Table of contents for Faith in Action (Dangerous Church)

1. Faith in Action (Dangerous Church) Part 1
2. Faith in Action (Dangerous Church) Part 2

Joshua 5 – Moving Forward
Repeating the theme of “Something new” requiring Sanctification/Consecration, Humility, and Remembrance, so that we might be Tested, we continue our walk into becoming a dangerous church as we look at Joshua 5. Here the Israelites will be challenged with being circumcised for the first time, loose the blessing of Mana, and confronted by God on the road to Jericho.

Table of contents for Faith in Action (Dangerous Church)

1. Faith in Action (Dangerous Church) Part 1
2. Faith in Action (Dangerous Church) Part 2

We are not dangerous until we move. We aren’t a threat until we start doing something. I believe Satan wants to keep us bound, immobile, and inactive, … “moving like pond water”. In this series we begin our look into becoming a dangerous force towards the enemy by putting our faith into action.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will continually see four themes arise repeatedly as we look through the book of Joshua:

1. There is something “new”, a new challenge or experience that must be faced.
2. There is a need for sanctification, a need to be cleansed and restored before God.
3. There is a need to experience humility; a need to lay down the “self” and superimpose God.
4. There is a need for remembrance; a need to memorialize and not forget where God has brought us and what God has done.

So too is it in our personal lives. We’ve a need to understand that when we put our faith in action that we inevitably face new experiences, are in need of sanctification, must demonstrate humility, and be on guard to not forget what God has done.

Today’s sermon looks at Joshua 3 – 4 as we begin our time focusing on Faith in Action.

Table of contents for Who is He?

1. Who is He? Part 1: Who do you say He is?
2. Who is He – Part 2: What did He do?
3. Who is He – Part 3: Why and How?

1 John 5:13-15
13-15My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God’s Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he’s listening. And if we’re confident that he’s listening, we know that what we’ve asked for is as good as ours.

Rev 3: 20
20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Why did Jesus do what He did?

Can you really understand the “Empire Strikes Back” without having seen “Star Wars, A New Hope”? Can you really understand “The Return of the Jedi” without having seen “The Empire Strikes Back”? Well, in the same way you can miss out on today’s lesson unless you understand what we’ve been speaking the past 2 weeks. You can walk away with “an” understanding of what is presented but it risks being the complete understanding because you’ve not seen the two prequels leading up to today. Many well meaning people across the world begin by answering that question without first flushing out who Jesus is, and secondly, explaining “what” He did in the first place.

And today …

Today we conclude by focusing on the Why and the How – but we will once again have an incomplete understanding unless we understand WHAT He did, which can only be understood in its completion if we realize WHO He is.

Table of contents for Who is He?

1. Who is He? Part 1: Who do you say He is?
2. Who is He – Part 2: What did He do?
3. Who is He – Part 3: Why and How?

John 3:16 (The Message)
16-18″This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

The problem we have in the world however is that His primary purpose for being born is oftentimes overlooked, masked, or cloaked in all the awesome and wonderful things He did.

Last week we talked about the importance of understanding WHO Christ was through the lens of Matthew 16:13-18. In that text Jesus confronts the disciples with a discussion on who Christ is; in verse 16 Peter gives the answer: “You are the Messiah, the Savior, and the Son of God”. We spent a great deal of time talking afterwards about how we stand on that decision and how it relates to others – let me re-iterate that that this understanding of who Christ is in this scripture is not a discussion on evagelism, or how we go sharing Christ with other people – that’s for another sermon. Rather it’s a question on whether or not WE, all of us here right now, fully understand who Jesus is. This week we continue in our series as we look to what He did.

Table of contents for Who is He?

1. Who is He? Part 1: Who do you say He is?
2. Who is He – Part 2: What did He do?
3. Who is He – Part 3: Why and How?

As we approach the Advent Season, Christians all over the world turn their focus towards the birth of Jesus Christ. As exciting as it may be, however, we cannot truly appreciate the importance of His birth unless we understand who He is. I say this because it’s a very tricky road as well we come upon this time of the year. In particular, it’s tough because we have to accept that in knowing *who* Christ is, we have to recognize that which makes Him different than all other Gods and, as such, those things which make us different from other religions.

