Going through the actions

I just wanted to pass on a portion of the sermon from this morning. I didn't think to much of it at first, but have done nothing but think about it all day. Today's service was all about Immanuel, meaning God with us. The pastor took the song, O Come, O Come, Immanuel, and asked, how often do you just go through the actions? He specified with the verse with the phrase "ransom captive Israel." From this he asked again, have you really ever thought about that, or do you just go through the actions of reading the words and singing them.

I realized that I do this entirely too often. I just go through the actions! Rather than sitting back and doing what I've been doing for years, I need to think and meditate on what I am doing.

I just want to challenge you to not go through the actions, but to really dig deep and get as much out of every part of the service that you can.

Genesis 3:1-10

“1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”…

The very first words that Satan speaks in the Bible are not “you should do this,” or “God is bad,” or “just be evil,” or anything so blatant as that. Instead he tries to put doubt in the mind of man. “Did God really say,” the first words from Satan. Casting doubt, the master of lies. Our God however is a God of truth. Satan is constantly working on us, and it is our job to fight him. It is a fight we will lose though. Martin Luther used to spend hours alone in prayer and meditation, pleading with God to save him, and yelling and arguing with Satan. When his spiritual father heard of this he told him to stop arguing with the devil. He has had thousands of years of practice and experience. We would surely lose such a fight. Luther finally came to the understanding though, that our God is a God of love and truth. God loves us. He fought the fight for us already and won! The devil has already lost.

And yet the devil keeps trying. He tries to bring as many souls with him into the fiery pit as he can. The devil tries to caste doubt on the truths that God has revealed to us. In doing so he also tries to break the trust that we have in God. Evidence of this effectiveness is found in the first two verses of chapter three. Satan asks Eve a question trying to caste doubt on her. His question tries to point out some sort of flaw with God, and yet it is not even true, because God had not commanded them to eat from any tree. Eve being the good little girl that she is responds that it is but one tree that they can’t eat of, nor touch. That is where the first consequences of the lie become present. Eve adds to God’s command that they are not allowed to touch the fruit. This was never part of God’s original command. Already she is confused by Satan’s lies. This is exactly what he wants. Suddenly, after the sin, Adam and Eve realized they were naked. They started to bring lies and imperfections into God's perfect creation. Satan does not create, he does not perfect, he does not speak truths, and this is how he drags man down.

We must always always focus on the truths that God reveals to us, on his commands, and on his promises. The devil is still always out there though. That is why for this particular post, as well as writing your thoughts and general questions, I was hoping that you could also answer one of my questions.

What are your methods for dealing with the devil and temptation?

Personally I find surrounding myself with God fearing people and talking about something positive or the Word helps me a lot to resist the devil. What about you?

Exodus 3

v. 11 “But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Who am I? How often do you consider who you really are, and when you do what do you think about? For me I used to think along the lines of Christian, athletic, smart, and sarcastic. But is that really how we should be thinking. We’ll take a look at what Moses thinks of this question in a minute, but first I would like you to look at something. I’m not really sure what to call it, but I first saw it on my brother’s facebook page. Take a minute to look aver it, and see what the Bible has to say about who YOU are. . .

I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ(1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God(2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God(Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16).
I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).
I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1).
I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14).
I have been adopted as God's child(Eph 1:5)
I belong to God (1 peter 2:9)

So now what do you think? Do you know who you are? I know that after reading this I certainly look at the question in an entirely different way. Sure I am Christian, and athletic, and sarcastic, but that isn’t what is important. What is important is that I am one of God’s children, and am united with Him! We are so blessed, look at all the various Bible passages to help show us who we really are, and what God has given us.

