Boiling Over: Acceptance Of Sexual Ungodliness

Posted by David on January 16, 2000 under Sermons

In 1990 George Barna published a book entitled, Frog In The Kettle. That book was intended to be a “wake up call” to churches who were dedicated to converting individuals to Jesus Christ. The book title was taken from a long known situation. If you place a frog in a pot of cool water sitting on the stove, you can bring the pot to a boil and the frog will not jump out as temperature rises. The frog will stay in the water until it dies. He gets so accustomed to the rising temperature that he never recognizes the danger. Barna’s point is simple: the Christian and the church become so accustomed to our changing culture that we can die before we recognize the dangers.

Barna was not challenging us to isolate. He was challenging us to stop deceiving ourselves. He was challenging us to wake up to the changes that are occurring and become a positive, active force instead of just sitting in the pot.

That was a decade ago. Barna’s insights were quite prophetic.

1. Let me illustrate what has happened and is happening.
   1. I will start way back about four decades, so be patient and think.
   2. Let me begin with us older folks in the audience.
      1. How many of you watched the television series called “The Honeymooners”? (Ask for a show of hands).
         1. What a sexually provocative title–honeymooning!
         2. But that was NOT a sexually provocative series–Ralph Cramden and his wife Alice were not sex symbols!
         3. Even though they were a married couple in the series, did you ever see Ralph and Alice in the same bed?
         4. How many romantic scenes (not sexually explicit scenes!) do you remember being a part of a segment?
         5. When you think about the TV series called “The Honeymooners,” do you think about sex?
      2. How many of you watched the “I Love Lucy” show starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez? (Ask for a show of hands)
         1. Were Lucy and Desi, who were actually husband and wife, sex symbols?
         2. How often were steamy, sexual encounters a part of the story line?
         3. Even though they were married on the show and actually married in real life, how often did you see them in the same bed? They used twin beds!
   3. In 1970 Joyce, our children, and I lived for four years in a rural area in the rain forest area of West Africa.
      1. To give you some insight into our physical circumstances:
         1. Calling to the states was so uncertain that we never attempted it.
         2. It took an air mail letter three weeks to travel from where we lived to our parents.
         3. Very few English language publications were available, and very few English language programs could be heard on the radio.
         4. There was no television.
      2. In virtually every way, we were removed from the American culture.
   4. When we returned to America to live in 1974, things had changed dramatically.
      1. Do you remember the “Mary Tyler Moore” show?
         1. Would you classify Ted as a man of sexually high moral values?
         2. Do you recall that Sue Ann with her typical perspective frequently considered the sexual first?
      2. The television series “MASH” was quite popular when we returned.
         1. And initially we were shocked.
         2. The sexual exploits of Hawkeye Pierce and Hot Lips Hoolihan were very much a part of the story line.
         3. It was straightforward, but it used your imagination.
         4. However, when you look at a program of “MASH” today, it seems down right tame sexually.
      3. The sexually explicit progression continued. Do not raise your hand; just think.
         1. Did you watch and enjoy the series called the “Golden Girls”?
            1. How often were sexual affairs and exploits discussed?
            2. In the story line, how important were sexual situations?
         2. Did you watch and enjoy the series called “Designing Women”?
            1. How often were sexual affairs or exploits discussed?
            2. How often did sexual situations factor in their weekly episodes?
      4. How long have you watched the daytime dramas?
         1. If there were no affairs, no rapes, no adultery, no divorce, no steamy love scenes, how much would be cut out of those dramas?
         2. If you removed all sexual seduction, all affairs, and all sexual unfaithfulness from those dramas, how much material would remain?
2. How much has changed in what is depicted on the television and movie screen in the last 40 years?
   1. If you grew up as a child watching the television and movies of today, how would that have affected your sexual attitudes and behavior?
      1. Forget the TV comedies!
      2. Forget the TV dramas!
      3. Even forget the PG-13 and R rated movies!
      4. What about some of the commercials?
   2. The changes are nothing less than astounding.
      1. What was considered pornography or X-rated sexual content in the 1960s might make the rating of PG-13 today.
      2. Yet, the average Christian is less shocked and less offended by what is shown on public TV today than the general public was by “the sexually provocative” materials of the 1960s.
      3. We have come to accept it as “just life.”
   3. The temperature rose and the frog did not jump–it cooked.
3. I understand that my perspective is a not a common one, and you may disagree with me–agreeing or disagreeing with me is not the issue.
   1. For a long, long time I have felt that we missed the point in our opposition to the abuse of the sex drive and sex appeal.
      1. The most popular form of opposition the church directed toward the exploitation and abuse of sexual interest has been to condemn it.
         1. “This is what fornication is; it is wrong; God condemns it; the person who commits fornication is going to hell.”
         2. “This is what adultery is; it is wrong; God condemns it; the person who commits adultery is going to hell.”
         3. “This is what pornography is; it is wrong; God condemns it; the person who uses pornography is going to hell.”
         4. I certainly used a form of that opposition for years.
      2. Our most common approach in opposing any form of sexual exploitation is to try to put the fear of hell in people.
         1. It has not worked among Christians.
         2. It has not been a positive influence in touching people in our culture–would a sexually distressed person come to us for help?
      3. “Do you believe that the abuse or exploitation of human sexual desires is evil?” Absolutely!
         1. My understanding of God makes adultery evil.
         2. My understanding of God makes fornication evil.
         3. My understanding of God makes pornography evil.
      4. If a person acknowledges that the abuse or exploitation of human sexual desires is evil, does that solve the problem?
         1. No!
         2. Many Christians who can make powerful arguments against the evils of being sexually active outside the context of a healthy marriage are guilty of being sexually active outside the context of a healthy marriage.
         3. For too many Christians, the key is that no human in the church knows what you are doing; as long as it is secret or hidden, it is okay.
         4. Also there are Christians who accept as fact that sexual activity outside of healthy marriage is evil, but who do not know how to escape the slavery of sexual evil.
      5. We do not address or solve the problem by merely condemning it.
         1. We have implied that if you keep it quiet and hidden, it is okay.
         2. We have not accepted the responsibility to help people understand and escape sexual evil.
   2. The predictable consequence of abusing our sexual desires, drives, and natures is this: it makes us extremely selfish and insensitive.
      1. Sexual indulgence without responsible, healthy commitment makes us increasingly self centered.
      2. It increasingly diminishes our capacity for compassion and kindness.
      3. It increasingly makes us hard and cynical by increasingly hardening our consciences.
      4. It increasingly causes us to look at other people as things to be used and exploited rather than persons made in God’s image.
   3. Bottom line: irresponsible sexual indulgence makes us extremely selfish individuals.
      1. The latest statistics available reveal that Americans abandon 23,000 babies annually at the hospital.
         1. That number does not include babies who are abandoned on streets, in public restrooms, or other public places.
         2. That number does not include babies who are abandoned in trash cans.
         3. That does not include the number of babies who die from neglect.
      2. The abortion rate is declining, but the last reported rate was over 1,221,000 for 1996.
      3. Do you see any selfishness?
   4. One of the greatest sources of pain in our culture is the pain of rejection that comes from failed or exploitive sexual encounters in and out of marriage.
      1. The people who experience that pain feel:
         1. Used.
         2. Deceived.
         3. Abandoned.
         4. Discarded.
      2. Do you see the consequences of selfishness?
   5. The more selfish we become, the more dismal our relationships are, and the higher the failure rate of our relationships.
      1. Sexual fulfillment is good, not evil; it was created by God, not designed by Satan.
      2. That is why God designed us to live in the successful relationship of a healthy marriage.

To the Christians who were living in the sexually exploitive port city of Corinth, Paul said that in that environment at that time he recommended that they not marry. However, Paul realized that was not an option for some. So he said,

(1 Corinthians 7:2-6) But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of command. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

Paul was not recommending that men and women sexually exploit each other in marriage. In an environment less stressful than Corinth, Paul declared to Christians in Ephesus:

(Ephesians 5:22-25,28) Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)

In the loving, respectful relationship of a healthy marriage, husbands and wives want to care for each other in every way, in every need.

Promises: The Heart Of Our Joy

Posted by David on under Sermons

Parents, suppose your fifteen-year-old son or daughter decided to attend a “blow out” party one Friday night and Saturday. Your son or daughter had always been honest with you. He or she made mistakes, but never deliberately deceived you. He or she has never plotted to create a conspiracy against you.

Suppose your fifteen-year-old is very successful in the deceit. You thought he or she spent the night with a friend, but he or she spent Friday night being part of Saturday at a “anything goes” party. He or she got drunk. He or she experimented with drugs and got high as well as drunk. While drunk and high, he or she decided to become sexually active.

Your teen comes home Saturday afternoon feeling physically and emotionally horrible. The conscience is killing him or her. Your son or daughter feels so ashamed that he or she cannot look at you.

Your fifteen-year-old quickly heads to the bedroom and spends the rest of Saturday afternoon and night in bed. Sunday he or she worships with you. Sunday night he or she says, “I have to talk to both of you.” With tears, regret, and shame, your child tells you everything.

When you hear the confession, you are devastated. You cannot grasp how your teen can know that your love for him or her is genuine and deceive you. You cannot imagine your child doing what he or she did. You are grieved; you are angry; you are embarrassed; you are ashamed; you are confused.

As parents you talk all night instead of sleeping. You get angry together. You cry together. You share your devastation. Finally you make a decision.

Monday night with lots of tears, all three of you talk. And you tell your fifteen- year-old, “This our commitment to you. We forgive you. We will work with and encourage you. We want you to make a commit to us. Work with us to rebuild our relationship. If you will be open and honest with us, we will never stop loving you and encouraging you. We ask you to make us this promise: accept your share of the responsibility to help us rebuild our relationship.”

