Grace: Everything Or Nothing

Posted by David on February 7, 1999 under Sermons

But there are some unnecessary mysteries that we place on the word and the concept of grace. The basic concept of grace is God’s goodness. In past ages and generations Bible students tended to be more preoccupied with God’s wrath than God’s goodness. It was commonly believed to be more beneficial for people to be afraid of God than for people to trust God’s goodness.

The simple concept of God’s goodness exceeds our human understanding. How good is the God of absolute goodness? When Bible students do consider God’s goodness, they can easily become preoccupied with determining the limits of God’s goodness. We are easily consumed with determining when God does and does not use His goodness. We easily focused on two things: (1) determining the boundaries of God’s goodness and (2) declaring when God will not extend His goodness.

Too often we do not focus on God’s message in Christ. In that message it is clear that God extends His goodness to every person. That is God’s desire and choice. The issue of grace is not to be focused on how good is God. It is to be focused on our willingness to respond to God’s goodness.

God has revealed His goodness in many ways at many times. But the greatest revelation of God’s goodness is Jesus. Nothing can teach us as much about the goodness of God than can the life and ministry of Jesus. The greatest revelation of God’s sacrifices to make His goodness available to people is seen in the crucifixion. Jesus’ life and ministry is the clear revelation that God’s goodness defies human prediction or human limitations. We make a grave mistake when we impose limits on God’s goodness.

1. 1 John 1:1-4 states John’s reason for writing this message.
   1. John was writing to Christians who probably lived in the area of Asia Minor, a long way from Palestine.
      1. He likely was writing decades after Jesus was crucified in that tiny, far off country long time after the actual event.
      2. If this approximate time of writing is correct, the Jews had been in intense conflict with the Romans, the temple was probably destroyed, and Palestine is not even a shadow of what it was when Jesus lived.
      3. So, was Christianity just one more religion active in the Roman empire?
         1. When it started it was a local spiritual movement based on historical occurrences that could be verified by countless witnesses.
         2. Now it was an empire wide spiritual movement far removed from the historical events in that far off, small country, and many of the witnesses were dead.
         3. There is a lot of transition from “it happened here two years ago” to “it happened forty years ago in a country that no longer exists.”
      4. Were the foundations of Christianity history or myth?
         1. Were the responsibilities of the Christian life shrouded in mystery and ritual like so many of the other religions?
         2. Or could its responsibilities and objectives be understood by the common person?
   2. John opened this writing by declaring that Jesus Christ was a historical person who actually lived; Jesus was not a myth.
      1. John and the apostles were witnesses who heard, saw, and touched Jesus.
      2. Jesus personally was the revelation of eternal life–and that is exactly what he is since he lived before creation, through a human life, and after physical death.
      3. John said, “I am sharing with you what we saw and heard.”
      4. Why? For what purpose, John? What is your objective in sharing this information?
         1. “To enable you to have fellowship with us.”
         2. “Since we have fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ, His son, it is through fellowship with us that you will establish fellowship with them.”
         3. “Only when you have fellowship with us, God, and Christ will our joy be complete.”
2. An appropriate way to state what John shared in 1:5-10 is this: “For some, the goodness of God gives them everything; for some, the goodness of God gives them nothing.”
   1. To me, there is a striking contrast drawn by John in verses 5-10.
      1. First, I want you to see that contrast.
      2. Second, I want you to consider the contrast in the awareness that John is talking to Christians.
         1. These people had declared faith in Jesus Christ.
         2. They had been baptized.
         3. In our common terminology today, these people were “members of the church.”
      3. This contrast declares to whom God’s grace will give everything, and to whom God’s grace will give nothing among Christians.
         1. As John began this writing, this was his first emphasis.
         2. There are some Christians who because of God’s goodness receive everything.
         3. There also are some Christians who receive nothing from God’s goodness.
   2. John began by affirming that God is absolute goodness.
      1. Using John’s common analogy, God is pure light that is in no way dimmed or contaminated with darkness.
      2. There is no evil in God; there is only the purity of goodness in God.
   3. The contrast is seen in what John said in verses 6, 8, and 10 and what John said in verses 7 and 9.
      1. Look closely at what John said in verses 6, 8, and 10.
         1. Verse 6: to claim that you have fellowship with God while, by choice, living an evil lifestyle is to lie and fail to practice the truth.
            1. Claiming that we a live life that is in association with the light while we choose to live our lives in the darkness is to lie.
            2. There is no darkness in God; God does not fellowship those who choose to live in darkness.
            3. John did not say this person did not know the truth; he said this person did not practice the truth.
         2. Verse 8: to claim that we have no sin is a self-deception that reveals we are void of truth–the truth is not in us.
            1. Truth will never lead us to conclude that, of ourselves, we are sinless.
            2. To claim to be sinless is proof that the truth does not exist in us.
         3. Verse 10: to claim that we have not sinned is to make God a liar.
            1. God says that we have sinned; everyone of us.
            2. A conviction that I do not sin is proof that God’s word is not in me.
      2. Contrast those statements with verses 7 and 9.
         1. Verse 7: If our choice is to live our daily lives in God’s light, two things will happen.
            1. We will have fellowship with each other.
               1. Maintaining fellowship with those who give self and life to Christ is a critical evidence that we live in God’s light.
               2. A natural result of finding life in Jesus is the growing desire to associate with those who live in Jesus.
            2. Jesus’ blood cleanses (a present, continuing process) us from ALL sin.
               1. For this person, the forgiveness that begins at baptism never stops.
               2. Not one of us ever knows all our sins.
               3. When we live in the light, forgiveness is a continuing process every day.
               4. Why? Because God is good.
         2. Verse 9: If we confess the sins that we realize we commit, God will do two things.
            1. He will forgive the sins that we confess.
            2. He will cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness–everything wrong, realized or not, will be cleansed continually.
            3. Confession: penitent hearts move us to be honest about realized mistakes and to accept responsibility for what we have done.
            4. Why will God do that? Because God is good.
3. Do you see the distinct contrast between these two types of Christians?
   1. One Christian refuses to acknowledge the problem of evil in his or her life or to deal with that continuing problem.
      1. “I have nothing to deal with–my life does not have any problem with evil.”
      2. “I did what God said to do to become a Christian–I was baptized.”
      3. “I do the religious things that I am supposed to do: I come to church at least once a week; I take communion; I give; I even get involved sometimes.”
      4. “My life is okay; I have no war with evil in my life; I rarely need to repent of anything or confess anything to God.”
   2. The second Christian may actually struggle with evil, but he knows the evil is there; he resists it; he repents of the evil; he is constantly learning how to be more godly.
      1. Sustaining fellowship with Christians is an important part of his or her life.
      2. He or she takes the time to be aware of evil within, to recognize evil within, to confesses mistakes and indulgence.
      3. He or she never excuses, never condones, never hides, never denies; no attempt is made to evade responsibility.
   3. I want you to advance and mature your understanding of how a Christian lives in God’s goodness.
      1. My doctrinal beliefs are important, but there is something more important, more basic than my doctrinal beliefs.
      2. My theology, my beliefs that are centered in God, are important, but there is something more important, more basic than my beliefs about God.
      3. What could possibly be more important, more basic than my doctrinal and theological beliefs?
         1. The way that I deal with the continual problem of evil in my life is more important than my doctrinal and theological beliefs.
         2. If I deny the fact that I have evil in my life, I do not live in God’s goodness.
         3. If I deal with evil in my life by living in God’s light and confessing my sins, I live in God’s goodness.
         4. Denial of my evil means that I am self-deceived, do not practice the truth, do not have the truth in me, and do not have God’s word in me.
         5. Denial also means that I make God a liar.
         6. Acknowledgment of my sins by confessing those sins to God keeps me cleansed from all sin and all unrighteousness.
         7. Though far from sinless, I live every day in God’s forgiveness.
   4. As a Christian, in God’s eyes, I am:
      1. Pure because I am forgiven.
      2. Holy because I am forgiven.
      3. Righteous because I am forgiven.
      4. I am not pure, holy, and righteous because no evil exists in my life.

