Author: TechCommittee

June 14, 2020                                                                                    Text:  Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Harold was a farmer.  A plower of the land.  One beautiful day he was putting his crops in the ground when he saw it in the sky, the Lord must be sending a message because the clouds had formed two letters – P and C.  It could only mean one thing – “Preach Christ.”  Harold hopped, actually he climbed down, you can’t hop off of tractors anymore, rushed to his home to tell his wife.  They made the decision right away – sell everything, move to the city, and Harold would begin seminary.

            The first class most take at seminary is Greek.  Harold struggled.  He couldn’t parse a verb, he didn’t know his Delta from his Alpha.  When the ten-week class ended and he saw his grade, he knew he didn’t have the skills or smarts to be a Pastor.  He would return to farming.  Before he left, he went in to tell one his professors.  Harold said, “I saw it distinctly, I just don’t understand, I was sure God was saying “P.C” – “Preach Christ.”  The professor thought for a moment and looked at Harold and said, “Harold, did you ever think that P.C. meant plant corn?”

            God does not call everyone to full-time church work.  God has invested in each of us talents and abilities to be utilized to further His Kingdom.  And the Kingdom needs furthering, doesn’t it?  When the Lord says, “The harvest is plentiful” we don’t need to be knocked in head, we can see it all around us.  If there were more souls in the kingdom of the Lord these last weeks and months might have played out differently.  The challenge has always been there.  Can you labor in the harvest for those so lost their misguided actions cause so much pain? 

“PROCLAIMING THE HOPE OF HEAVEN AT HAND”

            Who does the Lord want to labor for Him?  Christians.  Those who believe in the message of salvation and hope.  This is where what we have been gifted with comes in.  I’ve been blessed to use skills in ways I never saw.  My secretarial skills got a workout when typing all the services for online worship.  My computer and phone skills were used to further God’s Kingdom in contacting members.  I pray my calm demeanor and non-panic has had an influence especially on Karson and Holden, who will remember this time vividly in the years to come.  I pray it has also been a help to you.  The Lord is in control.  He uses my skills and abilities for His benefit and the benefit of the church.

            I know many of you can say the same.  While not being as involved here at the church, you have still called members, e-mailed shut-ins, played the organ, led the singing, took care of the plants, mowed the yard, entered the offerings, paid the bills and a myriad of other things that have furthered the Lord’s Kingdom.  You have also, I’m sure had many discussions with friends and family and maybe even strangers or non-believers about the hope you have in Christ Jesus.  Your proclaiming the hope of heaven at hand has not lied dormant. 

            Before we can be the workers the Lord needs, as you see in our text, we need the compassionate healing of our Savior.  Jesus was teaching and proclaiming the greatest hope the world has ever seen.  God in human form had the greatest talents and abilities of anyone.  He did not use them to glorify Himself.  He used them to save us and the whole world from drowning in the pit of sin and damnation.  Jesus threw us the lifeline that we needed.  In the quicksand of despair and hopelessness, he pulls us out through the power of the cross.  When we struggle with direction and meaning, He shows us the path to eternal life.  His hope is our hope.  This Jesus whom we proclaim is the ultimate Helper. 

            He helps us through our questions with answers in His Holy Scripture.  He helps us through our sin-stained body with a thorough washing clean in Holy Baptism.  He helps us through our spiritual and mental struggles with problems and people by feeding us His body and blood so that we can make a new start, a fresh perspective, a hope that will not waver.  This Lord is always there even when you struggle to see His presence.  God’s word and promise and hope and forgiveness and salvation are a constant in our lives.  It is ingrained in our soul. 

            You know the hope you have makes a difference.  The Lord wants to use that hope in you to reach others.  The disciples were to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (v. 7b)  Things can go two ways.  People can be drawn back to the Christian faith and worship because they have seen things out of their control, they have watched destructive behavior, they need purpose and meaning for their existence.  They need hope.

            Or God created men and women can see no hope.  They can get comfortable in their individualism and worship online.  They can shelter in place because things weren’t too normal even before the last few months.  They can stop engaging to help because of fear.  They live for themselves or their politics or their self-preservation.

            Jesus asks us to step into these moments of opportunity.  The Holy Spirit gives a calm voice to speak with the misguided.  The Lord allows our hearts to pray for those on the outside of the faith instead of “putting them in their place.”  If we don’t live the hope we possess in Christ what is the purpose of such hope?