1. How powerful is a promise?
   1. What makes a promise powerful?
      1. In human-human relationships and in the human-divine relationships, nothing has as much potential for power as a promise does.
      2. However, for a promise to be powerful, two things must be true:
         1. The first concerns the person who gives the promise: the promise must be genuine.
         2. The second concerns the person who responds to the promise: he or she must trust the promise.
      3. When a promise is not genuine, it quickly loses its power.
      4. If the person who receives the promise does not trust it, it has no power.
   2. Go back with me to the opening illustration.
      1. These were the parents’ promises:
         1. Forgiveness, support, and encouragement.
         2. Continuing love and help if the child will be open, honest, and accept responsibility.
      2. If those promises are to be powerful in the parent-child relationship, two things must be true.
         1. The parents’ promises must be genuine.
         2. The fifteen-year old must trust those promises.
      3. If the promises are not real, if they are not genuine, the relationship will die.
      4. If the fifteen-year old does not trust the promises, the relationship will die.
2. Most of you in this assembly have been baptized.
   1. This is God’s promise:
      1. If you trust what God did in the death and resurrection of Jesus (that is what it means to believe),
      2. If you resolve to redirect your life by turning it away from the evil in you (that is what it means to repent),
      3. And if you are baptized because you believe and repent,
         1. God will destroy your sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
         2. God will place you in Christ (Galatians 3:27).
         3. God will make you His child (Galatians 3:26,27).
         4. God will raise you from baptism to newness of life (Romans 6:4).
         5. God will place you in His body (1 Corinthians 12:13).
      4. I ask each of you who have been baptized, do you believe those promises? I anticipate most if not all of you would quickly say that you believe them.
      5. I ask each of you who have been baptized, why do you believe the promises?
         1. “Because that is what scripture says.”
         2. “Because those are God’s promises.”
   2. Let me clearly understand you.
      1. I am to trust God’s promises to the person who is baptized; because he believes and repents. Those promises are:
         1. I will destroy your sin.
         2. I will place you in Christ.
         3. I will make you God’s child.
         4. I will give you newness of life.
         5. I will make you a part of Christ’s body.
      2. I am to trust all those things will happen when I believe, repent, and am baptized because:
         1. The Bible says it.
         2. God promises it.
      3. Is that correct?
         1. Is that always correct?
         2. When the Bible reveals a promise from God, I am to trust that promise?
3. Let me share with you another promise God gives.
   Read with me 1 John 1:5-10.
   This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
   1. In my understanding, these are John’s points.
      1. There is no evil in God.
      2. Those who have fellowship with God do not knowingly live their lives in evil.
      3. If we claim to walk with God and knowingly live our lives for evil, we are lying, and we do not practice the truth.
      4. If we commit ourselves to living our lives in God’s light, two things will occur in our lives:
         1. We will have fellowship with other Christians.
         2. Christ’s blood will continue to cleanse our sins.
      5. If we claim there is no evil in our lives (therefore we do not need God’s forgiveness), we are self deceived and God’s truth is not in us.
      6. If we will confess the evil that we realize is in us, God will do two things.
         1. He will forgive us of the evil we that we realize and confess.
         2. He will also cleanse us of all the evil we commit but do not realize.
      7. If we claim that we have committed no evil, we make God a liar and God’s word is not in us.
   2. In those statements, John reveals some incredible promises from God.
      1. First, John wants us to understand that Jesus’ cleansing blood does not stop flowing through our lives after we are baptized.
         1. Baptism begins the flow of that cleansing blood.
         2. That atoning blood continues to flow in our lives and to cleanse us from the evil that occurs in us.
      2. Second, for the atoning blood to continue to flow in our lives, the Christian must accept these responsibilities.
         1. I must honestly accept the fact that evil will always occur in my life.
         2. I must honestly commit myself to living in God’s light by studying, learning, and understanding His word.
         3. I must honestly accept the responsibility to confess to God the evil I commit when I realize that this evil has occurred.
         4. I must honestly accept the responsibility to maintain fellowship with Christians.
      3. If, as a Christian, I pretend that I do not commit any evil or that I do not need God’s forgiveness, I become a self-deceived liar who does not practice the truth, and God’s word does not live in me.
   3. What is God’s promise to Christians?
      1. He promises that Jesus’ atoning blood will never stop flowing in our lives providing us forgiveness.
      2. He promises that He will forgive the evil that we recognize and confess.
      3. He promises that He will also forgive us of the evil we do not even realize that we commit.
   4. Why should we trust those promises?
      1. We should trust them because God is faithful and righteous.
      2. In our words, we should trust Him because without fail God keeps His promises.
         1. He cannot lie.
         2. He cannot deceive.
         3. He always, without fail, does what He says He will do.
4. That is why it is called “newness of life.”
   1. That “new life” that comes into existence the moment that you are baptized was not designed to fade away during the rest of your physical life.
      1. This new life begins existing when the believer who repents is baptized into Christ, just like new life begins when a baby is born.
      2. That new life becomes stronger, more powerful as the person grows closer to God by maturing in Christ.
      3. Why?
         1. Part of this has to do with what we do: we mature; we grow up.
         2. Part of this has to do with what God does: He keeps using the blood of Jesus to cleanse us and forgive us each day.
      4. In Christ I begin each day of my life as a new, forgiven child of God because every day I am cleansed and forgiven by Jesus’ atoning blood.
   2. I must not abuse God’s promises and forgiveness.
      1. It is possible for me to do what God wants me to do.
         1. I can live my life in God’s light.
         2. I can have fellowship with Christians by being a responsible part of the Christian community.
         3. I can confess evil in my life when I realize it is there.
      2. I cannot be perfect, but I can be faithful.

[Prayer: God, help us know and trust your promises.]

When we know and trust these promises, we experience freedom and are filled with joy.

God Himself promised that He will never stop forgiving us if we will live our lives in His light and responsibly turn from our mistakes when we realize them.

God will do exactly that! It is impossible for God to make a deceitful promise. What we must understand is this: the God who loves us has no desire to deceive us.

Sexual Perceptions: Passing Them On

Posted by David on January 9, 2000 under Sermons

If someone gave you, personally, the power to do anything you willed to do to eliminate irresponsible, selfish sexual behavior in our culture, what would you do?

“I would teach every person that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is wrong. This problem exists because of ignorance!” Do some Christians commit adultery? Have they been taught it is wrong?

“I would pass a law that made it a crime to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage.” Check the law code of any state. Are the laws “on the book” that make adultery a crime? Has there ever been a time when people did not commit adultery?

“I would put the fear of hell in every adult! I would made them aware that the man or woman who has sexual intercourse outside of marriage is going to hell!” Has the fear of hell eliminated adultery among Christians? Listen to a significant irony. Among Christians, the use of pornography and prostitutes tends to increase among those who wage war against sexual sin by the threat of hell.

We will not eliminate sexual sin by declaring that it is evil. We will not eliminate sexual sin by passing laws. We will not eliminate sexual sin by using the threat of hell. Any one of those or any combination of those are inadequate. We have used all three, and look at the reality of where we are.

