Preaching

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 -|—

Entering God’s Holy Word ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

This is the prayer I wrote to be prayed before I preach on Sunday. This is not a text specific prayer but rather a plea that one be faithful in the awesome task of entering God’s holy Word.

When I think about what I do week in and week out, it is mind-boggling and a little scary. I have been charged with the task of opening God’s Word and proclaiming the very words of God. And therefore I don’t want to be lax in my preparation or timid in my proclamation. I don’t want to steal glory from God or water anything down. And so I prayed and will pray as such each and every time I enter the pulpit or stand before others to teach the Word of God. Let us all do the same, for God’s holy Word needs to be taken seriously.

Let’s pray…

Holy God, it is an awesome privilege to have in our hands the very words that you have spoken. It is mind blowing that you would grace us with Your words that we may come to know Your heart and your plan for salvation. For the Bible is not just an instruction book on how to live, but it’s Your holy Word on what You are up to for us through Jesus Christ and how we can bring You glory.

And therefore to enter Your word like this is an overwhelming thing because we don’t want to get it wrong.

And so I humbly ask that you may grant me insight to proclaim this Word.
And then I ask that you may grant to those listening, the ears to hear and the faith to receive.
And then if it is not too much to ask again of You, Holy God, may you grant us boldness as we leave this place to live for you no matter what.

Thank you for the privilege to listen to your Word. Now may the words of my mouth be heard as Your Words and not return to you empty, but accomplish that which you sent them to do. All glory and honor to you, oh God, through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

The Pastor -|—

JESUS!

/ The Pastor

A sermon, a message of hope or anything of the sort can never, ever just assume Jesus (not mentioning his name) because people will never assume Jesus. If your message is truly about the hope we have through faith in Jesus, then say it.

Say, write, proclaim, shout, sing ~ JESUS!

Don’t tip toe around Jesus and be bashful. Be unafraid and bold.

JESUS!

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” [Mark 8:38, ESV]

You are sinful, but Jesus is not ashamed of you. I mean, just look at the cross. He did that FOR YOU. So you, don’t be bashful.

JESUS!
JESUS!
JESUS!

The Pastor -|—

Sermon Pondering ~ Following Jesus

/ The Pastor

Mark 8:31-38

Deny yourself
Take up your cross
Follow

Wow, this is not normal.

I like myself
I like my life
I like my stuff
So deny? Not normal.

And this cross business?
Carry mine?
That sounds like it could hurt. Again, not normal.

And then it gets even more not normal:
Want to save your life? Lose it.

Hmmm…

But what will it profit you if you gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?

Hmmm…

What will it profit me?
NOTHING

What will I actually get for gaining the whole world?
DEATH

But…

…if you lose your life for Jesus and for the sake of the Gospel you will save it.
(Actually, Jesus will save it through faith)

Die? Save your life?
YES

Follow Jesus?
ABSOLUTELY!!!

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

Prayer in Preparation for the Word ~ Open our Eyes

/ The Pastor

The following is the prayer that I wrote to be prayed before the sermon on Mark 8:22-30 (Jesus healing the blind man). It’s a prayer of faith; asking God to open our eyes to see Him. So may God open your eyes as you worship today and hear God’s holy Word proclaimed.

Let’s pray…

Oh God, You are holy and awesome and sovereign and worthy and wise. You are love. You are peace. You are hope.

Oh God, open our eyes so we may see; for you are the only one who can. You are the only one who can show us the truth. You are the only one who can show us the way. You are the only one we can ultimately trust with our lives.

Oh God, open our eyes.
Open our eyes to see your glory.
Open our eyes to see your beauty.
Open our eyes to see your love through the cross.
Open our eyes to see the truth that we may echo Peter’s confession and declare that Jesus Christ is indeed Your son.

And may we stand firm in our confession; not allowing Satan to get in between us and You. May we not find ourselves in the position to be rebuked as Peter was, but if we do, may we fall at Your feet in humble confession.

And so grant me wisdom, that only you can grant, as I unpack Your holy Word. May I be faithful, Oh God. Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O God, our rock and redeemer. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Something out of nothing

/ The Pastor

One of the many joys for me as a pastor is seeing God create something out of nothing. No, I am not talking about anything magical here but rather the Holy Spirit bringing about a sermon when I had nothing.

