Built to Last: The Challenge of Endurance
Tonight the pastors are beginning a message series on the book of Hebrews called Built to Last: The Challenge of Endurance. Pastor Gene’s outline for tonight is below.
Building a Foundation: Part 1
Hebrews 1
Embrace a fully biblical view of who Jesus is
Hebrews 1:1–4 (ESV) Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Identify Jesus as uniquely great in your own soul
Hebrews 1:5–14 (ESV)
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?
6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
10 And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
11 they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
12 like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Leadership and the Fruit of the Spirit
In this week’s men’s meeting I’m taking one week off from addressing the issues raised at the men’s retreat to share some reflections from my weekend away at Gordon Conwell. Ironically, it will end up having a great deal to do with the subject of anger, which I will return to next week. Here are the scripture and the discussion questions.
Men’s Meeting
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Galatians 5:19–24 (ESV)
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Questions for Discussion
- Who are or have been the leaders who have made the greatest positive difference in your life? What characteristics drew you to them?
- Do you agree that the development of the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us is a path to becoming a more effective leader? Why or why not?
- How would you go about seeking to develop the fruit of the Spirit?
- How would the greater development of the fruit of the Holy Spirit address a problem with anger?
Fighting Off Discouragement
Wednesday’s outline from Gene on Psalm 42
Fighting Off Discouragement
Speak the truth about the state of your soul
Psalm 42:1-3(ESV)
1As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
Deliberately call to mind the acts and the goodness of God
Psalm 42:4-10 (ESV)
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of iHermon,
from Mount Mizar.
Persist in preaching to yourself about where to find hope
Psalm 42:5, 7-11
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation 6 and my God.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
the challenge of community
The latest version of kindle for PC (the program is free, not the books of course) allows me to copy straight from books. I like that a lot. I just read this, it reminds me of Eph. 4:1-3. Paul would never have said, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, if it wasn’t going to be a serious challenge.
“Church” is not an event. It is people—people whom God calls us to love. What is more, it is in a very important sense an involuntary community of people: we don’t choose our brothers and sisters—God does. And sometimes (oftentimes) those people are not terribly compatible with us—not the people we would choose to hang out with. But it is this very incompatibility that is so important, for at least two reasons. First, learning to love the people I don’t like is by far the best way to learn how to love (it’s easy to love people I happen to like). Second, the church is supposed to be a sociological miracle—a demonstration that Jesus has died and risen to create a new humanity composed of all sorts of people.
Challies, Tim (2011). The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion (p. 108). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Gene
Work for the Glory of God
Men’s Meeting
May 17, 2011
Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Questions for Discussion
- Do you have any concerns with not seeing the forest for the trees? (Do you have a problem telling the difference between what is important vs. what is urgent; or to put it another way do you have a problem distinguishing between motion/activity and progress?)
- When unexpected company drops by, how do you react?
- How do the 2 sisters differ?
- Why is Mary’s choice better? (Doesn’t work & hospitality matter too?)
- What (to you) are good points and blind spots of both Mary and Martha?
- Who are you most like (Mary or Martha) and why?
Tonight’s worship rehearsals and outline for tonight’s message called Experiencing Security
Dear Seaford worship ministry folks,
What a tremendous day we had on Sunday. God richly blessed us. We all had prayed hard and worked hard. I hope you were encouraged by the day. Thank you to each of you in the worship ministry who worked so hard. I got strong and positive comments about not just the work of the band and the choir but also that of the sound, video and projection work.
I am genuinely excited about tonight’s mid week worship service and about our rehearsals following. I’ve just finished up my sermon prep for tonight and the sermon this evening has important relevance for our work in the worship ministry. My outline is listed at the bottom of this message. It may look a bit harmless, but I promise you there is a kick in the gut in there for everyone at some point tonight, especially me!
In tonight’s mid week service I’m going to be introducing a new song that we I hope we will be rehearsing soon with the worship choir and band. I just don’t have my hands on the best arrangement yet. It’s called “Defender,” and it is a powerful song that I believe is going to be important for our whole congregation.
