Blogging Break

I’ve taken a little blogging break these past few weeks… looking forward to reengaging the blogging world in the near future!

Great Thoughts from Oswald Chambers

“When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.”  - Oswald Chambers

Extraordinary Christmas

Extraordinary Christmas – Part 1

Extraordinary Promises

Promises – what do you think about when you hear the word promises?  A promise  is a declaration of assurance -  a guarantee.  We are all familiar with promises… all of us have made promises and all of us have been given promises.   A promise can be a wonderful gift.

We all have also experienced broken promises… promises that may or may not made with good intentions but for whatever reason were not kept.

We have all had promises made to us that were broken and we have all broken promises  that we made and sometimes this makes us skeptical about promises.   We have been hurt before so we are slow to trust… so to believe…

What is an extraordinary Christmas anyway? Time with family, lots of presents, the biggest Christmas tree ever, being healthy, your spouse getting you the Lexus…

Well the word extraordinary means: very unusual or remarkable…  it means exceptional, amazing, unbelievable, uncommon or rare…

So what makes Christmas extraordinary?  over the next few weeks we are going to look at what makes Christmas so extraordinary and this morning we begin by talking about extraordinary promises….

Christmas is all about extraordinary promises:   As you read and study the Old testament one can clearly see that God had a plan to rescue mankind from the curse of sin that mankind had brought on itself.  From the book of Genesis on through the Old Testament – the sense that God had plan to deal with sin and provide an escape for sin in highly evident – and part of the unveiling of that plan came through promises.   The Old Testament is filled with promises of Messiah or deliverer that would come to rescue Israel and the world from the curse and consequences of sin.  Many of these promises were made and very dark times in Israel’s history…  many seemed to good to be true and they seemed to not come true. These promises laid dormant for hundreds of years…  for 400 of those years no more promises came… God was silent and the promises went unfulfilled.

Promises like those made through the prophet Isaiah…

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

The prophet Micah:

Micah 5:22 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

These promises along with countless others pointed towards a Messiah that would come and deliver Israel.  What makes Christmas so extraordinary?  The birth of Jesus fulfilled  these promises… so many that it is clear that this birth was indeed the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Matthew connects His birth with the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah..

Matthew 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us).

Matthew 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Luke in His gospel connects Jesus’ birth with promises from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and the Psalms.

Jesus birth was extraordinary because it was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah deliver through Israel.

God always keeps His promises!

As for God, his way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. – Psalm 18:30

Listen to the words of God given through the prophet Isaiah:

I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner so no one can understand what I mean. And I did not tell the people of Israel to ask me for something I did not plan to give. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and right.  - Isaiah 45:19

God is bold in His promises and sure in the delivery of those promises!  That is what makes Christmas so extraordinary!  The birth of Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises of God!

Romans 15:8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors

Jesus’ coming showed in a powerful way that God always keeps His promises!

The extraordinary promises of Christmas should serve to give you and I confidence in all the promises that God has given us.

Gal. 3:29 And now that you belong to Christ,  you are the true children of Abraham.  You are his heirs, and now all the promises God gave to him belong to you.

If you are child of God through faith in Christ – then you are an heir to the promises of God and He always keeps His promises!

Friday Fun

Masquerade Part 3

Here are some excerpts from the concluding message from the series Masquerade:

——————————————————————————————–

“Behind the Mask”  

Today we are looking at the root of all deception, the source of all lies,  the power that drives the rampant deception of our world.  

Jesus shared these words with us when speaking the the unbelieving religious leaders of his day:

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The Father of lies – Satan, the devil, the arch enemy of God – a powerful angel who rebelled against God is the force behind all evil and deception.  

Satan is the mastermind of the masquerade! 

It is his mission to deceive as many people as possible. He is doomed to eternal destruction but until that time he wages war with God and the truth and his deceptive powers are evident.   

2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Satan is a liar and he blinds the hearts of men and women so that he can keep them from the gospel which alone can save them.  

However he does not stop there.   For not only does he endeavor to blind the eyes of the lost to the gospel he also yearns to deceive God’s children.   

He searches for people to destroy through deception: 

1 Peter 5:8  Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.

  Satan  loves to rob believers of hope, joy, peace, integrity, opportunities,  reputation and so he attacks and he searches for the vulnerable…  and one of his chief strategies is to use deception to bait people into making bad decisions that will lead to sin, guilt, and heartbreak.   Sin that will ultimately end in the loss of joy, peace, integrity and opportunities. 

The question then before us is how do we overcome this deception  – how do we  unmask the lies of the ultimate masquerader? The answer is that we must fill our minds and hearts with the truth.  Jesus said “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”  (John 8:32) 

In order to do that we must apply the truth to our lives and to the areas where we are most vulnerable.   

Satan targets his deception at the areas where we are most week and I want to share with you the three areas that are by far the most common areas where Satan will try to deceive you: 

1. Physical Pleasure –  

God created the capacity for humans to experience physical pleasure – He is not against physical pleasure!  In fact He has made many provisions for us to be able to experience pleasure.  However He has created guidelines, boundaries that keep our desire for pleasure from causing us harm.