Moses on the other hand didn’t have the whole Bible to reference when he asked this question. Exodus 3 begins with the story of the burning bush. Here is a quick recap of the story. Moses sees a bush that continues to burn, but never burns up. He approaches it and the angel of the Lord appeared within the flames and spoke to him. Can you imagine that? You are up on a mountain and you see a bush on fire, and as you take a closer look, not only is it not burning up, but an angel of the Lord speaks to you with direction. Moses was called to lead God’s people out of Egypt. This is where he asks the question in verse 11, “Who am I. . .that I should lead the people out of Egypt?” God answers Moses with a very simple answer that we all need to keep in mind. God says, “I will be with you.” Yet again we bring up trust. This can be real difficult to trust anyone if that is all they tell us, and it seems as though Moses feels the same way. He was still skeptical of how this was all going to work out. But at the same time, he begins to see who he really is, and what he is called to do. Look back to that list of Bible verses. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This is where Moses needs to start to believe that with God anything is possible. And yet he is still doubtful.

Let’s look on. He asks God what he should tell the people if they ask what his (speaking about God) name is. God replies with “I AM WHO I AM.” He is the God of your fathers. This goes right back to the list above again. 1 Peter 2:9 “I belong to God” we are all descendant of God, we belong to Him. Since we belong to Him he desires our full trust because we are His people. So what are we to do, but to be His co-worker?

I will bring the people to a “land flowing with milk and honey.” To the Egyptians who had been in slavery, this must have sounded like paradise. Exodus 4 gets into the signs that God gives Moses to help him become even more confident with his trust in the Lord and who he really is. But that is for another discussion, I want to leave with one more note from that list at the beginning. Philippians 3:20 says,” I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant.” No matter what anyone tells you, you are significant. You are a child of God, you are His workmanship. He made you for a reason. Don’t ever forget that. No matter what the challenges you are facing, just remember who you are. And we owe everything that we are to HIM!

Matthew 3

Nearly a week away from Christmas, I can’t help but remember the story of John the Baptist. The book of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus and His birth. Chapter three has a heading, “John the Baptist Prepares the Way.” I want to take a look at a couple of verses out of this chapter that really help me to put a perspective on the time of the season.

Let’s start at the end of the chapter and work backwards, Matthew 3:13-14 says, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’” What an honor! John baptizes Jesus so that righteousness can be fulfilled. According to Luther’s Small Catechism, Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word. We need baptism so that the “old Adam or old Eve” in us can be drowned and die with the rest of our sins. Jesus, even though perfect had to do the same. He was born, and was baptized and died for our sins. With baptism we need not fear death, or the devil, also through it we receive eternal salvation. Like Joe was talking about in his last post, this too allows us to be one big family. Everyone is baptized in the exact same way, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” We are all members of one body, and that is the body of Christ. One last comment on this is that Jesus died and rose from the dead for our sins, and baptism allows us to “live a new life” (Romans 6:4). Yet again it shows us how we truly are part of the body of Christ.

Now let’s go back to the beginning. Verse 2 says, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” To be honest I was a little confused when this first statement was made, but after reading the footnotes it makes a lot more sense. Matthew uses the phrase kingdom of heaven, whereas Mark and Luke use the phrase kingdom of God. They are used in the same way and are both present and future. Without Jesus’, death, and resurrection we would have no hope. We often trust in our hope. A comment was made about how trusting in God can be difficult at times, and I have to agree. But like so many of the stories we have read in the Bible, we find that God does so many miraculous things, that we simply have no other choice. Who wouldn’t trust in a God who parted a sea so that people could cross into safety? Who wouldn’t trust in a God who fed 5,000 people? Who wouldn’t trust in a God who died on the cross for each and every one of our sins? I know it may be difficult, but when I find that I am struggling to trust in Him, all I have to do is go back and look at all he has done for me, past and present, then look forward to how he will continue to look after me in the future. Because of the trust that I have in Him, I know that I will eventually spend eternity in heaven with Him. What a future to look forward to!

One last verse, Matthew3:3b, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” This is a quote from Isaiah 40. Jesus’ birth was foretold in the Old Testament, and is shown again that it was in this verse in Matthew (as well as in Mark and Luke). We are to prepare the way for the Lord. So, how are you preparing for the Lord this holiday season?

Today and everyday I hope that you can remember how important your baptism really is, and that we can find peace in the Lord even when we are finding it difficult to trust in Him. Rejoice and give thanks the Christmas season!

Philippians 1:1-11

“3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

‘7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains, or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

‘9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

We are family
I Got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing

All of you are a blessing to me. Even for those of you that I have never met before that are reading this blog, you are still a blessing to me. We are a family in Christ. Simply put, that is what we are. We are a community of believers called upon to support each other in our needs and offer thanks in our joys.

In these opening verses to his letter to the Philippians, Paul graciously thanks God for his brothers and sisters in Christ. He is overjoyed because of them. They are supportive of him in his time of captivity, and by golly Paul is letting them know his thanks. In another letter, Paul talks about we are all members of one body.

We truly are many unique parts of one body. We are one unit. We are a team. We are partners in faith. Its like Family Feud! Only, instead of another family against us, our opposition is the devil and his works. The fight that we fight against the devil is an impossible one. Un-aided we are lost. However, we can rejoice (and again I say rejoice) that Jesus already fought this fight for us. We are on the winning side. We win because God fulfilled the Law to its very letter. God manifested himself amongst us at his birth, became a human, lived a blameless life, and took our place on the cross for us, and was raised by God so that we too may one day be raised. Rejoice in this! Again I say, REJOICE!

Paul, thanks God in this letter for his fellow Christians, asks that they rejoice always, and prays that they would continue to grow in depth and knowledge of the Lord our God. This is my prayer for all of you as well. REJOICE!

And assembled as one, in the name of the Son.
Lifting hearts, lifting hands, celebrating as friends
And proclaiming the Lord, all our praises afford
We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

P.S. Sorry for all the Rejoices! As you can tell I am skipping a little ahead to next weeks verses. The joy he brings is just impossible to contain until then though.

Exodus 1 & 2

Exodus 1:22- “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’”

Moses was born after this decree was made, and yet he somehow lived. Looking into Exodus 1 and 2 we see that Moses was hidden for the first three months of his life, and at this point in time he was no longer able to be hidden. So his mother placed him in a papyrus basket and put him in the Nile. Who else found him, but Pharaoh’s daughter? She took him in and had a Hebrew woman care for him.

What a way to start your life. First off, Moses dodged a bullet in that he was supposed to die as soon as he was born. Instead of dying though, he was hidden and later found by the Pharaoh’s daughter and eventually will grow up to lead the people out of Egypt. This story sounds all too familiar doesn’t it? A decree was made my King Herod shortly after Jesus’ birth to kill all boys under the age of two who lived in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Matthew 2). Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus and fled to Egypt until the death of Herod. Both Jesus and Moses escaped an early death.

Moses stood up for the Hebrew people against the Egyptians. In Exodus 2, Moses actually killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Pharaoh found out about this and tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled, only to return to help his people at a later time. Jesus on the other hand did not flee. Throughout history Christians have been oppressed, not only does Jesus stand up for us, but he also died for us.

We don’t have the option to take Jesus’ place on the cross, but we do have the opportunity to pick up where others left off. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus died on the cross once and for all and because of that “our salvation is secure!” When Moses died someone had to take over for him. In his case it was Joshua. Joshua 1:5b says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” God is always there to help us share the Word. Someone had to take over after Joshua and then on and on. Now it has been passed on to us! We have the ability to be witnesses of the Word to those surrounding us. It can be something as simple as wearing a cross necklace, to something as big as being a missionary, DCE, or a pastor.

We have all escaped an early death. That death is a death in sin. Christ died for each and every one of us so that our sins can be forgiven. The least we can do is share the faith that we have with those around us, in any way that we can.

