In the Valley

/ The Pastor

[28] And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” [29] And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
(Mark 9:28-29 ESV)

Mark 9:14-29; Jesus healing a boy with an unclean spirit, is the sermon text for this week. Last week I preached on the transfiguration of Jesus in verses 1 – 13; where Peter, James and John had an amazing mountain top experience; one that definitely tops anything I have ever had.

But following this mountain top experience, Jesus and the boys head back down the mountain; back to reality; into the valley, where life happens. Because lets face it, as awesome as mountain top experiences are, we aren’t meant to live on the mountain top.

The battle is in the valley and it’s into the valley that God sends you. So as I reflect on this reality and ponder this text there are three truths that are ruminating in my head and heart as I ponder preaching this text. So I share them with you here to ponder and reflect on:

(1) When Satan confronts you; turn to Jesus.
(2) When in “darkness”; turn to Jesus.
(3) When Satan is turned away; turn to Jesus.

It seems to me that the disciples were struggling with these while Jesus, Peter, James and John were on that mountain. Those disciple were confronted by Satan but tried to cast the demon out without their eyes on Jesus. The disciples were in the “dark valley” but they failed to look at Jesus. And earlier in this Gospel account, the disciples were successful in casting out demons but have now failed to turn back to Jesus.

As Christians, we are called to the valley, but don’t forget to turn to Jesus.

Dear Lord, you have called us to proclaim the Gospel, announce forgiveness and do battle with Satan and his forces. But as we confront that which we have no power to defeat, may we look to Jesus. May we have the faith the size of mustard seed that sends Satan running away as You, oh God, are glorified. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Ending your day

/ The Pastor

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
[Psalm 150]

Why this Psalm?
Why not?
Why not end the day praising the Lord?

God is indeed worthy.
God is gracious and merciful.
God is compassionate.
God is love.

God is holy and yet forgives sins.
We are faithless but God is faithful.
We are unworthy but God shows grace.

And then there is this whole thing about talking to God and God listening. Me, a puny sinner. God gives me His full attention. That’s pretty amazing, so why not tell him that, after all, God is listening.

And this awesomeness comes through faith in Jesus, God’s son, who suffered a horrible death on a cross FOR YOU and FOR ME so we could be forgiven. That’s pretty amazing as well. Why not praise God for that?

And if that awesomeness was not enough then consider this: That forgiveness I just mentioned, means we get to live with God forever in heaven someday. Yup, I like that.

So there you have it. There is so much to praise God for. So let’s hear it; loud and clear. Let’s hear your voice. Go ahead, shout it out. Don’t be bashful. God is worth it.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Sweet dreams 🙂

The Pastor -|—

God, not gods

/ The Pastor

“You shall have no other gods before me. [Exodus 20:3]

The first and greatest commandment…

…because without this commandment, everything else falls apart. If God Almighty is not your God then why would you care about honoring His name or remembering the Sabbath Day or have any respect for the other commandments?

You might say, though,

I honor my father and mother.
I don’t go around killing people or stealing from others.
I am faithful to my wife/husband.
I don’t back stab/gossip about people or covet their stuff.

That’s GREAT (on the surface) but you still violate these commandments in your heart and mind; sinning against God. Even thinking about killing someone or just getting angry with someone still violates the commandment (according to Jesus). Looking at another woman/man is cheating on your spouse (according to Jesus). Etc, etc… But then again, if God Almighty is not your God then why would you care?

Jesus says that this is the first and greatest commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)

So what does it mean to have others gods (and we all have them; even this pastor)? Anything we fear more than God has become our god. Anything we put before God has become our god. Anything we honor more than God has become our god. And anything we fear losing more than God has become our god. Convicting, isn’t? At least for me it is when I meditate on this commandment.

The fact is: We worship gods.

Think about it:
~ You withhold giving to God because you fear you lack the resources?
~ You skip worship because you fear reprisal from others for not attending a certain event.
~ You spend more money on yourself than giving to others in need.
~ You nurture relationships with people more than you nurture your relationship with God.

