Is God With Us?

                                                           Exodus 17:1 — 7           HCSB

¹ The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!” ⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. ⁶ I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” 

I love certain reality shows. Not Survivor or the Bachelor, but I like the shows where people are called upon to survive in the wild such as the Alaskan Bush People and Alaska: The Last Frontier featuring the Kilchers. I also like those shows where the people live off the land and one of my favorite is Live Free or Die. If you watch many of these shows where they are living off the land you will see that there is one thing that they must have and that is water! I remember one show where one of the men made a bowl out of a certain type of wood to trade for a water barrel to catch rain water so he would not have to go to the river so much to get water. Water is essential to living.

Today is the third Sunday of Lent and we come to a time in our journey through Lent where we see the need of water. People can live without food, but people cannot live without water. Water is a life-sustaining liquid that all of us need to survive. The people of Israel have been on a journey in the wilderness that we know as the Exodus. They have had their ups and downs and have questioned God and put Him to the test numerous times. Today’s passage is another one of those times. Let us look at this passage a little closer this morning.

Read verse one along with me:

¹ The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

There is some really good stuff in this verse that many times we will pass over. First, we are told that the entire Israelite community got up and left the area they were staying, moving from one place to the next by being obedient to God’s command to move. Remember our sermon last week that when we are called to “Get up and go” we must be obedient to the Lord. So we learn right off that the people of Israel are being obedient to the Lord. Second, we see that they camped at Rephidim. Now in the Bible names mean something and the place they camped at was called “resting place.” That is what Rephidim means a resting place! Also it means a place to refresh. Now this was not a name that Moses gave it; the place was already there and had a name! So in this first verse we see that the people were obedient to the Lord and He brought them not only to a place of rest, but also to a place to refresh. 

Then we are told there was not any water for them to drink. So let us see how the Israelite people handled this problem. Read verses 2 and 3 with me:

² So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

I love how the Scripture speaks into our lives today. We are told that the people when they did not have water complained to Moses. When I was studying for today’s message one thing that the Holy Spirit laid on my heart was the Israelites’ attitude. Notice, although they had been obedient to the Lord in moving when He said move and He had provided for them every time they were in need, they still came to Moses with a complaining attitude. Instead of prayerfully asking Moses to seek God for help and trusting that God would provide for their needs you can hear their complaining tone when they said to Moses, “Give us water to drink. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” Notice their selfish mentality and their GIVE ME, GIVE ME, GIVE ME cry! Brothers and sisters aren't we a lot like that today. Instead of seeking God, following Him, and trusting Him to lead and provide we tend to look at our own weaknesses and understanding. Many times in the difficulties of life we tend to see the reality that stares us in the face and that is so understandable, but we never should forget that nothing is impossible with God. If we would sit back and reflect on the times that God has either provided or step in during a crisis or a time of chaos and turmoil in our life and lifted us up out of the Pit we would come to the realization the He is sovereign and in control of what we are dealing with. Where in your life are you without water today? Seek Him and He will provide that Living Water that will supply all our needs.

We mustn't forget Moses in this pericope. He told the people they should not be testing God, yet notice his attitude when He comes to the Lord for the people of Israel. Let us read verses 4 through 7 together:

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!” ⁵ The Lord answered Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. ⁶ I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” 

Moses immediately went to the Lord in prayer frustrated with the people, but also seeking God’s help. We call that standing in the gap. Moses was standing in the gap between God and His people. How many times during the Exodus did God want to destroy the Israelites and Moses stepped in to remind God of His covenant with Abraham? Moses, unlike the Israelite people, came to God placing his trust and focus on God to provide the answer to the situation that laid before the people of Israel. Notice that Moses attitude was one that was prayerful and not selfish or self-consuming. He knew that God had provided for His people and He would in this situation. So when God said go and strike the rock and water will flow, Moses did exactly what God asked Him to.

Today many of us are at the place the people of Israel were in our passage. We are wondering “Is God With Us?” Does He really care what I am dealing with? Can He really help me or provide for me in my time of need? We see the answer to that question in today’s text and it is a resounding YES! God desires to meet your needs and provide for you, but you must first trust Him and come to Him expecting Him to answer your prayer! So I ask which attitude do you have during the difficult times of your life: The Israelite attitude of selfishness and self-centeredness complaining to God or to others about what you need and why hasn't anyone stepped up to help you? Or is your attitude that of Moses who came to God asking and believing that God will provide. Moses knew God was with the people of Israel and today I can assure you GOD IS WITH US! Let us pray…

A New Journey

On June 9th I began a new journey when it comes to my life. I had sleeve gastrectomy surgery and the outcome so far has been going quite well. This journey is not short-term, but life changing. I am reminded in the Scriptures found at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 19 and 20 where we read, "Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body" (HCSB). I am drawn to the fact that not only am I changing my physical body, but also my spiritual body given to me by my Lord and Savior. He created me and made me! Although in life we may think we are not who we should be, I can say that the Word of God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! God wants an intimate relationship with us and whats us to seek Him in all our endeavors. I know without a doubt that the success I have had up to this point of my recovery has come about because of all the prayers being lifted up on my behalf. I look forward to this physical and spiritual life change over the rest of my life and all the glory and honor will go to my Heavenly Father and the Lord and Savior of my life!

