Christ in Our Kindness

Series: “Showing Love in an Age of Outrage”

Part 2

“Christ in Our Kindness!”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

How many of you have a smartphone? Twenty years ago we didn’t have smartphones. Now, almost every day we use them to search the web for info on virtually any topic. I searched the web dozens of times this week writing this sermon.

How many of you have a cell phone with you today? It seems we can’t leave home without our phones. Most days, I would more readily return home to get my phone than my wallet. We think we must remain constantly connected with friends, family, co-workers and…well, the world.

But, who knew that this technology would empower some of our worst behavior? It contributes to outrage! Outrage is all around us. Jesus was no stranger to rage. His righteous anger turned over tables, cleansed the Temple, rebuked friends, chastised religious leaders.

But, when Jesus experienced rage, he did not dehumanize or insult or incite violence. Jesus offered grace and mercy and kindness. Jesus was angry without judgment, and invited people to come be with him, to eat and learn from him, to experience a different way of being.

Do you consider yourself to be a person of kindness? I don’t mean are you nice! Kindness in our culture is more about being nice than it is about love. It only asks us to be nice to those whom we are different from, but it does not call us to love them. When kindness is without love, it is not kindness at all, but rather an imitation, a fake that supposes love for another, but is merely an act.

This is the problem with cultural kindness. I can be nice and tolerate someone while hating them at the same time, and this is what we see all the time. Though cultural kindness puts on the facade of love, it is hatred with a smile. So, how are we to show love in an age of outrage. I believe Christians should live and look differently because they belong to Christ. That’s what I want to explain today.

We are continuing in this new series of messages that I’m calling “Showing Love in an Age of Outrage.” We’re looking how to bring out our best when the world is at its worst. Today I want us to look at kindness.

God says in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “Make sure that you never pay back one wrong with another wrong. Instead, always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.” Now, friends, I don’t know if you realize this, but we put far more effort in looking nice than in being nice.

Colossians 3:12, “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Now, God is very clear what he wants people to look like who follow Christ: compassionate, kind, humble, gentle & patience.

1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Everything you do must be done with love.” Now, what’s the relationship between love and kindness? Kindness is love in action. Kindness is not an emotion. Kindness is not a feeling. You might have all kinds of feelings towards somebody, but if you don’t ever act in a kind way, you’re not kind.

Now, this focus on kindness is so important to your life that God had Jesus tell a very famous story about it, called the story of the Good Samaritan. He told the story to explain what it really means to be kind, because we don’t really understand kindness.

Jesus typically turns the tables and he does the opposite of what people expect and he makes “the bad guy” in the Jews idea, the hero of the story. He makes the hero of the story, the person who was despised.

Luke chapter 10 it says, “One day an expert in the religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him a question. He says, ‘Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?’” Pretty good question. How do I get to heaven? “Jesus replied, ‘Well, what does the law of Moses say?’ And the man answered, ‘Well, the law of Moses says this, you must love the Lord. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and all your mind. And you have to love your neighbor as yourself.’”

That’s called the great commandment. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. “Jesus goes, that’s right.” Good answer. He says, “Do this and you’ll live… you’ll go to heaven! But the man asked Jesus, “So Lord, who’s my neighbor?”

Now, what’s going on here? Well, this guy doesn’t want to have to love everybody. You don’t expect me to love people I don’t like? You don’t expect me to love my enemies?

And Jesus answered by telling him a story. Now, the story is that a guy is going from Jericho down to Jerusalem on the road. It’s a very dangerous road. Jesus tells this story and he says, there’s three different guys. There’s a priest, there’s a Levite and there’s a Samaritan. And they all encounter this crime scene when they’re going from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Each of these three people represents an attitude. Let’s look at the 3 attitudes. The first guy is the priest. This attitude is that I can keep my distance. It is the attitude of avoidance. He sees the guy but he goes over to the other side of the road. In Luke 10:30-31 it says this: “There was a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, beat him up, leaving him half dead. Now it’s so happened that a priest was going down that same road. But when he saw the man who was in pain, he walked on by on the other side.”

Now, this is the attitude of avoidance. He sees a man left half dead, naked, bleeding to death, and instead of helping the guy, he just crosses over to the other side of the road and keeps walking. If I ignore it, I don’t have to do anything about it. I’m not responsible. I’m just going to keep my distance.

The second attitude is, I can be curious, but I’m uncaring. When I see somebody in pain, I just walk over to the side of the road and keep walking because I’m busy with what I’m doing. Luke 10:32, “In the same way, a Levite also came, went over and looked at the man, but walked by on the other side.” Now, notice both of these guys, the priest and the Levite are religious people. Point, being religious doesn’t make you kind. Being like Christ makes you kind.

The third attitude is this. I can show kindness. V 33, “But the Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.” That’s the heart of kindness. Now, what is the basis behind this? Matthew 7:12, “Jesus says, always treat others as you would like them to treat you.” This is called the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Always treat other people the way you want to be treated. How do you want to be treated? With kindness. Then how are you commanded to treat everybody else? With kindness. I am not allowed to treat other people in a way I don’t want to be treated.

So how do you become a kinder person? Well, this passage gives us four incredibly powerful truths. This story that Jesus told is packed with wisdom. I want to take you quickly through these four steps to becoming a kinder person.

Number one, it starts with your vision. First, I must see the needs of people around me. In Luke 10:33, “When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him.” This is the first thing the Good Samaritan does. He observes, he looks, he notices, he’s aware. You can’t care until you see. Kindness always starts with your eyes, with the way you look at people.

The second step to becoming a really kind person, I must sympathize with their pain. Kindness isn’t just seeing a pain, kindness is sympathizing with the pain. Verse 33, “When he saw him, his heart was filled with compassion.” How do I become a more sympathetic person? Two words: Listen Better. Advice is cheap. Just listen! Taking time to listen is kindness.

One of the reasons we’re not sensitive to listening to other people is because we have a hard time accepting somebody whose behavior is different than ours. Here is a key to kindness, stop asking what’s wrong with them. Instead start asking, what happened to them? Galatians 6:4, “Share each other’s troubles and problems. And in this way, you obey the law of Christ.” What’s the law of Christ? Love your neighbor as yourself.

Number three, I have to seize the moment to help. The good Samaritan doesn’t delay. You see, kindness is not something you wait to feel to do. It says, he went to him, that’s an action. Love is often inconvenient. Now, think of all excuses this guy could’ve given. He could’ve said, I got my own problems to deal with. I’m late for a business appointment in Jericho. He’s probably beyond help. You can make up any excuse for not being kind and for not taking the time. Proverbs 3:27-28, “Never walk away from someone who deserves your help. Your hand is God’s hand for that person. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now.” Don’t delay, do the kindness now.

There’s one other thing. Number four, I must spend whatever it takes. There is always a cost to kindness. This is the principle of a sacrifice. There’s always a price tag. It usually requires a sacrifice of your time and of your money. It certainly will require a sacrifice of your energy and attention.

Verse 34 and 35, “Then he put the man on his own donkey and he took him to an inn where he took care of him. And the next day he gave the innkeeper some silver and he told him, if his bill runs higher than that, I’ll pay the difference the next time I’m here.” The Good Samaritan’s nursed him through the night. He provides for his care. He pays his bill. He does all he can to help. What did he gain from this? Nothing, but being like God. And growing a kind heart.

Now, remember this story was told by Jesus, to answer the question, who’s my neighbor? Who do I have to love? Jesus asks, “Which of these three people would you say was a true neighbor to the one attacked?” And the man said, “Well, the one who showed him kindness.” Jesus said, “You’re right. Now you go and do the same.” And Jesus is saying to you, you go and show kindness to the people you see in life.

Christ in Our Mission

Series: “Showing Love in an Age of Outrage”

Part 1

“Christ in Our Missions!”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Everywhere we look, we see anger—anger towards others, anger towards Christians, anger by Christians—anger everywhere.

In the last few years we have entered a new age—an age of outrage—one defined by anger, division, and hostility amplified by new technology and social media. Outrage is all around, so we have to discern how to walk through this. To be sure, there is a lot in this world that is outrage inducing.