And the list goes on. We all fall into one or more of these examples.

Oh God, please forgive me.

So we need to take a faith inventory of our lives and see what gods are taking up residence in our hearts; turning us away from God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Consider what things and people you think you can absolutely NOT live without. These may be your gods. And then lift these up to God in confession and ask for a heart inclined towards Him. Don’t fall for the lie that the gods in this world can give you anything of value. Only God Almighty can through faith in Jesus Christ. Only the One and True God is worth worshiping. Only the God of heaven and earth can give you your heart’s TRUE desire; eternal life.

Clean house
Sweep away those gods
Seek God

And, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Let’s pray…

Father God, what a travesty that we turn away from you and seek after other gods. Please accept my confession (and the confession of anyone else here seeking You). Please incline my heart to you that I may mediate on your promises and cling to the hope that you give through Jesus Christ. All praise and honor are due to You and You alone. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Preparing to Listen/Preach ~ Holy Words

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before the sermon. This was inspired by a quote I heard from a person who used to be a faithful teacher of the Bible but now says that Scripture is from human origin; basically, not the inspired Word of God. Sad really. So I couldn’t help but lament the negative conversion of this pastor and seek God’s blessing as we listen to this holy Word.

Let’s pray…

Lord God almighty, holy scripture is breathed out by you; inspired by you; and therefore are words that come from Your holy mouth. This is nothing to take lightly but yet many take Your holy words and claim they are nothing more than mindless babble from human minds long dead and irrelevant. What a travesty. May we never see Your words that way but rather see them as words of life; revealing our salvation through faith Jesus Christ. And so, speak life, oh God. Create, strengthen and nourish faith here. May we heed Your words to listen to Jesus in order to bring glory to Your holy name. Send Your Spirit now and bless these words. May they come from Your mouth and not mine. All praise, glory and honor be to You, oh God, our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

And let’s continue praying that God’s Word is considered holy and true. It was written by men but inspired by God.

May God bless your hearing of his holy Word and the proclamation of that Word.

The Pastor -|—

Opening prayer ~ Listen to Jesus

/ The Pastor

The following is the opening prayer I wrote for worship where I am preaching on Mark 9:1-13; the transfiguration of Jesus. The words of that text that captured my attention are the words from God to Peter, James and John when God says, “This is my beloved son, listen to him” 

May you listen to Jesus this morning and always.

Let’s pray…

Oh God, through the transfiguration of Jesus, Your son, you gave those disciples, and us, a glimpse of Your glory. You showed us who Jesus is and for that we bring our worship this morning. You also commanded us to listen to him, but we don’t listen. We don’t obey. Instead, we go our own way. May Your Word draw us in and may we listen intently as You, and You alone, have the words of eternal life. May Your words send us forth to be Kingdom people in this pagan world. And may we not be so content to set up camp here, but may we bravely and boldly leave this mountain top and enter the valley; the shadow of death. But in the shadows may we be guided by the Shepherd’s staff. So holy God, receive our praise here this morning and speak those words of Life and instill in us the faith to listen to your son, Jesus Christ, in whom we pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Crushed, Pierced and Bruised (2 Corinthians 5:21)

/ The Pastor

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21]

Does seem fair, does it? To make Jesus know sin; the one who lived a sinless life in obedience to God. It doesn’t seem fair that God made Jesus experience the weigh and judgment of sin because are so stupid and unfaithful.

I am joyful and excited and exuberant, though,when I think about Jesus dying the cross and rising from the grave on the third day. I mean, what a show of grace. What a show of love. And so I repeat this refrain and give thanks that Jesus died and rose that our sins would be forgiven and that we may have the hope of the resurrection to eternal life. It all makes for great worship refrains.