Why does this matter? For many reasons, however the ones I want to focus on are:

• As a church we should love and care anyone & everyone, however there are boundaries we observe as Christians, and we cannot accept everything – the church that stands for everything, stands for nothing.
• As a church we should love and care anyone & everyone, however this does not mean that we have to embrace their religious and faith choice – as Christians we see Christ as the only way.
• As a church we should love and care anyone & everyone, however we cannot forget the purpose of Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection – to give us eternal life through our father in heaven. This concept is unique only to Christians – life & heaven through the death of Jesus Christ.

It’s through these precepts that we then celebrate the love, joy, peace, and hope we find in Advent.  It’s also important for us to understand that it is only through Him that we receive God’s version of love, joy, peace, and hope.

Who is He? vs. Who do you say He is?

Matthew 16:13-18 Son of Man, Son of God

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

Luke 6:17-23 ; Matthew 5:3-12

How beautiful of an experience it is in knowing that Christ is doing all these things … but for some reason, whenever we seem to do the most good there is someone who doesn’t like it. We’d like to believe that when we do all these things the world just lines up to thank us … but it doesn’t always happen that way.

Throughout my life I’ve heard the phrase, “You can never please all of the people all of the time.” I think for the longest of time Ive seen that as a realization of not being able to make everyone happy. But in this part of my life I’m beginning to see it as a realization that for every person who loves you someone may feel exactly the opposite.

The question is : how will we respond?

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

Exodus 3:1-10; Who here wants to get closer to God?

Last week we spoke of intercession and what it means to get in the middle of God and the people – more specifically about how when we intercede we are literally bridging the gap between man and God. We could argue however that there is a step that must be understood before we can really step into the intercession – it’s getting closer to God.

Look at Moses: He’d left an old life behind him. He’d murdered a man, and the people he tried to stand up for had sold him out. He had a price on his head in a foreign land. He’d lived a double identity. He ran away from it all and nearly lost his life in the process walking through a desert. But he made it to a well and saved a few girls from thieves. Then he’d met the local chief and priest who was so impressed that Moses was given one of his daughters to marry. So now he’s got the lush life and for nearly 40 years, he wakes up to a fresh new day, full of nature, freedom, and even love. He’s happy and complete. He’s living a new life and on one unsuspecting day wonders over to a bush on fire.

And that curiosity will re-shape his life.
That encounter will disrupt the peace in his life.
That experience of getting closer to God will subject him to bitterness, ridicule, threats for his life, physical struggle, suffering – basically pain for him and the pain of a nation of people.

I wonder if Moses could have avoided the whole Exodus story if he just had not went to the bush. But He did.

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

The Act of Intercession; John 8:1-11

Most often when we speak of this scripture we focus on the sinfulness of the woman. We speak of Jesus turning the situation back on the men about to stone her, but it’s because of the sinfulness of the woman. We’ll mention the fact that the man is not there, but once again it’s the sinfulness of the woman at present. And so we walk away feeling like the beauty of the situation is that Jesus prevents the woman from being stoned and saves her from death. Well, I’d like to add an even greater focus to this story: Jesus intercedes by putting Himself on the line for this woman.

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

Every man in here is a son, and a great many sons are fathers or will at some point in their lives be a father figure to another in their lives. In this message we focus on the charge of being a father or father figure in this world by looking at an all too familiar story of the lost (prodigal) son from Luke 15:11-32.

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

We continue in our discussion of “Brave New Ministry” by talking about people. It’s easy for us to forget that the people we serve are the lambs and sheep of the world Christ charged us to love. If we are to truly embrace the world in a brave new ministry we must not forget who they are and how we a charged to love them.

John 21:15-17 Do You Love Me?