What do we do when the anger becomes too much? How are we to show love in an age of outrage. I believe Christians should live and look differently because they are being sent on a mission in the world by Christ. That’s what I want to explain today.

We’re sent by God on a mission. A mission is to tell the truth and to love people. Today, I want to specifically give you four Biblical truths.

(1) Number one, the Christian life is a mission trip.

Mission is God’s big redemptive plan in the world for the cause of Christ. Jesus, in John chapter 20, (after Jesus was resurrected) finds the disciples hiding from the authorities. It says Jesus appears to them where they were in hiding. He shows them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord, but not all of them are convinced that he has been resurrected. Then Jesus says to them, vs.21, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” So 2,000 years ago, to a group of people in an upper room hiding from the authorities, Jesus said to them, “As the Father has sent me, I’m sending you.”

This means 2,000 years later, Jesus is still talking to people around the world saying, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you.” In doing so, we recognize that we are sent. You, if you’re a follower of Jesus, are sent by Jesus on mission. Your life is a mission trip.

If what Jesus said to the disciples then is true now, how do we respond? Well, God’s always been a sender. It’s part of his very nature. God sends his people, so our response is simple. It’s what Isaiah said. He said, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

Can I get you to say that aloud with me? Let’s say it together. Here I am, Lord, send me. Now, by saying that, we’re responding to the call of Jesus, right? Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, even so send I you.” We say, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

When God’s mission gets ahold of your life, you’re willing to live differently in this culture of outrage that what we’re seeing around the world. Christians live and look differently because they’re on a loving mission. There’s a growing age of division around the world. There’s not a place where there’s not division in the country, where there’s not brokenness and anger and frustration. It’s all around the world. It’s political, yes, but it’s cultural in so many other places. It’s financial in other places.

(2) What do we do? Number two is Christians live and look differently.

As our culture becomes more broken and sick, the more loving we become, the more attractive we will be. In a society of anger and division, racism, polarization, meanness, rudeness, fear, disrespect and hopelessness, the Christ-like values of peace and unity, kindness, compassion, just courtesy, respect, and more, shine even more.”

As a church rather than trying to be like culture to attract people, today in the world in which we live, we’ve got to live and look differently than the world around us. Some churches look different than the world, but too often people live the same. We need to live and to look differently because we’re followers of Jesus.

Philippians 2, 14-15, says, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”

This passage really gives us three ways to live and look differently. Tell the truth and love people by sharing and showing the love of Jesus and work for peace in this age of outrage. How? Our first response is without grumbling. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing.”

I John 4:16-17 lays it out for us so beautifully. “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them, and as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.” The more you love Jesus, the more you will look like Jesus’ love.

Today around the world we are being taught that when somebody punches at you, you punch back harder. That’s not the way of Jesus. The more you love Jesus, the more you’ll look like Jesus’ love. Do you know what that means? That means our second response is we’re going to end up standing out.

Philippians 2:14-15 says, “so that you may become blameless and pure.” That’s the character of Christ lived out in our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. “Children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Now, here’s the reality. We could say today, 2022, this is a warped and crooked generation in every place around the world, but this was 2,000 years ago they were saying this. Here’s the reality. Every time, every culture, is a warped and crooked generation that Jesus shows a better way. He shows a different way.

You know that when you’re out in the darkest place, you can actually see the stars more. As the culture around us gets more dark and divided and broken, and we don’t really know where this ends in all these places around the world. The world’s in a tumultuous time. What we know is that this time, the light of Jesus will shine more clearly if his people will stand out in the light of the gospel in the midst of the darkness.

Now, the question is will we? God called us to stand out, to look different by our lives. The Message says in Romans 12:2, “Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. There’s a whole world of people being discipled and spiritually shaped by their cable news and social media choices they’re being feed.

It says, “Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll then be changed from the inside out, readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity,”

Social media, 10 years old was a major experience on the smart phone, but social media has become a place where so many Christians have damaged their witness by not standing up for the gospel, but by standing out for all the vitriol and the anger that they’re posting against people they don’t like or don’t agree with them.

Next, our 3^rd response is holding firm. Philippians 2:15, says, “As you hold firmly to the word of life.” There’s a lot of ways we can hold firmly. I want you to know there are times because you believe Jesus died on the cross for our sin and in our place, and you really believe that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” That is not popular in our day.

But when we hold firm, we’re holding firm to what we believe about the gospel, about the Scriptures, about so many things that flow from there, but we’re also holding firm to how we live. Look at Philippians 1:27. It says, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves,” conduct, right, conduct yourselves, your conduct, “conduct yourselves in a matter worthy of the gospel.”

Do your neighbors hear your name and say, “He conducts himself in a manner worthy of the gospel”? Paul goes on to say, “Then, whenever I come, whether I come to see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit by your conduct, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.”

Some people think that spiritual maturity is that you know a lot of obscure Bible trivia. You can know the Bible, but if you’re not living a life that’s characterized by living and looking differently because Christ is in you, you’re not spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity is not measured just by knowledge. It’s measured by life transformation. Christians live and look differently because they’re on a mission.

(3) Number three is living as ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20, says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, come back to God.” We are Christ’s ambassadors. What do ambassadors do? They share and show the love of Jesus. This is not our home. We’re of a kingdom that’s not of this world. We represent as the king’s ambassadors. We share and show the love of Jesus. Ambassadors share and show the love of Jesus. There are people around the world, who being an ambassador for Christ has cost them their lives.

Tell the truth. Love people by sharing and showing the love of Jesus and work for peace in the age of outrage.

(4) The fourth point is to end up looking like Jesus. Being Christians changed the world. In the first century, many people came to Christ. The Christian church actually began to grow based around this crazy idea in I John 4 which says. “We love because he first loved us.”

In 252 A.D a devastating plague hits the region. Bishop Cyprian decided that the Christians, who had often been persecuted, would be brought into the center of town. He said, “If we’re going to do what Jesus did, so that through his poverty we might become rich, I call you,” he says, “to give personal and financial aid, care and comfort to all according to their need, not their faith.” He said, “We’re going to care for the sick and the dying.”

Do you know what happened when plagues came in the ancient days? People would burn everything, homes. Sometimes burn with them dead in it. That’s the only way they knew how to protect themselves. Then Cyprian gets the Christians together and says, “That’s not going to be our focus. We are going to share and show the love of Jesus as more a concern for them than for ourselves.” That got people’s attention.

About a century later there was an emperor named Julian the apostate, he was a pagan emperor, and he says, “Whilst the pagan priests neglect the poor, the hated followers of Jesus devote themselves to works of charity. He says these followers of Jesus not only feed their own poor, but ours also, welcoming them into their agape,” their love.

I want us to be known as a follower of Jesus. The world may not like everything that we believe today, and it’s probably going to get worse, not better. The world may resist as we seek to share the good news of the gospel, but we’re going to serve them in the name of Jesus anyway. You can share and show the love of Jesus, and Christians live and look differently because they’re on this showing love mission.

You tell the truth and love people. You share and show the love of Jesus in an age of outrage. I want to be like Jesus, so that the world says, “They don’t follow after the evil of this age. They follow Jesus, who changed them and changes everything.”

Mother’s Day Love & Mercy

Mother’s Day

“Mother’s Day Love & Mercy”

1 Corinthians 13

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

On this Mother’s Day, I want us to look at “Showing Love and Mercy” in your home. The sad fact is sometimes the hardest place to show love and mercy is at home, with the people you live with all the time. In fact, we’re often harder on our family members than we are on strangers.

I’m not proud to admit this. Why is it that sometimes we say the most ungracious things to those we love the most? Does that bother you that you could be the meanest to the people in your life you love the most?

Maybe you could identify with what David said in Psalm 101:2. “Lord, I want to live a blameless life, but how I need your help Lord, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should.”

Let me ask you? Do you think you’re a very loving person? Let’s just have a little quiz and find out; How loving are you with your family really?

First one? (1) When a family member gets some detail wrong while telling a story do you (A), interrupt them and correct them publicly? or, (B) say nothing and let it go knowing?

Second one? (2) When a family member keeps making the same mistake over and over, (A) do you become irritated and angry at them? (B) Or graciously forgive them and pray for them?