1. People who love and respect people do not engage in irresponsible sexual intercourse that makes no commitment, or limited commitment, or short term commitment.
   1. That ancient truth is present reality; it has always been true.
      1. Let me show you that truth plainly and clearly in the Bible.
      2. God brought Israel out of the slavery of Egypt and gave them laws in the wilderness to do three things:
         1. Their laws were designed to change their concepts of God.
         2. Their laws were designed to change their behavior.
         3. Their laws were designed to change the way they treated people.
         4. All three objectives were inseparably linked.
      3. The core of those laws was the ten commandments, and the basic objective of the ten commandments was to do those three things.
         1. In the ten commandments are these two laws:
            1. “You shall not commit adultery” [Exodus 20:14].
            2. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, servants, livestock, or possessions” [Exodus 20:17].
         2. The objective of “Do not commit adultery” was to change their behavior.
         3. The objective of “Do not covert your neighbor’s wife” was to change the way you treated each other; respecting your neighbor definitely changed the way you treated him and his wife.
      4. What are the two greatest commandments God ever gave? According to our Lord Jesus Christ they are [Matthew 22:34-40]
         1. Number 1: You shall love God with all your being.
         2. Number 2: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
         3. He further said that the entire law and the prophets [in our words “the whole word of God”] depends on these two commands.
      5. What is the word that Jesus used for “love” and what does it mean?
         1. The word Jesus used for love in both commands was agapaseis, a form of agapao.
         2. It basically means to seek the highest good of the other person.
            1. Seeking their highest good is not determined by your or their desires.
            2. Seeking the highest good is determined by what is in their present, future, and eternal best interests.
      6. Then what do those two commands mean?
         1. The person who belongs to God will seek God’s highest good with all of his or her being.
         2. The person who belongs to God will seek another person’s highest good with the same devotion that he or she seeks his or her own highest good.
      7. Why do you feel certain about your conclusion? Because that was Paul’s understanding.
         Romans 13:8-10 He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
   2. When a person has sexual intercourse with another person outside the responsibility and commitment of healthy marriage, that act is not an act of love.
      1. You are not seeking God’s highest good.
      2. Your are not seeking your own highest good.
      3. You are not seeking the other person’s highest good.
      4. You seek pleasure and satisfaction, not the highest good.
      5. One of the first things that responsible parents teach their children is this: your behavior is not determined by desires or pleasure.
   3. We will not move sexual perceptions in the church or in Christian individuals in a positive direction until the church as a whole and Christians as individuals understand this basic truth: people who belong to God respect God and respect people.
      1. We must understand that one of the greatest ways to show disrespect to God and to a person is to engage in irresponsible, uncommitted sexual intercourse with the primary objective of experiencing personal pleasure.
         1. Should sexual intercourse be pleasurable? Absolutely.
         2. Did God intend for sexual intercourse to be a powerful means of bonding that advanced companionship and commitment? Yes.
         3. By God’s design and intent, where did He want that to occur? Within a responsible, committed, healthy marriage.
      2. We will not change what is happening among Christians, and we will not be a constructive influence on our culture until we understand that sexual intercourse outside of marriage is one of an expression of disrespect.
2. How did our culture and Christians get into the sexual mess of today?
   1. Be patient for a few minutes, and really concentrate as you follow me.
      1. The depression had a horrible impact on the American home.
         1. Physical necessity required men to go wherever they needed to go in the effort to find work.
         2. That was a time of horrible poverty.
         3. It had a crippling effect on family relationships.
         4. It made it necessary for many children to grow up in homes focused on survival instead of focused on nurturing family bonds of relationship.
      2. World War II intensified the problem.
         1. Husbands and sons went to war.
         2. They were involved in incredible horrors and inhumane acts.
         3. They returned emotionally and psychologically distressed and crippled just like people do today, and those experiences produced chronic depression and post-traumatic stress.
         4. The end of that war brought a marriage rate that soared to one of the highest peaks in this nation’s history.
         5. A few years later, we experienced our first major problem with divorce.
      3. The effects of the depression, World War II, the Korean conflict, and Viet Nam destabilized a lot of homes, deteriorated a lot of family relationships, and produced a lot of children who became adults with poor relationship skills.
   2. Add another trend that began in the 1960s and still continues.
      1. In the 1960s our college students and young adults began a revolt against the home and family as they experienced it.
         1. They resented and rejected the family that projected an outside facade of goodness and existed in the reality of bad relationships.
         2. They practiced “free love” which meant be sexually active when you want to with anyone you want to.
      2. The role of the woman as homemaker began to change.
         1. Bad marriage relationships did not encourage her to stay at the home.
         2. Poor home relationships gave her too little fulfillment to stay there.
      3. Then we became an affluent society.
         1. We wanted more and more.
         2. We wanted a better living standard.
         3. Since many homes had bad relationships and poor relationship skills, we believed that marriage and the home would not suffer by wives entering the job market.
         4. When your family experiences were rooted in poor relationships, and when you think that is the way it should be, why choose a lifestyle that locks you into those poor relationships?
   3. I fully understand that this is an oversimplification that does not take into account some significant factors.
      1. But I want you to see something.
         1. I want you to see that forces began to work in our society well before 1930 to weaken family relationships and to cripple relationship skills.
         2. I want you to understand that the number one place a person should learn proper perspectives on respect, proper perspectives on love, proper perspectives on communication, and proper perspective on sex, is within the relationships of a healthy home.
         3. I want you to understand that what is happening sexually in our culture and among Christians is directly related to the deterioration of relationships in the home and the loss of relationship skills in the individual.
      2. Our society systematically has been creating this problem for over 70 years.
         1. It will not be improved by imposing a set of expectations, even if they come from God.
         2. It will not be improved by imposing a set of laws, no matter how moral or right they are.
         3. It will not be improved by a congregation, a set of congregations, or an alliance of churches imposing a system of discipline and consequences.
   4. We constructively will address this problem God’s way: we must train Christians to respect people if we hope to alter sexual perspectives.
      1. The solution begins by teaching people how to love and respect within the relationships of a healthy home.
      2. That happens one person at a time.
      3. That happens one family at a time.
      4. If we think that we can change sexual perspectives only by teaching a set of doctrinal truths, we are deceiving ourselves.
      5. When we teach people how to build and live in godly relationships, we will begin to address the problem.
   5. I share an observation that you can see for yourself.
      1. Where there is divorce, sexual perspectives and sexual conduct deteriorates.
      2. Where there is a hostile home, sexual perspectives and sexual conduct deteriorates.
      3. Where there is a seriously dysfunctional home, sexual perspectives and sexual conduct deteriorate.
      4. Why? The answer is simple: those situations do not teach people how to love and respect people.
      5. When those things happen, we pass the problem on to the next generation.

“Does it scare you to talk about these things?” Yes. “Why?” Because I came from that kind of background. Because there is divorce in my family. Because I know how culture attacks the Christian, and I know that I am not immune to that attack.

Does it scare you to realize these things?

I Cannot Live Without That!

Posted by David on under Sermons

Besides air, water, and food, can you name something specific that you must have to live your everyday life?

Can you imagine what your life would become instantly if we could not buy gasoline? Think about it. Can you imagine what would happen if for one month neither you nor anyone you knew had access to any gasoline? Think about everything that could not happen. You would have almost no transportation. You could not drive your car–not to work, or school, or the store. You could not call a cab. How would your life change if the only way that you could go places was to walk or ride a bike?

Suppose that one person controlled every drop of gasoline in the Fort Smith area. This person literally decided who could and could not buy gasoline. He or she also decided how much gasoline each person could buy and what price that person paid. What power would this give this gasoline czar? His or her power would exceed your imagination!

“Wow! The people in the Old Testament surely were fortunate that they did not use gasoline!” In their world there were individuals who did control essential supplies.

1. There was something as essential to life in the Mediterranean world as gasoline is to life in America.
   1. “What was that?” Olive oil.
      1. “David, you are kidding!” No, I’m not kidding.
      2. Olive oil was so important to daily life that the people who owned the olive presses had power over daily life.
      3. Consider life in Israel as an example of the importance of olive oil.
      4. Olive oil was essential to their religious life.
         1. It was an essential ingredient in their holy anointing oil.
         2. It played an important role in their religious ceremonies–it was among their firstfruit offerings, a part of their meal offerings, and was tithed.
         3. It was a part of the ceremonies for consecrating the priest, for confirming the purification of lepers, and for taking the Nazarite vow.
         4. Olive oil played an essential role in the religious life of Israel.
      5. Olives and olive oil were an essential part of their diet and food preparation.
         1. Fresh olives or pickled olives and bread were a common meal.
         2. It was their oil to mix with foods to be cooked.
         3. It was their cooking oil.
      6. Olive oil was a medicine.
         1. James 5:14 states the sick were anointed with oil.
         2. It was taken internally for digestive disorders.
         3. It was used externally for dry skin, bruises, and cuts. (Remember that the good Samaritan poured oil and wine in the injured man’s wounds [Luke 10:34]?)
      7. Olive oil was the fuel for their lamps (their primary source of light at night).
      8. They used olive oil as a hair dressing and used it to make cosmetics.
      9. It was used to anoint the king prior to his taking the throne.
      10. And it was used to anoint the body of a loved one before burial.
      11. In Israel, every day life without olive oil was unimaginable–it gave you light; it cooked your food; it was your medicine; it pampered the body; it made religious life possible; and it was a part of funerals.
   2. Where did they get olive oil?
      1. “That’s a dumb question! From olives!”
      2. How? By crushing the olives, and then pressing the crushed olives to yield the oil.
         1. A heavy rolling stone was used to crush them in a huge rock trough.
         2. A heavier stone was used to press the oil out of them.
      3. Literally, crushing and pressing olives gave people the oil of life.
2. When God explained the Savior to Israel, God used the olive.
   1. In Isaiah 53 God used four images taken from their common life to explain the most important thing that God ever would do for people.
      1. These were the four images:
         1. A piercing–like having a spear thrust all the way through your body.
         2. A crushing–like the crushing of the olive to get the oil.
         3. A scourging –a public whipping administered for breaking a law.
         4. The slaughter of a sheep, which was at the heart of their worship.
      2. God explained how essential the Savior would be by using these images, and to Israel those illustrations were powerful.
   2. I want you to focus on the image of crushing, because crushing was a critical happening in producing the oil of life.
      1. Isaiah 53:4,5 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      2. Isaiah 53 does an incredible job of revealing how the crushed Savior was burdened or pressed by human rebellion, wickedness, and waywardness.
         1. And under all this burden he would pour himself out to death.
         2. Do you remember in the garden of Gethsemane that Jesus prayed with such an immense sense of burden that he sweated as though he were bleeding?
         3. Do you remember when Jesus died that a soldier ran his spear upward into Jesus’ side, and blood and water gushed out?
      3. He was crushed, like the olive, and our burdens that he carried in his death pressed our oil of life from him; through his blood we have life.
         1. He was not crushed for any wrong that he did.
         2. He was not burdened because he was deeply distressed by things that happened in his life.
         3. It was the failures, the evil, the wickedness of all people including us that made it necessary for him to be crushed and pressed.
         4. We have the oil of healing, the oil of life because he was crushed and pressed for us.
3. Peter calls our attention to this same truth in 1 Peter 2:24.
   He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
   1. I want you to clearly picture what happened.
      1. When Jesus was executed on the cross, God allowed all the evil and wickedness that had ever been committed from Adam and Eve’s rebellion and all the evil and wickedness that ever would be committed until the end of time to be placed on Jesus.
         1. He had the burden of total, collective human evil placed on him in death.
         2. In death, Jesus experienced the two ultimate human experiences.
            1. In death he experienced what it felt like to die as an evil person because he died covered with our evil.
            2. In death, for a while, our sins separated him from God.
      2. He did this for every person who would live after him; he did this for us.
         1. He loved us enough to do this.
         2. He loved God the Father enough to do this.
         3. He wanted us to be freed from the inescapable guilt of our evil.
      3. The blood flowed from Jesus.
         1. That flowing blood covered our sins literally destroying the sins of a person who accepts his blood by trusting what God did in Jesus’ death.
         2. As that flowing blood covers our sins, we are cleansed from every evil thought, every evil word, every evil deed, and every evil that occurred in our lives through ignorance.
         3. When a believer is crushed by repentance and dies with Jesus through baptism, Jesus’ blood cleanses him or her from all unrighteousness.
   2. Paul declared that is precisely what God made possible through Jesus’ death.
      1. Paul declared one of the most graphic statements found in all the Bible.
         2 Corinthians 5:20,21 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
      2. The most critical need you and I have in life is to be reconciled to God.
      3. Paul said to Christians in Corinth, “We beg you; do it!”
      4. Paul said, “Realize the price that God paid to give you that privilege.”
         1. God took the only human who ever lived without any evil in him.
         2. And God made him to be sin!
      5. Why did God do that?
         1. So that you and I would have a choice.
         2. If we accept what Jesus did by becoming sin for us, in him we can become the righteousness of God.
         3. If we accept what Jesus did for us, we can be reconciled to God.
4. We Christians insult God because we do not understand or grasp what God did in Jesus’ death.
   1. God allowed our wickedness to crush and press His perfect Son.
      1. From that crushed, pressed son flowed the blood of atonement, which to us is the oil of life.
      2. If we accept that blood, the oil of life, we become the pure, cleansed sons and daughters of God.
   2. But neither the church nor the world understands what God did.
      1. Jesus gives us light, but Christians and non-Christians are stumbling around in their lives like blind men who hurt themselves because we live in darkness.
      2. Jesus is the bread of life, but Christians and non-Christians eat poisoned garbage for food and are deathly sick.
      3. Jesus heals the wounds and bruises inflicted by evil, but Christians and non-Christians live in pain and agony because they invite evil to abuse us.
   3. We have lost the joy of God’s guidance in our lives, our marriages, and our homes because we do not realize what God has done for us.
      1. But when we see and accept what God did, there is hope instead of despair.
      2. There is rejoicing instead of sorrow.
      3. There is peace instead of guilt.
      4. There is freedom instead of slavery.
   4. And when that happens:
      1. People see the joy in our worship because we thank God for deliverance.
      2. People see the gladness in our lives because we live in Jesus’ light.
      3. People see the peace in our homes because we live in the healing of the blood of Jesus.
      4. People see the health in our relationships because we eat the bread of life.
   5. And when will that happen? When Christians realize that God crushed and pressed His Son so that the church could anoint and bandage instead of condemn and destroy.

