A Message of Hope

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.      
Matthew 6:21
We are beginning to discuss setting goals for 2012 here for the church.  Sometimes goals are often like New Year’s Resolutions.  They are things we want to do, but are just not sure we are willing to do them.  We set goals in life and try to meet them.  Those that do not set goals are doomed to never accomplish anything.  Today perhaps we can think about how and why we set goals by talking about what is important to us.
We live in a capitalist society.  In our secular lives we often focus on getting and obtaining wealth.  We look for the best deals.  We conserve our money to buy things or we just take out a loan.  Materialism is a sin that we must continuously be aware of.  We cannot continually focus on earthly things and leave God out of our goal setting process.
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount tells us that we pursue what is important to us.  Our treasure is collocated with our hearts.  This is a critical thought that we must process.  If a new car, house, or retirement consumes our lives, then our efforts will be to obtain those things.  My perception is that path leads to long work hours, many financial disagreements, and a lengthy list of creditors.  To what end? 
Jesus tells us to focus on spiritual treasure.  He says store up treasure in heaven.  (Matthew 6: 19, 20)  This is the kind of treasure we should be focused on; eternal treasure, eternal rewards.  He begins the discussion with a reminder that earthly stuff is easily destroyed.  It can be in a wreck.  It can burn down.  Thieves can break in and take it.   The bank can foreclose on our loan.  Earthly treasure should not be our focus because it is not really that important.
As we consider setting both individual and community goals for the upcoming year, let’s consider where our hearts are.  Are we focused on God and the Kingdom or are we still stuck in the world?  Are we in control of our lives or is God?  Remember:  our hearts and treasures are collocated.  Let’s put them both squarely in God’s hand.  He can sort out our broken lives better than we can ever dream of doing.
Scripture:  Matthew 19: 16-22
 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
                                                                                                                                                Psalms 100: 4

David in the above song, encourages us to come to God with thanksgiving in our hearts.  We enter this ‘Thanksgiving’ season and think of turkey, football, and shopping.  That’s the world we live in.  But as Christians, we need to look deeper into the word thanksgiving to see what David is really talking about.

In Greek the word translated thanksgiving is eucharistia from which other faiths get the word ‘eucharist.’  The Eucharist is equivalent to our communion.  Isn’t it interesting that the word thanksgiving is used to represent this coming together in the remembrance of humanity’s greatest gift? 

David encourages us to be thankful and joyful as we enter his gates.  When was the last time you were truly thankful and joyful about the many gifts of God?  How did you express that thankfulness and joy? 

Paul in writing to Timothy tells us to be thankful for everyone.  That is a tall order.  Some people are not nice.  Even before writing this in 1 Tim 2:1, Paul tells Timothy he’s turned over two people to Satan to “be taught not to blaspheme.” (1 Tim 1: 20)  So can we give thanks for all people and still not like them?  Paul tells us that the goal of his teaching is “love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Tim 1:5)  We are told here that the love we need is generated from within and according to Paul is applicable to everyone.

Giving thanks is a state of mind.  We must overcome the world with love while continuing to focus on God and his great grace to us sinners.  If we love like God loves, then we won’t have to be reminded to give thanks for everyone.  We will do it because God does.

Scripture:  1 Timothy 2: 1-6

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28: 19, 20
Why do we support missionaries?  Where do we find in Scripture the authorization to send money to Christians working around the world?  How do we justify using God’s resources in this way?
These questions continue to be asked among conscientious Christians.  Jesus in the Great Commission says go.  He doesn’t say find someone else to go out into the world to spread the gospel.  Paul conducted several mission trips himself.  He didn’t sit back and send others out to fulfill this command.  So why is it okay to support others in the mission fields and not go ourselves?
The first century pattern seems to be that churches were formed where there were people.  Paul established churches and in his letters to Timothy and Titus instructed them to ensure local leadership was in place wherever there were churches (Titus 1:5).  The churches were established where people were and they did not move (Revelation 2,3).  People like Paul and Barnabas were actually sent to places like Antioch to teach the good news there by the elders in Jerusalem (Acts 11).  So the gospel was spread in the first century by people sent by local churches out into the world to make disciples of the lost and dying in the world.  In fact, our perfect example Jesus tells us that he was sent into the world “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Therefore isn’t Jesus God’s missionary to the world?  Didn’t he send a part of Himself to save us?  To bring us the good news?  To make disciples of each one of us?  It seems we have a divine duty to follow this example by sending a part of ourselves across the world to help teach others about Jesus our Savior.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us we are all “Christ’s ambassadors” with a message of reconciliation for the world (2 Corinthians 5: 20,21). 
The messengers God sends out into the world represent Him.  We represent Christ here in Albany.  Andrew and his family represent Jesus in the Ukraine to the most vulnerable of populations.  The unwanted children in the Ukraine flock to the message of love and salvation.  They eagerly desire the Word of the gospel.  How do we justify spending God’s resources on missionaries?  Just look at the faces of the souls that the Kelly’s touch.  How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news? (Romans 10: 15)
Scripture:  Romans 10: 14, 15
 

