Warning to Pay Attention

Hebrews 2:1

We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

As General Conference has concluded – one thing has resonated in my mind – in my spirit. Some are trying to say they know more than the Apostles – more than those who walked with Jesus – and heard straight from Him. The historic truths of Scripture have not changed. For instance – the Biblical truth – without doubt – is that marriage is between one man and one woman. This was God’s design from the beginning and – although humanity strayed from this truth as revealed in Scripture – God continued to call them to this truth. Here’s one example – from the very words of Jesus.

Matthew 19:4–6 – ⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’  ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

The seventh fruit of the Spirit – found in Galatians 5 – is faithfulness. I believe the church is not being faithful to the truth of the Scriptures in regards to marriage (among other things) – instead – as we were warned – they are seeking what their itching ears wish to hear and believe. Here is that warning – as Paul – led by the Holy Spirit – warned a young pastor – Timothy – about the days when truth will be challenged.

Your Word Is In My Heart

Psalm 119:11

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

I’ve said before – that living for Jesus is enhanced – even made possible – through our being open to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came to teach us all things and to remind us of the things that Jesus taught. We’ve also said that we cannot understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. As we search the truths in the Bible – inspired and urged on by the Holy Spirit – we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Jesus.

A deep knowledge and understanding of the Word of God is only possible through a deepening of our walk with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The more we know – the deeper we search the Word of God – the more useful a tool it will be for us in our spiritual journey. I once said – the more we use our Sword (our Bible) the more useful that tool becomes to us – so we would encourage people to bring their Bibles to church and to follow along during the sermons. Today – we can read our Bible on our smart phones and even follow along on them by following sermon notes by using the URL found in the bulletin each week. There are so many tools available to us as we read the Bible. But – none of them has worth to us without the Holy Spirit.

Reading and storing up the Word of God in our heart – in our mind – is so important. Jesus resisted the Devil when he tempted Him by quoting the Word of God. Jesus was such a student of the Word of God – that He knew when Satan was using it wrongly! Matthew 4:1–11 – ¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” ⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” ⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Seek FIRST His Kingdom

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

What do you do – first thing in the morning – at home? Most of us have some routine in the morning. Some items might be brushing our teeth – taking our vitamins – taking a shower/bath – dressing for the day – combing our hair – putting on our face (for the women) – eating our first meal of the day.

What do you do – first thing in the morning – at work? Most of us have some routine when we get to work. Checking overnight communications – email – text – calls/messages – preparing for meetings – preparing for customers – getting the stock in order – cleaning the workplace from any mess left by the previous shift. In my part-time job – I set up the coffee station (even though I am not a coffee drinker) – setting and printing the tee-sheet for the day – printing scorecards for games that day – printing the tee-sheet with bag storage – counting the cash drawer – checking the bathrooms (men’s and women’s) – prepare some pop corn for the members – and if time allows – helping to set up carts for the morning (I work in the pro-shop at The Golf Club at South River.

My Sheep Know My Voice

John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

What do we listen to the most? Are we a sports junkie – listening to 105.7 or 106.7 all day long – listening to sport’s news from Baltimore or Washington – or ESPN or other sports channels? Are we country music junkies – listening to 98.7 or 93.1 country radio? Are we a soft rock junkie – listening to oldies channels on the radio or on XM radio? Do we like classical music – listening to it at home or at work or in the car?

What do we listen to the most? Can we remember the lyrics to our favorite songs – current on even from our youth? There are radio contests where people are asked to guess what song is playing – simply by listening to a short piece from the song or even the opening chord.

What do we listen to the most? as a married couple – can you finish your partner’s sentences – because you have listened to the so long – you know how they think – or what they would say in a given situation?

Celebrating Easter Every Sunday

Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Easter has come and gone for another year. Churches were packed that Sunday from sunrise services through regular and extra worship services. Some of my colleagues had to hold Easter services off-sight for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to reach the unchurched and thought off-site might be the best way to do this.  Some would have had to hold so many services in their current facilities that it made sense to go off-site to a larger facility. Some for both reasons and maybe some others as well. I imagine that some saw larger crowds than they will see all year until Easter next year – April 20th.

If their attendance was anything like I have experienced over the years – although there were some visitors – like family visiting for the long holiday weekend – folks looking for a church or simply the C&E folks (Christmas and Easter) – mostly the higher attendance is a product of the regular folks all attending on the same Sunday. Sadly – studies show that regular for some means once or twice a month – something less than most every Sunday. When attendance on a regular Sunday is say 75 and on Easter it blossoms to 125 with only 10 visitors – that suggests that if your regulars were more regular – your normal attendance might be closer to 115 than 75.

As pastors we often ask the question – how can I reach the unchurched who attend on Easter? I would like to suggest – too late for this Easter but since they will be around some moving forward – we also ask the question – how can we excite the regulars to be more regular in cooperate worship? I’m not suggesting that those who see once or twice a month as regular worship are not sincere about their faith. For whatever the reason – and that is the key – other things take a priority over cooperate worship two to three Sundays a month. Why and what can the church do about that priority listing – if anything?  Shouldn’t the joy of our salvation – our relationship with Jesus – overcome even the toughest circumstances of life?