We commonly think there are three basic categories of Christians. Category one: “In my love for God, I want to live a godly life and I am committed to being a godly person.” Category two: “I do not want to go to hell, but I do not want to be godly. I will do what I must do religiously, but I will live my life as I please.” Category three: “For reasons that have nothing to do with conversion, I ‘became a Christian.’ I have no interest in being godly and will make no attempt to live a godly life.”

Two observations based on the information in 1 John 1. Category two, “I do not want to go to hell but I do not want to be godly,” is of zero value spiritually. Only category one receives God’s forgiveness and lives in God’s goodness.

You cannot be perfect, but you can be faithful to God. You cannot be perfect, but you can be honest with God.

“Satan, How May I Assist You?”

Posted by David on under Sermons

Would you knowingly assist Satan by creating opportunities for him? Would you create advantages for Satan by opening a door of opportunity for him? For example, would you help Satan create an opportunity for your son to vandalize? Would you help Satan create the opportunity for someone to sexually assault your daughter? Would you help Satan create the opportunity to have your husband robbed at gun point? Would you help Satan create the opportunity to have your wife held as a hostage? Would you help Satan create the opportunity the beat and hurt your best friend?

“David, you have asked some ridiculous questions before. But those are the most ridiculous questions that you ever asked! It is absolutely ridiculous to think that I would help Satan create an opportunity to hurt anyone I love!”

When we hear about violent acts against those who believe in Christ in far off places, we see Satan’s work. We quickly recognize violent assaults on people who believe in Christ as the work of Satan. Does Satan only use violence to assault people who believe in Christ? Does Satan assault us? Does he assault our children? our husbands and wives? our friends? Do we help Satan assault our family and friends?

1. It is very simple to create opportunities for Satan, and Satan quickly accepts every opportunity that we provide him.
   1. Paul wanted the Christians at Ephesus to be fully aware of the fact that we can give Satan opportunity.
      1. In Ephesians 4 Paul told these Christians that they should not act and behave like the people who do not believe in the living God.
      2. Their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and their confidence in the living God must change their behavior.
         1. Their new behavior will stand in total contrast to the behavior of those who do not accept Christ and believe in God.
         2. This difference in behavior will be obvious and distinctive.
      3. Paul said in Ephesians 4:25-32 that in their new behavior:
         1. They will not deceive.
         2. They will not harbor anger.
         3. They will not steal, but they will help people in need.
         4. They will not use ungodly, spiritually unhealthy language.
         5. They will not cause the Holy Spirit grief in their lives.
         6. They will not permit ungodly attitudes and emotions to control their thinking, their feelings, or their actions.
         7. Instead they will be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving.
      4. After urging them not to deceive and not to let anger infect their hearts, Paul said: “Do not give the devil an opportunity.”
         1. In context, Paul urged them to make certain that anger had a short life.
         2. Some translations state that you give Satan a foothold in your life when you nurse your anger.
   2. A classic example of this is found in Genesis 4.
      1. Two brothers, Cain and Abel, offered a sacrifice to God.
         1. Abel’s sacrifice honored God, and God accepted it.
         2. Cain’s sacrifice failed to honor God, and God rejected it.
      2. Cain regarded God’s rejection of his sacrifice as a personal insult, and he was angry and depressed.
      3. Genesis 4:6,7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. God did not condemn Cain for his sacrifice.
         2. Cain’s sacrifice did not anger God.
         3. God simply did not accept the sacrifice.
      4. In fact, God asked Cain to explain why he was angry.
         1. Cain had no reason to be angry.
         2. If Cain did well, God would accept his sacrifice.
         3. Sin had not consumed Cain, but it was at the door ready to pounce on him.
         4. “Cain, don’t open the door to sin.”
      5. But Cain nursed his anger, and he gave Satan opportunity.
         1. At first, he was mad at God for not accepting the sacrifice.
         2. Then he was angry at Abel; he blamed Abel for God rejecting his sacrifice.
         3. And he nursed his anger until he killed his brother.
      6. He gave Satan opportunity.
         1. Satan gladly took the opportunity.
         2. And Satan used it to motivate Cain to murder.
2. One of the greatest pains Satan inflicts on us is inflicted by successfully controlling or destroying someone we love.
   1. To watch Satan use evil to destroy someone we love creates a pain that we cannot explain with mere words.
      1. For a husband or a wife to watch evil destroy a loved spouse is agonizing.
      2. For a parent to watch evil destroy a child is cruelty beyond description.
      3. For a friend to watch evil destroy a dear friend is deep grief.
   2. Christians who love God and trust Jesus do not consciously help Satan assault the people they love.
      1. But do we allow Satan to deceive us into doing precisely that?
      2. Do we allow Satan to manipulate us into providing him opportunities by calling those opportunities recreation, or personal development, or success, or progressive living, or influence, or coping with life and stress?
   3. Allow me to use just one example.
      1. In the last twelve months, how much violence have you witnessed? How many physical assaults have you seem? How many murders? How many rapes? How many sexual seductions? How much drunkenness?
      2. In the last twelve months, how much violence have your children witnessed? How many physical assaults have they watched? How many murders? How many rapes? How many sexual seductions? How much drunkenness?
      3. “Zero, for me or my kids. We have not witnessed any violence, physical assaults, murder, rape, or sexual seduction. We may have seen a few intoxicated people at some public event.”
      4. How many have you seen on television? in the movies? How many have your children seen?
         1. “Oh, that’s not real! I know that is not real. The kids know that is not real. That is just recreation.”
         2. Thought number one: when you see an assault, a murder, a rape, or a sexual seduction on television or in the movie, what you see is more graphic, more explicit, more detailed than witnessing an actual event.
         3. Thought number two: what convinces our children that “everyone is doing it?” Why do we adults so readily believe that “everyone is doing it?”
         4. If we think about helping Satan assault the minds and emotions of our families, it gets scary quickly.
3. Were you to decide this moment, “I will not help Satan find opportunity to assault anyone,” how would you accomplish that?
   1. That is not a simple decision, and it is a very complicated commitment.
      1. That commitment directly involves every human relationship in your life.
      2. Because we all are imperfect, because we all struggle with evil in our lives, there is no simple way to stop creating opportunities for Satan.
   2. Again, let me discuss just one situation; I fully acknowledge that creating opportunities for Satan is a problem in every relationship that we have.
      1. Think with me just a moment about being a parent.
      2. “I do not assist Satan as he looks for opportunity in my child’s life!”
      3. Just how do you manage to do that?
   3. Possible approaches:
      1. There is the approach of the master controller: “I will have such complete control over my children that Satan cannot find any opportunities.”
         1. Either the attempt to totally control or unjust control commonly creates an enormous determination in a teen to escape.
         2. With great determination, he or she looks for a way to escape the control.
         3. There are three common avenues for escape: running away, going to college to rebel against everything that angered you, or getting married.
         4. The absolute control approach does some terrible things.
            1. Control makes love conditional, so the child feels unloved.
            2. Control convinces the child that he or she cannot “measure up” to the expectations of controlling parent, so control attacks self worth.
            3. Control often creates a sense of rejection, and rejection creates anger, and the anger may be nursed for lifetime.
         5. Thus the control that tries to destroy Satan’s opportunities often creates Satan’s opportunities.
      2. There is the approach of the easygoing “good guy:” “We are good people; my children would never do anything really bad; they might occasionally act out, but it is always harmless.”
         1. This approach goes to the other extreme: “I do not need any control; I rarely need to disciple. My kids would never do anything that I would not approve of.”
         2. Ironically children often interpret this kind of trust as not caring.
         3. Evil offers our children pleasure.
            1. If we argue sin does not give pleasure, we destroy our credibility.
            2. To deny that pleasure exists in evil is worse than foolish.
            3. However, the consequences and pain that follow the pleasure must be seen.
         4. If we play the role of the “easygoing good guy” as parents, our children face the enticements of evil on their own.
         5. What greater assistance can we give Satan than allowing our children to face the enticements of the pleasures of evil alone?
      3. There is the approach of the parent who is “scared to death:” “I am afraid to do anything because I am afraid that I might do the wrong thing.”
         1. This person silently hopes and does nothing.
         2. This is an invitation to disaster.
         3. The child feels alone as he or she faces peers, pleasure, and evil.
      4. There is the approach of “showing, sharing, and guiding:” “I will be an example; I will explain my choices; and I will actively help my child.”
         1. “I will show my children how to live.”
         2. “I will explain my ‘whys.'”
         3. “I will learn how to help them.”