Number three. (3) When a family member is getting more attention than you think they deserve do you (A) feel resentful and the need to bring them down? Or (B) celebrate with them?

Number four: (4) When a family member says or does something that you don’t understand, do you (A) assume the best motivation for doing it? or, (B) question motivation -think the worst?

Here’s last question (5) Are you more polite (A) with strangers? (B) or with your own family?

How did you score? Maybe you need to work on this thing about love and mercy in your family. Mercy is Love in action. Mercy is not a feeling or an emotion. It’s a behavior. It’s a choice. So whatever is true about love is also true about mercy. The Bible has a very famous chapter called 1 Corinthians 13 and the whole chapter defines the meaning of real love. It gives us 15 characteristics of real love.

These are the characteristics of real love: “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love is not boastful or proud. Love is not rude. Love is not self-seeking. Love is not self-centered. Love is… I love you, period. Love is not irritable or easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil. [This is real love.] Love rejoices with the truth. Love is always supportive. [Real] love always trusts. It is always hopeful. Love always perseveres and love never gives up. Love never fails. It never ends.” These are the 15 characteristics of love.

We’re only going to look at only four of these marks of love today. Number one, the first way we can show love in our home and in our family is…

BY OVERLOOKING IRRITATIONS & OFFENSES

Overlooking is ignoring the irritations or the offenses. You’re going to have irritations in life. Yet in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love, [real love] is not irritable or easily angered.” Anger is by far the most misunderstood and most mismanaged of all the human emotions.

Anger is not necessarily a sin. There are some things you ought to get angry about. There’s a good kind of anger and there’s a bad kind of anger. It’s not anger that’s wrong. It’s why you’re angry and how long you stay angry. Long anger turns into resentment & bitterness and that’s a sin. When you see racial prejudice and injustice in the world or hear about abused you ought to get angry. Anger is a part of human life. And some things are worth getting angry for. Anger is a God given capacity but you’ve got to learn to control it.

There are two wrong ways to get angry. One is to blow up – and the other is to clam up. You’re either a skunk or you’re a turtle. They’re just both inappropriate ways of dealing with anger. Love is not irritable or easily angered.

The Bible says that uncontrolled anger causes foolish things to happen in your life. Proverb 17:9, “Love forgets mistakes; nagging about them separates even close friends.” Proverb 19:11 says, “It is to your glory to overlook an offense.” It shows spiritual maturity if you can overlook offenses. If you’re always getting your feelings hurt you need to grow up. You need to learn how to overlook an offense.

1 Thessalonians 5:15, “Be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.” If we would just practice that, we’d be a whole lot happier. Look out for the best in each other and do your best to bring it out.

Look, love and mercy is hard! It requires you taking the first step, and being the first to show mercy. That’s not an easy one! Stop trying to BE right and start DOING right. Humbly accept God’s love and mercy and offer love and mercy to others. The second way you can show love and mercy to your family…

BY BEING KIND WHEN THEY DONT DESERVE IT BUT NEED IT.

In every family we have difficult people. They’re demanding, pushy, self-centered. How do you deal with these kind of people? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient… Love is kind… Love is always supportive.” How about you? Are you always supportive of people whether they deserve it or not? Here’s how in Proverb 19, “A man’s wisdom gives him patience.”

Here’s the key. Learn more about what makes them tick. Hurt people hurt people. Anytime somebody’s hurting you it’s because they’re hurting. And if you understand their hurt you’re going to be a lot more patient with them. A person’s wisdom gives them patience.

The Bible says in Proverb 3, “Whenever you are able, do good to people who need help.” It doesn’t say, “Do good to people who deserve help.” There are a lot of people that don’t always deserve your kindness. Which, by the way, is what God does with you. God doesn’t give you what you deserve; God gives you what you need. That’s called mercy.

1 Thessalonians 5 says “Don’t be hateful to people, just because they are hateful to you. Rather, be good to each other and to everyone else.” Mercy is not dependent on the other person’s response to it. You choose to show kindness and love because it is the right thing to do. The third way that we can show mercy to our family members is…

BY LETTING GO OF PAST HURTS

1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Do you keep a mental record of every wrong a family member has ever done? The Bible says love doesn’t do that. When somebody hurts you, you don’t rehearse it over and over in your mind. You let it go. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:5, “Love is not rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges.”

It’s interesting that rude people are simply reacting to past hurts. They’re stuck in the past. And then they come and take it out on you. That’s not fair. Hurt people hurt people. The fourth way you can show mercy to a family member is…

BY BELIEVING GOD IS WORKING IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS

You must believe that God is working in the life of another even when you don’t see it. You trust, you believe. The Bible says you have to trust God. 1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love always trusts, love is always hopeful and love perseveres through whatever comes.”

How do you know if you’re trusting God? Real simple! Look at how much you pray. If you pray a lot you’re trusting God a lot. If you pray little you’re trusting little. If you’re not praying at all you’re not trusting God at all. The Bible says in Psalm 28, “Lord, hear my prayer for mercy when I call to you for help, when I lift my hands toward your most holy place”

The Bible says, “Love always trust, always believes, and is always hopeful.” Have confidence that God loves you even in difficult times. When we typically think of love and mercy, we think of doing kind things for others in tangible ways. But I believe the most profound way God can teach us to show love and mercy, is to pray for others.

I don’t know what you might be facing or what you’re going through right now. Some of you may feel a little hopeless this morning. You may need to turn to God’s love and God’s mercy.

There was a guy in the Bible who did this. His name was Jeremiah. His life fell apart. But he did not give up hope because he turned to the love and mercy of God. Lamentations 3 says this: “I will never ever forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh every day.”

That is the source of hope. These four things that God expects you to do with your family God does them with you every single day of your life. God forgives your mistakes, God is kind to you when you don’t deserve it. God heals your hurts when you put your trust in Christ. And God is working in your life even when you don’t feel it. This Mother’s Day will you accept the love and mercy of God for your life today…and share that love and mercy with others?

Jesus is Here!

Communion

“JESUS is Here!”

Luke 24:13-35

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

As a pastor, when I talk with people, often the conversation gets around to the life they are living and how can God change them. It all goes back to Easter. Easter is all about change. God is still changing individual lives like me, like you, even today. And I am so happy that you are here to celebrate what God is going to do today.

Today at the end of the service, we are going to take communion to remember why we celebrated Easter; to remember why Jesus died for us. Do you need God to change something today in your life so you can walk each day in a relationship with God? When we celebrate communion today, what will Jesus need to do for you?

I believe our scripture lesson explains that purpose. On the Road to Emmaus with the two believers of Jesus, they had heard the reports of the resurrection. However, because they hadn’t personally seen the evidence, they decided to pack it in and head home and go back to their old way of living, and they stopped seeking Jesus. They gave up on Jesus … but thank God, He didn’t give up on them.

The text says, “Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.” Jesus knew their need and so He DREW NEAR. Why do we give up and live as if Jesus isn’t around? Well …It’s easy to lose focus. It’s easy to doubt. It’s easy to give up and give in.

Thank God that in spite of giving up hope, or getting lost frequently along the way, or walking in doubt in our faith… there is a God who not only comes looking for us, but also DRAWS NEAR AND TRAVELS WITH US UNTIL WE SEE AGAIN!

That is the good news! That is grace! That is Jesus! Jesus drew near the two who had lost hope and He walked along and spoke with them for hours. He spent the day with them explaining the truth of the Scriptures. They saw him. They talked with Him. And yet, they didn’t recognize who he was! They were so caught up in their own questions and confusion they didn’t know He was with them.

But there have been times, when we’ve been blind and distant and didn’t know Jesus is with us. How many times have we sat down to read the scriptures and not know that Jesus is Here – in the Word we are reading? How many times have we not seen Jesus when He is near– when we’ve given up and lost hope: It’s happens when we say, “I’ve been praying for years and God still hasn’t helped me!

We live in such a confusing time. We have become so impatient, so intolerant, so “me” focused. And as a result we give up way too easily. Thank God we are not left alone. I’m not saying that you’ll never feel alone. Truth is you will, but that’s not because God has abandoned us, it’s because we’ve walked away from Him!