 The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;
 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37: 23,24
When was the last time you fell and hurt yourself?  We stumble and fall. Sometimes we catch ourselves, and at others times, the ground catches us.  What was the proximate cause of our falling?  Clumsiness?  Obstacles in our path?  Were we in too big of a hurry?  As Christians we often fall for the same reasons.  We forget who is in control and go clumsily charging off on our own into the obstacles of life.  We forget what elements of our faith are critical to God.  Sometimes we lose sight of what He thinks is important as opposed to what we think is.
David’s verse above from psalm 37, reminds us that if we delight in God, he will keep us from falling.  Evidently David saw a difference between stumbling and falling.  We may often stumble in this life, but if we are walking with our Father, we will not fall.  Peter addresses this issue in his second letter.  In fact, Peter says if we work on maturing our faith, we will “never stumble.” (2 Peter 1: 10)  So what are the things Peter tells us to work on?     
Peter gives us building blocks to our faith that enable us to fall toward God.  He first tells us to add to our faith goodness. (vs 5)   We need to be good people, because God is good to us.  He then says to add knowledge to our walk. (vs 5)  We obtain knowledge as we study God’s Word.  Peter next says add self-control to our lives. (vs 6)  God expects us to govern ourselves in order for Him to help keep us from falling.  Perseverance is added to our walk because sometimes we may have to overcome some obstacles in life.  God promises to help us not make our walk easy. Godliness is the next thing Peter tells us to add to our lives. (vs 6)  We walk with and like God.  As Jesus tells us, we are the lights of the world.   Next, Peter says add mutual affection to our faith.  (vs 7)  The Greek word for this is philadelphia which we know as family love.  Peter is telling us that we need to love each other like our own family members.  We are in God’s family and we are to love each other that way.  Finally, Peter tells us to add agape to our walk.  This is love that is an unconditional and sacrificial love that also refers to who God is, how He loves us, and what He gives us.  Agape love is the epitome of our Christian faith and is what should keep us falling back to God.
Scripture:  2 Peter 1: 3-11
 

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. John 12:46
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, but what was it like?  In Genesis 1:2, we are told that it was “formless and empty” with “darkness over the deep.”  Literally this means there was there was a big, black nothingness.  Darkness is defined as the absence of light.  To give light meaning, God created darkness first.  There are some cave creatures on earth that never experience light (until researchers find them).  They live their whole lives without ever seeing anything.  Imagine an existence without light.
God created light in this world so that we can see and experience life more fully.  Light is energy.  Light is life.  Spiritually, Jesus came into this world to do the same thing.  In John 8:12, Jesus tells us he is the “light of the world” and that if we follow him we will have the “light of life.”  What is this light of life and how are we using it?
The light is the gospel message and we should be using it to walk in this world.  John 12:46 continues the analogy by Jesus saying that we can exit darkness by believing in His power to save us.  That is the gospel message.  We can be saved.  Paul was told to take the light to the Gentiles in order to bring salvation to “the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47)  God’s light is eternal and is available to everyone.
So how do we use the gospel to walk in our lives?  In 1 John 1, we are told to “walk in the light as he is in the light.” (vs 7)  If we walk this way, we have fellowship with each other and the “blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”  So again we have a choice.  We can choose to walk in the way of Jesus and the gospel of salvation in the light or continue to stumble in the darkness of life without hope.  Let’s all choose to walk in the light of forgiveness.
Scripture:  1 John 1: 5-7
 