Satan however steps in and seeks to deceive by offering greater pleasure by crossing those boundaries. Satan today seeks to to deceive believers by getting them to think that there is greater pleasure in crossing the boundaries that God had laid out in His word.  Satan will try to deceive you in they area of physical things.  He will try to get you to fulfill natural desires in sinful ways so that you will experience guilt, pain, heartache, disease…  

2. Greed  

Greed is the passionate desire to have something that doesn’t belong to you.  You can be greedy for many things… money, a different situation in life, power, control. Satan will try to deceive you through what you see…  He will makes sinful lifestyles look so good.  Sin looks so good at first…. so appealing,  so exhilarating, so pleasurable…. but what it brings is so different…. The wages of sin brings death, sorrow, pain, guilt, and fear

3.  Pride – to take God’s place 

Pride is the desire to exalt ourselves above our rightful place. A desire to put ourselves in the place of God. 

 

Many times Satan will try deceive you to take God’s place in your life… to make your own rules… this is pride. 

I know God said… but.. I think or I feel…  Don’t think or feel – submit to God

Speaking to this issue the apostle Paul said this in reference to the Jewish people:

Romans 10:3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (ESV) 

We must submit ourselves to God and His righteousness.   His way and not ours.  Pride leads us to submit to our own ways and desires and Satan will always try to deceive us in this way.   If we are going to avoid Satan’s deception we must choose to submit to God not ourselves. 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. – James 4:7 

You and I live in a world of deception.  One in which we must deal with the ultimate masquerader – Satan,  who seeks to deceive the world and keep them from the truth.  Do you know the truth?  Are you living in the truth?   Or have you been deceived by Satan.   Maybe he has gotten a hold of you in one of these areas.   Today God calls you to come back to Him, back to the truth.   You may have a mess to sort through but God can handle it.   Come to Him and let Him change your life.  For all of us -  a reminder that we must dwell in the truth and stay humbly connected to our Savior so that we can live in the freedom that the truth brings!!! 

Masquerade Part 2

Here are some excerpts from part 2 in my sermon series “Masquerade”. 

Masquerade – Part 2 

“Seeing Through the Mask” 

This morning as we continue to look at the deception in this world as we are continuing our series masquerade by talking about “Seeing Through the Mask” as we look at the deception that fills our world.   Specifically the spiritual and religious deception that is so prevalent in this world. 

We live in a world filled with spiritual deception.    

From false religions, to supposed Christian teachers, to Oprah, from movies and books and thousands of internet sites we are surrounded by spiritual deception.  

Spiritual deception = religious or spiritual teachers or teachings that are false.  That are untrue. 

Because we live in a world filled with spiritual deception it is imperative that we learn how to see through the deceptive masks worn by the false teachers are learn how to stand firm on the truth! 

God’s word has much to say about the deception of the false teachers and how we can see through the mask and know the truth.  

Jesus speaking of these last days said:

“And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray.” – Matthew 24:11 

Paul said: 1 Timothy 4:1-5  “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.

Peter said: 2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.

With the Bible warning us over and over of the reality and danger and false teachers we must be attentive to this issue.  How do we determine what it right or true? 

This morning I want to point you to two essential truths that definitively separate false teachers from true teachers and always expose the deception in the false teachers.   

These two issues function as a great spiritual lie detector.   

1. What do they believe and teach about Jesus. 

Jesus is the central figure of history and the center of  the Christian faith. When dealing with trying to discern spiritual deception we must start with Jesus. 

The most pivotal questions of life are:  Who is Jesus Christ? Is Jesus the only way to God? 

John 14:6 

Jesus claimed to be the only way to God.  The only means of salvation.  The only hope of escaping the wrath of God.  

How could He do that? 

A. He was fully God and fully man. 

The Bible and Jesus claimed that He was and is the eternal God. 

John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God.

Jesus claimed over and over to be God. 

John 6:48- Yes, I am the bread of life!

John 6:51- I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. 

Jesus demonstrated that he was God through His miracles, His power over creation, and His predicted death and resurrection. 

The Bible also shows that He was fully man… 

Matt. 1:18 Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was born supernaturally of the virgin Mary. Fully God and fully man. 

B. Jesus was sinless

2 Cor. 5:21- For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

1 Peter 2:22 – He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone.

C.  Jesus died a sacrificial death 

1 John 2:2 He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

Romans 8:3- The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

1 Peter 3:18 Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

D.  Jesus rose from the dead

1 Cor. 15:1-8;20-22

20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. 21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. 22 Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life.

Jesus is the Only Way to God! 

When seeking to uncover spiritual deception always begin with Jesus.  The most pivotal question of all of history is:  Who is Jesus Christ.  

The answer is and must  be that He was the virgin born son of Mary – fully God and fully man, He lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death on a Roman cross, rose from the dead, and is coming again in power and in great glory. 

He lays out the terms and conditions of salvation Not you,  not me, not any church, no one! 

