Sermon Recap 2-28-10

Morning: The sermon, "Wise Living," looked at Ephesians 5:15-21.  In this passage, Paul call us to give careful though to how we live.  We are not to live as unwise, but wise.  Wisdom is living a life skilled a pleasing God.  We are not to foolish, but discerning God's will.  We are to become the kind of people who know how to please God because we continually practice the things that please God.  We look to the Word to guide us, and continually put into practice what it says.  We are not to be given over to addiction, but filled with the Spirit.  The Spirit-filled life is marked by fellowship, worship, gratitude, and service.

Evening: We saw the movie Fireproof tonight.

More Thoughts on the Adopting for Life Conference

Delia and I were blessed to get to attend the Adopting for Life conference at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  The speakers were awesome, and the music was phenomenal.  The songs, the sermons, the talks, and the testimonies were so Christ-focused and gospel centered that it left a profound mark on my mind.  I am struggling to put it into words, I feel so emotionally drained (in a good way).

The conference centered around the issue of adoption and its connection to the gospel.  As we care for orphans, we are fulfilling the Great Commission.  More than that, we are imitating the gospel.  When a family adopts it takes someone who was a foreigner biologically and makes them family.  In the same way, through adoption, God brings those who were foreigners to the promises, and makes them his children.

Adoption is a part of God's plan for making families, and we get to take part in that.  We are walking in our Father's footsteps when we care for orphans.  Delia and I have been considering another adoption in the near future, and have been working toward that.  What I heard during this conference confirmed these desires.  We are all called to care for the orphan, if we are really of the faith, although not every one is called to adopt.

I feel tremendously blessed to have been used of the Lord to adopt.  Both of my girls, (Ellie, who has gone on to be with the Lord, and Sophia), were brought into my life through the gift of adoption.  In eternity, before I was formed and brought forth into this world, God had set me apart for this entrance into fatherhood.  The very thought of this makes my mind want to explode.  My heart is bursting with joy and gratitude and fear.  And to think that somewhere out there, around the corner of providence, God may have more children waiting to call me daddy.  It's too much to comprehend. 

If they post the audio from the conference, I'll post a link.  The messages are worth listening to.  Let me close by encouraging you to consider your role in ministry of orphan care.  Are you being called to adopt a child?  Are you being called to assist someone who is adopting?  Seize the opportunity, and respond in heartfelt obedience.  You'll be changing someone's life (or many lives) forever.

The Least of These

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'" (Matt. 25:40, ESV).

I'm still ruminating on the the message, "Crucified Orphan Care," by Dr. Russell Moore.  His repeated reference to the "least of these" won't let me go.  Human beings, even in their fallen state, bear the image of God.  If we combine this truth with the fact that Jesus died to redeem them, then it is easy to see that human life is worthy of dignity and honor.

But are we quick to see that image in others? Do we serve others out of desire to serve the Lord?  Do we understand that each individual is "the least of these?"  As I listened to Dr. Moore this evening I had to acknowledge that I wasn't always quick to see the image of God in others.  Somehow I forgot that Jesus views the least of these as his brothers.

When we receive someone in the name of Christ, we receive Christ.  When we receive Christ, we receive the one who sent him.  Thus, the time we spend with the least of these, whether children or others, is time spent with Christ.  As we minister to their needs we minister to Christ.  If we are to do this in the manner in which he desires, then we need his strength to flow through us.

For His Name's Sake

"He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Ps. 23:3, ESV).

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, restores our soul.  When we enter into his  fold, he provides us with what we need, makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us beside still waters.  He is a fierce protector of his sheep.  He will strike his enemies with crushing force.  Not one of his sheep will be snatched away by the wolves.  He restores our soul, in part, through his atoning sacrifice.  His grace is the entry point of our salvation. We are saved by grace, through faith.  Jesus continues the process of restoring our soul through the ongoing work of sanctification wrought by the Spirit in our lives.

The reason he restores our souls, the reason he leads us in paths of righteousness, should grasp our attention.  He does this for "his name's sake."  That is, the Lord leads us in paths of righteousness, so that his name will not be defamed.  Through the glorious work of grace in our lives, the Lord's name is magnified.  He is the gracious Redeemer, the Just and the Justifier, the Holy One, and the list goes on.  His strength can not only make a people for himself, but also rescue them from the penalty of their sin.

As he brings us to righteousness, through the application of the gospel to our hearts by the enabling work of the Holy Spirit, God demonstrates that his holiness is unquestionable.  His eyes are to holy to look on sin, so sin must be punished.  God, in his grace, allows the guilt to be paid by substitution, but that substitute must meet his holy standards.  So in Christ, we find our holy substitute.  His life was given as a ransom for our sins.