Will you do something in the courage of your faith? Will you examine every relationship in your life? Will you honestly ask God for an open mind and heart? Then, will you honestly answer this question? Do I help Satan create opportunities to assault the people in my life? After asking that question, will you pray for the strength and guidance to constructively work with every situation you need to address?

[Prayer]

Is God “for real” in your life? Are you honestly concerned about living for God? Or, are you just concerned about having an acceptable religion? The answers to those questions reveal if it is God who makes use of your life or Satan who makes use of your life.

The Lion Will Roar!

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Countless encouraging things are happening at West-Ark! Members speak of the encouraging spirit and attitude in the congregation. Visitors and newcomers talk about the friendliness. A recent visitor attending a Church of Christ for the first time said, “This is the first time I remember attending a church and feeling better when I left.”

Sunday morning Bible study attendance is increasing. More young families are placing membership. The Discovery Dinners coupled with sponsoring families is producing the results of love and personal interest. Our first annual teachers’ appreciation banquet was excellent. Jackie Chestnut shared valuable, encouraging insights. The bonds for the Family Life Center are sold. Construction has begun in earnest. CURE delivered a large truck load of cleaning supplies to the Beebe congregation to help in tornado relief/recovery.

Be prepared for the lion to roar! It is time! Satan has one primary goal. Everything he does targets the destruction of Christ’s earthly objectives. God threw him out of heaven and confined his activities to earth. He lost the heavenly war, and he is furious!

Satan despises God. The depth of his hatred is seen in the crucifixion and all the events surrounding it. On earth, he opposes God in every possible way. He challenges Christ in every conceivable situation and context.

Because he despises God, he despises any person who loves God. Only people who love God and trust Jesus Christ are an earthly threat to Satan. Satan must threaten, intimidate, abuse, and resist these people with every resource at his disposal. AND HE WILL! He who is responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion will not smile harmlessly at those who live for Jesus.

The “tests” will come. The trials will come. Expect challenges to the congregation, to your family, and to yourself. Satan never surrenders a part of his kingdom or work without a fight. With all his being, Satan opposes anyone who dares challenge evil.

In love for God and faith in Christ, we dare challenge evil. The power of that challenge is not found in us. It is found in the God who gives forgiveness and life. Have no doubt! Satan is responding to our challenge! But do not be afraid. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

coming soon

Posted by David on January 31, 1999 under Sermons

COMING SOON

Spirituality: Giving God What He Wants

Posted by David on under Sermons

Serious gift giving is a complicated, complex undertaking. We enjoy giving a gift to someone we appreciate. Two things are necessary to make a gift wonderful. The gift must express your genuine appreciation. The gift must touch the life of the person who receives it. The ideal gift does two things. It meaningfully communicates your heart. Equally, it meaningfully communicates to the heart of the receiver.

My greatest desire when I give a gift is to touch the person who receives it. For me, one of life’s hardest jobs is to select such a gift. I never want the person to wonder, “Why did he give me that?”

Have you had that experience? Have you received a gift, sincerely appreciated receiving the gift, but wondered why that gift was selected for you? Several years ago an engaged couple knew they would face major marriage adjustments. They were not members of the Church of Christ and did not worship in the congregation. We were friends, and they asked for my help. We spent several weeks learning how to build a relationship.

After that, the young lady surprised me with a unique gift for my office. The gift was beautifully prepared and reflected a lot of thought on her part. I deeply appreciated all the gift represented. But I did not know how I was supposed to use it.