People ask, “So where was Jesus when my loved one died?…or, where was He when the doctor said it was terminal?” The answer is, “Right here with you.” But we keep walking away … pushing Jesus away … and not seeing Him even when He is here? But thank God when we genuinely struggle in our faith, when we honestly call out to Jesus …He is here. You may even be blind to His presence right now in this service but, He’s right there sitting next to you. Even though we go through times of blindness, the good news is that He is here.

You see it wasn’t until He broke the bread that finally “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him…” Remember Jesus’ words at the last supper, He said, “…When you break the bread…and drink the cup…Do this in remembrance of me…” Why? What Does Jesus want us to do when we take communion?

It allows us to focus on Jesus instead of ourselves. It points us to the One who has been near all along. In this act of remembrance, HE REMINDS US of His constant love and as we break bread we see that He HAS not left us. That JESUS is here!

God wants our eyes to be opened – the eyes of our mind and the eyes of our heart too. And that’s why we gather today to share at this table… not our table …but His table. When these two followers of Jesus who had left town and were feeling so dejected, after they realized that Jesus was here with them …notice the change in their attitude: they went from despair to hope, from being lost …to being changed!

Why the change? “Jesus drew near…broke bread”! “It was true! The Lord has risen…” (v34). And He was here …with them! Today Jesus continues to draw near. As we gather to celebrate at this table Jesus wants to show us, to change us. Jesus IS here!

Into Your Hands!

Series: “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross”

Part 4 – Easter

“Into Your Hands”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

I want to begin today’s message by looking at our hands. Look at your hands. Perhaps there are skin marks, or a scar, or a callous caused by hard work. You may see ridges of skin called fingerprints. Every hand and fingerprint is different.

The human hand is a marvelous creation. We use our hands to pick up and hold objects, to eat, to touch, to feel, to communicate, to greet, or can use it as a weapon. How we use our hands are very important.

“Hands” are mentioned in the Bible over 1,800 times. The phrase “the Hand of the Lord” is used over 200 times in Scripture.

One of those times is in our scripture lesson today. In Luke 23 it says: “By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the thick veil hanging in the Temple was torn apart. Then Jesus shouted ‘Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!’ And with those words he breathed his last”.

We are concluding today the series of messages called “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross.” We have been looking at Jesus’ last words while hanging on the cross before He died. A lot of people as they take their last breath say words that are very important. When Jesus is hanging on the cross His very last words were: “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” These final words are not about death but about life. And that is precisely what Easter is about. It is about entrusting our lives to God.

Please note that Jesus is quoting Scripture, Psalm 31, as He dies on the cross. This verse was a prayer. It’s the very first prayer taught to a Jewish child. Without a doubt, Mary taught it to Jesus when he was a little boy.

We very much need to spend time in God’s Word as we live each day. Planting God’s Word in our hearts is valuable and can be very helpful, protective and useful at a time we least expect to need it. Jesus often quoted scripture and He did so when He was dying on the cross.

Psalm 31:5 says “Into thy hands, I entrust my spirit,” I put my soul, into your care. I pray you will take it, you will keep it. As Jesus dies on the cross, He commits his spirit to God. He turns it over into his care.. Jesus was always fully committed to God and his will. Even in His death!

The empty tomb changed everything. Jesus did not remain dead. Jesus was resurrected. And what did Jesus do after he rose from the dead? He assured the disciples and everyone else who would listen to Him that God is reaching out His Hand for them! That’s what we need and what we want. We want God’s hand on our life. We want to be in his hand..

What does God’s hand show us about Easter? Three Things:

Easter shows us that God’s Hands are reaching out to bless us.

Jesus often touched people in order to bless them. He would reach out his hands to heal them. Remember the blind man Jesus put mud on the man’s eyes and he was healed. The man with leprosy Jesus touched him with his hands and healed him. Jesus used his hands on the Sea of Galilee with Peter when he began to sink and Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. And with children, Jesus placed his hands on them & blessed them.

How often, must Jesus have raised his hands in a gesture of prayer, broke bread and shared it with others who were hungry. Then when Jesus knelt washed the disciples feet in a gesture of service and love.

The Bible says in Psalm 103, “As a Father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who honor him.” We know that God, our Father in heaven loves us more than anyone will ever love us. Once you’ve trusted your father, you want to do it again – it’s fun. It’s fun taking risks and saying, “God, I’m going to jump into your hands again.” Your Father is waiting for you to jump this morning.

We know that God has the power to help us with everything in our lives. And he will help us if we will trust him. God is a loving, compassionate Father. Jesus never questions why he is dying on the cross – he knows that it is for the sins of the world. He never questions what comes after death for he knows that he’ll be safe in the hands of God.

God is in control. Jesus knew that God was in control of His life and thus He had confidence that whatever took place, He was in God’s good hands.

Easter shows us that God’s hands are scarred to never forget us.

The nail prints that are in Jesus’ hands: they’re permanent. The sin that separates us from God leaves scars. Horrific scars that leave us ugly in sin and would cause a holy God to turn away from us in utter revulsion. Yet God loved us so that he did not turn away in revulsion but instead took on human flesh – took on our sin – literally became our sin – so that we might become His righteousness. Or as Isaiah describes it: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

Jesus’ scars were the evidence that God is with us – He’s not way out there but here in our world. Those scars are evidence that He knows us through and through and STILL He loves us.

Do you know that in heaven, the only scars, the only wounds in heaven will be on Jesus. Why? To remind us, “This is how much I love you. Do you think I could forget you? I’ve got a daily reminder. I look at the holes in my hands where those nails were. That’s how much I love you. I have the scars in my hands so that I can’t forget you.”

The Bible says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion for the child she has born? But though she may forget, I will not forget you! I have engraved you on the palms of my hands!” If you want to know how much you matter to Jesus, look at His hands.

Jesus suffered and died for us. He came for us – to seek and to save the lost – and it scarred him for life. The scars on His hands and side means that our sins have been paid in full. They remind us that there is no length He will not go to save us. He would continue to carry the scars, the reminders of the pain and humiliation he went through. They are constant reminders of His unfathomable love for us.

Easter shows us that God’s Hands are strong enough to keep us eternally secure.

Once you put your life in God’s hands, nothing can snatch you out. He’s saying “Trust me. I can be trusted. I love you. I have the scars to prove it. I will never let you go.”

Jesus said it like this in John 10: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish… My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hands.”

We put it in the hands of God. That’s what Easter is all about. “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands” in Psalm 31 is a perfect picture of what it means for a Christian to die. One day you just go to sleep and your heavenly Father is going to come and in his loving arms pick you up and take you to where you belong for eternity.

Friends, this statement, “I entrust my spirit Into Your Hands” is not a statement just to say when you’re dying: It is a statement to say every day the rest of your life. When you are afraid, worried, when you have a big decision to make and when you’re angry, when you’re confused, lonely, ashamed, and when you are filled with regret… Father, I place my life in your hands. It is the prayer you need to pray every day for the rest of your life.

Trust the hands of God to hold you, to help you, and harness your best possibilities. He has a purpose in your life and in your death. Dear friend, it is not your body but your spirit that is most important. Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” How handsome or beautiful you are will not matter when your body is wasting away. How much money you have, how many people know your name is not going to be of significance when God calls your name. What will matter in that moment is whether you can say through faith and with confidence, “Father, into you hands I commit and commend my spirit.”

I remember when I was a boy, walking among some big rocks on a long path leading up to a hugh rock in the mountain behind my grandfather’s house: The rocks on the path were rather large for a kid’s little feet, and I kept falling down and hurting myself.

So I did what any kid does—I said to my Dad, “Daddy… help me? I keep falling down and it hurts.” Dad held out his hand and took my hand and he helped me. When I would start to stumble, he would pull on me, keeping me aright.

That’s just the picture we have of God here this Easter! We keep fumbling and falling down and messing things up, when all God wants us to do is call out to Him for help. And when we do, He reaches down and holds out His hand and takes our hand in His Hand, we are forever safe!

It is Finished!

Series: “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross”

Part 3

“It is Finished!”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

On the cross, Jesus shouts: “It is finished.” He died! Yet, it was a cry of victory.

When Jesus died on the cross the Roman Soldiers thought… “He’s finished”; the Religious Leaders thought, “He’s finished”; the disciples thought, “The dream of the kingdom is finished”; and even Satan’s thinking, “The Son of God is finished!”