One other point I would like to make is regarding the papyrus basket that Moses was placed in, that floated down the Nile. That phrase, “papyrus basket” is only used one other time in the Bible and that is in the story of Noah (Genesis 6:14). Both people that spent entirely different amounts of time in that “basket” did astronomical things for future generations of God’s people. Later in the book of Exodus, Moses leads his people out of Egypt, out of slavery. Noah on the other hand collected two of each animal and put his family in this ark, so that after the flood, they would be able to re-populate the world. Because of the things that these people did, we have hope. Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”- This hope that we have is of confidence not of wish-fullness. During the holiday season we look forward in confidence for the second coming of Christ so that we can spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

Genesis 1

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters…”

Our God is an awesome God. He created our entire universe all on his lonesome. How many times do we actually sit back and grasp the magnitude of it all. In the movie Lion King, Mufasa talks about the great “Circle of Life” to which Elton John so lovingly provides his vocals. The lions die and fertilize the grass, and the grass grows and the wildebeest eat the grass. Then the lions eat the wildebeest. The earth rotates around the sun and the seasons come and then go and come and go again. Water freezes when it gets to be a certain temperature it freezes, and when it gets much hotter it turns to steam. Complicated strands of DNA make up our blood. Pi equals 3.141592653589793… The earth is full of millions and millions of organisms as large as a blue whale and as small as Ciliates. Our world is surrounded by millions of stars that are millions of miles away, and yet most of us are tired just running a 5k.

How many times do we sit back and think about how truly complex and extraordinary our universe is? I know that I don’t nearly enough. It is absolutely mind boggling how powerful our God is. Oddly enough we are the focal point of his creation. We are what matters to him the most. We were made to rule over it all and to above all worship and love him, our creator. As vast and complex as our universe is, God cares about us, each and every one of us. He was willing to destroy it all and start over not because the universe did not love him but because WE didn’t love him, despite all he had done for us.

We are the only part of his creation that has the freewill to love him, and yet we choose not to. We choose to enjoy his creation and the pleasures of our own bodies, but not the God that created them all. We choose not to worship the God that “created man in his own image” and loves us unceasingly. We rejected him.

And yet all along God had a plan. A plan to bring us back to him. This plan was fulfilled through His only Son our Lord Jesus. He came to earth, the vast and amazing earth that he himself had created, and he came to it as a servant. He came to it not as a ruler or king, but as a humble servant. He then died a brutal and unjust death after having been abandoned by everyone. He did this all so that he can have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. So that we might learn to love him through His Spirit. That truly is the wonder of the creation story in my opinion. The fact that our all powerful God would create the universe in its enormity and detail and still above all that he would sacrifice himself simply so that we might be saved and come to love Him.

As we enter this Christmas season let us reflect on our Lord’s power and majesty and that he gave up all of it to become the most lowly among us when he was born to a virgin Mary so many years ago.

Lord we thank you for all that you have done for us and for the gift of your child our Lord. May we ever come to know and love you more and more. Amen

Matthew 11:25-30

Matthew 11:25-30 (NIV)
Rest for the Weary
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The Christmas season has begun! In only four weeks we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But how often, in the time between now and that special day, do we lose sight of what this season is truly about? This passage in the book of Matthew is titled “Rest for the Weary.” For many of us by this time of the year we have grown exhausted, and lost our patience. Long days at work, and endless hours of shopping consume our lives. We struggle to see the true meaning of the season. Yet in this passage Jesus tells us that all things that He has been given have been given to him by the Father. The same is true of us; everything that we have ever had, have now or ever will have is all thanks to the Father. We have been through 3/4’s of this year. Did we forget about Thanksgiving? Will we forget about all the things that God provides for us on a daily basis?

The passage closes by saying that in our times of trouble, weariness, or when we are burdened we should go to God. Many times at this time of the year, we are weary. We have lost our sight. We have nothing to worry about though, for he is humble and he will rest our souls. God provides for us on a daily basis, and we too often forget that. Instead of worrying this Christmas season, let us thank the Lord for his gifts to us, and allow Him to take care of our burdens.

Let us pray: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you have ever given us. We ask Lord, that you help us to acknowledge with our whole heart all of your goodness that you provide for each and every one of us. Lord, we thank and praise you for your never-ending loving-kindness and mercy. We pray these things in your precious name. Amen.