            Jesus didn’t send those first disciples to those who agreed with them or knew the hope they knew.  The Lord sent them into hostile and difficult situations.  He knew what they faced.  They knew they didn’t go there alone.  The Lord’s work was done by the Lord through them.

            That is the simple task He gives to you and I.  Make a difference, with the Lord doing the heavy lifting, where he has placed you.  Proclaiming the hope of heaven at hand.

                                    Amen.    

May 31, 2020 – Pentecost                                                                Text:  Acts 2:1-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

            How do you view our relationship with the Holy Spirit?  The third person of the Trinity is the hardest to get a grasp of.  We understand the Father, because we are fathers, we had a father.  We understand the Son for many of the same reasons, obedience to the Father and his humanity displayed in Scripture.  But the Holy Spirit is a little tougher to nail down.

            Scripture does give some help.  John calls the Spirit a “helper” and a “guide.”  But if we think of the Spirit in this way, He is really at our disposal.  When do we need a helper?  When we can’t do something on our own.   When do we need a guide?  When we can’t find where we are going on our own.  The Spirit is not at our disposal . . . that doesn’t feel right.  He is not something we use when we feel like we need Him. 

            It is more that the Holy Spirit uses us.

“POSSESSED BY THE SPIRIT”

            There is our word for this day of Pentecost – possession.  The Holy Spirit is one who possesses his people.  Which makes you and me people who are possessed.

            What images comes to mind when you think of being possessed?  We think of heads spinning or people running around wildly, or someone screaming uncontrollably.  We think of an evil spirit occupying a helpless victim.  Remember these demon-possessed people from Scripture?  The man who lived among the tombs in the region of the Gerasenes.  He had a whole legion of demons.  Chains could not contain him.  Or the boy with the unclean spirit in Mark 9.  He would foam and grind his teeth and become rigid.  Can you imagine such an existence?  Possession can be a horrifying thought.  Why is that?  Because the possessed has no control.  The possessed are at the mercy of the possessor.

            But think of being possessed by a different kind of spirit.  This Spirit does not possess to harm or destroy or make you crazy.  This Spirit possession restores and comforts and saves.  What would it be like to be possessed, not by a legion of demons, but by the Spirit of a good and gracious God?

            We don’t have to imagine.  We see it in our text.  The Spirit rested on each of the believers.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.  They began to speak in their own tongues the mighty works of God.  Spirit possessed Peter stood up and preached the promises of Jesus.  As those possessed continued to speak the words of Jesus, the dead came to life, hearts were restored and lives were renewed.  Thousands upon thousands were saved on that day.  The word of the Lord grew as the Spirit of the Lord took possession of those who heard and believed.

            He has possessed us, too.  “I believe that I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.  But the Holy Spirit” – you know how it goes – “has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts…”  He has taken possession of me.  I am no longer the one in charge of my life.  I don’t live by my own determination.  The Spirit of the Risen Christ possesses me!  Until eternity, He has made me His dwelling place.  He has done the same for you.  You are His possession.  Possessed by the Spirit.

            When I was 15 years old, in the summer of 1981, I was blessed to pitch a five-inning no-hitter.  I struck out 12 of the 15 batters and did not walk anyone.  In today’s language the kids would say I was “in the zone” or “en fuego” – “on fire.”  But in the language back then, I remember my catcher saying, “Man, you are possessed today.”  I threw almost every pitch where I wanted.  I had that feeling only one or two other times in my sports career.  What about your God-given talents?  Have you had that feeling of being possessed?  Everything clicks.  Everything goes right.  Someone may remark, “What’s gotten into you?”

            “What’s gotten into you?”  They will ask that question if you take your family overseas to serve Christians in a poor country.  “What’s gotten into you?”  They will ask when they see you loving someone who is hard to love.  “What’s gotten into you?”  They will ask when you defend a brother or sister who has been wrongfully accused.  “What’s gotten into you?”  They will ask when you deal with a life-changing event with grace and patience and faith.

            “What’s gotten into you?”  The Lord.  The Spirit of the Risen Christ has defeated for you every dark and diabolical power.  He has gotten into you.  He comforts and restores and strengthens and saves you.  And He uses you to comfort and restore and strengthen others through you.