But when Jesus said, “It is finished!” he was not saying “I am finished. He said, “It is finished.” Because he wasn’t finished, three days later on Easter morning he came back to life. He’s certainly not finished.

In John 19 it says, “Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said,…‘It is Finished!’…” But what was finished when Jesus said that? His suffering was finished, his humiliation, his pain and his grief was finished.But there is so much more that we’re going to uncover this morning. For Jesus’ entire life here on earth he only had one goal. Here’s the goal, John 4. “Jesus said, ‘My [goal] is to do what God wants!”

What did Jesus accomplish on the cross?

When Jesus said “It is Finished”, the first thing he finished…He fulfilled the Scripture.

There are over three hundred eighty prophecies in the Old Testament which says the way you’ll know the true Messiah is the one who fulfills the prophecies. Jesus fulfilled every one of those.

In Luke 24 “Jesus said to them…: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law…, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ …He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day….’”

God says I’m going to send the Messiah. He’s going to die for your sins. And Jesus, when he finished suffering on the cross he says, “It is Finished!” I have fulfilled all of the prophecies.

The second thing Jesus was saying when he says “It is finished,” He satisfied the law.

What does the law require? The Bible says the penalty for sin is death. Romans 8 says “The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature.” You understand that? Nobody has ever been saved by keeping the Commandments. It says the law could not save us because of your sinful nature. “But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son … as a sacrifice for our sins. And he did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”

The only person who has ever kept every law in the Bible is Jesus. We have all fallen short, except Jesus. So the law, all it did was condemn us, was show us how much we don’t measure up. But the Bible says that Jesus came along and kept it perfectly and then he satisfied the law by paying for our sins.

The third thing Jesus was saying when he says “It is finished,” He paid my penalty.

It says so in Colossians 2“He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.”

When Jesus says “It is finished!” He’s saying “I wiped the record clean.” So that when you go to heaven if you’ve put your trust in Christ and you say “About that sin I did…” and he’ll go, What sin? Why? It says he canceled the record. It’s forgiven and forgotten. That is the good news! When Jesus was on the cross he’s saying, I have blotted it out. I have paid in full. Jesus fulfilled the Scripture, he satisfied the law, he’s paid for them in full.

The 4th thing Jesus is saying when he says “It is finished,” He conquered sin and death.

He broke their grip in our lives. The fear of death and the grip of sin and the power over us is destroyed. Romans 5: “The sin of one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

What does that mean? Look in Romans 6:10 “When Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time – enough for all time.” He defeated the power of sin. It means when I invite Jesus Christ into my life I get a new power to stop doing things I can’t stop doing on my own. Not that you’re never going to sin but now you have the power to not sin. You have the power to make that choice.

Hebrews 2, “Jesus became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”

Are you afraid to die? That fear is from the devil. You don’t have to be afraid to die. Why? You can know where you’re going when you die. You can die a friend of God. You don’t want to go around with the fear of death. Jesus has broken that power through the resurrection. Jesus fulfilled the scriptures, satisfied the law, paid for my penalty, conquered sin and death…

The 5th thing Jesus was saying when he says “It is finished,” He defeated the devil.

When Jesus said “It is finished,” a cosmic war was being played out between Satan and the Son of God. From the human standpoint it looked like Satan had won. Here’s Jesus on the cross, battered, bruised, beaten up, bleeding, dying. It looks like Satan has won. And Satan thought he had destroyed the Son of God.

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” Satan goes uh-oh! I’m finished. I thought I could destroy God! The arrogance of that! Three days later, Jesus arises from the grave and says “I’m back!” and Satan was finished. This was a fatal blow on Satan’s plan to destroy your life forever.

You say “Wait a minute! It seems like Satan is pretty alive today.” Oh yeah. But look at this verse in Colossians 2 “God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin, and he openly displayed to the whole world Christ’s triumph at the cross where your sins were all taken away.”

No matter what I do in my life between now and death, I’m still going to heaven. Because I can’t lose my salvation. It’s been paid in full. That is good news! I may mess up, but I’m not losing that salvation, because once I put my hand in his hand it is closed and he’s not letting go. And it’s paid in full.

Let me summarize this. What did Jesus do when he died on the cross and said “It is Finished?” What was finished on the cross? He fulfilled the Scripture. He satisfied the law. He paid my penalty. He conquered sin and death. He defeated the devil.

That’s why when He said “It is finished,” those are the most important words you will ever hear in your life. The Bible says back in the Old Testament there were a bunch of people who were getting beat up. They said this: “Lord, we have no power to face this vast enemy that is attacking us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

There’s a well known pastor who had finished speaking one night at a revival and a man came up to him. He said, “I need to know what do I do to get to heaven. What do I do to be saved?” The pastor looked at him and said “You’re too late.” The man said, “What do you mean? Too late, because the service is over?” The pastor said, “You’re too late.” The man cried out, Why? The pastor said, “Everything that needed to be done was done two thousand years ago on the cross. You’re too late. All that is left is to accept it.”

I Am Thirsty!

Series: “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross”

Part 2

“I Am Thirsty!”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Your body is about sixty percent water. Which means if you’re about a hundred fifty pounds – kind of like me – then how much water are you carrying around in your body?

You cannot live without water. We know that when you are dehydrated you get muscle cramps and headaches. It is the number one cause of fatigue and why you get tired is you don’t get enough water in your system. Your body cannot function well without water. If you’ve ever had surgery you might agree with me that one of the worst parts of surgery is when they won’t give you water.

The words Jesus said from the cross in this series “When Love Speaks”…is simply: “I Am thirsty.” He’s not just saying, I’m thirsty, physically. There are other things that are involved here.

John 19 says “Later after this, Jesus knew everything had been completed.” After what? After the plan of salvation had been completed and the payment for the sins. Now he says “I Am Thirsty!” That’s a cry from hell. The Bible says there’s a river in heaven… but there’s no water in hell. When Jesus says, “I Am thirsty.” He was taking hell for us.

What I want us to do in this message this morning is three things. I want us to look first, what did it mean to Jesus when he said I Am thirsty? Second, what does it tell us about the thirst of other people? And third, what does it say about your own spiritual thirsts?

THE THIRST OF JESUS

So what do we learn from the thirst of Jesus about Jesus. What does it tell us about him?

I. 1st thing we learn about Jesus saying “I Am thirsty” was it shows he really was human.

We know that Jesus was God, but Jesus was also human. Some people think he was not human. The Bible says in Philippians 2 “Jesus gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and he became a servant. When he was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death on the cross.” When John was writing the gospel of John, there was a group of people who held the idea that Jesus was God but he wasn’t a human being. Now, it’s just as wrong to deny Jesus’ humanity as it is to deny that he is God. Both of them are important. When Jesus declared “I Am thirsty” it shows that Jesus really was human.

II. Second, it shows that Jesus really was the promised Savior.

The Bible says “So that the Scriptures would come true, Jesus said ‘I am thirsty.’” What’s he talking about – so that the Scriptures would come true? For years and years, God kept telling the Jews, I’m going to come to earth as the Messiah.

Over 380 times, over thousands of years, God tells the Jewish nation in the OT, here’s how you know it’s the true Messiah. He says you’ll know it’s really me when this happens, when He says this, when He does that. For Jesus to be who He claimed to be He would have to fulfill every one of those 380 prophecies. And actually he did.

The probability (mathematic) of one person fulfilling 380 different predictions, completely, predicted over 1,000s years, is astronomical. Jesus is hanging on the cross and there is one last prophecy that has not been fulfilled. It’s this, a prophecy in the book of Psalms talking about the Messiah says he will be given vinegar to drink. In Psalms 69:21 it says, “When I was thirsty they offered me vinegar.”

III. Third, it shows how much he really loves me.

Jesus loves reveals He was willing to suffer, to thirst for me in order that I might go to heaven. Jesus had done nothing wrong. He had never sinned. Yet He’s willing to die for me. The Bible says in Romans 5: “God demonstrates his love for us [in other words he proves it] in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus on the cross going through hell so you don’t have to. He is covering you from the punishment, from the flames, from the pain. It shows how much he loves you.