As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.  James 5: 11

When was the last time you had a Job experience?  Where was it?  At home, work, church?  Job was not just a good guy.  He is identified as “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.”  (Job 1: 1)  Additionally, because of his wealth and wisdom, he was “the greatest man among all the people of the East.” (Job 1:3)  Job was not some poor schmuck whose life Satan destroyed.  He was a great, Godly man who trusted the Lord.  There was no one on earth like him. (Job 1:
We know the story of Job.  The patience of Job is legendary…but is it?  Was Job patient?  Job was perseverant.  There is a difference.  God is patient with us as we strive to get back to Him.  He waits for us in hopes that we will return to His grace.  But we have to persevere in life.  We must undergo trials and testing in order to become mature Christians.  According to James, we should look with joy at the trials that our testing in life brings because that leads us to maturity.  (James 1: 2-4)  Our perseverance leads to success in this life and an eternal reward in heaven. (James 1:12)
The story of Job however is really about God.  As James concludes his letter, he returns to the idea of perseverance in referencing Job.  In all of the trials of Job, God protected him.  When all of life was falling down around him, when his friends and wife were telling him to curse God and die, Job felt the loving hand of God protecting him.  Even as Job was questioning God, he was protected from the storm of God’s justice.  James concludes this idea by telling us that God “is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5: 11) 
So what about our Job experiences?  Have we been given opportunities to persevere?  Are we ready to move on toward perfection?  Isn’t it interesting the letter from James starts with the idea of perseverance and returns to that idea at the end of the letter?  We need to joyfully seek and look for Job experiences in our lives in order to become mature and complete Christians fully prepared to take the good news of the gospel out into the world.
Scripture:  James 1: 2-4
 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Hebrews 12:1

Congratulations, God entered you in a race.  It is the most important race you will ever run.  It is the race that leads to eternal life.  Come on and get your spiritual shoes on and start running.
The idea of running a race is used several times in the New Testament to describe our Christian lives here on earth.  Paul tells the Ephesians in Acts 20: 24 that he just wants to finish the race.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul uses the analogy in chapter 9 to help us understand why we are running and that we run with purpose.  In Galatians 2:2, Paul says he didn’t want to run his race in vain.  He echoes this sentiment in the letter to the Philippians in saying he wanted to run with purpose.  Paul tells Timothy he finished the race.  So how do we do that successfully?
Have you ever heard life referred to as a rat race?  We run back and forth, going here and there, with little or no meaning in our lives.  We survive without purpose.  Death is the only way we will finish the rat race and then what do we have?
The Hebrew writer tells us that we have a race marked out for us as Christians.  Paul referred to it constantly as he describes our Christian lives.  Our race is living for God.  We run where God sends us.  We must progress in our race otherwise we will never successfully finish as Paul did.
So what slows us down?  The imagery the Hebrew writer uses is things in life that slow us down and keep us from really running for God.  Sin entangles us and we are easily led astray.  One of the worst thing that can happen to a runner in a distance race is to get lost.  Take a wrong turn here or there and we may never find the course again.  We should be running in a pack so we can help each other stay on the path.  We should be encouraging each other to stay in the race.  We are all working out our salvation on the course.
Perseverance is key.  It is a distance race and not a sprint.  The difference is in how we run.  Sprinters start low and fast, run quick, and finish in a seconds.  One misstep and the race is over.  Distance runners start slow.  They pace themselves.  Their race is won by extensive training and successful execution.  Distance runners can stumble and recover.  We are on God’s track team.  Let’s work together to run the good race and finish it as winners.
Scripture:  1 Corinthians 9: 24-27