Often times I enter Thursday not knowing where I am going with a sermon. I know the text, since I am preaching through the Gospel of Mark, but I don’t always know what the message is. And there are many times when I am anxious about this even though I know I shouldn’t be; even though I know I should trust God.

Today was such a day.

I did my reading and note taking before “relocating my office” to my favorite coffee shop down town. I do this every Thursday (for the most part) and at the same time. I set up my computer, ordered my lunch to be brought to me at 11 AM, got my coffee and scotcheroo and off to work I went. This is my routine.

As I started writing I noticed that my fingers started flowing across the keyboard faster and faster and with purpose. The message started to materialize in front of me like a Star Trek transporter. And as the message became clear I got more and more excited and felt more and more guilty. I was excited as the Spirit was working through me to create this message but guilty that I didn’t trust God enough to not be anxious about it. I have been a pastor for 10 1/2+ years and God has not let me down. Every Sunday I was scheduled to preached, I preached a sermon. Never once did I show up on a Sunday morning with nothing.

And God does this in other ways in our lives; creates something out of nothing:
~ Opportunities to share our faith
~ Opportunities to serve one another
~ Faith where there was no faith
~ Purpose where there was hopelessness
~ Life where there was death

If only I had the faith to see this more often.

Oh God, increase my faith and sharpen my eyes to see you at work in this world.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

 

Food for the dogs

/ The Pastor

The sermon text for this morning is Mark 7:24-30 (The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith) and the following is the prayer I wrote to precede the message. Let us pray together…

God of glory and wonder, we seek you this morning as dogs unworthy of even a morsel of your grace from your holy banquet table.

We scavenge this life for self-fulfilling food while ignoring the fact that you have sent Jesus to give us the bread of life. We ravage others of dignity through selfish pursuits.

But holy God, you don’t turn your backs on us. You don’t withhold the glorious morsels of your grace. You don’t treat us as the dogs we are.

Rather, you wait for us and offer your forgiveness.

Loving God, may we curl up in the arms of your grace and bask in the glow of your love. May we be filled with the Bread of Life and may we find all we desire in you. Heal us of pride. Restore us to Life. Strengthen us to live a life of repentance.

All glory to you, holy Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May this Lord’s Day bring glory to God as you offer your worship and praise; and while doing so, I pray that the Word take root in your hearts. May faith be created or strengthened. May you be send forth to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins. And may you be at peace as you cling to the hope of the resurrection.

God bless you this Lord’s Day and beyond.

Praise be to God!

The Pastor  -|—

A wretched mess

/ The Pastor

[14] And he (Jesus) called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he (Jesus) said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” [Mark 7:20-23]

This is the sermon text for Sunday in the Gospel of Mark sermon series I am preaching. And as I read and re-read and pray about this text I am thinking…

Stuff that goes in our stomachs does not defile us since it enters NOT the heart. So what is entering our hearts that is defiling us? What kind of images are we seeing? What things are we hearing? What is messing up our hearts to a point that it spews out the crap in verse 21? And since we ARE defiled (for we are all sinners) that means we are unclean and separated from God. 

Wow…what a wretched mess we are. Who shall save us from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

Praise be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yup…I think this text will preach 🙂

The Pastor -|—

Satan attacks but God wins

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

It’s Monday morning and I have been doing some reflecting on the events of yesterday (Easter).  I feel like a bus has run me over but God was faithful.  Satan did his best to stop the proclamation of the Word of God but God was victorious (in more ways than one). Satan took his best shot but it wasn’t good enough.

Allow me to explain to the glory of God…

Attack #1:
I woke up Easter morning after only about a couple hours of sleep.  A head cold started attacking me the night before.  I thought I was holding it off (drugging myself up as much as I could) but it wasn’t enough…I was prevented from getting a good night’s sleep.  A bad night to have sleeping problems.   But when I woke up at 4:45 a.m. as planned I felt rested.  Score 1 for God 🙂

Attack #2:
As my morning progressed; getting ready for the 7  a.m. Sonrise worship service, I could feel the frog in my throat growing.  I knew that if things continued to progress like this I would have problems later in the morning.  You see…I had three worship services at two sites.  I had a long morning ahead of me and I needed my voice.  Everything went fine during the first service; but I started to feel my throat have issues at the second service (at Belmont) and a little at the third, but my throat held up…I made it . Score another point for God 🙂