THE THIRST OF OTHERS

We can quench the thirst of Christ by helping others who are thirsty. Love in action is when we meet the needs of other people in their thirstiness. Many people are spiritually thirsty. Nobody is ever going to say to you, I’m spiritually thirsty. They will say, I’m bored – I’m unhappy – I’m unsatisfied – my life feels empty. These are symptoms of spiritual thirst. People want God. They’re looking all over for it and not knowing how to find it.

In the book of Amos it says this “… People will be hungry, but not for bread; they will be thirsty, but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord.” What is our responsibility as believers to these people, to the world? Let me give you three truths.

A. I serve Jesus by serving others.

The only way you can serve God is by serving other people. Jesus talked about this. Here’s what he says in Matthew 25 “’Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or Lord when did we ever see you thirsty and gave you something to drink?’ And he [God] will say to them ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you were doing it for me.’” We serve God by serving others. We quench Jesus’ thirst, by quenching the thirst of other people.

B. The second truth we learn is that God notices the smallest service.

A lot of times we think, “I want to do something great for God.” God says, no; don’t do something great for me. Just do something! Because the small things are all around you every day. It’s not the size of your service that matters. It’s the amount of love you put into it.

Matthew 10:42 “If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

A CoB initiative is the Pure Water Project. We’re building wells around the world. This is what being a Christian is all about. Showing love in practical ways. Helping people in need when they’re thirsty – physically, spiritually and in any other way. There are thirsty people all around you.

C. The Most Christ-like service is to enemies.

When I serve Jesus, I serve him by serving others. He takes notice of the smallest service. And the most Christ-like service is actually to people I least feel like helping out. Jesus said it like this “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they’re thirsty give them water to drink.” Jesus said give enemies something to drink. That’s what it means to be my follower. He says you show love to the very enemies that don’t like you.

YOUR SPIRITUAL THIRST

Let me wrap this up by talking about your spiritual thirst. What do we learn from Jesus’ word “I thirst” about you? About satisfying your spiritual thirst? If you feel unsatisfied with your life and you want to live a fulfilled, satisfied, meaningful life – you’re going to have to do 3 things.

One is realize what I’m really thirsty for.

Because what I really need is God. Nothing else can fill that emptiness. Nobody can meet the needs in your life more than God can. Psalm 63 “O God, you are my God, and I long for you…. my soul is thirsty for you.” And as long as you’re looking to other things – they’re called idols, you’re putting those things in the place of God – what you’re really thirsty for is a relationship with God. Only God can fully satisfy you.

The second thing you need to know: I need to realize that Jesus understands my pain.

The Bible says in Isaiah 53:4-5 “He took our suffering on himself and felt our pain for us… He was wounded for the wrong we did and crushed for the evil we did. The punishment [which he took] which made us well, was given to him, and we are healed because of his wounds.”

Have you gone through despair because of all the pressures in your life? He knows that. We have a Savior who understands what we go through because he was one of us.

The third thing. You need to stop looking for satisfaction elsewhere.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 2 “My people have done two evils: [one] They have turned away from me, [God] the spring of living water. And [two] they have dug their own wells, which are broken wells that cannot hold water.” God says not only have you rejected me and not looked to me to meet all your needs and satisfy your life; you’re going out there trying to meet it on your own. You’re trying to find satisfaction in life without God.

Here’s what Jesus said, John 7 “… Jesus stood and shouted this to the crowds, ‘If you’re thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare rivers of living water will flow out from within you.”

Anytime you put something in the place of God it’s going to make you more thirsty. But Jesus says when you look to me you’ll be permanently satisfied. I’ll put a spring within you. Here’s the question. If you feel unsatisfied with your life, that’s called Spiritual Thirst. You’re spiritually thirsty. And the only one who can quench that thirst is the one who thirsted on the cross so you don’t have to thirst. He paid for what you don’t have to pay for. He became thirsty so you never have to be thirsty again. The amazing thing is He wants to give you living water right now. That’s why the Bible says “…the water I give …takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within … giving …eternal life.” Are you thirsty? Are you ready to come and take a drink?

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Series: “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross”

Part 1

“Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Have any of you been watching March Madness on TV? It’s the College Basketball National Championship Tournament! Well, I bring this up to simply explain something that happened this week in basketball that also helps explain something about today’s sermon. A “substitute” was made when a player was injured and taken off the court and another player comes in as a replacement. That is what substitution means in the sports field. (Hold on to that thought and later it will make sense in the message).

We’re starting a new series today: the “Last Words of Jesus” that were spoken from the cross. Jesus made several statements. Every one of them has profound effect and impact on your life when you understand them. I’m calling these statements: “When Love Speaks: Words from the Cross.”

We’re going to look at one of those statements today. We find the story in Matthew 27:45-46. “At noon, darkness fell across the whole land darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice…” Actually the Greek word means “he screamed.” Jesus screams this …‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’” Which is Aramaic for “‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Forsaken means deserted, rejected and abandoned. Nothing hurts more than abandonment. Jesus is abandoned by everybody.

What is going on here? What happened? When Jesus cried out, “‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Jesus became our substitute. At that moment he took the penalty for your sins. He died in your place. He substitutes himself for you.

The Bible says “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but the sins of the whole world.” How does this happen? 2 Corinthians 5:2 “God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!” This is a great mystery. This is salvation!

This morning I want us to look at what do these words from the cross… “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What do these words teach us?

I. We learn that God is Holy.

Revelation 4:8 says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” God is holy. Because God is perfect he cannot stand to be in the presence of imperfection. Because God is holy he hates evil.

The Bible says in Habakkuk 1: “Your eyes, Lord, are too pure to look on evil. You cannot tolerate wrong.” That’s why there’s no sin in heaven. God is perfect. God is Holy.

On the cross, Jesus Christ, God in human form, came to die for our sins. He took every known sin of all mankind’s history on himself at that moment. And at that moment God the Father, who is holy, looks away because he cannot even look at his own Son when his Son is taking on the sin of the world. At that moment Jesus cries out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” He says My God, my God! Why?

Here’s Jesus, part of the trinity, God himself, has never known what it means to be separated from God. At this moment He is separated because God’s holiness steps back and says “I can’t be a part of that.”

II. The second thing we learn from these words from the cross is that Sin is Ugly.

We don’t really think it’s ugly. Because everything in society today makes sin look attractive, popular and pleasing; makes it look like everybody’s doing it. So we actually think sin is not ugly; we think it’s funny. That is Satan’s strategy. Because if he can get you to laugh at something it lowers your defenses and then you think, maybe it’s not so bad.

If you want to see the true consequences of sin, if you want to see the damage of it, you just look at the cross. Because Jesus is taking the guilt for every evil thing ever done wrong. The cross is a hideous, a horrible, a gruesome sight.

The cross shows three of the damaging effects of sin.

First we learn that Sin Separates Me from God.

When Jesus took the sin of the world on himself all of a sudden he feels separated from God. Sin always breaks the relationship. It creates distance between us and God. The Bible says in Isaiah 59: “Your evil has separated you from your God and your sins have caused him to turn away from you.” It alienates us from God.

Second, we learn that Sin Distresses Me.

Because we weren’t made to live in conflict with our creator. Whenever I break God’s laws and whenever I do what I want to do and I act like I’m God it creates all kinds of emotional stress in our lives. Sin causes: worry, fear and doubt. Those things are not your real problems. Those are the symptoms. What is real problem? Guilt!

The Bible says, “My guilt has overwhelmed me. like a burden too heavy to bear.” As long as you’re doing what you want to do and ignoring God, you are guilty – “And you know you are not doing the right thing.”

Third, we learn that Sin Condemns Me.

We see this when Jesus is condemned on the cross. When you violate God’s law there is always a penalty. The Bible, Psalm 38:4, says it like this, “God is a righteous judge and he always condemns the wicked.”

Our biggest problem we have is our war with God. Every day you’re making decisions about who’s going to run my life? Me or God? When I decide I know God says to do this, but I’m going to do what I want to do, then I’m saying I know better than God. That means I’m in rebellion and at war with God.

The Bible says in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Wages is something you earn; a gift is something you’re given. We’ve earned death with our sins. But Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins and offers us a free gift!