[Prayer: God help us see what You did when You allowed our sins to crush Jesus.]

Does God’s oil of life which He gave in Jesus’ death flow in your life?

Culture and the Church: Sexual Perceptions

Posted by David on January 2, 2000 under Sermons

Last Sunday evening at 8 p.m. a major television network aired The Marriage Fool starring Walter Matthau and Carol Burnett. It is rated PG.

Speaking from the perspective of a counselor, it did many things well. A man’s wife died after many years of marriage. The movie did a better than average job of depicting some of the major adjustments that the man and his children faced after wife and mom died.

After months of being a widower, the man met someone who was interested in him and in whom he was interested. The adjustments now intensify for the whole family. He had to adjust to dating someone without feeling like he was betraying his wife. His children have to adjust to their father dating a woman who was not their mother.

By mutual agreement, she moved in with him months before they definitely decided to marry. The adjustments intensify again for the children.

His unmarried son faced the greatest adjustment problems. He was a perpetual dater who kept a list of the women he dates. He had neither the desire to nor the intention of settling down. Yet, when his father began living with the woman he was dating, it freaked him out. The father and son genuinely loved each other, but they could not talk. They just reacted. And their reactions created a major crisis.

Sexually, the premise of the movie declares three things as fact. None of the three are explained. None of the three are defended. All three are “accepted realities” in the real world of the audience. People in our culture will accept all three as facts of life. Fact one: dating involves the couple being sexually active. Fact two: serious dating includes occasions when the couple spends several days together enjoying carefree sexual intimacy. Fact three: regardless of a couples age, it is perfectly natural to live together for a few months before marriage.

1. Those three facts are commonly assumed in all recreational media.
   1. They are so commonly presented that most of us do not even notice them.
      1. All three are common in popular books.
      2. All three are common in popular movies.
      3. All three are common in popular television programming.
      4. Many popular songs are more explicit about sexual conduct than our popular books, movies, or television.
   2. What is your reaction?
      1. The reaction of some is “that is just entertainment–it really does not happen.” There is a small group that live in such isolation that they think sexual activity outside of marriage is rare.
      2. The reaction of others is “that kind of thing goes on in the world where people are not concerned about God, but it is very rare the church.” The dividing line is between those who believe in God and those who do not.
      3. The reaction of another group is “that is a real view of life everywhere–in the church and out.” This group is quite astounded when they hear others pretending that we do not live in a sexually active society.
   3. The reason that so many books, movies, and television programs accept these three situations as fact is simple: in our culture, they are common.
      1. They are very open facts in our society.
      2. They are fact in the church.
      3. Being sexually active while dating is common; refusing to be sexually active is uncommon.
      4. It is more common for dating adult couples to spend a few days of sexual intimacy together than it is for adult couples to refuse to do that.
      5. It is common for people to live together before marrying.
   4. Why?
      1. Divorce, separation, hostile marriages, seriously dysfunctional marriages, spouse abuse, child abuse, and single parent homes have produced several generations who have few to no relationship skills.
         1. We have an enormous number of people in our society that are starved for relationship.
         2. They are starved for love, but they do not understand what love is.
         3. They have experienced so much rejection that they are starved for acceptance.
         4. They have experienced so much criticism that they are starved for appreciation.
         5. They have experienced so much loneliness that they are starved for a sense of belonging.
      2. Our culture is drowning in its ignorance about relationships.
         1. We do not know how to commitment constructively to another person.
         2. We do not know how to communicate.
         3. We have so much inward pain and insecurity that we either practice denial or control.
         4. We do not know how to accept responsibility in relationship.
         5. We do not know how to solve disagreements without destructive confrontations.
         6. We do not know how to be unselfish; our self-centeredness commonly results in some form of abuse.
         7. We do not know what healthy relationships are.
         8. We do not know how to build healthy relationships.
         9. We do not know how to nurture healthy relationships.
   5. So what happens?
      1. We do not know how to produce love, but we do know how to be sexually active.
         1. Since God’s creative design combined love and sexual intimacy, we substitute sexual intimacy for love.
         2. Being sexually active creates the closest thing to love that we have experienced.
         3. For at least a little while, we feel close, accepted, appreciated, and valued.
         4. So we separate love and sexual intimacy, and we substitute sexual intimacy for love.
      2. The problem: when you separate sexual intimacy from the healthy love that responsibly commits to healthy relationship, you are left with an enormous sense of emptiness.
         1. But we like the pleasure and sense of acceptance that sexual intimacy brings.
         2. So we conclude that the sexual intimacy was on target; our partner was the wrong person.
         3. We find ourselves in that vicious search for love by being sexually active, and the value of the intimacy diminishes as the emptiness increases.
      3. The result: we have an enormous problem with irresponsible sexual attitudes and conduct in our culture, and those attitudes powerfully, successfully invaded the lives of Christians.
2. “David, why do you want to discuss this on Sunday evenings?”
   1. First, I want to discuss this because I am tired.
      1. I am tired of seeing what this problem is doing to so many homes and families.
      2. I am tired of watching what it is doing to our young people while we pretend it is not a significant problem.
      3. I am tired of being limited to dealing with it one person at a time; many of the people we seek to help through counseling might not be in their problem if they had better information years ago.
      4. I am tired of watching the culture fashion everyday ideas and attitudes in the church about sexual intimacy.
      5. I tired of avoiding one of the greatest spiritual crises the church faces because we refuse to honest and openly help people with an every day reality.
   2. Second, I want us to begin to help people.
      1. The gospels make it quite clear that Jesus definitely helped people whose lives were in pain because of sexual problems.
      2. He did not pretend that the problem did not exist.
      3. He was not content to dismiss the problem by condemning it.
      4. If we are serious in our claim to be his church, we must help people.
   3. Third, Sunday evening is the best time to discuss the problems openly and honestly.
      1. After this evening, the children are in the Kids for Christ program.
      2. We can have adult considerations of adult realities that, unfortunately, have become a children reality.
3. I want to state what will not be my approach.
   1. I will not make a list of things that are “evil,” condemn them, and try to force people away from them by using guilt.
      1. Are there things that are evil that deserve to be condemned? Without a doubt!
      2. However, trying to get people to reject them through guilt manipulation is ineffective.
         1. In our culture, many of these things are not defined as evil or considered to be evil.
         2. In the church, many who have been baptized do not define these things as evil or consider them to be evil.
         3. Because I affirm that they are evil and read some scripture will not change their concepts.
      3. I want to make the same point that I have made so many times: I want believers to build godly relationships and reject destructive sexual attitudes and behaviors because of their faith.
         1. My priority concern is not controlling the behavior of Christians.
         2. I do not want Christians to alter their behavior out of fear of venereal diseases; I want them to alter their behavior because of their faith in God.
         3. I do not want Christians to hide their behavior in fear of the church; I want Christians to build their behavior on their faith in God.
         4. Faith behavior will build a living relationship with God.
         5. Faithless behavior, not matter how well controlled, will not build a living relationship with God.
         6. We can spiritually survive in a godless culture only through a living relationship with God.
   2. My approach will be this: I will seek to build an accurate understanding of why sexually irresponsible attitudes and behavior destroy us as persons.
      1. I want to begin by calling your attention to Genesis chapters 1, 2 , and 3.
      2. The first thing I call to your attention is the first recorded commandment in the Bible given to human beings: Genesis 1:27,28.
         Genesis 1:27,28 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Genesis 1 provides us with the general account of creation; Genesis 2 provides us the specific account of the creation of human relationship.
         2. In the general account, this is obvious to me:
            1. Man and woman were sexual beings from the moment of creation.
            2. Their sexuality was to be a part of their companionship before sin existed.
            3. They were not recreated to be sexual beings after sin existed.
      3. Second I want you to see that sexual intimacy was a part of their companionship from the beginning of the human relationship.
         Genesis 2:21-25 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. The statement, “They shall become one flesh,” is a specific reference to sexual intimacy.
         2. They were to be helpful companions, and sexual intimacy was to be a part of that companionship.
      4. After they rebelled against God, God told Eve:
         Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1996.)
         1. Childbirth did not begin because of sin; it increased.
         2. Childbirth was painless prior to sin, and painful after sin.

What is the point? Sexual intimacy in the companionship of marriage is not evil. It is God designed, God given, and a God intended part of godly relationship and godly companionship. Sexual intimacy in a healthy marriage is good. The abuse of sexual intimacy is evil.

Lord, Let Me Show You Around

Posted by David on under Sermons

The past several months have been a time of growing anxiety for many. Some expected Y2K to cause mega problems. Others predicted the end of civilization as we have experienced it. Others expected the world to end with the return of Jesus Christ.

Paul said that the day of the Lord would come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). For a thief to be successful, he must be unpredictable. He comes when no one expects him. He gives no advanced warning.

That is my understanding of the Lord’s return. I do not doubt that Jesus Christ will return. I do not doubt that this world will come to an end. I do not doubt God’s judgment will occur. I, personally, am not concerned about “when” or “how” all this happens. The “when” and “how” require an enormous amount of human speculation. Just as a successful thief comes by total surprise, my understanding of Paul’s statement is that the Lord’s return will be a total surprise. My only concern is that I belong to God by allowing God to place me in Christ. Then the “when” and “how” are unimportant–whenever that moment arrives.

Play a game with me. Let’s play as if Jesus is making an inspection tour of his congregations on earth. This tour has nothing to do with the end of time. He just wants a personal, direct report from his congregation on how things are going. It is like our “on site inspections.”

We are informed that he will visit West-Ark the first week in February for three days. We are to be prepared to provide him an insightful report on this congregation.

The congregation appoints a committee to meet with Jesus. This committee will do two things: (1) welcome Jesus, and (2) inform Jesus about West-Ark.

I understand that this is a ridiculous game. I certainly realize that Jesus knows everything about this congregation and everyone in the congregation. But I have a reason for playing the game, so humor me.

1. Suppose that you are on the committee.
   1. You are in the meeting that will decide what to do when Jesus visits.
      1. Each committee member states what he or she thinks we should do to give Jesus a good picture of West Ark.
         1. It is your turn to state what you feel we should do.
         2. What would you recommend?
      2. Would you suggest that we give Jesus a tour of the facilities and explain what has happened in the last eighteen months?
      3. “Jesus, this is the foyer. Let us explain what it used to look like.”
         1. “Just look at how much warmer and attractive it is now!”
         2. “Now it creates a more positive impression when a person comes in.”
      4. “Jesus, this is what our seating arrangement used to be. Can you see what an improvement it is now?”
         1. “This arrangement has a positive effect on our fellowship and worship.”
         2. “It looked like a great big cave with isolated groups all over this room.”
         3. “The atmosphere is much better, and the fellowship has really improved!”
      5. “And, Lord, we used to have a terrible problem with water with a heavy rain.”
         1. “Why, I remember a heavy rain about two years ago when you could actually see the water flowing on top of the carpet on the east side.”
         2. “And you could have floated a canoe in the office area.”
         3. “Now the leaks have been stopped.”
      6. “And you simply must see our new Family Life Center and our new elevator.”
         1. “Our entire facility is so convenient now.”
         2. “The Family Life Center just brought our whole complex together.”
   2. Some wonderful things have happened with our facilities in the last eighteen months.
      1. I am profoundly grateful for the many things that have happened.
      2. Some truly beautiful things have happened. But the most beautiful things have little to do with the paint, the carpet, the arrangements, and the space.
      3. To me, the most beautiful things that happened have to do with people.
         1. I watched as a new sense of identity came to life in the congregation.
         2. There is a sense of togetherness that thrills me every time I see it.
         3. So many people involved themselves and shared their talents and time.
         4. So many have been and are so willing to help in any way that they can.
      4. And I want every person who has helped to know that I take none of you for granted, and I deeply appreciate everything that you do.

      C.But, if I were on that committee, my interest would not be in showing Jesus our facilities.

      1. I think it is safe to guarantee you that Jesus’ interests would not be in touring our facilities.
         1. Though he was a carpenter, we do not know one object that he built.
         2. He lived in a time of massive, impressive building projects in Israel–while he lived, things like Herod’s palace area at Massada, Herod’s palace at the Herodian, and the Jewish temple were either under construction or recently completed.
         3. In Luke 21 some people discussed the beauty of the Jewish temple under construction.
            1. Surviving information declares that it was a magnificent building project that produced an incredible building complex.
            2. It was about half complete when Jesus was executed.
            3. As beautiful and impressive as it was, Jesus said, “The day will come when one stone will not be left on another” [Luke 21:6].
            4. To the disciples, that must have sounded impossible.
      2. Jesus did not build buildings; Jesus built lives.
         1. Jesus was in the reconstruction business.
         2. He specialized in rebuilding lives.
      3. When I think of the lives that Jesus rebuilt, these are some of the people that come to my mind.
         1. Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus cast seven demons [Mark 16:9].
            1. She was one of Jesus’ closest friends.
            2. She was the first person Jesus appeared to after his resurrection [John 20:11-18].
         2. The sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 who probably was a prostitute.
            1. She came uninvited into a home to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears.
            2. Jesus forgave her sins.
         3. The man who was possessed by a legion of demons in Luke 8:26-39.
            1. He was totally out of control, dangerous to himself and to others.
            2. Jesus freed him from his demon possession and told him to stay there and tell his family what God had done for him.
         4. Zaccheus, the chief tax collector in Jericho [Luke 19:1-10].
            1. He collected taxes for a profit for the Roman government.
            2. Jesus brought salvation to his house.
         5. The thief on the cross who was crucified beside Jesus [Luke 23:39-43].
            1. As a criminal dying for his crimes, he recognized and confessed Jesus to be who he was.
            2. Jesus told him that he would be in paradise with Jesus that day.
         6. Nicodemus, the well educated, prestigious member of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin [John 3].
            1. He was the religious expert who did not understand the new birth.
            2. He was still Jesus’ devoted friend when Jesus was executed.
         7. The Samaritan woman, who had been married and divorced five times and was living with a man to whom she was not married [John 4].
            1. Jesus offered her the water of life.
            2. She led the village of Sychar to believe that Jesus was the Christ.
         8. The man who was born blind in John 9.
            1. Jesus restored his sight.
            2. He also revealed himself as the Messiah to this man.
         9. Peter, the committed, confident, self-assured disciple [Matthew 23:69-75].
            1. He was certain that his loyalty and devotion to Jesus would make the ultimate sacrifice of death if necessary.
            2. On the most tragic night of Jesus’ life, Peter denied him three times.
            3. After his resurrection, Jesus asked Peter to feed his sheep [John 21:15-17]. Jesus used Peter to present him as Lord and Christ [Acts 2:14-36].
         10. Paul, the scholarly fanatic who arrested and voted for the death of Christians [Acts 8:1-4 and 9:1-25].
             1. The resurrected Jesus converted Paul in a most unusual confrontation.
             2. He also commissioned Paul to a special work as a preacher and teacher.
             3. God used Paul’s letters to comprise most of the New Testament.
         11. John Mark, the young man who began mission work with Paul and Barnabas, but quit [Acts 12:25; 13:13; 15:37,38; 2 Timothy 4:11].
             1. Disagreement about this quitter broke up the greatest mission team that ever existed.
             2. One of the last persons Paul wanted to see before his death was John Mark because “he is useful to me.”
         12. Onesimus, the slave who ran away from his Christian owner [Philemon].
2. If Jesus made “an on-site” inspection of this congregation, these are the things I would want to share with him.
   1. I would want him to see:
      1. What is happening in our benevolent programs.
      2. Different facets of what CURE does (Compassionate Utilization of Resources).
      3. Our use of the Discovery Dinner.
      4. The His Needs/Her Needs seminar and the Healthy Parent/Healthy Kids seminar.
      5. The inner city ministry and the jail ministry.
      6. The counseling work we do.
      7. The youth programs.
      8. Kids for Christ.
      9. The various mission works we are involved in.
      10. Those helped by the Quilters.
      11. The Care Groups.
      12. Our hopes for the small groups.
      13. The people we reach out to in our different forms of visitation and outreach.
      14. The various works we do with those in the 60+ group.
   2. I would want the one who rebuilds lives to see what this congregation is doing to help and encourage people.
      1. That is what he would want to see.
      2. That is what Jesus is all about; that is what Jesus’ people are about.
3. I thank God for our facilities.
   1. I wish that conditions in our culture did not make facilities necessary.
      1. But the reality is that situations and conditions do make them necessary.
      2. Their importance is not seen in their existence.
      3. Their importance is seen in their use.
   2. Our facilities are nothing more than tools for us to use to bless people.
      1. May God give us the wisdom to use them to give glory to God and Christ.
      2. May we have the faith to use them to bless and help people.
   3. If Jesus made an “on site” inspection of this congregation:
      1. I would not want to show him our tools.
      2. I would want him to see how people are being blessed because we use our tools to help people and to bring glory to God.