15 After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon [uses the old name, not Peter which means rock], son of John, do you [LOVE, sacrificially, unconditionally, take a bullet] love me more than these [others around]?” “Yes, Master, you know I [feel, got your back] love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you [LOVE, sacrificially, unconditionally, take a bullet] love me?” “Yes, Master, you know I [I've got feelings for you; got your back] love you.” Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”

17-19 Then he said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you [have feelings for you; have my back] love me?” Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, “Do you love me?” so he answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know that I [I've got feelings for you; got your back] love you.”

Table of contents for Brave New Ministry

1. Brave New Ministry: Part 1 – Pharisees
2. Brave New Ministry: Part 2 – People
3. Brave New Ministry: Part 3 – Paternity
4. Brave New Ministry: Part 4 – Prayer
5. Brave New Ministry: Part 5 – Pain
6. Brave New Ministry: Part 6 – Persecution

We begin a new series on how to bravely ministry to this changing world. There is threat of sickness, fear of war, difficult financial and economic ability, and so much more. Many of the ways in which we have traditionally taken for granted in the world of ministry may not be sustained in this world. Can we preach how the members must constantly give to the church and see God bless them over & over, if a person has lost their job, is in danger of losing their home, and their family life is in ruins? We must actively seek Christ and His guidance to relevantly minister to the hurting world around us.

There is a fine line between being a Christian and a Pharisee. In part 1, we look into the challenges we as Christians face and how we may unexpectedly walk that line between Pharisee and Christian.

Luke 18:9-14 The Story of the Tax Man and the Pharisee

9-12 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ‘Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’
13 “Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’”
14 Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”

Table of contents for A Perceived Truth

1. My Friend Eliphaz
2. My Friend Bildad
3. And My Friend Zophar

Table of contents for A Perceived Truth

1. My Friend Eliphaz
2. My Friend Bildad
3. And My Friend Zophar

A Perceived Truth Part 2 – Job 7 & 8

The second response comes from Job’s friend Bildad. Once again the truth Job’s friend is perceived incorrectly. The only difference is that Bildad speaks the bold hard truth to Job:

Bildad responds by seeing that Job:

• Needs Tough Love
• Needs to Remember the Past
• Needs to Understand God’s Plan

Now the question is whether or not we do this to others all because we think we see the truth. Is there is a Bildad in us? If so, when was the last time it came out?

Table of contents for A Perceived Truth

1. My Friend Eliphaz
2. My Friend Bildad
3. And My Friend Zophar

A Perceived Truth Part 1 – Job 4

The story of Job begins with a man who has it all and then loses it through no fault of his own. He loses his children, all his possessions, his wealth, his way of living, and then even his health – all because God allows Satan to do so. And when he is at his lowest point possible, he receives a visit from three friends. They sit with Job silently for a week, listen to him, but then they speak.

For the next several weeks we will examine how Job’s friends “perceive”  a truth that is incorrect. And when they speak they provide the ultimate blows for a man at the brink of death. Let’s remember to have a “God Listening” heart when listening to hurt people; let’s remember that what we see and hear may seem to be truth but may actually be far from it.

In today’s message we see how Job’s friend Eliphaz perceives truth incorrectly and then says words in the worst way.  When we see incorrectly, process incorrectly, and speak incorrectly we risk:

1. Assuming the past makes the future
2. Assuming what we’ve seen fits this experience
3. Assuming the vision we received is for that person

Table of contents for Faith from the Outside In

1. Faith from the Outside In: Part 1
2. Faith from the Outside In: Part 2
3. Faith from the Outside In: Part 3
4. Faith from the Outside In: Part 4

“But If Not” Faith

So many times we ask “Do I have enough faith to believe in ________?” Perhaps the question should really be: “Do I have enough faith to keep my relationship with God even if nothing happens – or even if things get worse?”.

Here we will look at Daniel 3 and the story of the three Hebrew boys Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah. (You may also know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, which are not their real names.) They hold the crown jewels of faith but there is so much more to their story. It’s from them that we learn about “But if not faith”.