            There is an old spirit that still resides in you and me.  This spirit has been working to dash your hopes these last few months.  He fights like hell to bring you down.

            That spirit must die – every day.  If you didn’t say these words at your baptism, your parents and sponsors did.  I renounce the devil and his works and his ways.  Do you renounce them in your words and in your life still today?  The Holy Spirit possesses us so we can say, “Yes, I renounce them.”  Every day, we renounce.  Every day, we lean into our possession by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus.  And every day we go forth in his gracious power – Possessed By The Spirit.

                                                                                                                        Amen.          

May 24, 2020                                                                  Text:  1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

            What is the great scandal of Christianity?  The great scandal of Christianity is in its insistence on exclusivity.  There is only one truth, only one way to salvation.  Therefore, other religions are misleading and pave the way to hell.  Some then see Christians as not friendly or understanding and it then causes some churches to compromise the tenets of faith with the hope that it will result in more stability and peace in society.  But it never works that way.  The more Christians water down the Gospel the more non-Christians want to take.

            When we look at the history of the Church we see the suffering that many have gone through to preach the faith, teach the faith, learn the faith.  It is a serious issue that makes it a matter of life and death.  Shallow Christianity that is mostly fluff and little substance is doomed to provide nothing to the redeemed.  We are being pushed to the front lines as the enemy inches closer.

“CAN WE STAND THE SUFFERING?”

            Let’s make a distinction right away.  We are focusing on suffering for the faith in our text for this morning.  Yes, we suffer sickness and personal problems and financial difficulties and other types of suffering.  Peter narrows the focus to what happens or can happen when we proudly bear the name “Christian.”

            It has been asked if the Christian has suffered for the faith these last few months?  How would you answer?  We haven’t been able to meet together but worship has still continued.  The Word of God has been heard and preached.  Do you look at it like I do?  Just 23 years ago I was in on this cutting edge technology known as the Internet.  Shocked, aren’t you?  The church I was serving at the time sent me to seminars to learn about this new technology making its way into our daily life.  I used this experience to set up the church’s website and outreach.  There would have been no way to stream worship back then.

            By the mid 2000’s the Lord brought about the platforms we have been using to get this worship to your homes.  Our Lord has seen to it that the resources are there to allow worship to take place where it could not have just a few short years ago.  I pray we see the blessing in that.  Yes, this has been a setback, but be careful what we view as suffering compared to our brothers and sisters in hiding for the Gospel.

            As sufferings come they allow us to share in Christ’s sufferings.  Some in the Church expect the crown without the cross.  There is no depth to their confession and no endurance to their faith.  Some around them may not even see them as Christians.

            Some in the Church expect the crown because of the cross.  But they are not bearing the cross of Christ but their own suffering.  They confuse Christian suffering with worldly suffering. 

            But others in the Church know that they must expect the cross to come before the crown.  They know that Christ teaches that the world will hate those who follow Him.  They are not willing to compromise the truth of God’s Word for unity and less confrontation.  In doing this it can lead to their persecution.

            Not all suffering is alike.  Suffering the consequences of our sin is not Christian suffering.  Suffering the persecution of those we sin against by our meddling and gossip may lead to broken relationships and hurt feelings, but it is not suffering for the sake of Christ.

            Christian suffering has to do with Christ and our relationship to Him.  We are blessed if we are insulted.  We are blessed if we suffer for Christ.  Do not be ashamed.  Stand firm in your suffering.  You will be blessed in the judgment.  The Christian will rejoice and be glad when Christ’s glory is revealed.  We may suffer for a “little while” but we have been called to an “eternal glory” in Christ.  The world may rejoice now but will suffer unending torment in the world to come.

            God rewards Christian suffering.  Humbly submitting to His will gives us His promise of exaltation.  He cares for us in our anxieties.  We can stand firm in our suffering for the faith in the face of the roaring lion.  God blesses the final outcome.  He will restore you.  He will confirm you.  He will strengthen you.  He will establish you.

            If you fail to confess Christ at a critical time and make a shipwreck of your faith, there is still forgiveness for you.  Return to your baptism.  As churches start worshipping again what an opportunity the Lord is giving us.  We can witness to the power of the Word and what it means to confess it as one body of Christ in this place. 