The agenda for tonight’s worship choir rehearsal is here April 27, 2011-2. It’s written from the worship choir’s perspective but we will come at the end of the evening to rehearse Lord, I run to You with the band, engage in a special prayer time with the band, and clear the stage for a wedding this weekend.
In Christ,
Gene
Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength, Part 4
Experiencing Security, Psalm 18
Express affection to God consistently
Psalm 18:1–3 (ESV) 1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
Declare daily your dependence on God
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Deliberately pray and ask for help in the moment.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Philippians 4:6 (ESV) 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Daniel 3:16–18 (ESV) 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Hebrews 11:32–38 (ESV) 32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Gene
Invest in a rich experience of community with other believers
Invest in a rich experience of community with other believers.
This is the 2nd part of Sunday’s message titled, Core Faith, part 1 is here
Jesus our Lord, was delivered up for our trespasses.
What are the implications of such a picture of such a being? He is Jesus our Lord. The main thing is Jesus. He is our focus. He is the head of the church. But all that worship, all that focus is done in the context of a community in the context of relationships with other like minded believers. There are no solo operatives in God’s kingdom. There are no spiritual Jack Bauer’s. There is no place for a sentimental pseudo faith that says its just me and Jesus against the world.
If anyone could have done this life of following Jesus alone it was Paul. His conversion was dramatic. No question that he was real. His mission was crystal clear. He was ridiculously tough. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Yet he got up and brazenly walked back into town. He wrote 13 of the 27 books of the n.t. He was scholarly. Someone once accused him saying that his great learning had driven him insane. If anyone ever could have gone it alone, it was Paul. Yet Paul was persistently inclusive. He stubbornly insisted that he was on the same level as everyone else. He always worked in teams. He often spoke poignantly about his longing for his companions. He unashamedly by both his words and his behavior expressed great dependence on other people.
I see a disturbing trend away from this sense of community among those who call themselves followers of Jesus in our time. We live in one of the most individualistic societies ever known in history. I believe much of that comes from the direct strategy of Satan to isolate and to divide and conquer. We are wildly mobile. Most of us of driving age have a personal vehicle, we have a personal computer, we carry personal cell phones. We put a tv in every room in the house so we can personally choose what we want to watch. If that’s not enough many of us have dvr’s so as to suit our individual inclinations even further. By the way, all this has been generated not to serve us to but to exploit us, to wring every last penny from us. Our whole society is built on this demand for profit. And so we market products to each other trying to make our competitors obsolete.
It’s very difficult not to bring all this weight, all this baggage into our lives with Christ and frankly most of us think far more like American consumers than we do followers of Jesus Christ., The N.T. clearly teaches that in God’s family each member belongs to all the others. We are called to sacrificially lay our lives down for the sake of each other. The N.T. is saturated by one another language, love one another, serve lift up pray for. This is a communal experience.
Honestly my friends, how do you approach your involvement in this church? How do American Christians decide about church involvement? We say I’ve got to find something that meets my needs. That service time doesn’t work for me. I don’t have time to serve in any of the ministries of the church because I have the ability to fill up my schedule with all kinds of activities that I want to do our have to do. All the while a billion people in the world live on $1 dollar per day, elderly people lonely, single parents desperately struggle and scratch to make their way, marriages disintegrate, lives explode, because we are too busy catching up on the things we have recorded on our DVR’s rather to engage in the real needs of the community.
Paul said, you are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies. Stop prostituting your gifts and your time and your money on everything else in the world, and invest yourself into the things that break the heart of God.
He is Jesus our Lord. Everything you do has connotations for everyone else in the body of Christ. Your choices are not your own.
In this regard, I urge you to read the book Radical by David Platt. Sometimes I read books hard to understand. This is not one of them.