[Prayer: God, help us place our faith in you. We are so grateful for our tools. May members of this congregation be brought closer to you and to each other because we have them. May we use them to bring this community closer to you and your people.]

If Jesus asked you to report on your life, would you tell him about what you own or about the way you use your life? Would you talk about your possessions or your heart?

Jesus examines your life everyday. What does he see?

Where Is The Joy?

Posted by David on December 26, 1999 under Sermons

There are a thousand stories and jokes that end with the punch line, “Are we having fun yet?” You probably know at least one. Each of those stories, each of those jokes have an unsaid, obvious answer: “No, we are not having fun!” The story or the joke is funny because no one could have fun in the situation. The story or joke is funny because the people got into the situation trying to have fun.

Suppose this morning each of us made a list of things that a person should experience because he or she was a Christian. What would you put on your list? Forgiveness? Salvation? Mercy? Grace? Prayer? Worship? Communion? Fellowship? Peace? Would you put anything else on your list?

How many of you would put joy or happiness on your list?

If God made that list, would He put joy on it? If God listed those experiences in their order of occurrence, where would joy appear? At the top? In the middle? On the bottom?

1. Why do people marry?
   1. “Excuse me, David. You sound like a two-year-old asking questions. Where in the world does that question come from? Don’t you know anything about sermons?”
      1. “You start out with a punch line, ‘Are we having fun yet?'”
      2. “Then you ask if us to think about the things a person experiences by being a Christian.”
      3. “And now you ask us why do people marry.”
      4. “Don’t you understand that a sermon is at least supposed to fit together?”
   2. I promise you that I will fit it all together if you will follow me for a few minutes.
   3. I ask you again, “Why do people marry?”
      1. “Some don’t.”
         1. Very, very true.
         2. In our culture, an increasing number of adults choose not to marry.
         3. The fact that a lot of adults choose not to marry makes the answer to that question even more important.
      2. “Well, the people who marry decide to marry because they are in love.”
         1. That does not tell me enough.
         2. In fact, the way our culture uses the word love, it does not tell me anything.
      3. When you say that people marry for love, what do you mean?
         1. “If they marry for love, they marry with love’s expectations.”
         2. “Love expects to be happy, to be appreciated, to be accepted, to receive kindness, to receive thoughtfulness, to be encouraged, to be forgiven, and to be understood.”
         3. “People marry for love, and love has those expectations.”
      4. If you have good friends getting married, what do you say to them?
         1. Do you say, “You are making a dangerous commitment!”
         2. Do you say, “I hope it works out, but it probably will not.”
         3. Do you ask, “Have you thought about all the things that can go wrong?”
         4. Do you say, “I know what you expect, but you need to realize it will not happen.”
         5. Do you tell them, “Love is great! Marriage is wonderful! You will be so glad that you married!”
      5. What do you tell those friends that they can experience? What should they expect?
         1. Should they understand from the beginning that marriage basically is a wonderful joy or a heavy burden?
         2. If your friends honestly examined your marriage, would they conclude that marriage is a wonderful joy or a great burden?
         3. If people carefully examined your marriage before they married, would they marry?
         4. If people honestly examined our marriages instead of listening to our words, what would they conclude about marriage?
      6. If people can examine the marriages of Christians and see more marriages without joy than marriages with joy, something is basically wrong. Healthy marriage produces joy.
2. Does Christianity naturally produce joy? Should joy be a basic reality in a Christian’s life?
   1. Instead of speculating about this, let’s listen to scripture.
      1. When Jesus entered this world as a human infant, this is heaven’s testimony:
         Luke 2:8-14 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
      2. The last night of Jesus’ life on earth, he tried to comfort his disciples with this statement:
         John 16:20 Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
      3. Acts 2 tells us about the behavior of those first believers who were baptized because they understood that the resurrected Jesus was Christ and Lord.
         Acts 2:43-47 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
      4. Acts 5 tells us the reaction of the apostles when they were whipped because they preached about Jesus in the city of Jerusalem.
         Acts 5:41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.
      5. Acts 8 tells how the city of Samaria reacted to hearing about Jesus Christ.
         Acts 8:8 So there was much rejoicing in that city.
      6. Acts 8 also tells us about the Ethiopian’s reaction to his conversion.
         Acts 8:38,39 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.
      7. Paul began the conclusion of his letter to Christians in Rome with these words:
         Romans 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
      8. When Paul wrote the Galatians, he declared the fruit of the Spirit:
         Galatians 5:22,23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
      9. Paul gave the Christians at Philippi this encouragement:
         Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
      10. And he gave the Christians in Thessalonica this encouragement:
          1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always.
   2. How much joy exists in your everyday life because of your faith in the resurrected Jesus?
      1. Do you experience joy because you are a Christian?
      2. If you honestly describe Christian existence as you know and experience it, would you have to share the joy or discuss the burden?
      3. This is true of any Christian: if we experience no joy, no gladness, no desire to rejoice because of our faith in Christ, something is basically wrong.
      4. When people who are not Christians look at your faith, at your heart, and at your spirit, do they see the joy?
      5. When people who are not Christians look at this congregation, see our faith, see our heart, and see our spirit in our worship, in our service, and in our relationships, do they see the joy?

[Prayer: God, our faith and our lives cannot bear testimony to You, or give glory to You, or declare Your greatness without joy. Help us not to be afraid of joy. Help us as individuals and as a congregation to allow the joy to be natural. Help us let our joy be obvious in our temptations. Help us let our joy be obvious in our struggles. Help us let our joy be obvious in our blessings.]

If there is little joy in your marriage, can your marriage produce all the blessings of a healthy marriage in you, in your spouse, and in your children? No. Does the absence of joy contribute to marital failure? Yes. Can a marriage with little joy bring joy to life? It not only can; it must.

If there is little joy in your faith, can your Christianity produce all the blessings of a healthy faith in your life and the lives of the people you love? No. Does the absence of joy contribute to spiritual failure? Yes. Can a faith with little joy bring joy to life in your relationship with God? It not only can; it must.

If there is little joy in the family of God, can our Christian community produce all the blessings of a healthy congregation? No. Does the absence of joy contribute to the death of a congregation? Yes. Can a congregation with little joy bring joy to life? It not only can; it must.

Windows 1 A.D. for Windows 2000

Posted by David on December 19, 1999 under Sermons

If I asked the question, “What version of Windows do you use?” many of you immediately would understand my question–probably better than I do. The computer program referred to as “Windows” makes it easier for a person to access and use all his or her computer programming. I am certain that it was no accident that the term “windows” was chosen.

The window powerfully blesses our lives. The basic functions of a window are to allow light and air to come into a building. The basic purpose of the window is to make life easier.

The window is associated with seeing. It allows me to see outside. It allows me to see inside. It is obvious why the window was associated with seeing and understanding. As a result, we associate the word “window” with insights. Therefore we can talk about the windows of a person’s heart, or a person’s mind, or a person’s behavior. If I “provide a window” for you, I create an opportunity for you to gain insight into my life and my person. Windows provide insight. Insight provides understanding. Understanding provides guidance.

We are constantly looking for windows that provide insights into life. The Christian understands that Christianity is about life. He or she understands that the Bible provides insights into life. However, we need some “windows” into the Christians’ lives in the 1^st century A.D. if the New Testament is to yield insights into life today.

I was asked to complete the lessons I started from 1 Timothy. This evening I want us to allow 1 Timothy to provide us some “windows” into Christian life in the 1^st century A.D. in the area of Asia Minor. In turn, I want us to allow those “windows” to give us some insight into life today.