1. The majority of us have been in that situation.
   1. Usually that kind of gift comes from someone who is very confident that he or she knows us.
      1. In that confidence, the person selected the gift.
      2. When the person saw the gift, he or she said, “This gift is him (or her)!”
         1. “He will love it!”
         2. “She will be thrilled with this gift the minute that she sees it!”
   2. This is also the kind of gift that is given when a person says, “I know what he says he likes, but I know what he really likes.”
      1. The person confidently assumes, “I know what you enjoy more than you know what you enjoy.”
      2. “Though you don’t know that you want my gift, you will want it when you see it.”
2. That situation happens to God far more than it happens to us.
   1. Every person who has a serious faith in Jesus Christ has decided what God wants.
      1. Sometimes our decision is based purely on our own human intuition; we “just know” that is what God wants.
      2. Sometimes that decision is based on what we were told by other people.
      3. Sometimes that decision is based on a specific scripture; for our own reasons, we decide that this scripture is more important than other scriptures.
   2. Too often, we think that we understand God better than He understands Himself.
      1. “I know scripture does not say much about this, but I also know that is what God really wants.”
      2. “I know what God said He wanted, but this is what God really wants.”
      3. “I have decided what is really important to God is…”
   3. With this kind of thinking and reasoning, we make subtle changes in what God reveals.
      1. We make artificial distinctions between what God says and what God wants.
      2. It becomes more important to give God what we decide that He wants than it is to do what God says that He wants.
      3. So our gifts to God reflect our priorities, not God’s.
3. A few days after Peter correctly declared that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, Jesus was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17:1-8).
   1. For Peter, James, and John it was an incredible moment and a terrifying moment.
      1. It happened on a mountain top.
         1. Just the four of them climbed to the mountain’s top; Peter, James, and John knew that they were alone.
         2. They knew no one else would just happen to “walk up.”
         3. Luke 9:28 says they went to the mountain top to pray.
            1. While they were praying, Peter, James, and John got sleepy.
            2. But when Jesus and two other men, all three in their heavenly bodies, stood shining and talking, Peter, James, and John were wide awake.
      2. Right there, in front of them, a man who was flesh and blood had the body of a heavenly being. Terrifying!
         1. It was more terrifying than that! Two men who did not walk up that mountain were standing in their heavenly bodies having a conversation with Jesus.
         2. The two men were Moses and Elijah; Peter, James, and John knew it was Moses and Elijah; and these two men had been dead for several hundred years. Terrifying!
         3. Luke 9:31 says Moses and Elijah discussed Jesus’ departure and the things that Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem.
         4. Mark 9:6 says that Peter, James, and John were terrified.
   2. As Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter said, “I am glad that we were here.”
      1. I doubt that was an honest statement.
      2. “Let’s honor God’s presence on this mountain top by building three booths.”
      3. “We will honor God’s great law giver, Moses; we will honor God’s great prophet, Elijah; and we will honor God’s son, you.”
      4. In the light of Jewish history, that seemed like a good proposal.
      5. Peter wanted to give God a gift, and Peter was sure it was a gift that God wanted.
   3. A cloud swallowed them like a dense fog, and a voice spoke from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!”
      1. God did not want to honor Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.
      2. Moses was a powerful spokesman for God who gave the law.
      3. Elijah was a powerful spokesman for God when few people trusted God.
      4. But Moses and Elijah were not God’s Sons; listen to Jesus; now he speaks for God; he is God’s son.
   4. When the cloud passed, there was Jesus, alone, a flesh and blood man.
4. When we listen to Jesus, what does he tell us God wants?
   1. This is a clear, obvious emphasis in Jesus’ teachings: a gift that God cherishes is caring about people and treating them right.
      1. The greatest command God has given is to love God with all our being (Matthew 22:36-38).
      2. The second greatest command God has give is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39,40).
      3. When we love God with all our being, we will treat people as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12).
      4. When we love God with all our being, we will love our enemies (Matthew 5:44,45).
      5. Loving God with all our being will make us forgiving, compassionate, merciful, kind, and helpful to those in need.
      6. Jesus showed us how to love God with all our being, and showed us how to love people the way God wants us to love them.
   2. This congregation did something in the last two and a half months that rarely happens.
      1. Months ago you agreed that we should build a family life center.
      2. Then, in November, we were informed that the cost demanded that we rethink what we need to build.
      3. In November you said, “Let’s build something that will meet our needs.”
      4. In late December, at the worst time of the year financially, we began selling bonds.
      5. In less than a month, the bonds were sold, and the Family Life Center is under construction.
      6. In that same period, you gave our former property on Windsor Drive to C.U.R.E. to be used for local and worldwide benevolence.
      7. Thank you! That is remarkable!
   3. Permit me to focus you in two ways.
      1. First focus: may we all understand that our gift to God is not a building; our gift to God is the way we use that building to bless people.
         1. God did not ask for buildings.
         2. God asked us to love and help people.
         3. Help us use the Family Life Center and every material thing we possess to love and to help people beyond all that you have done (and you have done many wonderful things).
         4. May our mission work explode as we reach out to people with God’s love.
         5. May C.U.R.E. lead us as we help more people than we ever imagined.
         6. May our inner-city work touch and bless more and more lives.
         7. May we strengthen the weak, encourage the discouraged, show compassion to those who make mistakes, and forgive those who hurt us.
         8. May we give hope to those in distress, help troubled families find healing, give vision and direction to our young, and be a source of encouragement wherever it is needed.
         9. May we help people discover what God can do for all human relationships.
         10. By loving people, may we lead people to love God.
      2. Second focus: I have no idea of what will happen when midnight of December 31, 1999 arrives.
         1. Right now indicators suggest that the closer we come to the end of the year the greater people’s concerns and anxieties will grow.
         2. If there is a Year 2000 Problem, that problem will give us the greatest opportunities that West-Ark has ever had.
            1. Just a little over two years ago, a terrible tornado brought destruction and opportunity.
            2. If the year 2000 brings unusual problems, those problems will create incredibly opportunities.
         3. I would love to see us give serious thought and planning to what we will do to help people if the year 2000 brings unusual problems.
   4. I challenge us as individuals and as a congregation to continue to grow in giving God a gift that He wants.
      1. As a gift to God, may we love and care about people.
      2. As a gift to God, may we guide people to the forgiveness, the hope, and the peace found in Jesus.
      3. As a gift to God, may we help troubled families find guidance and broken families find healing.
      4. As a gift to God, may we help our young people find direction and purpose.
      5. As a gift to God, may we encourage, strengthen, and lift each other up as we all struggle in our war with Satan. May we enjoy and offer Christian friendship.
      6. May it never be every person for himself; we need each other.

[Song of reflection: 705, “A Common Love”]

One of Old Testament Israel’s biggest mistakes was centered in a gift they gave God. The mistake was not in giving God the gift. God accepted the gift. Their mistake was placing faith and trust in their gift instead of their God.

When did they do that? When they built God the temple. God never asked for a temple, but God accepted the temple. For generations after they gave God the temple, they placed their confidence in the fact that they had God’s temple. They failed to place their faith and trust in the fact that God was their Savior and their Deliverer.

When we build a building, don’t place your faith in the building. Use the building to serve God’s purposes.

Have you given God your greatest gift, yourself?

Our “World Wide Touch”

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

How many visits were made to the West-Ark congregation in December? I do not know the number of visits made to our building. Not all of our visitors fill out a card. In December many of us had family and friends visiting. Visits to our building? Maybe 300 for the month?

Thousands made 96,025 “visits” to West-Ark by visiting our Internet Web site (www.westarkchurchofchrist.org). People in at least 53 countries made “visits.” Some “visited” several times. Many “visited” every week.

Sunday evening we shared and illustrated the types of information and study aids available to “visitors” to our Internet Web site. So much is available that (literally) a person cannot read it all in a week. Of those who “visited,” fifteen enrolled for a Bible correspondence course by e-mail. A Wisconsin lady studying with one of our teachers completed the course. She visited a congregation near her, had a wonderful experience, is studying further, and plans to be baptized this weekend. Others, here and abroad, studying with our teachers have been baptized.

New material is placed on our Web site every week. Each Sunday’s sermons are placed (in full text) on our Web site the following Monday. We want every possible person to know about the opportunities and information found at our Internet address (www.westarkchurchofchrist.org). Help us spread the news! Share the address!

E-mail is used to this congregation’s advantage in many ways. When we are informed about a sickness, an emergency, or a need, that information is forwarded to every member with an e-mail address (100 plus households). John Fowler had a major heart attack Friday about 6:30 p.m. By 11 p.m. those with e-mail received the news and a statement about his current condition. They received further updates Saturday. Do you have urgent news the congregation needs to pray about? Contact Myra Flippo (the office) in the day, or Michael Cole in the evening.

When Meg and Jerry Canfield were imprisoned in Laos, e-mail was our information lifeline. As the plight of our Laotian brothers and sisters evolved, e-mail was our lifeline. As worldwide concern developed, e-mail was powerful. Information about the eight still imprisoned is available and updated.

Our Web site does something that no Christian can do: provide information 24 hours a day. Will it replace a teacher? Never. Will it become a powerful, incredible teaching tool that “touches” people around the world? It already has.

In December, We Had 96,000 Visits

Posted by David on January 24, 1999 under Sermons

If an American of Islamic faith wants to pray to Allah while listening to an Arabic call to prayer, he can turn his computer on, connect to (log on) IslamiCity, and listen to the call to prayer in Arabic as he knells facing Mecca. If an American Buddhist wants to hear a “message of enlightenment” as a Buddhist teacher discusses the meaning of life, he connects to (logs on) BuddhaNet. If an American Jew wants a prayer placed at the Western Wall of the temple mount in Jerusalem, he sends his prayer to thewall.org and a student in Jerusalem will place his prayer at the wall.

Printing using movable type was invented in 1436. Before the printing press, nothing was in print. Can you imagine the entire world with nothing printed? Today, absolutely everything is in print. The most immoral, ungodly material imaginable is in print. But, the Bible is also in print…in every major language and in many minor languages. The finest Bible study aids to ever exist are in print. And a world without printed languages is unimaginable.

In a brief period of time the Internet is doing what it took the printing press hundreds of years to do. Some things on the Internet are ungodly beyond imagination. At the same time, the Internet creates our greatest opportunity to share spiritual teaching with the world. It is an incredible tool for evangelism. With all its faults and dangers, the Internet is fast becoming a primary means for sharing Jesus Christ with the world.

The Barna Research Group has found that one out of every sixteen American teenagers are using the Internet right now for spiritual input. The Barna group estimates that in a decade, by the year 2010, between ten and twenty per cent of all Internet users will rely exclusively on the Internet to worship or to access their faith. To put that in perspective, today considerably less than forty per cent of Americans attend a place of worship once a month.