Gene
The Unexpected Benefits of Real Difficulty
Finding God in the Dark, part 3
The Unexpected Benefits of Real Difficulty
- Seek out an accurate view of yourself.
2 Corinthians 12:5–6 (ESV) 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
- Acknowledge that God acts to shape our attitude and behavior.
2 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV) 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
- Remind yourself of the reasons you must depend on God.
2 Corinthians 12:8–9 (ESV) 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
- Endure real hardship gladly for what it achieves in our souls.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV) 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Questions for discussion
- How do you explain difficulties in your life?
- What do you think that it means to boast of our weaknesses? Why might it be important to do this?
- What practical sense do you have of God’s grace being sufficient for you?
- In what sense is God’s power made perfect in weakness?
Focus on Jesus
Yesterday, i preached a message on Romans 4:25 that I titled Core Faith. I hope to post the five parts of the message over the course of this week. This post contains the into and the 1st point.
Gene
Core Faith
Romans 4:25a
Intro
I like to preach from long passages, so I’ve been harassing Pastor Dennis a bit for assigning me seven words from which to preach. Not seven verses, not even one whole verse, 7 words!
I love it. I love the challenge. Of course, he left himself even less to preach on for Easter. I like being given assignments.
It’s my hope that today’s message will model for you a way to meditate richly on a small portion of scripture. I pray it will open your eyes to the reality that the word of God is living and active and that every word holds a rich depth of meaning that is like an iceberg with only a small portion visible while the full weight is there waiting to be discovered by those who delight to know God.
The heart of what we are about is right here in this short verse. I studied the wider context and have pondered deeply over the book of Romans, so I am confident that I am dealing with this verse fairly within its context. I’m giving you both verse 24 and 25, because I need you to see the last of verse 24.
Romans 4:24–25 (ESV) 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
The antecedent to the word “who” in verse 25 is “Jesus our Lord.” So that our text for this message are these words:
Jesus our Lord, was delivered up for our trespasses.
-
Focus completely on Jesus the grand subject of our faith.
Jesus is and was the Son of God and the Son of man. He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn over all creation. The alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. He came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. He came to seek and to save those how are lost. He took upon himself the nature of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, even though he dies yet shall he live. Jesus said, Before Abraham was born. I am. Jesus said, the am the bread of life. He said, I am the light of the world. John called him the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus said,
John 7:37–38 (ESV) 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Hebrews 12:2 (ESV) 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is the great subject of our faith. He is our Lord, he is the central figure. We may try to make it about something else. We may make it about church attendance or involvement. It can become just what we do, or where we meet friends. We may get side tracked into our various involvements of cutting grass or running sound or mentoring teens or playing in the band or setting budgets or writing PD’s or caring for widows and all those are important but the subject is Jesus. He is the reason we are here. He is the one we worship.
What’s your focus?
Finding God in the Dark
Men’s Meeting
April 5, 2011
Finding God in the Dark, Part 1
Habakkuk 3
Questions for Discussion
- How can we know God is real in light of the terrible stuff that happens?
- How do we match up the awful things that happen in the world with the promises in God’s word?
- What are the similarities and differences between a person’s who receives God’s mercy and one who receives God’s judgment?
- Is it possible to experience God’s peace in the midst of turmoil? If so, how?
Trust God no matter what
Habakkuk 3:17–19 (ESV)
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Easy to say. How in midst of deep hurt? How can experience strength described in v. 19?
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
Address all circumstances through a lifestyle of prayer
Habakkuk 3:1 (ESV) A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
Ask God to show himself and to be merciful
Habakkuk 3:2 (ESV)
2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you,
and your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years revive it;
in the midst of the years make it known;
in wrath remember mercy.
Develop a lifestyle of worship that generates genuine fear of God
Habakkuk 3:3-16 (ESV)
Trust justice to God
Habakkuk 3:16 (ESV)
16 I hear, and my body trembles;
my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;
my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us.
Only then can we experience God as our strength
Habakkuk 3:19 (ESV)
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments