Archive for January, 2006
Youth Sunday
Special Speaker: Sterling Simms
Sunday, January 29th, 2006
The Worthiness of The Little Lamb
Revelation 5:1-7
Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
Throughout human history the questions have been raised over and over again, “Is there any meaning to life? Why am I here? Does anybody care?” The questions have been framed in various ways. The questions have been asked by philosophers, plumbers, politicians, and preachers—people from every walk of life. There are different schools of thought which have tried to provide answers to the questions. If you were cataloging the answers you could roughly put them into two different files: Believers and unbelievers. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. This past week I was reading a website that offered answers to the questions based on the perspective of an unbeliever. These are the answers offered.
The Reality Behind Our Anxiety
Revelation 4
Sunday, January 15th, 2006
It has been a few weeks since we last studied the Revelation of our Lord and Savior. As we get back into our study today let me lay a foundation for chapter 4 by reviewing what we discovered in chapters 2-3. In these two powerful chapters of Revelation we visited seven churches in Asia Minor. We found lukewarm Christians in Laodicea, we discovered a church in Sardis that believed they were the talk of the town, but Jesus said they were dead, in Ephesus we discovered a church that had lost its first love, we saw believers tolerating the false teachers in Thyatira, and we saw the poverty and suffering of the faithful in Smyrna. What we saw was a succession of problems being faced by the followers of Jesus in each and every church. There was not one church that was living large and experiencing the good life as the world would describe the “good life.” These men and women faced heartache, slander, false teachers who tried to undermine the teachings of their Savior, persecution by governmental authorities, and trials of every kind. Sounds a lot like our day, and our church, doesn’t it?
Quickened
Colossians 2:13-14
Sunday, January 8th, 2006
In the fall of 1997, I participated in the Promise Keepers Day of Prayer held in Washington DC. Over a million men, from across the country stood in the gap for our nation, our families, and our churches. That day was filled with powerful experiences, but one in particular stands out in my mind. A buddy and I were coming back from the Lincoln Monument. We were both pretty sedated by all the real life history we had just witnessed up close. All of a sudden, from behind us, we hear this piercing blast. My instant reflex was to duck and run! As I turned around, I saw a fellow holding this strange looking curly horn. It was a shofar. I had never heard anything like it; the sound went through me like a hot knife through butter. It felt like something awakened within me when I heard the blast and at the same time, something was being shaken. Two years later, I received my own shofar and began to learn more about its spiritual significance and symbolism. There is no other natural instrument more suited to quicken the soul like the shofar. And no other instrument represents the voice of God like the shofar.
Redemption, Honor, and the Blood
Colossians 1:13-14
Sunday, January 1st, 2006
For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 NIV
In C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the message of redemption is beautifully illustrated. One of the brothers betrays his family for the pleasure of his own appetite. His action rightfully makes him the possession of the wicked witch. But the creator of Narnia, Aslan, sacrifices his own life in place of the guilty one. By doing so, Aslan basically transfers his value and worth to the boy. This act demands honor on the part of the recipient. The once selfish and deceptive sibing takes his place among the warriors to defend Narnia against the wicked schemes of the witch. Aslan’s blood bought him freedom from the death he rightly deserved, and now he gladly serves the one he could never repay.