1. This congregation was the second church (of any kind) in Arkansas to establish a Web site; that occurred on December 2, 1995.
   1. The number of “visits” being made to our Web site is steadily growing.
      1. In the month of December (1998) 96,025 “visits” were made to our Web site.
      2. Those “visits” represent thousands of people, and the number of “visits” is steadily increasing.
   2. Among those “visiting” in December were:
      1. Fifteen people who chose to take a Bible Correspondence Course by e-mail.
         1. This congregation can provide a Bible correspondence course by e-mail anywhere in the world. If a person has access to a computer and an Internet address, we can talk to him or her very quickly.
         2. West-Ark has at least twelve teachers teaching students by e-mail, and we need more teachers right now.
      2. We also had “visits” from people from at least fifty-three different countries.
         1. Look at the list.
         2. Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bermuda, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominica, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Togo, Ukraine, United States, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.
         3. What would it cost to send a teacher for a three week missions visit to each of those countries?
         4. What would it cost to send literature to each “visitor” in those countries who visited our Web site just in the month of December?
         5. Do you realize that we are not allowed to send religious material into some of those countries?
2. When someone “visits” our Web site, what will they find?
   1. It is literally impossible for me to tell you or show you everything a person can find at our Web site; there is too much.
      1. Michael Cole tells me that if you devoted one entire week to doing nothing but reading material on our Web site, you could not read it all in that week.
      2. I want to show you some examples of what you can find.
         1. Please understand this: what you see is just the beginnings of sections of material.
         2. Following each of these “openings,” there are pages and pages of material in that section (at that site).
         3. We cannot show you the openings to all the sections in our Web site; this is just a sample of what you will find.
   2. You should see the “opening” of a section on the screen as I discuss them.
      1. First, this is our Internet address (www.WestArkChurchofChrist.org).
         1. Any person in the world who has access to a computer linked to the Internet can type in that address and connect to our Web site.
         2. We urge you to share this address every possible opportunity you have.
         3. If you want to help someone become acquainted with this congregation, give them this address.
            1. If you want someone to read the sermons, give them this address.
            2. If you want someone to learn about the work we do, give them this address.
            3. Nothing can give a person more information about this congregation than visiting our Web site.
      2. If you start at the Web site’s beginning, this is the first page, our “Home Page.”
         1. It has a basic directory to the areas of information that are available.
         2. It allows you to go directly to the area of interest.
      3. If you want to begin an evangelistic Bible study, you can.
         1. A person can sign up for Bible correspondence by e-mail.
         2. Again, twelve teachers study with e-mail students, and we need teachers.
      4. If you want to better understand how to accept the salvation God provides us in Jesus Christ, you can visit this section and study the plan of salvation.
      5. If you want to know the resources we offer to help you study the Bible on our Web site, OnLine Library will take you to those resources quickly.
      6. An article will reveal how Jesus Christ fulfilled prophecy.
      7. A section contains John Lankford’s articles on Christian evidences.
         1. John has researched this area, and he has written a number of articles.
         2. This section gives the full text of John’s articles.
      8. A section provides answers to questions that we are frequently asked.
      9. A section is devoted to the materials that I wrote or presented.
         1. One of my books is offered free within the United States; if a person sends $2 to cover postage and handling, we will send him or her the book. Weekly, we receive requests for the book.
         2. I plan to place the full text of one of my books, now out of print, on our Web site. If people “visit” it, I will place more of my books in full text on it.
         3. The 185 sermons I have presented at West Ark are given in full text.
            1. Every Monday, Michael places Sunday’s sermons in this section.
            2. You can locate a sermon by the date it was presented.
            3. You can locate a sermon by title; they are given in alphabetical order.
            4. You can examine every sermon that contains a specific word or phrase.
            5. The fact that we place new material on our site every week is one reason that our site receives so many “visits.”
         4. This section also has 73 articles that I have written for the bulletin, the first chapters of the books that I have written, and the complete text for three series of lessons presented on Wednesday nights.
         5. For example, this is tonight’s sermon as it will appear on our Web site tomorrow.
      10. Dena Jenkins designed a section for the ladies’ WINGS Bible classes.
          1. WINGS stands for Women IN God’s Service.
          2. This section introduces people to the objectives and purposes of WINGS.
      11. A section contains the lectures that Jeannie Cole presented to WINGS Ladies’ Bible Classes beginning in 1988.
          1. If you ask the Internet to search for “ladies’ Bible Class,” Jeannie’s material will be the first listing in 4.6 million Web pages under “ladies Bible class.” (Based on search of AltaVista on 24 January.)
          2. The first listing is Jeannie’s material; looking at her classes will bring a person to our Web site.
      12. Each minister has a Web page. Brad’s focuses on the teenagers.
          1. On Brad’s page is a “link” that will connect you to movie reviews that are presented from a Christian perspective.
      13. So you say, “Time out! Time out! That is too much material! What if I want to visit our site to find just one thing?”
          1. Our Web site is equipped with a search engine.
          2. If you go to the search engine and type in what you want to find, it will show you every place in our Web site that this subject appears.
          3. It is not necessary to read everything to find something; you can quickly find a subject.
      14. If you are visiting Fort Smith, or if you are moving to Fort Smith, or if you are just curious about Fort Smith, a section that will give you tons of information about Fort Smith–weather, Chamber of Commerce, TV stations, newspaper, and on and on.
      15. If you live within 1000 miles of Fort Smith and want to know how to get to our church building, a section that will draw you a map, give you written instructions, and tell you the exact distance and driving time.
      16. A section will give you pictures of the elders, the deacons, the ministers, and the secretaries (so you can find a familiar face if you are visiting).
      17. A section will tell you about our ministries; it contains all the information found in “What’s Happening At West-Ark.”
      18. A section that will give you an overview of our missions work.
      19. A page is devoted to our work in Guyana.
          1. It includes what a campaign group does in Guyana.
          2. It also includes the 105 members of West-Ark who made the trip.
      20. A page discusses the situation in Laos and includes a message in the Lao.
      21. There is an introduction to the work of C.U.R.E.
      22. And there is a directory to all the members here who have e-mail addresses.
   3. No, that’s not all.
      1. There is a directory to Churches of Christ worldwide.
      2. There are articles written by a number of people including Roy Dunavin, Michael Cole, and Earl Flood.
      3. There is an article in Spanish, an article in Italian, and an article in Lao.
      4. There is a restoration plea. (And here.)
      5. And there are “links” that can quickly connect you to other Web sites.
   4. Is that all? No. But I hope you do get the idea.

Obviously, this involves an enormous amount of work. A few years ago Michael Cole saw the incredible opportunity and the unbelievable potential. It is his tireless determination that develops and maintains this site. He saw what few of us saw, and perhaps still do not see. To him it is not a hobby; it is a powerful opportunity to fulfill the great commission. He spends on average six hours a day making our Web site one of the best church Web sites on the Internet.

I guarantee you that we did not receive 96,000 visits in December because our Web site is boring, irrelevant, and uninteresting. I guarantee you that soon we will receive over 100,000 visits. I guarantee you that we talk to people in places in this world that cannot be contacted in any other way.

Peter told Cornelius, “God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him, and does what is right, is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34,35). We use the Internet to declare that truth.

“And just how expensive is this? All of this potential, all of this good, all of this worldwide access? It must really cost this congregation a bundle of money every month.” Oh, it surely does. According to Myra, the total cost is $38.95 a month.

The world is changing fast. Do we have the vision to use change to show the world Jesus Christ and glorify our God?

Adult Bible Study and Our Future

Posted by David on under Sermons

In one of my teen summer jobs, I worked as a clerk in a country store. The husband and wife owners were Christians. They were members of a small, very rural congregation. One day she was “flustered” as she planned a trip. This trip was a rare visit with relatives in a city for a weekend. She was anxious because she did not have a hat. In those days a woman commonly wore a hat to church as an act of faith.