Table of contents for Faith from the Outside In

1. Faith from the Outside In: Part 1
2. Faith from the Outside In: Part 2
3. Faith from the Outside In: Part 3
4. Faith from the Outside In: Part 4

Invisible (Mustard Seed) Faith

We continue our trek through faith by looking at John 11. This may be a familiar story you may have heard; the story of a man named Lazarus who dies because Jesus was not present to heal him. Jesus then shows up four days late and raises Lazarus from the tomb.

Maybe you have heard of mustard seed faith. Well, here we look through the story and find many mustard seeds which may not be present at first glance yet become apparent after a little searching. So too are the mustard seeds of faith in our lives. They are there – we just may have to search a bit to find them.

Table of contents for Faith from the Outside In

1. Faith from the Outside In: Part 1
2. Faith from the Outside In: Part 2
3. Faith from the Outside In: Part 3
4. Faith from the Outside In: Part 4

Faith In Others

As we start into the new year let’s look at the topic of faith. But rather than just starting with a definition and working out, we’ll be starting out and working back in. We’ll cross paths with some of the things we’ve heard about faith and look into other Biblical examples of some things we perhaps haven’t realized about faith.

In this message we look at the faith of someone who isn’t in the inner circle of Christ – a Roman soldier. And if all the people in Israel, Jesus says that this Centurion has faith greater than anyone. And he demonstrates this without ever coming face to face with Christ. Luke 7:1-10.

Table of contents for Faith from the Outside In

1. Faith from the Outside In: Part 1
2. Faith from the Outside In: Part 2
3. Faith from the Outside In: Part 3
4. Faith from the Outside In: Part 4

Faith Of Others

As we start into the new year let’s look at the topic of faith. But rather than just starting with a definition and working out, we’ll be starting out and working back in. We’ll cross paths with some of the things we’ve heard about faith and look into other Biblical examples of some things we perhaps haven’t realized about faith.

In this message we’ll look at Luke 5:17-25; the story of a paralyzed man who, on a stretcher, was carried to Jesus by 4 men. We learn that sometimes it’s enough for You to have faith for Me.

Table of contents for Conspiring for Kindness

1. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 1
2. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 2
3. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 3
4. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 4

Join with me as we look these next few weeks at several places in scripture where Jesus demonstrates kindness in unique and powerful ways. We continue with the pursuit of kindness by looking revenge and retaliation through Acts 9:10-19.

Table of contents for Conspiring for Kindness

1. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 1
2. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 2
3. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 3
4. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 4

Join with me as we look these next few weeks at several places in scripture where Jesus demonstrates kindness in unique and powerful ways. We continue with the pursuit of kindness by looking at Luke 6:25-42.

Table of contents for Conspiring for Kindness

1. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 1
2. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 2
3. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 3
4. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 4

Join with me as we look these next few weeks at several places in scripture where Jesus demonstrates kindness in unique and powerful ways. In today’s message we look at the story of a woman who has been publicly disgraced and on the verge of being killed from Luke 6:25-36.

Table of contents for Conspiring for Kindness

1. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 1
2. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 2
3. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 3
4. Conspiring for Kindness: Part 4

It’s hard to believe it’s time again for the Christmas Season. As we look into the life of perhaps one of the most joyful times of the year, it’s a great time to reflect upon one of the most overlooked ideals of a Christian life – Kindness.I looked across my bookshelf, I came upon a book I hadn’t read for some time: The Conspiracy of Kindness. I won’t give away all the details of the book, but I will share that it has lead me, once again, to really examine how I see myself in the realm of kindness in relation to others – irregardless of whether they are Christians or not.Join with me as we look these next few weeks at several places in scripture where Jesus demonstrates kindness in unique and powerful ways. In today’s message we look at the story of a woman who has been publicly disgraced and on the verge of being killed from John 8:1-11.

Table of contents for Let It Out

1. Let it out: Part 4 (Living together “things” can happen)

In Exodus 32 the Israelites are feeling pretty high now that they have been freed from the slavery. They have seen the miraculous work of God in freeing them from the Egyptians. Things are going incredibly well. I think of Moses in the Prince of Egypt as he is coming down from the mountain – regal, expectant, excited … just wait until the next frame. Because now, he’s gonna have to live with these people.