Your biggest problem in life is not your sins. Your biggest problem is your war with God. The cross shows the seriousness and the destructiveness and the ugliness of sin. The words from the cross “My God Why Have You forsaken Me? …teaches us that first, God is Holy, second, Sin is Ugly…and…

III. The third thing we learn from the words from the cross is that Salvation is Costly.

In other words, in order for you to go to heaven it costs God so very much. Salvation is costly. The Bible says the gift of God is eternal life. It is a free gift. Yes, salvation is free but it’s not cheap. Somebody had to pay for your salvation. And his name was Jesus Christ.

The Bible says it like this, Romans 3:25, the most expensive gift ever: “God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”

The amazing thing about your salvation is its one hundred percent God, He does it all, and all you do is accept it. The Bible says in, Galatians 3: “Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. when he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing.” Nobody’s ever going to love you more than God does.

So what should be my response? Four things!

One, I need to Turn From My Sin and Trust Jesus to Save Me.

That’s what this is all about. There’s no other way I’m going to get into heaven. I need to turn from my sin and trust Jesus to save me. The Bible says it like this in Romans 3:22 “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.”

No matter who we are or what we’ve done. Realize this: Jesus already paid for it. He paid for that sin. You can be forgiven. You can stop nailing yourself to the cross because Jesus was nailed to the cross for you. Trust him to take away your sins. I can’t imagine turning away when Jesus says I love you this much.

Two, I need to Live in a State of Gratitude. How could you not love somebody who loves you this much? And how could you walk away from that?

The Bible says “Now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.” He deserves your total love, your total gratitude, and your eternal appreciation.

Three, When I’m Tempted to Sin I need to Remember What My Sin Cost Jesus.

Sin is not something make a joke about. If you want to know how serious it is, look at Jesus on the cross. The Bible says “God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. The ransom he [Jesus] paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

Remember what it cost Jesus.

Four, I need to Tell Others the Good News.

This is the best news in the world and I need to tell others the good news. Can you imagine keeping this a secret? That all of our sins are forgiven? That Jesus has already paid for them? If somebody died for you wouldn’t you want to know about it? Yes! If all your sins could be forgiven and this is what God has done for you, wouldn’t you want to know about it? Yes!

Jesus wants to save everybody. He wants to forgive everybody. He wants them all in heaven. It is the motivation behind everything we do in this church – to give the love of God for people.

Who are you bringing to our Easter Service? Don’t come to Easter by yourself. I encourage you. to start thinking about a person and praying for them and inviting them to come with you on Easter Sunday.

But …maybe you need to stop your war with God today and surrender to Christ yourself. If you open your heart today…and hear love speaking from the cross …this will be your blessed day!

When the Odds are Against You

Series: “How to Make it Through Tough Times”

Part 8

“When the Odds are Against You”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Wise people make calculated risks. They consider the odds first. “Is the cause worth the cost? You need to consider the odds in life. I don’t think people who play the lottery understand the odds. The odds are against you! Save your money.

Today I want us to look at what are the odds in life and how do you face them when they are against you. What do you do when you’re facing insurmountable, overwhelming problems?

One of the names of God in Hebrews is Jehovah Nissi which means “I am the God who defends you.” Literally, “I defend you when the odds are against you.”

One of the great examples of this is 2 Chronicles 20:1-30. It’s one of the powerful stories in the Bible. The story goes that three enemy nations decided to team up against Israel and go to war against them. The king of Israel at this time is Jehoshaphat. The odds are three to one.

God doesn’t put these stories in the Bible just to teach us history lessons. There are principles there that we’re to learn how to handle overwhelming odds, how to handle when you’re in a battle of life. Some of you are facing battles in life. What do you do?

STEP 1: TURN TO GOD FIRST

When you are overwhelmed you go first to God! You try to get God’s perspective on the problem. Your perspective is limited while God’s perspective is eternal. He can see past, present and future all at once. So you need to get a larger picture of what the problem really is that seems so overwhelming to you.

2 Chronicles 20 “… the armies of the Moabites and the Ammonites and the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. He was afraid so he decided to ask the Lord what to do.” You can expect blessing in your life, but, you also need to expect battles in your life. You’re going to have difficult times.

Notice the king’s first reaction. It says he was afraid. That’s a normal reaction. It’s not fear that is the problem. The problem is what you do with your fear. Do you let that fear destabilize you, discourage you? Does it cause you to want to give up even before the battle starts? Never let an impossible situation intimidate you. Let it motivate you. How can the problems in my life motivate me?

Let it motivate you to trust God more, to expect more from God. Let it motivate you to depend more on God. Let it motivate you to get your priorities right and turn to God first. That’s exactly what Jehoshaphat did. He headed straight to God.

STEP 2: TALK TO GOD ABOUT YOUR SITUATION

There is no problem that is too big and too small for you to pray about. In vs. 5 it says “Then King Jehoshaphat went and stood before them and he prayed aloud.” That’s a good thing to do. Jehoshaphat gives us a model example of the three things you need to pray when you feel overwhelmed.

I remind myself of who God is. vs. 6 “Are You not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand You.” Before I talk to God about the problem, I need to focus on God and I need to remind myself that God is bigger than the problem I am facing. With God all things are possible.

I remind myself of what He has done in the past. I recall the times when God has helped me. vs. 7 “Didn’t You drive out those who lived in this land when Your people arrived?” He’s going all the way back to Moses and Joshua. He recalls all the ways that God has worked in the past and he’s saying, “I know who You are and I know what You’ve done in the past.”

Ask God for help now. “O God, won’t You stop them.” His prayer is actually built around three questions: “Are You not God? Yes, Are You big enough to handle it. Yes, Will You do it again. Yes! That’s the way you need to pray when you’re overwhelmed. No matter what the situation is, remind yourself first who God is, remind yourself what He’s done, then ask God to do it again. Once you’ve done that now you’re ready to talk about your problem.

STEP 3: TELL GOD EXACTLY HOW I FEEL

Vs. 12, he says to God in his prayer, “We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us.” Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt powerless, like there was a problem somewhere in your life that you thought was overwhelming? There’s no way I’m going to succeed in this. Have you ever felt like that?

It doesn’t matter if I’m powerless, if God has power. If I put my trust in Him, He’ll take care of me. I don’t have to have power. You don’t either. All you have to do is trust in God who’s got all the power that you need. You don’t have it but He does. Trust Him.

STEP 4: TRUST GOD TO HELP ME

The third part of vs. 12 says this “We were powerless against this mighty army that’s about to attack us and we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You.” You need to trust God to help you. You need to not focus on your problems but focus on God.

This is the biggest mistake that people make when they’re overwhelmed. When we’re overwhelmed all we tend to see is the problem. We don’t look to God. It matters what you focus on. It all depends on what you have your eyes on. What are you focusing on right now? If you’re discouraged, your eyes are not on God. You know who He is and You know what He’s done and He can help you again. You do these steps!

When you do these things, notice God’s response in vs. 15 “This is what the Lord says to you: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours but God’s!” God says, “Trust Me to help you.”

The reason why you’re so overwhelmed is because you’re trying to fight battles that belong to God. We go out and work real hard and inevitably we fail and we’re disappointed in ourselves and we say, “God, I’m so sorry.” God says, “Wait just a minute! You didn’t let Me down because you’re not holding Me up!” God holds you up; you don’t hold Him up. It’s not your battle!

In vs. 17 God says, “You’re not going to need to fight in this battle.” What? “Stand strong in your places and you will see the Lord save you.” The truth is this: It’s God’s problem; let Him solve it. You don’t have to fight. Twice in this story, vss. 15 & 17, God says “Don’t be afraid or discouraged.” Why? Because it’s God’s battle; and, God has never lost a battle.

What does God want you to do if He doesn’t want you to fight in the battle? Two words: “Stand strong.” What does it mean to stand strong? Stand firm and watch God work. Stand firm he tells us in vs. 20 “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld. Have faith in His prophets and you will be successful.” You stand on two things: the character of God and the Word of God. Have faith!