Several times that day I heard her talking out loud to herself about what she should do. Times were difficult and buying a hat just to wear to church in the city for one Sunday was unreasonably expensive. But, attending a city church where she would be the only woman without a hat was unthinkable.

Finally she talked to me about her dilemma. I just listened. Then, with resignation, she said, “Well, you know what the Bible says: ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'”

I neither had the courage nor the heart to ask where the Bible said that.

1. Learning is a constant part of adult life, and never more so than today.
   1. Considered the essential role learning plays in adult life.
      1. We spend the first eighteen years of life acquiring a knowledge foundation to equip us for adult learning.
      2. We frequently spend four more years learning how to learn.
         1. The basic objective of university and graduate studies is to advance our study skills on an adult level and teach us how to apply what we learn.
         2. The basic objective of specialized training it to teach us how to develop our observation skills and to apply what we understand.
   2. In your minds, some of you are challenging me.
      1. You are saying to yourself, “Learning is not a continuing part of adult life.”
      2. “Many areas of my adult life do not require me to learn anything.”
      3. Let me challenge your thinking.
         1. How long has it been since you have caught, killed, scalded, plucked, and dressed a chicken? Now when you eat chicken, how do you get it?
         2. How long has it been since you swept your entire house with a straw broom? How do you clean your floors now?
         3. How long has it been since you hand pumped or hand drew water for your house? How do you get your water now?
         4. How long has it been since you hitched a team of mules or horses to a wagon to make a trip? How do you travel now?
         5. How long has it been since you owned a straight shift automobile? How do you get your car in gear now?
         6. How long has it been since you lived in a house without plumbing? What do you do when the water goes off indefinitely?
      4. Please help me make the point. If you ever did any of those things, hold up your hand. Thank you!
      5. When you stopped doing these things, did you have to learn anything new?
2. Adults, how much better do you understand the message of the Bible today than you did fifteen years ago?
   1. How much better do you understand:
      1. The work of God?
      2. The will of God?
      3. God’s purposes in your life?
      4. God’s objectives in our world?
      5. God’s purposes and work in Jesus Christ?
      6. God’s purposes and work in the Holy Spirit?
      7. If you made a list of the spiritual realities that you understand better today than you did fifteen years ago, how long would your list be?
      8. If you made a list of spiritual realities in which your understanding had made zero change in the last fifteen years, how long would that list be?
   2. In the last ten years, what have you learned about these spiritual concepts:
      1. Obedience?
      2. Forgiveness?
      3. Grace?
      4. Mercy?
      5. Atonement?
      6. Redemption?
      7. Righteousness?
      8. Reconciliation?
   3. We Christian adults are staring at a major crisis that will produce consequences that exceed our imaginations.
      1. I have struggled with that reality this week.
         1. My time is fast running out.
         2. “Oh, David, you are a young man with lots of time.”
         3. I am not speaking of time, in the sense of years, though no one knows how much he or she has.
         4. My “opportunity days” are fast disappearing.
      2. There is so much from scripture that I want to share.
         1. There are so many understandings that I want you to develop.
         2. There are so many ways that I want to motivate, stimulate, challenge, and encourage people.
      3. There is so much I want to do to encourage you to let God build a life of faith.
3. “You said something about a crisis? What major crisis?”
   1. We adults are caught in the path of a huge avalanche of spiritual ignorance.
      1. In my personal opinion, this avalanche had a small beginning in the 1960s.
      2. For thirty years it has been hurling down the mountain we call society gathering mass and speed.
      3. Now this avalanche of ignorance is poised to bury us.
         1. In our personal lives we have horrible definitions of good and evil.
         2. In our personal conduct we horrible concepts of right and wrong.
         3. We reject the concept of loving God with all our being.
         4. We do not love people as we love ourselves.
         5. We don’t treat people like we want to be treated.
         6. We easily confuse the immoral with the moral.
         7. What God declares as major we classify as minor.
         8. What God gives little or no emphasis to we classify as major.
         9. Too many Christians spiritually have split personalities.
   2. We have contributed to the avalanche of spiritual ignorance in these five ways.
      1. We transformed worship into education.
         1. The central element of worship in every age has been exalting, honoring, praising, and reverencing God.
         2. Today, the central element of worship is teaching.
         3. Far too many of us, the only spiritual teaching we receive in any given week is the sermon we hear on Sunday morning.
      2. We have sanctioned the great divorce.
         1. We have divorced real life from church life, and church life is not necessarily spiritual life.
         2. Real life behavior is for our everyday, real world.
         3. Church life behavior is primarily for Sundays, with a few exceptions.
         4. But do not mix those two behaviors; they are not in relationship.
      3. We endorse an unbiblical conviction: the system saves.
         1. If you do the right things to plug into the spiritual system, if you remain a part of the system, the system will save you.
         2. Faith in the Savior does not save; relationship with God does not save; the system saves.
      4. We declare that the foundation of true faithfulness is determined by issues and positions, not an understanding of Jesus Christ and scripture.
         1. Too often Christians determine the “faithfulness” of other Christians by asking: “Where do you stand on…?”
         2. Too seldom is faithfulness determined by devotion to and service for Jesus Christ.
      5. We permitted belonging to take the place of becoming.
         1. We are more concerned about belonging to the church than we are about becoming a Christian.
         2. Church membership has become an acceptable substitute for Christian transformation.
4. Spiritually, we have no fear of ignorance if we are a part of the system.
   1. In Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah told the nation of Judah that the stupidity of their ignorance guaranteed their destruction.
      1. First, he talked about the folly of idolatry (10:2-9).
         1. They carved a god out of a tree.
         2. That god had no more life or power than a scarecrow in a garden.
      2. Second, he talked about the life and the power of the living God (10:10-16).
         1. Judah failed to see the difference between an idol and the living God.
         2. Jeremiah said every man is stupid and devoid of knowledge (10:14).
      3. Third, Jeremiah said, “Pack your bags and get ready–you are going into captivity!” (10:17,18)
      4. After stating how pitiful things were in Judah, Jeremiah said:
         Jeremiah 10:23,24 I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. “I know that people are not capable of finding direction without God’s guidance.”
         2. “Lord, discipline us, but don’t destroy us.”
      5. We have not discovered what Jeremiah knew.
         1. We believe that we are more than capable of finding our own direction.
         2. We do not need God to provide us direction; we need God to care for situations that we cannot; we need God’s power not His guidance.
         3. That is ignorance.
   2. We respond, “Judah had that problem; we don’t. Ignorance won’t destroy us.”
      1. In Matthew 25:14-30 is the parable of the talents.
         1. The servant justified his “do nothing” behavior by declaring that he was afraid of the master because he was a hard man who expected something for nothing. He did not understand his master.
         2. His ignorance destroyed him.
      2. In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus gave us a judgment scene.
         1. The people condemned to eternal punishment protested that they never saw Jesus in need and refused to help him.
         2. Jesus declared that their failure to help insignificant people was the failure to help him. They did not know that.
         3. Ignorance destroyed them.
   3. Too many of us have misplaced our faith and do not know it.
      1. Our faith in is our name, our positions, our system, our commitment to restoration, or our structures.
      2. Far too little of our faith in is in God.
      3. Someone says, “Oh, but it is all the same thing.”
      4. That is the most frightening ignorance of all.

[Prayer]

“Well, preacher, you touched my guilt button. You are right. I should actually study the Bible. I should come to Bible classes.”

If all I did was touch your guilt button, I failed. I seek to do something far beyond making you feel guilty. Spiritually, most of you are much too old just to feel guilty. I want to open your eyes to life’s real purpose. I want you to understand how desperately all of us constantly need to grow closer to God.