In this message we look at the “reality” of how life happens as we live together:

• As a community we have to remember for each other,
• As a community we pray for each other,
• As a community we plead for each other

Our purpose statement’s second point is “As Christ listens to us, we listen to others”. This message looks at how the disciples miss out on an opportunity to share a bit of love by simply listening.

In this “rough” scripture, we talk about the importance of listening and how not to consider someone “not worth listening to because:

• Silence; because we don’t know what to say
• Slander; belittling and “classifying others” as beneath us
• Our selves; we should consider that sometimes “self” is the reason why someone is screaming to be heard.

Table of contents for Beatitudes as a Model for CAYA

1. Peace – It is well with my soul
2. As Merciful as a Samaritan
3. Persecution – Are my hands clean?

We apologize for the audio quality of this message.
In today’s message we conclude our focus on the Beatitudes by finishing with a discussion on persecution (Matthew 5:10). But today we think of persecution in terms of not so much what people do to us, but what we do to other people. As we look at Exodus 1 let’s consider the following:

We invite persecution when we forget: Pharaoh forgot all that Joseph had done for Isreal, thus paving the way for the persecution of the Hebrews. When we forget the story that makes us who we are we pave a way for the enemy to speak and act through us. Let’s not be guilty of forgetting who we are as a church and all these Beatitudes we’ve spent so much time talking about.

When we forget, we fear: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Men hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they are so often separated from each other.” Can we rise above our own issues and seek to pull down walls of separation, so that we can take chances on knowing people, so that we can prevent fear, jealously, hate and the so many of the effects of fear?

When we fear, we force: We force the minds of others, we fabricate lies and deception when we fear others. As a result, imprisonment and exile are impressed upon others – and this is in the context of Christian / church life!

Let’s make sure that as a church we cause ZERO fatalities! Let’s put our hearts and minds on guard against forgetting, against fear, and against forcing others so that we will have no fatalities.

Table of contents for Beatitudes as a Model for CAYA

1. Peace – It is well with my soul
2. As Merciful as a Samaritan
3. Persecution – Are my hands clean?

In this message we look at the example of the “Prince of Peace” from Matthew 14:22-34. Here is the often heard story of how Christ walks on water and Peter steps out to meet Him. Peter then takes his eyes off Christ and begins to sink. When he calls out for Jesus, our Savior hydro-planes across the water to take Peter’s hand and lead him back to the boat.

As you listen consider these:

• Peace is not circumstantial – being at peace is not something that has to happen when all is calm and still. We can experience peace even during storms.
• Peace is not always continuous – as much as we desire to live as Christ, there may be times in our life when we are not at peace, yet we can still call upon our God to hold our hands and help us.
• Peace is not “concatenated“ – Do we define our God by what He does and doesn’t do for us? Or do we define God by who He is to us? Yes, Christ comes and holds Peter’s hand but the storm does not cease until they walk back across the water and get into the boat. As we experience difficulties in our life Christ may not always change the situation immediately, but He does say that He will be there with us. (And I included the definition just in case anyone still doesn’t believe it’s a real word.

Table of contents for Beatitudes as a Model for CAYA

1. Peace – It is well with my soul
2. As Merciful as a Samaritan
3. Persecution – Are my hands clean?

So, we’ve talked of being poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, and hungering & thirsting for righteousness. Today we talked about mercy (Matthew 5:7) through the lens of the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37.

As we speak of mercy consider the following:

• The merciful show no condemnation
• The merciful show action – they “do it”
• The merciful follow through

As you listen to this message remember that we live a life of mercy by first being merciful to ourselves, then to those closest to us and beyond.

May your heart and your life be blessed by what you hear.

In this message we continue our study through the Beatitudes as a Model for Church life (and for personal life, too) as we look at Matthew 5:6 – hungering and thirsting for righteousness, for Christ.