But try this refrain on for size…

The sinless one
The obedient one
The glorious one
The kind one
The loving one
The forgiving one
The wise one

Took upon himself that which he did not deserve. Jesus took upon himself sin; something that he had not known except for the sinners he compassionately received and dined with and healed and forgave. Jesus took upon himself that which God hates; so much so, that God turned his back on His son as he hung on the cross dying:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Or how about the prophet Isaiah’s description:
Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was CRUSHED (emphasis mine) for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Oh, how I can’t imagine what that would be like; to be forsaken by God and to be crushed. But this is what Jesus did. He died for you. He rose from the grave for you. But Jesus was also forsaken for you that you may not be forsaken by God. Jesus was crushed for you that you may not be crushed by God.

Think about that for a moment and you too might think this sin-placed-on-Jesus-shoulders thing is unfair too. But praise be to God that he is “unfair” because if He were fair, we would certainly be forsaken and crushed for our iniquities.

So as you worship God this weekend; as you sing beautiful refrains of Jesus dying and rising for you; as you give thanks to God for His wonderful gift of grace; REALLY think about what Jesus did for you and let that crush your shallow perceptions of what Jesus means for sinners.

Jesus was crushed for you.
Jesus was bruised for you.
Jesus was forsaken for you.
Jesus was pierced for you.

Jesus has saved you! Alleluia!

Oh holy God, I can not comprehend what you have truly done for me through Jesus. I can not comprehend what Jesus went through for me. And, I can not comprehend why You would do such a thing for a sinner such as me. But I praise and worship Your holy name, oh God. May sinners run to You and receive this gift of life. Amen.

May God bless your day as you meditate on the cross of Christ.

The Pastor -|—

Evening prayer ~ You are awesome

/ The Pastor

Father God,

You are awesome!

Your grace is mindblowing.
Your love is amazing.

Forgive me my transgressions.
Restore my soul.
Strengthen my faith.

Protect me as I lay vulnerable in my bed tonight.
Guard my dreams that I may sleep in peace.
Place Your hedge of protection around my family.
Refresh my body that I may be ready to serve You tomorrow.

May my desire for Your ways increase.
May Your love abound through my life.
May YOU be glorified, Father God.
May Your peace abound through my life.
May my desire for Your decrees increase.

Refresh the weak.
Place Your precepts on the hearts of Your people.
Guard Your Church
Protect the vulnerable.

Strengthen faith.
Restore hope.
Forgive me my transgressions.

Your love is amazing.
Your grace is mindblowing.

You are AWESOME!

Father God, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Now what? (Psalm 119:14-16)

/ The Pastor

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. [Psalm 119:14-16]

Last night I made my appeal to God for forgiveness; something we all need to do on a daily basis and then some. I appealed to God’s mercy through faith in Jesus Christ and then threw myself at his feet. And then in the words of Romans 5:10-11 I heard that I am reconciled to God through faith in Jesus.

Praise be to God, but now what?

After we have made our confession; after we have appealed to God’s mercy through faith in Jesus; after we have thrown ourselves at God’s feet, what next? Of course we will hear a word of forgiveness, but after THAT; after the absolution of our sins? We certainly shouldn’t go away unchanged or unfazed. There must be something next.

And there is…

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.
Take delight in learning God’s ways.
Take delight in knowing what God desires.
Take delight in following God in all things.

Take delight in God’s law, for in God’s law we see a holy wisdom that is far above anything of human understanding. God’s ways and thoughts are indeed above our ways and thoughts, so desire God more than all the riches ever known in the world and will ever be known.

I will meditate on your precepts
Don’t just read and study God’s law, but meditate on them. Think about them. Ponder them. Reflect on them. May they not be a passing thought. May reading God’s law never be cursory. May God’s law sink in and take up residence in your heart.

and fix my eyes on your ways.
And as you are walking with God; as you are meditating on God’s ways; fix your eyes on the object of your desire. When I take my wife out to eat, I am not staring and gawking at other women. That would be rude and unfaithful. My desire is for my wife and so I fix my eyes and attention on her. In the same way and much more, fix your eyes on God and His ways. Don’t be unfaithful.