            We have wanted to make these last weeks into a sprint.  The Christian life is a marathon.  Look back over what you have lived through before this event came into your life.  Christ has risen and conquered death so that no matter what happens He is the triumphant victor and by your association and faith in Him so are you.  Can you stand the suffering?  You are already doing it through Christ – to Him be the dominion forever and ever.

                                                Amen.         

May 17, 2020                                                                                    Text:  John 14:19-21

Dear Friends in Christ,

            A fellow by the name of Ralph Larson observed this, “We poor humans boast of our freedom, then exhibit our shackles of material enslavement.  We insist that nobody can tell us what to do – but the clanking of our chains gives our plight away.” 

            “Nobody can tell us what to do.”  I don’t know about you but I have never been good about being told what to do.  These last few months have not been easy in that respect.  How about you?  “The clanking of our chains gives our plight away.”  What are some catch words used during the pandemic – enslaved, quarantined, house arrest, freedom restricted, tied to our home.  For some in nursing homes it has been even worse – they use words like “imprisoned in my room.”

            We are shackled to this world.  Why has there been all this fear and anxiety?  It really comes down to one word – death.  People do not want to die.  We have flipped our lives upside down to avoid the question prevalent since two people were tossed out of the Garden of Eden – “What happens to me when I die.”

            For the Christian the direction is a little different.  Let’s use our text to find some answers . . .

“WE ARE SHACKLED TO LIFE (ETERNAL)”

            We start with a big concern on many of our minds.  It’s rooted in Jesus’ words of verse 21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

            We love the commandments or so we should.  They bring order to life.  We also know that we do not keep them perfectly.  We fall short.  The greatest work is to believe that Christ is the One who came to keep the commandments perfectly in our stead, suffer and die in payment for our sin and be raised to eternal life so that we would be assured of eternal life.  And remember this, it is the Holy Spirit who works faith in us so that we can believe.

            That brings us to verse 19, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.”

            Recall these words of Jesus:  “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (John 14:25a)  “Though he die.”  We can’t stop the process.  I recall this scene from the TV show MASH.  Henry Blake, played by Bloomington’s own McLean Stevenson, was asked about death by a fellow surgeon.  This was his reply.  “In command school, they taught us two rules.  Rule #1, in war young men die.  Rule #2, doctors can’t stop Rule#1.”  There will be no human cure for death or dying.  No vaccine will come along that will prevent our hearts from eventually stopping.  There is though a heavenly cure:  Christ paying for our sin.  Christ declaring victory over the grave.  Didn’t we just sing it confidently:  “Jesus lives!  The victory’s won!  Jesus is my confidence!”  “Yet shall he live.”  Not life tied to earth, but heavenly eternal joy and light.

            Jesus says, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:26)  The day will come when the body shuts down – an accident, a disease, aging – but the promise is unchangeable:  Whoever believes in me, though he die (to this world), yet shall he live.  That is a promise we can take to the grave.

            Years ago this story came out of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  There was man who feared the pain he was going to have because of bunion surgery.  It read:

            “He requested a general anesthetic.  Tragically, the general anesthetic led to a heart attack.  The physicians opened his chest and massaged his heart and revived him.  But later he suffered a stomach contraction resulting in the rupture of the stomach…Then while being carried on a stretcher, he tumbled off, broke a leg and collarbone and injured his heart further.  At the end of his ordeal the unfortunate man had a breathing tube in his throat, a drainage tube in his stomach, a leg in plaster and an arm in a sling.  He still had not had the bunion removed.”

            Welcome to life in this world, right?  We have so many unknowns.  We have the mountaintop moments and then we experience the valley happenings.  Then death occurs.  Paul Eldridge wrote, “We free ourselves from the womb, but there is no knife sharp enough to cut the umbilical cord which binds us to our grave.”  On the contrary, there is a knife that can cut the umbilical cord to our grave.  It is our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ who has overcome sin, death, and hell for us.

            Hear the promise again:  “Because I live, you also will live.”  Hang on to this comforting thought as you navigate the unknown day-to-day.  The Savior says to you, “Whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  This is unending joy and comfort and peace.  No more being shackled to this life.

            Lastly this quote, “what death did to Jesus is nothing compared to what Jesus did to death.”  We can say, in Christ Jesus We Are Shackled To Life . . . Eternal!

                                                                                                                                    Amen.