Preparing Teens To Be Christian Adults

Posted by David on January 17, 1999 under Sermons

The first thing I want you to understand this evening is that this lesson is primary for us adults, not for our teens.

This month Brad Pistole began a teen worship assembly on Sunday evenings. On Sunday evenings a number of our teens assist a number of our adults in directing our Kids For Christ program for preschool children aged 2 through 5 years old and children from first through sixth grade. The Kids for Christ is an excellent program for our children that is specifically designed to help them grow in biblical knowledge and Christian values.

The teen worship began with an attendance of 43–that is 43 teens in addition to the teens who were assisting Kids For Christ. That number represents more teens attending on Sunday evening than attended our Sunday evening auditorium assemblies. It is a worship assembly just as this is a worship assembly. But it is a worship assembly that focuses on building the faith, addressing the specific challenges, and encouraging the spiritual development of teenagers. Every week it will focus on the spiritual needs and problems confronting teenagers. A number of men in the congregation will be guest speakers, and those men will include the elders.

Tonight the teens are meeting in their assembly. What I share with you is designed to challenge your thoughts. I am specifically speaking to us as adult Christians.

1. Spiritually, what basic teaching do you think teenagers need to learn?
   1. I would be shocked if there is a Christian adult in this audience of any age who does not have a ready answer for that question based on a strong conviction.
      1. I have zero doubt that our answers would be radically different. For example:
         1. Some of us would strongly affirm that teens basically need to be taught theological truths.
         2. Some of us would strongly affirm that teens basically need to be grounded in the teachings of the Church of Christ.
         3. Some of would strongly affirm that teens must have their specific spiritual needs addressed.
         4. Some of us would strongly affirm that teens must have teen moral problems addressed.
      2. A number of other specific suggestions would be strongly affirmed.
   2. Question: why do you personally strongly feel that your answer is the correct, needed answer? For example:
      1. If your answer is, “Teach teens correct theology,” is your “why” centered in your concern about future ignorance of God and God’s will ?
      2. If your answer is, “Teach teens basic Church of Christ teachings,” is your “why” centered in your concerns about the future of the Church of Christ?
      3. If your answer is, “Teach teens about their spiritual needs,” is your “why” centered in your concern about teens not being spiritual?
      4. If your answer is, “Teach teens biblical morality,” is your “why” centered in your concerns about current immorality?
      5. Whatever your answer is, why do you think that answer should be our primary teaching concern?
   3. Second question: regardless of what your answer is or my answer is, is our concern centered in our teenagers’ relationship with God or is our concern centered in something besides their relationship with God?
      1. Do we want to help the teens?
      2. Or, are we just afraid?
      3. Are we focused on our teens, or are we focused on our fears?
2. Allow me to call your attention to 1 Timothy; focus on some things Paul told Timothy that I am convinced would bless our teens.
   1. Timothy was a young man who began to work with Paul at the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 16:1).
      1. Paul often left Timothy to work with an infant congregation or sent Timothy to work with a troubled congregation.
      2. In Paul’s letter to Timothy that we call 1 Timothy, Paul asked him to remain in Ephesus and help the congregation in some specific ways (1 Timothy 1:3).
      3. Sprinkled throughout this letter are some things that Paul wanted Timothy personally to understand and remember.
   2. May I call your attention to some of those things.
      1. 1 Timothy 1:18,19 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teenagers need to understand the importance of having and keeping faith; faith seems anything but necessary in today’s world.
         2. Our teenagers need to understand the destructive power of guilt and the blessings of a good conscience.
      2. 1 Timothy 4:7,8 But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teenagers need to understand the importance of self-discipline that encourages godly development.
         2. Our teenagers need to understand why physical discipline has value, but spiritual discipline has much greater value.
      3. 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teenagers need to understand the value and the purpose of a Christian being an example.
      4. 1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teens need to understand the importance of developing their spiritual gift.
      5. 1 Timothy 5:25 Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teens need to understand that good deeds become obvious (you don’t have to call them to everyone’s attention), and evil deeds cannot be concealed.
      6. 1 Timothy 6:10,11 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Our teens need to understand the necessity of running from things that look innocent but will painfully destroy you.
         2. They need to understand the importance of chasing things that will spiritually develop you.
3. Now allow me to call two things to your attention.
   1. First, I want to ask you to consider what I said.
      1. Did you notice what I did not say?
         1. I did not say that our teens need to be told these things.
         2. I did not say that our teens need to commit these things to memory.
         3. I did not say that our teens need to be warned or to be given some sound advice.
      2. I said that our teens need to understand these things.
         1. In the context of their lives, their world, their problems, their challenges, their temptations, they need to understand.
         2. Stating facts is simple; giving advice is simple; passing judgment and condemnation is simple.
         3. Building understanding is not simple; it is challenging, demanding, and time consuming.
   2. Second, I want to ask you another question: why do you think that they do not understand these things? There are many reasons, but consider this.
      1. Too often we adults want our teens to be something that many of us adults never became.
         1. We seem spiritually to operate under the assumption that if we just change the “facts” of their belief system, that will produce the lives and behavior that we want.
         2. Is it true in our lives that the facts we believe have changed our lives and behavior, or in basic ways has our behavior remain untouched by the facts that we believe?
      2. Teens tend to be very idealistic.
         1. Ethics, determining what is good and evil, is important to teens.
         2. It is quite true that their system for determining what is good or evil is commonly very different from our system.
         3. But does the behavior and results produced by our definitions of good and evil challenge their definitions?
         4. How often do they see us doing good simply because it is good, or doing right simply because it is right?
         5. Do they see us doing good or right when it is to our own disadvantage or hurt?
         6. Do the ways we act and the ways we treat people make their definitions look better than our definitions?
      3. In what real way do they see in our lives that the physical is minor and the spiritual is major?
         1. Do we talk about living for eternity when we actually live for retirement?
         2. When they watch the way we live our lives every day, is it obvious that the spiritual is the most important?
      4. Do they see us cultivating the kind of mind and heart that allows us naturally to be an example in all contexts?
      5. Do they see us cultivating our spiritual gifts and using those gifts for God’s purposes?
      6. Do we live our lives in the understanding that good deeds are obvious and evil cannot be hidden?
         1. Teenagers hate hypocrisy.
         2. When it comes to knowing what is going on, teens are very savvy.
         3. The teen information network rivals any adult network ever developed.
         4. And they have inside information because teens share with teens–they know what is happening in the homes.
      7. Do they see us living as close to God as we can get or as close to the edge as we can get?

How do we generate understanding in teenagers? There is no formula. There is no guaranteed process. There are many factors involved. Among all those factors, there is one that you and I contribute every day. If they are to understand it, they must see it in our lives and our hearts. They do not expect perfection. They do look for genuineness.

When we deepen our faith; when we mature our Christian behavior; when we love God; when we humbly serve Christ; when we encourage God’s Spirit in our life; when we let kindness, forgiveness, and compassion flow through our lives; in a powerful way, we help teens understand.

Teenagers: An Incredible Opportunity; A Unique Challenge

Posted by David on under Sermons

I begin with an apology to our teenagers. Forgive me for beginning in this way. Please permit me to begin by “connecting” with everyone older than teens. Forgive me while I take just a moment to talk to non-teen adults.

I want to share two thoughts with you non-teen adults. Can you relate to these statements? Statement number one: one of God’s special gifts in this life is that we have to survive adolescence only once. Many times I have listened to adults talking about teenage adventures. Often I hear them say, “It is amazing that we survived!”

Statement two: you do not pay for your rearing until you are the parent of teens.

Teens, those statements are not a slam on you. They just acknowledge an ancient truth. A teenager’s life is a hard life.