Attack #3:
After my first Sonrise service (at Salem) I usually have very little time to get out to Belmont for Sonrise service #2.  Eight miles separates the two churches which usually involves me eating egg bake in the car while exceeding the speed limit…slightly…but not this year.  But in preparation for the unknown I have all my  Belmont materials ready by my office for a quick grab and go…including another copy of my sermon manuscript.  I made it to Belmont with 15 minutes to spare (not too bad…I think that is a record for me).  During worship my nose started to run some more and throat was filling with phloem (sorry for being so graphic).  And then batteries in my cordless microphone pack died but I was able to make a quick change during the offering without missing a beat (nice try Satan). But attack #3 came during the sermon.  About half way through I noticed a problem (besides my nose and throat)…the sermon manuscript I was using was an earlier, uncompleted copy of the sermon.  I am not sure how I managed to print the wrong copy.  Paragraphs were in the wrong order and I was missing 1 and 1/2 pages.  Slight panic set in…and then calm.  I proceed to preach and share the Gospel without a hitch.  Score a couple more points for God 🙂

Attack #4:
I made it back to Salem for worship service #3 with about 30 minutes to catch my breath.  During worship my throat was still being annoying, my nose was still having issues and my energy was starting to run low…but…as I started to preach and preside at the Lord’s table, I felt a second wind.  Score yet another point for God 🙂

All along the way Satan did his best to derail the proclamation of the Good News that Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia! But God was going to have none of that.  Yesterday morning was yet another reminder that God is in control and not Satan.  I do not take any credit because on my own I would have crumbled under the weight of all that was attacking me.  Today…I feel like crap…but Easter happened.  The Word got preached.  And now I can have some Sabbath rest.

Satan can not stand the fact that the tomb was empty and that Jesus lives. And he will do everything in his power to stop that proclamation but God is faithful.  God wins and because of that we too win.  Praise be to God 🙂

Final score: God ~ ALL the points in the world. Satan ~ a big fat 0

JESUS LIVES! ALLELUIA!

The pastor -|—

Embracing Suffering

/ The Pastor

What I have posted here is the sermon manuscript from our joint Lenten worship service that we do with the Presbyterian Church here in Jackson.  We are exploring a book together called Embracing Obscurity by anonymous.

Embracing Obscurity

The chapter we spoke about on Wed, March 13 was titled “Embracing Suffering”.  Below is my portion of the message:

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As I begin this message I want to share with you a couple short paragraphs from the book Chris and I are talking about, Embracing Obscurity.  These paragraphs will help set the stage as we talk about Embracing Suffering tonight as a way to help us embrace obscurity.  This is what our anonymous author writes:

In A Path through Suffering, Elisabeth Elliot muses, “The word suffering is much too grand to apply to most of our troubles, but if we don’t learn to refer the little things to God how shall we learn to refer the big ones?” Perhaps that’s why her definition of suffering seems so fitting: Having what you don’t want, or wanting what you don’t have. This is the perfect definition of suffering for our discussion about embracing obscurity because it’s in the little “sufferings” of demotions, hard breaks, layoffs, out-of-state moves, menial jobs and (allow me to add…failed adoptions), that we learn to defer to God our dreams of being well-known, respected, and admired. It’s in these trenches that we realize God is big and we are small, where we exchange our will— our dreams, desires, and plans— for the opportunity to make much of Him and less of ourselves.
[Anonymous (2012-09-20). Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything (pp. 108-109). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.]

And that is the embracing obscurity part ~ to make much of God and less of us.  That is what we should be about, but when we are in the midst of suffering, that can be very hard to do.  After all, we are sinful, self-centered and glory-seeking people.  We want what we want and this makes it hard for us to embrace the obscurity that Chris and I have been talking about for a few weeks.  We naturally look inward but when we do that, our suffering is what we focus on…not on what God is doing.  So when something happens that we can classify as suffering some initial reactions include (but not limited to):

Why is this happening to me?  Where is God?  If God loves me then why did this happen? If God exists then suffering shouldn’t exist either, right? How long, O Lord, how long?