So when you’re facing an overwhelming battle and the odds are against you, these are the Steps you need to do. The last one is this…

STEP 5: THANK GOD IN ADVANCE

Notice vs. 21 “The king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army singing to the Lord and praising Him. This is what they sang ‘Give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love endures forever.’” Jehoshaphat’s battle plan is to put a choir before the troops. There’s a very important truth here. There’s a symbolism in this. They were thanking God in advance for the victory before it even happened.

Notice what happened. Vs. 22 “At the moment they began to sing and to praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir to begin fighting among themselves. They destroyed each other.” There is power in praising. There is power in expecting. God confused the enemy and they started fighting each other. They turned on each other and destroyed themselves while the Israelites looked on. They were thanking God in advance. That is faith.

God wants to bless your life. Notice “When the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord Himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for God had given him rest on every side.”

Wouldn’t you like that to be true in your life? Living in rest and have peace on every side. How do you get there to Blessing, You take the steps we just presented, and you put your eyes on Jesus, and you allow God to solve your problems by faith. God loves to demonstrate His power to those who will just believe Him and expect Him to work in their lives. When you feel like the odds are against you? When the problems are overwhelming? What do you do? You turn and put your eyes on Jesus! You stand strong! It’s God’s battle, not yours! Have faith in the Lord your God! Give thanks to God for the victory will be won!

Learning to Trust in God

Series: “How to Make it Through Tough Times”

Part 7

“Learning to Trust in God”

Pastor Jerry

————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-

Do you Trust God?

Have you ever wondered, how could a loving God allow the Pandemic, or the war in the Ukraine, or babies to die? Every fiber of our being wants to trust God. To trust or not to trust, isn’t that always the question?

Whether we know it or not, we all trust in something every minute of every day. What are you trusting? Hopefully, when we trust God it’s not about us and what we can do, but about Him and what He can do.

Repeatedly in Scripture the Bible says God has promised to help you – help you with every need of your life. In fact, one of the Hebrew names of God is Jehovah Jirah, which means “I am the God who provides for you.” God says, “I will meet all your needs.”

One of the promises He gives is in Philippians 4:19 “My God will supply all that you need from His glorious resources in Christ Jesus.” What a Promise! He says, “I’ll meet all your needs.”

The problem is this. You look around and obviously not everybody’s need is met. What’s the problem? Is God teasing us? Why is it that sometimes our needs go unmet?

The Bible tells us that with every promise there is a condition. One of the conditions for this promise is you have to trust Him. The Bible says there is a faith factor involved. Matthew 9:29, Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done unto you.” God says, “You get to choose how much He will bless your life. It’s according to your faith. The obvious question then is how? How can I learn to trust God? How can I learn to have greater faith?

Faith is like a muscle. That means it develops by being used. The more you use a muscle the stronger it gets. The more you use faith, the more it gets stretched. And the more it gets stretched, the more God is able to bless your life.

We call the circumstances that God creates to stretch our faith: trials. And the Bible says in 1 Peter 1:7 “These trials are only to test your faith to show that it is strong and pure.”

Today I want to look at four of the most common trials. Chances are you’re in one of these tests right now. In life you will go through these four tests over and over again. They are an opportunity to develop faith so you can trust God more.

THE PRESSURE TEST

The pressure test asks the question, “How will I handle stress?” Will I depend on myself or will I depend on God? Psalm 50:15 “I want you to trust Me in your times of trouble so I can rescue you and you can give Me glory.” God says, I want you to turn to Me when you’re in trouble, not to other things.

Sometimes under stress we go to the medicine cabinet, or complain to a friend, or fill up on comfort food, or go shopping, or binge TV watching, or drown ourselves in work. We all have our own little stress relievers. And after trying every way we can think of, then we come to God and hear Him say, I want you to turn to Me. This is a test.

We have needs in our lives that need to be met. The problem is we try to meet our own needs ourselves. We don’t wait for God to work in our lives.

Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have done two evils. They have turned away from me the spring of living water and they’ve dug their own wells which are broken wells and cannot hold water.” Imagine this: God offers you, refreshing, fulfilling, living water, but you say, no, I’ll get my own. We do this all the time.

How many times do we go ahead of God. We figure out our own plan to meet our needs and ask God to bless that plan. God isn’t going to do it. Some of you right now are struggling with pressure in your life and the temptation is to do it your way. “If you’re walking in darkness without a ray of light, trust in the Lord, and rely on your God.” We need to trust in the Lord. This is a test!

THE PEOPLE TEST

God often uses people in your life to test and stretch and develop your faith. This test is “How will I handle disappointment?” Life is often disappointing. Things don’t turn out the way we planned them. Careers don’t, marriages don’t, our health doesn’t. But the most disappointing thing in life are people. Why do we get disappointed by people in life? You get disappointed by people when you expect them to meet a need in your life that only God Himself can meet.

People are not the problem and they’re not the answer to the problem either. The answer to our failures, our lack of purpose, our boredom with life, our deep dissatisfaction is not another person. The answer is God. The Bible says this in Isaiah 2:22 “You should stop trusting in people to save you because people are only human.” Don’t expect a person to be the answer to all your problems. There is only One who can help, Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made Him [not other people] their hope and confidence.” What happens if you do this? Look at God’s promise in Isaiah 49:23 “Anyone who trusts in Me will not be disappointed.”

Do you know why you’re disappointed? Because you’re trusting in other things besides God. Any time you are disappointed, it is a warning light that you have trusted in something else for your happiness besides God.

And if the truth were known, you often hide disappointment. God has a loving plan for your life, that God loves you and knows what you need more than you do, that He’s in control. And that even the disappointments in your life have a positive purpose whether you understand it or not. It’s a test.

Are you going to trust God with the things that disappoint your life? The Bible says, “Anyone who trusts in Me will not be disappointed.”

THE PERSISTENCE TEST

Will I keep my commitments? Life is about making commitments. Your life is shaped by your commitments. Your character is developed by your commitments. Your eternal destiny is determined by your commitments. You become whatever you’re committed to.

For the uncommitted person there’s a word for this behavior: selfish, immature. Some of us need to understand that no commitment that really matters is easy. They’re hard if they’re important. Your faith is being tested. I know the right thing to do but am I going to do the easy thing and the convenient thing. It’s a test of your character.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 “If you make a promise to God don’t be slow to keep it. God is not happy with fools, so give God what you promised.” What commitments have you failed to follow through on? This is a test of your character and your faith.

Eccl. 8:5 “The wise man will find a time and a way to do what he says.” The wise person figures out a way to keep committed. Weak people give excuses. The Bible says in Psalm 15 that “God blesses the person who keeps his vows even when it hurts.” That’s the kind of person God blesses and it’s a test of your character and a test of your faith.

THE PRIORITIES TEST

This is the most important test of all. You will have this one many, many times. The priorities test in life is Who will be first in my life? What will be first in my life? One of the great promises of the Bible deals with this test. Matthew 6:33 (NLT) “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs and He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.”

You have legitimate needs in your life. Yet, God has promised to meet every one of those needs if you put Him first in every area of your life. How do you know if God is really first priority in your life? The way you spend your time and the way you spend your money and what you think about most often is what’s really top in your life. Those reveal the priorities in your life.

What is your greatest need? Which of the four tests is God’s testing your faith in how you’re going to trust Him.

Look at God’s promise. Isaiah 30:15 “This is what God says: ‘If you come back to Me and trust Me you will be saved and you will be strong.’” Notice two things God is interested in for you: salvation and strength. In James 1 it says, “God blesses those who patiently endures testing. Afterwards they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those that love Him.” Trusting God is simply believing that He loves you and knowing He’s good, He has the power to meet your needs, and He wants to meet them.

Trusting is a choice, not a feeling. When circumstances tempt us to believe something different, God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Because He does not change — because He is always loving, caring, powerful and almighty — we can trust Him.

God’s not asking us to ignore our feelings and to pretend that everything is alright when it isn’t. What He is asking us is to acknowledge that He is God, the God of creation, to realize our need for Him alone, and today, turn and trust Him.

A Church to call home on the Journey

Sermons

Christ in Our Kindness

Christ in Our Mission

Mother’s Day Love & Mercy

Jesus is Here!

Into Your Hands!

It is Finished!

I Am Thirsty!

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

When the Odds are Against You

Learning to Trust in God