Month: November 2017

A Short Sermon

When I graduated, my mom gave this wonderful advice that I have tried to honor in my preaching. She looked at me and said, “Son, no one ever complained about a short sermon.” That must be true because the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) only takes about 20 minutes to read!

In his later life, it is said the Apostle John settled in Ephesus. There he ministered with a very, very busy congregation. One day they asked John to preach. The old man with long white hair and a flowing white beard tottered to the front, turned and said, “Little children, let us love one another.” (You might recall John wrote those very words in his first letter – 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12.) Then he sat down. This was shocking since, in those days, sermons could go on for hour after hour. (Once the Apostle Paul preached all night! Acts 20)

The next week the preacher invited John to speak again, and the apostle preached the very same sermon: “Little children, let us love one another.” The people mumbled a bit but John sat down.

On the third week, the invited John to speak yet again and the very same thing happened. The Apostle John stood up and said, “Little Children, let us love one another.” The hapless preached didn’t leave it at that this time, but prompted the old apostle. “John, you were there with Jesus. You heard so many great things. You were there at the Last Supper. You stood at the foot of the cross. Don’t you have anything else to tell the congregation?”

With a twinkle in his eye, John looked over the congregation and answered, “If you loved one another, I wouldn’t have to say anything else!”

This story doesn’t come from the Bible. Instead it is a reported incident from early Church history, but the point is certainly true. Do we truly love one another? How would we know if that was so?

I would like to think that, if you are visiting with us, you could feel the love in this place by the warm reception you’ve received. You can see it in our sincere smiles. You might have noticed we tend to hug each other rather than just shake hands. That’s because we really do care about each other – and, we’d like to share that same love with you.

Now I can’t guarantee my sermon will be as short as my namesake’s, but the message will be the same: “Little children, let us love one another!”

Discernment: The Art of Making Choices

We are forced to make decisions every day. Have you tried to choose a bag of potato chips lately? There is a whole isle at the grocery store devoted to snack chips. Do I want pita chips, tortilla chips, potato chips, corn chips, rice cakes? Do I was dipping size, ruffles, kettle fried, baked or something else? Do I want salt, sea salt, kosher salt, salt substitute or no salt? Sometimes there are just too many choices!

Most of our decisions aren’t life shattering. The world won’t end if I bring home the wrong can of soda pop but there are choices that carry dire consequences. The most important choices seem to revolve around relationships. Should I trust him? Will you be my friend? I love you.

So how do we make decisions? We need the gift of “discernment.” Once, Jan and I helped rescue a young man who had been blown out to sea in a rented kayak. He was found eleven miles off shore without water, food or even a hat. “I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life,” he confessed. Renting that kayak was just one of them.

“Perry, we all make mistakes. That’s just life, but what matters is where we go from here,” I answered. David sinned with Bathsheba and there were consequences. Peter denied he knew Jesus. Paul persecuted Christians. Moses was a murderer. What matters is how we use those experiences to grow. We learn how to make decisions. That’s discernment: the ability to choose between good and evil. Little children don’t know the difference between what is morally right and wrong (see Deuteronomy. 1:39; Jonah 4:11) and the Hebrew writer explained, “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil,” (Hebrews 5:14).

In other words, Christians are called to go through life with both eyes wide open. We are to make judgments all the time about most everything. Is money good or evil? (The answer is “Yes.”) Will this friendship make me a better person or will I be dragged down to places I don’t want to go? If I say “no” to this opportunity, what am I saying “Yes!” to?

Of course, how we make those judgments is critical. Are we constantly looking for “what’s wrong with this?” or are we looking for what’s good? Are we asking, “How can I grow from this experience?” The former attitude is all too common – even among Christians and it’s been my experience a critical attitude results in an unhappy heart, while those who are constantly seeking the good in life will find it.

Finally, there is a huge difference between judging people (always wrong) and judging results. Jesus told us:

7       “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye, (Matthew 7:1-5).

As Marshall Keeble explained, “I’m not a judge, I’m just a fruit inspector.”

Focus on Fellowship

“The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It’s an imitation; dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality. But it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable; it is democratic. You can tell people secrets and they usually don’t tell others, or want to.”

— Bruce Larson

The sermons this month are focusing on “Fellowship.” That doesn’t mean we are exchanging recipes for potluck suppers or sponsoring game nights at the building. True Christian Fellowship is a very deep, very intimate relationship with a vertical and a horizontal dimension. The vertical relationship describes walking with God and the horizontal relationship describes our intimate relationship with each other.

Fellowship provides us with security. Just consider the apostles, Peter and John – ordinary fishermen – as they stood before the highest court in the land. Because they knew God, they knew where they stood. They were secure and that security led to boldness. The Sanhedrin was amazed at their courage (Acts 4)! Likewise the Apostle Paul boldly appeared before the Roman emperor Nero because he was secure in his fellowship with God (2 Timothy 4:16, 17).

Fellowship provides us with a place to grow. Good friends encourage us to be better. Diets are easier when they are shared with caring friends who will hold you accountable. That encouragement leads to growth. Paul told the Thessalonians, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit… test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil,” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-22).

Finally, fellowship provides us with a place to practice love. On the night before he was crucified Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another,” (John 13:34, 35).

Choosing a Bible

With a broad smile, he walked into the Bible bookstore and announced, “I’d like to buy a Bible!”

The clerk looked at him and smugly asked, “ESV, NIV, NASB, RSV, NRS, TLV, KJV, American, Contemporary, Philip’s, Living, Williams, NEB…?”

Bewildered he asked, “Excuse me?”

“What version? What translation?” she replied slowly as if he was hard of hearing.

“Well what do you recommend?”

“It depends. Do you want a translation based on a critical text or the majority text? Do you want a literal translation or one that translates the sense? How about a committee version or one that has been translated by a single person?” she continued with her nose in the air as she dusted some fish license plate frames.

He stared for a moment and then picked up a black leather Bible. “This is nice.”

“Yeah. Do you want it in imitation leather, calfskin, paper or cowhide? Pocket sized, display, study, large print, or giant print? Notes or not? Single column, double column, study margins, words of Jesus in red, maps, dictionary, self-pronouncing…” She straightened a set of Apostolic Bobble-head dolls.

“I give up. Just give me something for a 24” by 48” coffee table!”

The choices can be bewildering! So what would I recommend? First, ask yourself what you are going to do with your new Bible. If you are looking for something to read through quickly to get the overall sense of a passage, I like a simple translation like one by J.B. Phillips or Williams. For in-depth study the new English Standard Version or the New American Standard version are good choices. Because they are translated by committees, they tend not to be biased towards any particular denomination or viewpoint. If I only had one choice, I would probably use the New International Version (which is the Bible we use in our public assemblies at GCC).

Once you have decided on a version, you have many choices of format from electronic versions (including apps for your cell phones!) to traditional leather and paper editions. Just be sure to choose one that is easy on the eyes (I recently had to move up to a “giant” print version) and one you won’t be afraid to mark up. Yes, I believe you should mark all over your Bible. It is a tool to be used. Circle words, highlight passages, and take notes in the margin. Wear it out!

The only Bible that will help you grow in Christ is the one you will read!