1 John 2:22 “And who is the great liar? The one who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son.”

As such He is the only way to God and the only means of salvation. Anyone who teaches less or more is a false teacher. 

If they claim you must come through them, their church, or their denomination they are practicing spiritual deception.

2. What do they believe and teach about the Bible? 

The Bible claims to be Word of God. Inspired by the Spirit of God.  

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.

It backs up those claims with fulfilled predictions.  Spiritual deceivers  always deny the Bible as the word of God and the sole standard of truth. False teachers don’t proclaim the truth God’s word. 

Any organization, person, church, denomination, or religion that claims authority equal to or above the Bible is a spiritual deceiver. 

Any teacher or church that teaches a message that contradicts the scripture is a spiritual deceiver. 

 Spiritual deception everywhere.  You and I must cling tightly to the truth because it is the truth that brings freedom.  (John 8:32)   Then we will be able to see through the mask of the spiritual deception and live lives of confidence and boldness despite the deception that surrounds us. 

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will go on deceiving others, and they themselves will be deceived. 14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

Friday Fun

Thanking our Veterans

This is a day to pause and honor those who sacrificially give of themselves to provide and protect our cherished freedom.  A big thank you to all who serve in our military. 

 

Masquerade Part 1

This past Sunday we started a new teaching series titled masquerade.   Here are some excerpts from the message “Taking Off the Mask” . 

 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

We are all familiar with masks.  This past week many of you wore a mask or painted your face.  You were in costume… pretending to be someone that you are not… When we get dressed up in this manner it’s fun.  But sadly this is not the only time when many of you wear a mask.  This is not the only time that you dress up and pretend to be something or someone that you are not.  

We live in a world of deception.  Deception is everywhere – from commercials on TV, the evening news, people we encounter on a day to day basis, false religions, false preachers – deception is everywhere.  Over the next three weeks are going to be looking at this deception and how we can uncover and and overcome deception.   This morning we are starting with the deception that lies within each of us. 

 To masquerade means to pretend to be someone that you are not... have you ever done that?  Did you do that this week?   Many times we do it intentionally…  sometimes unintentionally…  either way we misrepresent who we are…. we masquerade. 

This morning I want to point you to the truth of God’s word and help you to see that God wants us to take off our masks and live lives of honesty and truthfulness.    God hates deception!  Proverbs 6:16 There are six things the LORD hates – no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.

God is not OK with you masquerading through life.  Because no matter how many people you fool, you can never fool God.  He sees through the deception and He requires honesty in our hearts and lives. 

So how do we take off the masks?  How do we stop the masquerade? 

1.  Be honest with yourself.    

John 8:32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

God is truth, His word is truth and this is the beginning the foundation for learning to take off the mask. 

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.

 You and I need to be confronted with the truth of God and His word.  His truth cuts through the deception and masks that we wear. 

Ask God to reveal the masks you might be wearing.   There are many,  I want to draw your attention to 2 of the most common ones… 

The Sunday mask… 

The Sunday mask is the mask of the Pharisees… 

Matthew 23:28 You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

They pretended to be better than they were…  They pretended to be something they weren’t – godly. 

Are you pretending to be someone that you are not? 

1 Peter 2:1 So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing

The Sunday mask is the pretend to be spiritual, godly, and righteousness.  Judas wore the Sunday mask… 

John 6:70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

He worked for God but he never let God work on his heart and never let Jesus meet his greatest need. 

God sees through the Sunday mask. 

Matthew 7:21 ”Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.

The Monday mask… 

You are saved, belong to God but when you go out into the world  – you act like you are lost:

You treat people unkindly, You cheat , You lie, You steal, You gossip , You tell and laugh at ungodly jokes 

For whatever reason – you hide your faith, sometimes consciously, sometime unconsciously… but either way…  you are wearing as mask… pretending to be something or someone that you are not.  God is not pleased by this! 

So what do we need to do if we realize we are wearing the mask… 

2. Be honest with God. 

Confess to God your hypocrisy… 

Ask Him for His power to transform you… 

1 Peter 2:1 So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing

3. Be honest before others. 

Seek to live without the mask!  Realize you are not perfect and don’t have to be. But you need to be honest.  Live in such a way that world can see Christ in your life.   We are to be mirrors that reflect God’s glory. We are to let our light shine. 

We need to be honest and transparent for that to happen!   It is scary, it isn’t easy but it always worth it! 

 Are you masquerading through life?  What mask are you wearing?  

1 Peter 2:1 1So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing. 2 You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries for milk, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.4 Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him

Come to Jesus and let Him do in your life what only He can do. 

God invites you to take off the mask! 

 

 

World Series!!

It is awesome to have the Phils back in the World Series.  Playing against the Yankees this is shaping up to be an epic series.  The Yankees are loaded with talent and have every ability to win it all.  However, as Philly fan I see a character in the Phillies that gives me confidence that they will take this series.  I think they want it badly and I think they will take it.  I’m hoping in 5!   We’ll see,  can’t wait!