righteous as Job want to accuse God of injustice when things don’t go our way.

• We need a major attitude adjustment and this is what God sent Elihu to do.

• First I want you to notice that God puts Job in a predicament in order to get his attention. (his trouble)

• The God brings him to the end of himself in order to get him to listen. (his friends)

• The God sends an evangelist to give him the information he needs. (Elihu)

• Just a technical note here, this was all in God’s plan and the devil was His pawn to accomplish His will in Job’s life.

• Someone once said, “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose! (Romans 8:28)

As Elihu describes his ministry in Job 33:23 I see here the ministry of the evangelist. “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, ²⁴ Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’;

• As I studied this book several years ago I came to the conclusion that there was a major evangelistic thrust to it.

• God prepares people to receive His message of forgiveness.

• We cannot always be sure who He has prepared, but we can always be ready, as Elihu was, to step in and give the accurate representation of what God is doing in that situation.

• When the situation comes, as it did that day for Job, Elihu was not only able, but excited to share with Job what he knew about God.

• Job 32:4 Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. ⁵ When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused. ⁶ So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; Therefore I was afraid, And dared not declare my opinion to you. ⁷ I said, ‘Age should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ ⁸ But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. ⁹ Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice. ¹⁰ “Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me, I also will declare my opinion.’ ¹¹ Indeed I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, while you searched out what to say. ¹² I paid close attention to you; And surely not one of you convinced Job, Or answered his words—

• Job 32:17 I also will answer my part, I too will declare my opinion. ¹⁸ For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me. ¹⁹ Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like new wineskins. ²⁰ I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.

• Paul said similarly, in 2 Corinthians 5 that it was the love of Christ that compelled him to preach the Gospel to people (2 Cor 5:13-21)

And so Elihu was cautious and looked for the opportunity. He let the others have their say and then came to tell them the Truth about the Lord.

• This is how he saw himself in this ministry…

• Job 33:23 “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness,

• Men need a messenger.

• This is the Hebrew word for angel

• It does not always mean a heavenly being,

• The pastors of the seven churched in Revelation are called angels as John sends his message to them in chapters 2-3.

• We are to be that angel or messenger of God to the World around us.

• Paul told the Corinthians in the passage that I mentioned a moment ago, 2 Corinthians 5:20 Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God

• If we fail to come to the aid of those who are afflicted or in need we are hardly an angel.

• They need a mediator:

• This word is better translated in the King James version as an interpreter.

• Sometimes we need not to just give the message, but explain things.

• This is what Job and his friends needed. They had a lot of information, but they left out some of it and tried to make a judgment about Job’s character based on a flawed understanding of God’s character.

• This person is rare, 1 in 1000.

• He also has a particular message for his hearers,

• To show man his uprightness.

• Whose uprightness?

• My New King James helps with this interpretation by capitalizing the word His.

• God’s uprightness!

• Some say the way to man’s uprightness, but Job wasn’t looking for that, he already had it as far as he was concerned and God seems to agree to his outward righteousness.

• Job was struggling with God’s Righteousness in his suffering.

• We all need to learn to bow our knee to the righteous God!

As I read this book several years ago it inspired me enough to begin the ministry that I have now not only on the Internet at 1in1000.org, but also my teaching and preaching ministry.

• Men, even “good” men are still fundamentally flawed!

• We need to understand even as Job did and as I did at the point in my life where I trusted Christ and even still need at times today that God is God and I am not!

• That He is just by nature and I am corrupt by nature.

• That I need to grasp His righteousness in my judgment before I can ever understand His mercy and be ransomed as Elihu tells Job in Job 33:24, Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’

• One of the chief objections of atheists is that God cannot be just and loving if there is suffering in the world.

• God is just by nature and man suffers because of sin, even the “good people” because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!

• And Elihu accomplishes his purpose as he demonstrates his office of evangelist through chapter 37 and then Job meets God.

• God rebukes Job through chapter 41

• In Job 42:5 Job finally says, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You ⁶ Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

• There is one New Testament reference to Job, James 5:11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

• Even in his suffering, God brought him to a better place, a greater understanding of Himself a more intimate relationship with Him.

• It was God’s mercy that brought me to Him even though it was a crisis, a mess of my own making that brought me to Him.

• It was the faithfulness of the witness of a few Christians that were the 1 in 1000 that I needed, the messengers, the interpreters.

And so it is my goal, wherever the Lord allows me to serve to do my utmost to be His 1 in 1000 for others.

Let me point out one last thing here that I just find fascinating and something that I believe demonstrates the Divine authorship of the Bible.

• This is part of my office of interpreter.

• Job is one of if not thee oldest story in the world.