²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  Galatians 3: 26, 27

Who are God’s children?  Isn’t every person on earth a child of God?  In some ways yes, but in others no.  Every person is a creation of God that he loves.  God wants everyone to return to Him and repent from our sinful ways (2 Peter 3:9).  But not everyone chooses to return.  Not everyone comes back to God.  Not everyone wants to be a child of God.
In Genesis 15, God takes Abram outside to look at the stars.  He tells Abram to count them because his offspring will like them.  Who are these innumerable children of Abraham?  Are they the children of Israel known as God’s people?  Genesis 15: 6 says Abraham believed God and it was “credited to him as righteousness.”  Abraham believed the Lord would do what He said and was considered righteous for that belief.  This lesson applies to us today.
Last week we saw that God comes near to us when we come near to him (James 4:8).  We also see in John 1 that the belief in Jesus gives us the “right to become children of God…born of God.” (12, 13)  So how does our faith in Jesus relate to Abraham’s faith in God? 
Paul tells us in Romans 4, that just as Abraham believed God and put his faith in God’s power to deliver on his promises, we also have a promise for our faith.  In fact, Paul tells us that the words “it was credited to him” were written for us. (23,24)  We are considered righteous for standing firm in our belief that God can raise us to life just as He raised His own son to life for our justification. (24,25)  We need to be just like Abraham and not waver in our faith.  When we know our God has the power to do what He promises, then we become true children of God.

Scripture:  Galatians 3: 26-29

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”  Matthew 18: 19,20

Where is God is a continuing question for humanity.  People throughout the ages have asked this ancient question, where is God?  We understand there is a God, but are not sure where He is.  We look for Him with all of our senses.  Is He in the thunder we hear?  Is He in the wind that we feel?  Is God in the water I drink?  Is God in the words I say?  Can I see God in His creation?  Where is God?

Perhaps we are asking the wrong question.  Perhaps we should be asking when is God?  In the above verses, examine the timing with me.  When Christians agree, God works for us.  When Christians unite, God is with us.  These are powerful images of God coming near based on what people do.  Perhaps it is not a question of where but when is God working with us.

In Deuteronomy 4:7, the Israelites are told that God is near them when they pray.  The act of praying brings them nearer to God.  James tells us to come near to God and He will come near to us (4:8).  So the question where is God is really a question of when is God.  We understand God is eternal and fills us the universe we live in, but when are we near Him?  God comes near to us when we seek Him.

God acts in the world today based on his followers coming together and asking for Him to come near.  Prayers of the faithful are powerful and effective (James 5:16) .  Is that based on the person praying or to whom the prayer is offered?  Perhaps the answer is both.  We must act on our faith.  That is one of James’ biggest themes.  Faith without works is dead.  We must act on our faith in God and ask for what we need.  In fact, Jesus tells us to agree and unite to come near to Him.  People often have a hard time getting along.  Christians are no different.  But when we agree and gather in His name, we come near to the power of God.  God has control in this world.  Lets agree to pray together and tap into the power of God.  He will come near.

Scripture:  1 Kings 19: 9-13

²³ Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. Joel 2:23

Rain is a unique weather phenomenon.  What causes water vapor to condense and fall to earth as precipitation that we call rain?  Did you know that rain provides the majority of the fresh water in the world?  That rain that evaporates before it even gets to the ground is called virga?  That raindrops can hit you with a speed of between 4.5 and 20 miles per hour?  That the biggest raindrop ever recorded was only .39 inches in size?  Rain is truly a blessing from God.

In the book of Joel, the prophet is warning the people about the day of the Lord.  Israel has undergone many plagues including drought and locusts.  Joel is telling the people the Lord will return and judge His people.  Those that repent and return to Him, He will bless.  The others will be judged by what they have done. (Joel 3:4)  God is seeking His people and promising them that He will return and bring justice to the land.

In Joel 2:23, Joel tells the people that God gives us “abundant showers” because He is faithful and not because of what we do.  This is a critical issue for us today.  We can never do anything to deserve God’s blessings.  God blesses us with rain because He is faithful.  That is to say, He fulfills His promises.  This is extremely important as we traverse life and consider what we must do to ‘earn’ God’s blessings.  He is faithful means that He brings justice to the land as Joel describes.

Today, we have the same promise that the people of Joel’s time had.  The day of the Lord is coming.  Christ promised to return in glory. (Matthew 24:30)   We cannot earn salvation, but we can do exactly what Joel described to the people of His day.  We can return to God with all of our heart. (Joel 2:12) This is what God wants from us.  Jesus prepared the way and we need only to follow Him with repentance, obedience, and the certainty of our salvation.  It is as sure as the rain that renews us, because God is faithful. 

Scripture:  Romans 5: 6-8