As he works holiness in our lives, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God demonstrates his strength cannot fail.  The people that he chose as his own, cannot be snatched from his hands.  He will not, nor could he be compelled to, let them go.  If God were to let them fall away, it would appear that he was unable to keep them.  This he will not do.

The Lord is serious about his glory, and rightly so.  We tend to hear the echoes of egomania when hear that the Lord is jealous for his glory, but this is nonsense.  God is not a man, full of imperfections and weakness.  His is God-perfect, holy, just, righteous, gracious, merciful, and kind.  Were he to allow something to become greater than his own glory, he would be sanctioning idolatry, the very thing he loathes.  There is nothing greater than God, and thus there is nothing greater than his glory.

He restores our soul.  He brings it back from its wanderings.  He cleanses it of its disease.  He purges it of its disloyalties.  He brings it back to life.  He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  He wants to make his name known throughout the world through us.  He wants the nations to revere his name.  He wants drawn them, through his glory, to himself.  He redeems us for his purposes, so that we can make him known in the world.

Finding the Blessed Life

"Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!" (Ps. 119:1-3).

I think we all want a "blessed" life.  However, I am not certain we would define "blessed" in quite the same terms that we see in Scriptures.  Nor do I believe we understand how one enters into the blessed life in quite the same way the Bible explains it.  We think of the blessed life in terms of health, wealth, success, and fame.  The Bible presents the blessed life as a life that receives God's approval.  We think people enter a blessed life by chance (luck), or by birth (inheritance), or by good works.

Psalm 119:1-3 could be taken in such a way that it would appear that blessing comes by hard work, but that would be a misunderstanding.  The Psalmist isn't encouraging us to pull ourselves up by our spiritual bootstraps in order that we may be blessed by God.  He is demonstrating the kind of people God's blessing rests upon.  Those who "walk in the law of the LORD" are blessed.  Those "who keep his testimonies" experience blessing because they trust him.

It is impossible to walk in the law or to keep the LORD's testimonies without trusting in the Lord.  If we do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, it is humanly impossible to do God's will.  However, when we trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us.  The Spirit's presence enables us to do what the Lord requires.  He creates in us a desire for and a delight in the Word of God.  As we respond to the Spirit's leading, we find ourselves walking the ways of the Lord.  As we walk in the ways of the Lord, his good pleasure shines upon us and we are happy in him.  To be happy in the Lord and to be in his good pleasure is to be blessed.

Therefore, if we are to enjoy God's blessing, then we must walk according to his word.  More than this, we must pursue the ways of the Lord with wholehearted devotion.  If we will do this, the Lord promises that we will be blessed.  Are you pursuing the Lord with wholehearted devotion?  Are you walking in accordance with his Word? If you are not, then you will not experience the blessing of the Lord.

Is Your Heart Pure?

"Who can say, 'I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?'" (Prov. 20:9, ESV).

The common sense answer to this question is no one can say they have made their heart pure.  We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Rom. 3:23).  When we check the shape of our heart against the law of the Lord, we see how far we fall short.  If we deny the sin in our lives, we live in the greatest kind of delusion (see 1 John 1:8).

We need someone to make our hearts pure.  We need someone to cleanse us from our sins.  That someone is Jesus Christ our Lord.  When we come to faith in Christ we find cleansing and forgiveness.  Romans 8:1 states, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  First John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

How do we respond to the question?  Is your heart pure? Are you clean from sin?  If not, put your faith in Jesus Christ and he will cleanse you from your sin.  He will also give you a heart to follow him.

Sermon Recap 2-21-10

Morning: This morning we looked at living as "Children of Light."  In Ephesians 5:8-14, the apostle Paul sets forth three images of comparison between God's children and sons of disobedience.  The first image contrasts darkness and light.  The readers were once darkness, that is part of the rebellious world system the serves Satan's purposes and rejects God's purposes, but now they were light.  As children of the light they were to find God's will and do it.  The second image was a contrast between fruit and fruitlessness.  They were to produce the fruit of light (which is goodness, righteousness, and truth) in their lives, and they were to avoid the "fruitless" deeds of darkness (which is sin).  The second image was a contrast between hidden and revealed.  The deeds of darkness are shameful to discuss, but we are to expose them for what they are, so that they will no longer be hidden, and those who practice them might find forgiveness.

Evening:  We looked at the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Article IV. Salvation.