• It takes place during the time of Abraham, before Moses even wrote Genesis and in that story, the man that we looked at today is a perfect picture of Jesus Christ.

• I am not saying that this story is merely allegory. It is an historical narrative, real events that took place in a real time and place.

• Elihu is actually a descendant of Abraham’s Brother Nahor.

• Elihu is the mediator for Job with God.

• Elihu’s name means His God.

• He is the Son of Barachel Which means Blessed of God

• He is a Buzite which means contempt

• He is of the kindred of ram which means exalted.

• REITERATE ABOVE

Bill Bright said in one of his later books that only 2% of Christians share their faith on a regular basis.

• It’s my goal to increase that statistic.

• We have first of all a wonderful God and a wonderful Bible to support us and a command to make disciples of all nations.

• Do you trust God?

• We are called to be ambassadors, God’s representatives

• Charles Spurgeon said, “If you do not desire to see others saved, I doubt whether you are saved yourself.”

• We all know people who are in need of the Gospel, who misunderstand God and reject him based upon their ignorant presuppositions.

• Even some Christians struggle in this area.

• We need to equip ourselves to reach a lost world, to be that 1 in 1000 and bring the message and the proper interpretation to them.

Topics: Job, Practical Advice | No Comments »

The Apostle’s Colossal Prayer

By 1in1000 | July 6, 2008

The Apostle’s Colossal Prayer by Kevin Hoffman

This morning I want to share with you what I call The Apostle’s Colossal Prayer.
This is the prayer that Paul prayed for the Believers at Colosse.

Although these folks had an accurate general knowledge of the Gospel someone had come to their congregation and begun to distort its truth. Epephras, their founder and pastor went to Paul to get advice and prayer for the situation.

• We need to have a clear understanding of what the Bible teaches about Christ too and this is what Paul prayed for these folks as he was trying to guard them from the false teachers.

There are really only two main points to this prayer and then the fruits of those things worked out in their lives

As Paul writes to the church, he begins by praying for them and he says these words;
Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

• Once Paul knows that they have a basic grasp of the Gospel, he prays that God would “fill” them with a knowledge of His will.

• This is the first of the two points.

• The idea of “fill” here is to complete.

1. We look at the Greek word pleroo that is translated “filled” here and see that it has the idea of total saturation, like the glass that is so full, the liquid actually crowns slightly above the lip and you cannot move it without it spilling.

• Next we see that this filling is of the knowledge of God’s will.

1. 1. We fill ourselves with so much these days, sports scores, entertainment, trivia…. Irrelevant information.

• I was a heathen until age 27.

1. You say, “Heathen?”
2. When I say a “heathen” I mean virtually godless.
3. Not that I didn’t “believe” in God, but He had little or nothing to do with my thoughts or decisions.
4. I had no “knowledge” of Him or His will for me.
5. He was sort of a nebulous idea that was out there somewhere.

• I have often said that, “Before I was saved that music was my god.”

Before I became a Christian I lived for the music that I loved. I knew not just the bands and songs that I liked, but Who wrote which songs, when they switched record labels, what brand of instruments they played as well as where they came from, etc.
When I became a Christian and began to read my Bible, I sort of inadvertently prayed this prayer, “If I only knew as much about You Word as I know about the music I listen to, that would be something.”
God has answered that prayer, not by some magic, instantaneous miracle, but by giving me grace and due diligence in studying not only the Bible, but how to understand and interpret it.

So what is contained in thus “knowledge of His will” that we are to be filled with?

• Again, a word study is necessary. The Word for knowledge in the Greek is the word ginosko.

1. You may recognize it in the English word agnostic which is actually a transliteration of the Greek word ginosko that is prefixed with the letter a which is a negative particle and so it means no knowledge or doesn’t know.
2. An agnostic is one who alleges that there is not enough information to make the decision as to whether there is or is not a God and so he doesn’t know if there is One?
3. However Paul uses a more technical word here, epiginosko which has to do with precise and correct knowledge
4. If the agnostic had this kind of knowledge rather than his own biased knowledge he might come to realize that the evidence is overwhelming.
5. A preacher that I like says that an atheist or agnostic can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a police man. He does not want to be accountable.

Remember, there are people in this church trying to distort the truth about God and Jesus Christ. Many do this today, but it is nothing new.
In Colosse they are trying to say that Jesus is not enough, that there is some secret special knowledge that is needed and that He is some sort of angel or spirit being among others that need to be bought off in order to gain His favor and that the Jewish ceremonies are a part of that.

• This is an amalgamation of the dominant world views of His day.

1. Eastern Mysticism that worships spirits and angels and is superstitious about them affecting their lives.
2. Greek Philosophy that likes special knowledge and rites, needs to be a part of the right group and thinks that physical things are evil.
3. Jewish Legalism that teaches that works are what gets you in with God and that the Old Testament Law is what is required.