1. Paul’s work in the city of Ephesus began in the early 50’s AD.
   1. The church in Ephesus had been in existence since at least Acts 19.
      1. Paul taught in the synagogue of the Jews for three months until some became hard and disobedient (19:9).
      2. Then he taught in the school of Tyrannus for two years (19:9,10).
      3. During this time Paul performed some extraordinary miracles (19:11).
   2. The result: Christianity had a significant impact on this major city in Asia Minor.
      1. Ephesus was an important center of the magical arts practiced for spiritual purposes (we would refer to it as an important center of the occult).
         1. The sons of Sceva attempted to cast out a demon by using the names of Christ and Paul (19:13-20).
         2. As a result they suffered tragedy and many who practiced the magical arts publicly burned their books (the books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver–a fortune in that day!).
         3. That is definite evidence of the influence of Christianity.
      2. The riot sparked by the complaint of Demetrius, the silversmith, verifies the influence of Christianity in Ephesus.
         1. The great temple honoring Artemis was located in Ephesus.
         2. It was the center of a world religion and was a powerful banking institution.
         3. If Christianity had an impact on the temple of Artemis, this is a major evidence of its influence.
2. Ephesus had elders before 1 Timothy was written. (It was probably written in the early 60’s AD [See Acts 20:17]).
   1. When Paul wrote 1 Timothy to Timothy, the church in Ephesus was an established congregation.
      1. The concerns that Paul addressed in this letter gives us “windows” that allow us to see some of the realities facing the church in Asia Minor.
      2. Paul’s concerns are “peep holes” into their world.
      3. If Paul addressed a concern, that matter dealt with an existing need, problem, or situation.
   2. Chapter three discussed the kind of persons who should be elders and deacons.
      1. Ephesus needed to add more men to work as elders with their existing eldership.
      2. Paul’s comments about the kind of man who should be an elder provides us some “windows.” [See related sermon.]
         1. Window # 1: being an elder was a work, not a position, and that work should be done by a man who wanted to do it.
            1. If a man did not want to do that work, he should not be coerced to do it.
            2. Today, to me, this is the window: qualified men who want to do that work should do it; when a man wants to resign, let him.
            3. A man who does not want to do the work should not be given the work.
         2. Window # 2: a view of the kind of man who should be given the work:
            1. He had developed the positive traits of Christian character and behavior.
            2. He was not enslaved to the common activities of the people who do not care about God and Christ: he was not a drunkard or a materialist.
            3. The way he worked with his family demonstrated that he knew how to work with people.
            4. He was an experienced, respected Christian.
      3. Paul’s comments about those capable of being deacons also provides us some windows.
         1. Window # 1: they should be genuinely converted.
         2. Window # 2: the genuineness of their conversion was evident in their behavior.
         3. Window # 3: they were involved Christians prior to serving as deacons.
3. In chapter four I see two primary windows.
   1. Window # 1: tough times are coming; realize that Christianity in Asia Minor will not always enjoy the status of being a powerful influence for Christ.
      1. The events in the incident created by Sceva’s sons were good times from a Christian perspective.
      2. The fact that Demetrius could promote a riot in protest of Christian influence were good times from a Christian perspective.
      3. Because Christianity was so successful and influential during its early years, Christians easily assumed that those times would continue.
      4. Paul said that was not the case; do not be deceived.
      5. Revelation was written to the church in this area which included, by name, the church at Ephesus. The bad times came, and they were really bad.
   2. Window # 2 emphasized some of Timothy’s responsibilities, responsibilities that he must remember.
      1. Responsibility # 1: do not let Christians forget.
      2. Responsibility # 2: preserve your credibility.
      3. Responsibility # 3: use your gifts.
      4. Responsibility # 4: pay attention to yourself. (It is so easy to become so focused on other people that you do not look at yourself.)
4. In chapters five and six it is obvious that they had relationship problems.
   1. Relationship problems in the church at Ephesus were a serious problem that created serious struggles.
      1. They had difficulty learning how to relate to various groups in the Christian community.
         1. Older men (the “gray hairs”?)
         2. Younger men
         3. Older women
         4. Younger women
         5. Older widows
         6. Younger widows
         7. Elders
         8. Slaves
      2. Respect was a significant problem in learning how to treat each other.
   2. The benevolent care practiced by the Christian community created problems.
      1. Older widows who had lived their lives as godly women should be provided for by the Christian community. Who are these women?
      2. Younger widows should remarry. Why?
      3. Widows who had families should be cared for by their own families.
      4. Those who could take the burden off the Christian community should do so.
      5. Clearly, they had benevolent questions, benevolent issues, and benevolent problems.
5. Chapter six closes the letter by challenging Timothy to keep his focus.
   1. As a Christian preacher, keep your priorities straight.
      1. As a preacher, I confess that is a complicated thing to do.
      2. It becomes more complicated when others want to impose their priorities on you.
   2. Remember that the objective of godliness is not making a lot of money.
   3. Know what to run from, and know what to stand for.
   4. Understand that spiritual success is not measured by the yardstick of wealth.

To me, one of the huge picture windows that 1 Timothy provides us is this: being a Christian takes any man or woman out of the common flow of an unbelieving culture. Christianity makes the lives of believers different from the lives of unbelievers. It always has; it always will.

Can You Explain Why?

Posted by David on under Sermons

Why do we believe what we believe? Are our beliefs based on a reason? How did that reason become “the reason”?

In 1961, three months after Joyce and I married, we moved to Nashville, Tennessee, so that I could be a senior at David Lipscomb College. We rented an upstairs apartment from a kind, friendly, retired, Christian couple.

Our landlord had some specific beliefs. One of his specific beliefs was that the earth was square. He held his belief for a reason. His reason was Isaiah 11:12.

Isaiah 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (The King James Version, Cambridge: Cambridge, 1769.)

He said, “The Bible clearly states that the earth has four corners. If the Bible says the earth is square, the earth is square.”

In 1961 the United States and the Soviet Union were in the great space race. Rocket launches received prime time television coverage. Television reports plotted the orbit of rockets as they circled the earth, and my landlord would get upset.

He had an explanation. The United States had a huge movie studio hidden in the dessert. They filmed these so-called rocket launches in that studio, gave the film to the television stations, and, in a great conspiracy, they deceived the American people.

Did he know what he believed? Yes. Did he have a reason for his belief? Yes. Did he find his reason in the Bible? Yes. What do you think of his reason? What do you think of the way he used the Bible?

He never discussed another verse found in Isaiah.

Isaiah 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in (The King James Version, Cambridge: Cambridge, 1769.)

1. If you are tempted to laugh at his reasoning, don’t.
   1. Many of us, if not all of us, have beliefs that use his reasoning.
      1. “David, I see it coming–you are going to ask us to think.”
      2. “Can’t you understand that I did not come to think?”
   2. “I don’t want to think, I don’t want to understand, and I don’t want to grow!”
      1. “I just want to come, hear what I heard in the past, and hear things I already agree with so that I don’t have to think.”
      2. “I already know and understand what I want to know and understand.”
      3. “What do you expect?”
      4. “I’m here, aren’t I? I come to the building at least once a week, don’t I? Just as long as I do what I am supposed to do, that is all that matters.”
      5. “All this stuff about my concepts and my understanding just does not matter.”
2. So concepts just don’t matter? So understanding is just not important?
   1. Some people in this congregation ask you a question.
      1. “Could you tell me what we will do in heaven?”
      2. “I have never understood that. Could you help me understand?”
   2. What if a teenager asks you that question?
      1. Your answer is, “Well, as I understand it, we will sing and praise God for eternity.”
      2. The teenager responds.
         1. “We are talking eternity here, right?”
         2. “I am not sure what praise is, we have not heard much of that.”
         3. “If you are talking about worshipping like we do on Sundays, about an hour is all I can take of that–I don’t think I could handle it for eternity.
         4. “So we will sit around and sing songs that the old folks enjoy for eternity?”
         5. “I think I will pass. That does not appeal to me.”
   3. What if an older Christian asks you that question?
      1. Again, your answer is, “Well, as I understand it, we are going to sing and praise God for eternity.”
      2. The older person responds.
         1. “How loud will the praising will be? I can’t stand a whole lot of noise!”
         2. “When we praise, will we get on our knees? I can’t get up and down very well anymore.”
         3. “Will I know the songs? If I don’t know the songs, I don’t enjoy the singing.”
         4. “If there will be a lot of noise, a lot of getting up and down, and songs I don’t know, I may not want to go.”
   4. What if the person who asked you was unchurched?
      1. This person has never studied the Bible.
         1. He does not know or understand Bible concepts.
         2. He came from a truly nonreligious, nonchristian background.
      2. Again, you give the same answer: “Well, as I understand it, we are going to sing and to praise God for eternity.”
         1. First, he is clueless about the meaning of “eternity.”
         2. Second, he is not sure what the word “praise” means.
         3. Third, he never tried to sing a religious song.
      3. So, you read to him about heaven in Revelation 21 and 22.
         1. He responds, “Let me get this straight: we are going to live in a walled city that has streets made out of gold with nothing to drink but water from a river that runs through the middle of the city and nothing to eat but fruit.”
         2. He immediately concludes that heaven is not an interesting place to go.
   5. Their faces tell you that your idea of life in heaven has a negative impact on them, so you make this appeal.
      1. “Wait! Wait! Wait! You must go heaven. You must want to go to heaven. ”
      2. “If you don’t, you will go to hell. And you don’t want to go to hell!”
      3. All three ask, “You mean that is our choice–heaven or hell?”
         1. “The choice is between eternal boredom or eternal suffering?”
         2. “That is not a choice! That is two kinds of pain!”
      4. Is your best argument for going to heaven escaping hell?
3. Scripture says little about life in heaven; it does talk about the experience of heaven.
   Revelation 21:3,4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
   1. Heaven’s environment is beyond our comprehension.
      1. There will not be any evil of any kind. Can you imagine nothing evil happening in our whole world for just twenty-four hours?
      2. Permanent peace beyond anything we have experienced will exist.
         1. I will be at peace with myself.
         2. There will not be one person I have to avoid.
      3. The acceptance and joy of love will be permanent.
      4. Grief cannot exist.
      5. No one will experience any form of need.
   2. What does that mean?
      1. There can be no conflict of any kind.
      2. Anger cannot exist.
      3. Rejection, abuse, and insecurity are impossible.
      4. No one can hurt you, but no one wants to hurt you.
      5. There will never be anything to fear, and never be a need to escape.
      6. Enemies do no exist.
      7. And there is no grief, no sorrow, no pain. I will never preach another funeral, never visit another hospital, never see another tear caused by sorrow.
      8. I will never see another person in need; there will be no needs of any kind.
4. In each December, attention is focused on the fact that God allowed His son to be born as a human infant.
   1. Why did God do that?
      1. “Bottom line” answer?
      2. God did that to make it possible for us to come live with Him.
   2. For just a moment, I want you to think about who you are and what is happening in your life.
      1. Is it true that God patiently worked for thousands of years to send Jesus? Yes.
      2. Is it true that God endured constant frustration and rejection, but He refused to give up? Yes.
      3. Is it true that He not only allowed His son to be born as a human, but He also allowed His son to have the complete human experience? Yes.
      4. Is it true that God let His son be murdered by unjust execution, and that God raised him from the dead? Yes.
      5. Is it true that God did absolutely everything necessary for you and me to be able to escape the wickedness of this world and come live with Him? Yes.
5. May I ask you something?
   1. Do you think God did all of this so that you would have the opportunity to make a mere religion out of His efforts?
      1. Do you think God did all this to create spiritual salt and pepper shakers for you to add religion to your life according to your personal taste?
      2. God did all that for you to be who you are right now living like you live?
   2. Assume with me: assume you will live the next twelve months in reasonable health.
      1. In twelve months from this week, will you be the same person that you are right now, or better, or worse?
      2. In twelve months from this week, will you live just like you live right now, or better, or worse?
   3. “Oh, in twelve months I will be a better person who lives a better life.”
      1. If you do not know any more about God in twelve months, what will make you and your life better?
      2. If you do not understand God any better in twelve months, what will make you and your life any better?
      3. If you do not develop a better relationship with God in twelve months than you have right now, what will make you and your life any better?