I will delight in your statutes;
Delighting in God’s statues will only come through diligent study and appreciation of who God is through faith Jesus Christ. If your faith and trust is not in God through Jesus, then you are never going to truly delight in God’s ways. It’s only through understanding what God has done for you that you can appreciate what God is up to and wants for you and desires for you and commands you to do.

I will not forget your word.
Make your meditation of God and His ways a daily habit that you will not forget. Even one day off can cause our simple and weak minds to go astray. You may think you are smart and have a good memory, but when it comes to God we have the attention span of a flea. Mediate often and seek God continually.

But what if I fail?

You will fail.
You will fall short.
You will turn away from God.

Just don’t accept this sin condition of yours but rather keep running to God, for God’s mercy is great. His faithfulness is endless. His love is all encompassing. His grace is amazing.

Keep running to God and appealing to his mercy through faith in Jesus Christ, and start all over again; desiring to truly learn and desire God’s ways more than anything. Don’t take advantage of God’s faithfulness but desire God’s faithfulness with all your heart and being.

May God be praised in your learning and meditation of His holy Law.

The Pastor -|—

The Appeal (Psalm 51:1-12)

/ The Pastor

I appeal to Your mercy, oh God, through Jesus Christ…

[1] Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

I am a sinner, oh God, I am a sinner but I appeal to your mercy through Jesus Christ: Forgive me.

[2] Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! [3] For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. [4] Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

I deserve the full force of your wrath for I have sinned against Your holy law and commands but I appeal to Your mercy through Jesus Christ: Wash me clean.

[5] Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

I am a sinner through and through, even from my birth.

[6] Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Through You and You alone can I know the way of true Life. Teach me, oh God, that I may know true wisdom. Teach me that I may stay on the narrow path and not stray from You.

[7] Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. [8] Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Restore me, cleanse me, wipe my slate clean. Oh God, grant me a second chance.

[9] Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

I appeal to Your mercy through Jesus Christ: Forgive me.

[10] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. [11] Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. [12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Place a new heart in me, oh Sovereign God as I appeal to Your mercy through Jesus Christ: Forgive me and grant me a joyful heart once again.

This is my confession; this is my appeal; this is my plea to you, oh God. I echo these words from the psalmist and seek to be placed back into a right relationship with you. So I lay it before you and wait…

[10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. [11] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:10-11 ESV)

Through faith in Jesus Christ I am forgiven?

PRAISE BE TO GOD!
ALLELUIA!
AMEN!

The Pastor -|—

Covenant faithfulness ~ A Lenten Prayer

/ The Pastor

Tonight we join with our brothers and sisters in Christ, from First Presbyterian Church, for Lenten worship. My colleague and close friend are preaching through the Old Testament texts assigned, through the Revised Common Lectionary, for the previous Sunday.

Last week my friend preached about the covenant with Noah and all of creation following the great flood. Tonight I get the privilege of preaching on Genesis 17:1-16; the covenant with Abraham and Sarah and their descendants. These two texts are wonderful texts that set up the Gospel of grace through Jesus Christ. And I can hardly wait to proclaim this message.

Below is the prayer I wrote to pray before I preach and so I offer it to you tonight.

Let us pray…

Oh holy God, to gather around your Word is such an awesome privilege. To join with our brothers and sisters in Christ in worship is an awesome joy. And tonight, oh holy covenant-keeping God, we joyfully and expectantly and anxiously await the proclamation of your Word. And so I appeal to You to send Your Spirit to infuse these words with life and faith-filling purpose; for Your Word does not return to you empty. My words, on the other hand, are empty without Your Spirit. My words have no power or influence or life; only Your words do, Creator God. So may I be faithful to say what You have ordained me to say. And may I bring glory to Your holy name. Bless this time, oh God, and then send us forth to faithfully serve You in covenant faithfulness. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Let us come before the Lord our God in worship.

The Pastor -|—