• Paul says, “NO! I want you to have the precise and correct knowledge about Jesus!”

1. The epiginosko.
2. “I am praying that you get it!”

• This is one problem at the root of the Church’s weakness today that we rely too much on the methods of man and not enough on the wisdom of God.

As we are filled with the precise and accurate Knowledge of God’s will, what are some of the things we need to know?
God’s will, it seems is often regarded as the most illusive thing in the universe.

• What is God’s will? His desire, His intentions, His decrees, What He wants to happen.

1. Often times, like the atheist who can’t find God, we can’t find His will because we really value ours more that His.

• His basic will is lain out for us in His Word, this is the key. And knowing His will should lead to some fruit…. Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

As we understand His will and live it, we will walk in a manner that pleases Him and bear fruit and He will increase our capacity to know He will make our glass bigger.

• This idea from the prayer for the Colossians is found throughout the Scripture, as we see in

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

• God wants to change our lives through our knowing Him and living for Him. Again, this is the fruit of this point.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

• That is to live more and more for the Lord, more godly as we see from the example.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Peter 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
God’s will for those who know Him is that we would live for Him and not for ourselves! 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

• More fruit, As we do this, God’s will will become evident in our lives. We will begin to exercise the gifts that God gives us and will find ourselves in His will.

The next point that Paul prays for comes from the first and is that these Believers are being …
Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
With the knowledge of God’s will and living for Him comes strength, endurance and patience and joy. Can anyone here use strength endurance and patience and joy??

• As we are understanding and living for God’s will He gives us the strength we need to keep going.

1. We are strengthened with ALL power, that is not to say that we become omnipotent, but that we have all we need.

The Bible tells us that as Christians we have the power to:
Deal with temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Deal with trials
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Confront the unbelieving world
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith.

• This power comes to us, not by our own measure, but according to “His glorious might.”

1. Another bit of Greek is helpful here,
   1. we are strengthened, Greek is Dunamis, doing a great work.
   2. According to His glorious might, Greek Kratos, which is dominion.
2. We are strengthened not only by God’s ability, but by His authority.
   1. Mark 6:7 And [Jesus] called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts- 9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics
   2. This word from which we get power here is exousia in the Greek and has the idea of freedom to exercise ability.
   3. God gave them this power over both the spiritual and physical realms
   4. Power over unclean spirits
   5. Power to supply their physical needs.

How confident are you in God?

• My 12 year old daughter Rachel’s confidence at batting on Tuesday. She was confident in herself because we had worked on batting.

• God used this model when He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 17 as He said to him, “I am the Lord Almighty, walk before Me and be blameless..”

1. Abraham was childless at age 99 and God had promised that he would be the father of many nations and the progenitor of the Messiah.
2. God says, I will do this thing, trust Me!
3. Abraham’s obedience is based on God’s power!
4. In Romans 4:20 [Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
5. His confidence in God’s ability gave him the ability to persevere even when things didn’t look good.

MARTYRDOM OF IGNATIUS from John Fox
Trajan is emperor
Third Persecution
108 - 130?
- In this persecution suffered the blessed martyr, Ignatius, who is held in famous reverence among very many. This Ignatius was appointed to the bishopric of Antioch next after Peter in succession. Some do say, that he, being sent from Syria to Rome, because he professed Christ, was given to the wild beasts to be devoured. It is also said of him, that when he passed through Asia, being under the most strict custody of his keepers, he strengthened and confirmed the churches through all the cities as he went, both with his exhortations and preaching of the Word of God. Accordingly, having come to Smyrna, he wrote to the Church at Rome, exhorting them not to use means for his deliverance from martyrdom, lest they should deprive him of that which he most longed and hoped for. “Now I begin to be a disciple. I care for nothing, of visible or invisible things, so that I may but win Christ. Let fire and the cross, let the companies of wild beasts, let breaking of bones and tearing of limbs, let the grinding of the whole body, and all the malice of the devil, come upon me; be it so, only may I win Christ Jesus!” And even when he was sentenced to be thrown to the beasts, such as the burning desire that he had to suffer, that he spake, what time he heard the lions roaring, saying: “I am the wheat of Christ: I am going to be ground with the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found pure bread.”

God’s power in us does not enable us to call down fire from heaven or to make our troubles go away, rather it gives us the ability to endure the temptations and trials of this world as we trust in His power and authority.

Colossians 1:11b gives this very intended result, “for all patience and longsuffering with joy;”

• Patience, endurance, unable to be removed from the path no matter what happens.

• Longsuffering, Continuing on the path through thick and thin.