Prayer: God, help us stop assuming that we will be better. Help us not be content with good intentions. You paid an enormous price to make it possible for us to be your sons and daughters. Help us pay the price to be a part of your family.

I want to make a request. If you are not attending a Sunday morning Bible class, I want you to commit yourself to be part of a class by January 2. Our adult classes begin a new study that morning.

“Why do you want us to do that?”
So that you will know more about God in twelve months. So that you will understand God better in twelve months. So that you will have a better relationship with God in twelve months.

Have You Met My Father?

Posted by David on December 12, 1999 under Sermons

Watching what happens when a congregation assembles on Sunday morning for worship is fascinating. I am talking about the things that happen during the actual time dedicated to worship. I am not talking about what happens before or after worship.

The worship period has begun. Everyone who came to the building knows that the worship period is in progress. The majority of the people in the building came to worship. They want to worship and are personally motivated to worship.

Their motives for worshipping are good. Some, with a distinct awareness of their blessings, come to thank and praise God. Some feel weak from their struggles, and they want the comfort and strength of worship. Some want to improve their focus and sense of direction in their lives. They know God is the origin of focus and direction in life. Some seek to confirm their forgiveness as they struggle with guilt. Some are filled with a sense of joy and gratitude in their forgiveness.

While the majority came to worship, others have neither the intention nor the desire to worship. Some came to visit, and they visit while the majority worship. They use the time to laugh and talk and catch up on the news. Some came because they felt they had to come. They have no interest in worshipping, but they feel that it is necessary to be in the building. Some would not dream of being anywhere but the church building, but they regard the worship period to be a loss of time in our stressed schedules. They feel the need to use the time “productively”–maybe make out the grocery list or organize next week. Some feel that their physical presence is essential, but they want to make the time to pass as quickly as possible. They would rather be somewhere else doing something else, but they find it necessary to be in the building.

1. What causes one person to see great value in actually worshipping God and another person to see no value in actually worshipping God?
   1. What key factor produces that very visible difference?
      1. Some suggest that the key factor is family background.
         1. I do not think that is the key factor.
         2. For years I have witnessed Christians who come from generations of family worshippers who personally have no interest in worship.
      2. Some suggest that the key factor is education.
         1. I do not think that is the key factor.
         2. Some individuals who had the benefits of years of Christian education have no personal interest in worship.
      3. Some think that the key factor is peer influence: if your friends truly worship, you worship.
         1. I do not think that is the key factor.
         2. Some Individuals whose close friends genuinely worship have no personal interest in worship.
   2. Are all three of these factors important?
      1. Absolutely! Family, education, and peers have enormous spiritual influence in our lives.
      2. As important as they are, I do not conclude that they are the key factor.
2. “David, what do you regard to be the key factor?”
   1. I conclude that the key factor is the person’s primary view of God.
      1. The most critical factor in our individual spirituality is our personal view of God.
      2. This is fact: if you want to genuinely change a person, you must change his or her view of God.
         1. If you do not change his or her view of God, any change will be superficial.
         2. To change a person’s heart and conscience, you must change his or her view of God.
         3. That is the true beginning point; that is ground zero.
   2. What is your basic view of God?
      1. “My basic view of God is that God is filled with rage and wrath.”
         1. “He is angry with all of us.”
         2. “He is impossible to please.”
      2. “My basic view of God is that He is a God of vengeance.”
         1. “We messed up His world.”
         2. “We killed His Son.”
         3. “We keep on making a mess of things.”
         4. “He is just waiting to get even.”
      3. “My basic view of God is that He is a God of mercy.”
         1. “He loves us so much that it really does not matter what we do.”
         2. “His love is unconditional; that means nothing we do can destroy His love; and that means I can live anyway that I want and He still will love me.”
         3. “Whatever I do, God will just say, ‘Everything is all right!'”
      4. “My basic view of God is that He is a God who wants me to be happy.”
         1. “I decide what will make me happy.”
         2. “God always says, ‘If that makes you happy, go for it!'”
         3. “As long as I am trying to be happy, it is okay with God.”
      5. “My basic view of God is that God is a great big hoax.”
         1. “You cannot depend on Him.”
         2. “He cannot protect you.”
         3. “At best this is a rotten world, and He just sits around and lets it get worse.”
3. If any of those are your primary view of God, you have not met my Father.
   1. Again, I call your attention to the prodigal son in Luke 15.
   2. The prodigal son left home, took his inheritance, and left all his father’s influence to create his own life.
      1. But it did not work out–his world and his life fell apart.
      2. He was reduced to a starvation existence in a place where no one cared if he lived or died.
      3. He came to himself, realized what he had done, and accepted responsibility.
      4. Then he found true courage, the courage to go home.
      5. He started on a painful course of action.
   3. He could not stop thinking about the last time that he saw Dad.
      1. He could not forget what a bad scene that was.
      2. His attitude was horrible–arrogant, prideful, disrespectful, stubborn, rude.
         1. He took all he could get and acted as if his Dad owed it to him.
         2. He did not even say “thank you” for the inheritance.
      3. He just wanted to get out of that house and forget that his family existed.
      4. So in a huff he walked out and walked off–his Dad’s tears just made him mad.
      5. The last time he saw Dad he unquestionably, obviously rejected Dad.
   4. But the man returning home was not the same man who left.
      1. How could he make his father see that he was not the same man?
      2. It had to happen quickly.
      3. He had to show his father the truth; he was a changed person.
      4. But what if Dad was so angry, so disappointed that he would not listen?
      5. What could he do to show him the truth, and show him quickly?
      6. He would do the only thing that he could do: he would confess that he had sinned in God’s sight and his father’s sight; he would admit he was not worthy to be a son; he would ask to be a slave.
4. Let me tell you about my Father.
   1. Never a day passed but that the father walked to the road and looked in the distance.
      1. Day after day, month after month, he looked down that road and day after day, month after month he did not see his son.
      2. He did not know if his son was dead or alive.
      3. If his son were dead, he would never see his son again.
      4. If his son were alive, he might never come home.
   2. One day he looked yet again, and in the distance he saw his son.
      1. The figure he saw was ragged and dirty and thin, but he knew it was his son.
      2. And when he saw him, there was no anger, no wrath, no desire for vengeance; there was only the joy that is born of compassion.
      3. He knew his son had suffered; he knew his son had learned; he knew how hard it was for his son to come home.
      4. He knew the humiliation his son felt, and he had no desire to make the moment more painful.
   3. He did not want his son’s fears to turn him back, and he did not want his son’s failure to cause him to walk on by.
      1. So he ran to met him.
      2. He grabbed him in his arms, and could not stop kissing him on the neck, and held him close.
      3. As his father grabbed him, the son said, “Father I have sinned…I have sinned against God and against you…I am not worthy to be your son.”
   4. As the servants saw their master running to this dirty, ragged man, they ran after him.
      1. He said, “Get these rags off my boy and put the best robe him.”
      2. “He is my son–put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”
      3. “Prepare a banquet; it is time to celebrate!”
      4. “My son was dead; now he is alive.”
      5. “He was lost; but now he is found.”
   5. That’s my father.
5. If you think that the point of this parable is that you can live your life as wastefully and evil as you wish and God does not care, you are very, very mistaken.
   1. The father did not compassionately run to the son and welcome him home because he approved of what the young man had done.
      1. He did not embrace him because what he had done did not matter.
      2. The attitude of the father was not, “Every young man has to run away and do his thing. It is okay as long as he comes back home.”
   2. The changes in the son kindled the joy and compassion of the father.
      1. “He had not even talked to his son yet; there was no way that he could have known that the son changed.”
      2. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
      3. All you fathers of grown sons should know just how wrong that thought is.
      4. He knew what it took to come home, and he knew only a changed son could do that.
      5. He had a son who rejected love, care, home, and relationship.
         1. Nothing mattered.
         2. Nothing had value.
      6. Now he had a son who desperately wanted and needed what he rejected.
   3. “Well, what is the point of the parable?”
      1. If you will come to yourself, if you will find the courage to redirect your life, if you will accept responsibility for your mistakes, if you will bring your heart to the Father, he will be all over you with his love and strength.
      2. Some think they must impress God with deeds before he will accept them. What can you do to impress the God who created heaven and earth?
      3. Some think they must do the extraordinary to impress God before He will accept them. How can you impress the God who is the origin of life?
      4. There is only one thing you can do to impress the Father.
         1. Come to yourself.
         2. Redirect your life.
         3. Bring God your heart; that is the only thing you have to give God.
         4. Then you will meet the father of the prodigal son.

[Prayer: God, we are so unjust to you. We not only have wronged you. We have also misrepresented you. Open our eyes to see you as you are. Give us the courage to accept Your love. Give us the understanding that will not abuse your grace.]

The prodigal son wants to ask you a question. “Have you met my father?” Is he still looking down the road for you? Or can he see you coming?