Sound familiar? Those are tempting questions… aren’t they?  And I have to admit…I was asking questions like that last week.  As Connie and I were in Florida on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; waiting to adopt a baby, I have never prayed harder for anything in my life.  I so wanted to be able to bring home a baby.  I prayed for the birth mother and family.  I prayed for the baby.  I prayed for our attorney.  I prayed for wisdom and strength.  I prayed, I prayed and I prayed some more.  You know 1 Thessalonians 5 where it says “Pray without ceasing”?  That was me.  But then on Wednesday afternoon we got the news we were dreading the most: “The birth mother has decided to parent the baby.”  My first prayer following those words was “Why God, why?”  My heart began to ache. And if we are to use Elisabeth Elliot’s definition then one could say I began to suffer.

The walk through the long hospital parking lot, back to our car, felt like the longest walk ever.  When we finally reached the car, I sat down and placed my hands and head on the steering wheel; not knowing what to do.  I didn’t want to leave because I didn’t want to believe what just happened.  I was at a loss. The only thing I could think of doing was to cry out to God.  So we prayed…again.  We continued to pray for the birth mother and the baby and the family.  We continued to pray for strength and wisdom.  But this time we added healing and understanding. We had so many questions.

As we began the long 1600 mile trip back to Jackson I can remember thinking through my tears:  How in the world does anyone do this without God?  It totally baffled me.  How does anyone deal with any kind of suffering without the Almighty?  How does anyone move on with life without the awesome love of our Father?  At that moment, I needed God more than ever.  I didn’t like feeling the way I did (and I still don’t) but what I pray for now is for understanding and wisdom in how to best use this for the glory of God.  Because, no doubt, someone else will go through something similar. If they don’t know Jesus I want them to or if they DO know Jesus, I want them to remember, because true healing can only be found in Jesus. You can’t do this alone.

When we are suffering we have a couple choices to make.  We can wallow in our suffering; in self-pity, drawing attention to ourselves (which does not glorify God) or we can use what we are experiencing to help others; to give glory to God…to make more of God and less of ourselves. It is all a matter of faith.  If you truly believe that God is sovereign then you know that life is not about you.  The world does not revolve around you and me. And as I thought about that I even struggled to write these words to say to you tonight.  I didn’t want this to be a therapy session for me or something to portray me as some hero of the faith. So please don’t look at me as some kind of hero for not falling apart or for not being angry, because if you were in my home on Friday afternoon when we got home, you would have seen a person falling apart…still asking questions; emotionally raw.  I am no hero…I’m a child of God.

What we need to remember, my friends, is that God does not delight in the pain of his children.  God does not take pleasure in the suffering of his children.  The Good News in the midst of pain and suffering is that God has overcome suffering through Jesus Christ.  If we make suffering about us then we fail to proclaim this Good News to the world.  But…if we embrace suffering to the glory of God then we shift the focus from us and highlight the conquering and glorious King; drawing others to Him.  If you are looking inward; focusing on your own suffering, then you fail to see the awesome love of God.  Like I said, life is not about you and me.  So we might as well point to the one who it is about…God, for God is indeed in control. And that is my prayer each and every day; that I remember who is in charge and who it is that should be glorified.

As I close my portion of this talk, allow me to share one more paragraph with you from our book: How has God allowed you to suffer? Have you lost a home? Received a startling diagnosis? Been plagued by self-doubt or troubled relationships? Longed for a dream that evades you? Suffering is inevitable. You know it; I know it. We also know that how we respond says much about us. Will we be teachable through the dark moments and difficult seasons? Will we allow God’s Spirit to humble and transform us through our pain and disappointments? Will we allow our suffering to multiply what we have to offer others?
[Anonymous (2012-09-20). Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything (pp. 111-112). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.]

In this sin-torn world we live in suffering is a reality; we can’t escape that.  And to deny that is foolish.  But the the bigger reality that we all can take great joy in is that God has overcome the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the one who suffered more than anyone can possibly imagine…and he did all that just FOR YOU and FOR ME.  We won’t suffer like Jesus did, but we can use our suffering to glorify God like Jesus did.  So in the meantime…do not let Satan use your suffering for his purposes but rather let God use your suffering for His purposes; to draw people to Himself.  Make more of God and less of yourself and know true healing; healing that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ.  For through faith in Jesus Christ you will know a life ABSENT of suffering.  And that is what it is all about; proclaiming that Good News in the midst of a world of suffering.

May GOD be praised, always and forever.

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The pastor -|—