• Joy, Knowing God’s power and Colossians 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We need to rejoice in the sufferings of this present world as we receive our strength from God because He has in His power and authority granted us this thing that was completely beyond our own power.

• As we have believed the Gospel, He has by His power delivered us from the domain of darkness, that is the kingdom of sin and the Devil.

1. This is the word exousia again, darkness had its way with us until we were freed by the power of God!
2. That takes some serious power!
3. Ephesians 2:1-3

• He has translated us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son.

1. When we trust Christ, He puts us under a new authority making Himself our King.
2. Paul prays a similar prayer at the beginning of the book of Ephesians asking that they would know…, Ephesians 1:19 “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

This is power that was sufficient to deal with our sin is sufficient to deal with the trials of this life too.

• Notice what Paul does not pray for

1. health
2. wealth
3. good relationships
4. their best life now!

If there were no trials or temptations in this world, no need for His power in our lives, what would faith be?

• There would be no reason to trust Him in this life.

• There would be no way to demonstrate that we do trust Him.

• There would be no way for us to demonstrate our trust to the world around us.

So do you trust God today?
Are you expecting Him to remove all of your trials, or to give you the power to endure them??

And so we see in the Apostle’s Colossal prayer that we should be like the Colossians

• Be completely filled with a precise and accurate knowledge of God’s will.

1. Walk worthily, pleasing God and bearing fruit because of that knowledge.

• Receive strength to continue through life’s trials and temptations.

1. Creating joy in what God’s power had done for us in the Gospel and will do for us in our trials and temptations.

Topics: Colossians, New Testament, Practical Advice, Uncategorized | No Comments »

My Duty

By Dave Lyman | June 29, 2008

Do I have responsibilities to other men?  Are these responsibilities optional or are they my duty to fulfill?  One thing I do know is that we are a ‘band of brothers’ in a war!  The Bible tells us that we are at battle.  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12)

 

Topics: 1 Peter, Devotionals, Ephesians, Uncategorized | No Comments »

What’s Your Foundation?

By 1in1000 | June 20, 2008

Has anybody here ever felt like quitting? Like giving up? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get tired. I feel like I’m swimming upstream…. through peanut butter. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: 1 Corinthians, 1 John, 2 Timothy, Ephesians, Psalms, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Lack of Information or Hardness of Heart

By 1in1000 | June 20, 2008

As we come to the next section of Luke, I just want to remind you all of where Pastor Mike left off. Sermon # 90 something…

Jesus had given the parable of the King and the ten minas and referenced it to the historical king Archelaus.

This King represents Jesus, the one upon whom Israel had waited to set things right, though Jesus had said in the parable that He would be going away before He would reign, He was now coming into Jerusalem to claim His throne.

Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Christ the King Sunday, Luke, Palm Sunday, Practical Advice, Special Occasions | No Comments »

Why are the Tassels on the Jewish Prayer Shawl?

By Dave Lyman | June 19, 2008

Do they have magical powers?  Is it a superstition?  No, the tassels, or tzitzit in Hebrew, are important because of what they symbolize.  When God himself instituted the practice, He said, “You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD” (Numbers 15:39).  So their purpose is to call to mind God’s word!  God’s word is our guide for life, it is the source of truth and authority.  It is our standard for checking and correcting our way (2 Tim. 3:16). Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: 2 Timothy, Devotionals, Numbers | No Comments »

Refuge Under His Wings

By Dave Lyman | June 17, 2008

This hen has 16 chicks under her wings of protection.  This is obviously the picture that the Psalmist is referring to in Psalm 36:7.  “How priceless is your unfailing love!  Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Devotionals, Galatians, Matthew, Psalms | No Comments »

The Shelter of His Wings

By Dave Lyman | June 17, 2008

 

If a person is wearing the prayer shawl (Tallis) and stretches out his arms it can look like a bird spreading its wings.  So the corners and edges of the Tallis are referred to as wings. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Devotionals, Psalms | No Comments »

Oxygen Mask

By Dave Lyman | June 17, 2008

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. - Deut. 6:4-7 Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Deuteronomy, Devotionals, Practical Advice | No Comments »

The Cross? So What?-John 18 & 19 (Good Friday)

By Charlie Vensel | June 14, 2008

ME:
There is a question I’ve heard a lot over the last few years as I’ve shared my faith with those who have had serious and sincere questions about Christianity. Most of these were not really believers, but open-minded people willing to hear me out. “Why would you want to be a priest (as if it were a choice),” they would ask. They really wanted to understand why I would make such a “career” change, why so many people around the world would devote their lives to following Christ, and why those that did were so insistent that others should too. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Good Friday, John | No Comments »

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