A New (NLT) Look At Psalm 23

The Trio of Triplets Found In Bible Prophecy

Who Do You Blame?

Last night the NBA playoffs were in full swing.  I must admit I don’t watch hardly any sports anymore, but with the firestorm that has been going on the last few days it has piqued my interest.  I checked out the scores this morning and something caught my eye.  In one of the ballgames last night, at a very crucial time, a referee grabbed the ball from a player as he was going to shoot a free throw that would tie the game with just a few seconds left, and he went to the scorer’s table to argue with the clock keeper.  This disrupted the momentum of the game, as well as the player who was about to shoot the free throw to tie the game.  When the player finally receive the ball to shoot the free throw he missed it and the team he played for ultimately went on to lose the game. Afterwards many on the player’s team blamed the referee for the loss and their key player missing the free throw.  Even the other team was stunned by what happen.  When the player who missed the free throw was interviewed about the incident he took full responsibility for the miss and did not place the blame on anyone else other than himself.  That is so refreshing because in the world today people tend to want to blame others for their troubles, their difficulties, and they go out of their to blame others rather than looking closely at their own faults.  Jesus tells us that before we take a speck out of someone else’s eye we need to remove the log from our own.  I am reminded of Zacchaeus and how when Jesus confronted Him and asked to spend time with him at his house that Zacchaeus immediately realized he had been sinning against God and the people by over collecting taxes. Without prompting or being told he said that he would “give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much!”^[1]  Like the basketball player last night taking responsibility for his actions, so did Zacchaeus.  We can learn from their example, instead of blaming others, let us look closely at ourselves and then make a change in our lives if necessary.  Jesus loves us and desires to give us life, eternal life.  Let us live our life in a way that focuses on Him and not just our own selves. 

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^[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Lk 19:8). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Sermon for April 6th

Jesus and the Parables

Matthew 9:1-17

April 6, 2014

Jesus came to the world and one of His ways of teaching was to use parables.  Have you ever wondered why Jesus did this?  Why didn’t He just spell things out in black and white, in such a way that every one could understand what He was talking about?  Just why use parables?  Well, He tells us in the 13^th chapter of Matthew why; when He tells the disciples who came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, yet never understand; and you will look and look, yet never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn back — and I would cure them. “But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear! For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.”

Today we begin a new series that I think is going to not only be informative, but exciting in how the parables Jesus taught in His day are prevalent and relevant to us gathered here this morning.  I am a firm believer that the firsts found in the Bible are important.   Join me as we read the first parable Jesus taught as we go through His parables in chronological order.  Turn with me to Matthew, chapter 9 verse 1 and read along with me as hear the Word of God in the purity it is given to us.  

So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own town. Just then some men brought to Him a paralytic lying on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, “He’s blaspheming!” But perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He told the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” And he got up and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and gave glory to God who had given such authority to men. As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him. While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Then John’s disciples came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old garment with unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment and makes the tear worse. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

As I was preparing this series I wanted to begin with the first parable taught by Jesus.  I think it is very informative to us gathered here this morning that the first parable was concerning the trappings of religionism, legalism, traditionalism, and ritualism. It is not a coincidence that Jesus spoke to a problem He knew was prevalent in His day and would be prevalent in the church though out its history.  It is easy to fall into the trap of doing the same ole, same ole and as Jesus told the Church of Ephesus in the Book of Revelation, “You have forgotten your first love.”  What He is saying in this parable and the Book of Revelation is that when we are focused on rituals and traditions it takes an intimate relationship with Jesus out of the picture. Today I am bringing a message of hope, but I fear that some people will receive it as a message of condemnation.  It is a message of conviction, not a message a criticism.  This is not an easy message because it is hard for us to hear the truth and look realistically at the way we do things in our individual life and the life of the church.  Lately, I have been focusing on Jesus and His adversaries.  Now, if we look at the confrontations Jesus had in the Scriptures, it was not with the secular authorities - for He told the Pharisees and Herodians who were trying to trap Him to, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” The confrontations Jesus had were with the religious authorities.  In today’s Scripture text we see a couple of these confrontations were with the religious authorities prior to the first parable given by Jesus.  Jesus was bringing a new dispensation (a new era) into being and this was setting the religious world on its ear.  The old dispensation (the era of the Law) was being replaced by a new dispensation (the era of grace).  The religious leaders had made the traditions and rituals such that they were binding, restrictive, stifling, and constricting the life of the believer.  Jesus came to set the believer free from the tyranny of traditions and rituals.  Now I am not anti traditions and rituals, but they are not commands from God.  They can be helpful if practiced appropriately, but they can become stifling if they become more important than Scriptural revelation itself.  I think it is telling when Scripture is not an integral part of a follower of Christ daily walk and a church that does not put an emphasis on being led by the Scriptures and placing an emphasis on Bible Study.  The Scriptures are how God reveals Himself to us through the illumination of the Holy Spirit and we need to be willing to be led and governed by these Holy and Sacred Scriptures.  Yet the religious leaders of Jesus day were more concerned with their traditions and rituals than what the Scriptures taught.  Think about it: If the Pharisees and the religious leaders had really studied and focused their life and the life of the church on the Scriptures and what they taught; then they would have known that Jesus was the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets in the Old Testament!  Think about that – they missed the Messiah because they were stuck in their own idea of what religion was through the Law, the traditions, and the rituals and they missed Jesus, the Messiah; the Savior of the World!  Like old wineskins, the Pharisees had become too rigid in their lifestyle and in their traditions; they could not accept Jesus because he would not be bound by the rules they themselves had set. It was time for change where new approaches, new traditions and new structures were required. How many of us today because we are unwilling to bend or change from our traditions and rituals are missing who Jesus really is and what He is offering us in the way of salvation and blessings! We as Christians today must be on our guard that we don’t allow our hearts to become so rigid that we become unable to accept new ways and new approaches. We can become stale, mouldy and unpalatable and even the lost will find us undesirable.