1. Adolescence is one of life’s greatest transitions; it may be the greatest single transition in our physical life span.
   1. Adolescence primarily involves the journey from a child’s life to an adult’s life.
      1. The transition called adolescence produces enormous change.
         1. Physically, your body makes incredible, visible changes.
         2. Emotionally, you discover feelings that you have never experienced.
         3. Mentally, your mind begins to work in ways that it never worked.
      2. For ten to twelve years this person has been a child.
         1. Parents talked to this person as a child.
         2. Parents reasoned with this person as a child.
         3. Parents explained things to this person as a child.
         4. Parents focused this person as a child.
         5. And, with occasional exceptions, this person accepted as fact that he or she was a child.
      3. Then adolescence begins, and almost immediately the same person is insulted if parents treat him or her as a child.
         1. This transition drives parents crazy–they had a child; they always had a child; now what they have is not a child; but they are not sure what it is.
         2. Sometimes he or she feels and acts like a child.
         3. Sometimes he or she demands to be treated as an adult.
         4. On any given day parents know it is virtually useless to try to anticipate how this “not a child; not an adult” will think and act that day.
   2. The truth is simply stated but complicated to understand: the adolescent is not a child any more.
      1. As a child, he or she may have challenged your decisions and your acts.
      2. But now the challenge is much more complicated: now he or she challenges your thoughts, your reasoning, your logic, and your conclusions.
      3. He or she thinks about things that you never thought about and are not interested in considering.
      4. He or she questions things that you never questioned.
      5. He or she challenges your absolutes–you don’t challenge absolutes!
      6. These new people living in your house who jumped into your child’s body don’t want the explanations that you always gave your child.
         1. They want answers, answers you have not thought about.
         2. They want answers that they can wrap their reasoning and understanding around.
         3. They want answers that can be tested with their questions and reasoning.
   3. As a parent, you face a critical decision, and you will make that decision.
      1. You can commit yourself to enforcing control about everything in every detail: “I am the parent and you are the child, and as long as you live under this roof you will do what I say do and you will do it my way–end of discussion.”
         1. But this is the truth: the only control you have is physical control while he or she is in your presence.
         2. You may exercise control, but your control will not determine what he or she thinks, what he or she feels, or what he or she holds in the heart.
         3. Control may win a specific battle, but using control alone will lose the war.
      2. The moment will come when he or she will leave and will not be under any form of your control.
2. Being an adolescent is extremely frustrating.
   1. Through this transition a person becomes a “self.”
      1. During adolescence a person is discovering what it means to be “me.”
      2. The one basic answer an adolescence searches for is, “Who am I?”
   2. Peer pressure is greater during adolescence than it ever be again in adult life.
      1. Peer pressure always exists; adults always cope with peer pressure.
      2. But adolescent peer pressure is the peer pressure that exists in the adult world, but it comes before the teen has the experience of an adult.
      3. As the adolescent struggles to find, “Who am I?” his or her self-concept and personal identity are powerfully linked to peer pressure.
3. Adolescence provides the church an incredible teaching opportunity.
   1. Why?
      1. Typically the adolescent has an open mind.
         1. A teenager will consider any input.
         2. He or she is open to new concepts and challenging ideas.
         3. Teens typically approach anything with the openness of honest examination.
      2. Probably there is no other age that is as unprejudiced as the teen years.
         1. Everything is super simple: life has almost no gray areas; everything is good or bad, black or white.
         2. But, teens are unlikely to be judgmental; they are more likely to accept a person for who he or she is at that moment.
      3. For these reasons teens respect and respond to openness.
         1. They do not care what you know until you share who you are.
         2. They respond poorly to what you think they need to know.
         3. They respond quickly to someone who “listens to understand” before they speak.
         4. If we want teens to understand our thoughts, we must be open to understanding their thoughts.
            1. To adults, that probably is the most frightening reality about adolescence.
            2. Understanding teens’ thinking makes most adults very uncomfortable.
   2. For the church to take advantage of this opportunity, adult Christians need some basic understandings.
      1. Teens don’t buy “adult assumptions” at face value, and they recognize an adult assumption when they see it.
      2. Teens hate hypocrisy and pretense.
      3. Teens place a high value on relationships; betrayal is the sin of sins.
      4. Teens are very teachable, but they despise indoctrination.
      5. Teens learn by exploring answers to questions; they respond poorly to lectures.
      6. Their education process has relied heavily on the visual.
         1. The computer is the foundation of their entertainment and education.
         2. They learn with their eyes much faster than with their ears.
   3. The teens everyday world is radically different from the everyday world of most of us.
      1. At least half of their peers live in broken homes or blended families.
      2. Directly or through the lives of peers, daily they see the hostility of divorce, the depersonalization of the blended family, betrayal, and abandonment.
      3. Many of them have seen more relationship pain and lovelessness in two to four years than some of us have seen in a lifetime.
      4. Weapons, drugs, alcohol, sexual involvement, and rape are a part of their everyday world.
         1. They are starved to death for openness, trustworthiness, honesty, and relevance.
         2. They want help and answers, not platitudes that do not understand their world.
   4. For teachers, teens need Christians who love them, who care about what is happening in their lives, who are honest and open with them.
      1. For teachers, they need informed thinkers who are willing to be open and honest.
      2. It is not necessary to have all the answers to be a beloved teacher of teens.
      3. It is important to listen, to care, and to understand problems to be a beloved teacher.
4. You may disagree with this, but I want you to consider it. Included among our teachers of teens, we need some “been there” Christian men and women.
   1. A “been there” Christian man or woman is a Christian who made a mistake, lived through the immediate consequence of the mistake, and recovered by allowing God to put his or her life back together again.
      1. Some lessons about the continuing consequences and pain of an abortion can be taught only by a Christian who has spiritually recovered from an abortion.
      2. Some lessons about the devastation of drugs or alcoholism can be taught only by a Christian who escaped the control of those addictions.
      3. Some lessons about the cost and unique problems of being sexually active can be taught only by a Christian who has recovered from that problem.
      4. Some lessons about the hidden pain, the continuing problems, and the personal devastation of a broken home can be taught only by a Christian who has experienced that problem and recovered.
      5. “Been there” Christians have an understanding of the problem and the consequences no one else has; they understand the continuing challenge as no one else does.
   2. If you feel anger and resentment because I would dare make that suggestion, would you consider this from scripture?
      1. God picked a “been there” Christian to be the primary leader and teacher in the first congregation.
         1. Three times Peter denied that he even knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75).
         2. Verse 74 states Peter affirmed that he did not know Jesus by cursing and swearing (taking an oath) that he did not know the man.
         3. Fifty days later God chose this “been there” Christian to preach the first sermon about the resurrection in the very place that he denied Jesus.
      2. God chose a “been there” Christian to be a unique missionary to the world.
         1. Acts 8:3 states Paul ravaged the church by making a house to house search, arresting Christians, dragging men and women out of their homes, and putting them in prison.
         2. Acts 9:1 states he breathed threats and murder against Christians.
         3. In 1 Timothy 1:13 Paul confessed that in those days he blasphemed, persecuted, and was violently aggressive against Christians.
      3. The key point is this: these “been there” Christians recovered in Christ, and because they did, they had something very special to share about the power of faith in Christ–and God knew it.

Not just our teenagers, but all teenagers, exist as an incredible opportunity if we have the courage to meet the challenge. It is a very relevant challenge. The teenagers of today are the adults of tomorrow. If we cannot help them now, they will not listen to us then.

[Prayer]

This is the basic message we need to share with teens and all adults. Hope is found in Jesus. Forgiveness is found in Jesus. New beginnings are found in Jesus. Healing of the heart and soul are found in Jesus. New life is found in Jesus. Peace is found in Jesus.

Have you found them?