Jesus said by the use of today’s parable I read to you, that He has not come to shore up the traditional practice of the Jews or our practices today.  Rather, He has come to offer an entirely new approach to God.  Jesus was bringing a new life as an entirely new garment and an entirely new wine.  Jesus has not come to fill the old Jewish system of traditions and rituals with new life.  They are inadequate to the new life of the Kingdom. Rather, new forms are needed for His kingdom, and new practices must accommodate the new life of discipleship in Jesus. This doesn’t supersede or abolish the Old Testament, which Jesus has come to fulfill; instead, it indicated that discipleship to Jesus supersedes rigid legalistic adherence to traditional practices.  True righteousness is not built on the Law or Pharisaic traditions or human traditions of today.  

How do we think that Jesus would be received in many churches today?  If we are realistic He would be rejected and I think would have just as many confrontations with the religious leaders of the church as He had in His day.  We have gotten comfortable in the way we do things and many have the attitude that it is not acceptable to change our way of thinking and how we do things when it comes to our past, we want to keep things as it is no matter if it cost us growth in the spirit and growth in leading people to Jesus Christ.  Many Christians today are trying to be what we call Messianic Jews.  As a matter of fact there is a group that calls themselves Messianic Jews.  They continue to live in the traditions and rituals of the Jewish faith, but believe and find their hope in Jesus Christ.  Many Christians want to live and be governed by the traditions and rituals created by the church, but find their hope through these traditions and rituals leading them to a knowledgable relationship with Jesus, but not an intimate relationship with Jesus. Now this cannot be, when we accept Christ we belong to Him, not some sect or some group of traditions and rituals.  Many in the church today desire to have the church as it was when they grew up, but according to today’s parable that just cannot be.  As a matter of fact a church that is truly living is ever changing! It's members and the church is constantly seeking ways to draw closer in their walk with Jesus Christ.  The life and liberty of the Gospel ruins the wineskins of traditionalism, ritualism and legalism.  The introduction of the Christian era found in Jesus Christ coming to the earth would inevitably result in tension.  The joy which Christ brought could not be contained within the forms and rituals of the Old Testament.  There must be an entirely new order of things.  Brothers and sisters, this a great news for us in the church today – change is good; change is a requirement as we grow in Christ.  The attitude that we have always done it this way or this is not the church I grew up in, should never be a battle cry in the church of today – the battle cry should be Lord, we are here, we are Your vessels; what can we do to lead people to You.  We are willing and able to do whatever it takes to make this happen even if it takes us out of our comfort zone because we want to trust You and be faithful to You.  Are we willing to make that commitment this morning?  It is not something that is easy for us to commit to, but we must be willing to put new wine into new wineskins, not put new wine into the way we have always done things (this will not work).  History tells us that the church has a reformation every 500 years or so and it has been a little over 500 years since the Reformation.  I feel we are on the cusp of something great in the church, but we must be willing to put Gospel above all else, even our traditions and rituals; even above the way we have always done things.  Join me as we begin our journey through the parables, but more importantly let us begin a new journey and chapter in the life of Emanuel Reformed Church where we seek to follow the true leader of this church – JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR! 

Our Hope

Life is not easy by any means.  There are health problems, financial problems, relationship problems, and I could go on naming so many issues and burdens that people deal with on a daily basis.  Where do we turn to in our deepest, darkest hours.  How long do we waller in the depths of despair and depression before we turn to the hope that is Jesus Christ.  God created us and knows everything that we are dealing with.  He knows us better that we know ourselves.  So many times we struggle to handle our problems ourselves, before we finally get to the end of the rope and call out to Jesus.  In Matthew chapter 11 Jesus tells us to take His yoke for it is easy.  This yoke is where we join together with Him in a relationship and He promises us eternal life spent with Him; plus He promises that He will walk each and every minute with us no matter what we are dealing with.  Jesus is our hope and our future.  We need to set our eyes on the Promised Land - eternity spent with our Lord and Savior and walk with Him each and every day.  He is our hope!