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Mind the Gap (Troy)
Christ Church on September 10, 2023
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You Get What You Pray For (Troy)

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Sermon Text – James 4:2-3

INTRODUCTION

One of the hallmarks of Christianity which bolsters it as the one true religion is its penchant for balance. Religions derived by men are hard nosed and they will categorically define certain actions as forbidden. From Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammed says, “Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed.” Joseph Smith says in Doctrine and Covenants Section 89, “Tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man…And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.” But when the Bible speaks about behaviors that are verboten, it will often do so by contextualizing the prohibition. Drinking alcohol in and of itself is not evil, but drinking it to the point of drunkenness is evil. Sex is not inherently evil, but it quickly can become evil if it is not framed within the covenant of marriage. Similarly, raw desire cannot be flagged as good or evil without context. And this too, requires biblical balance to rightly discern it. This morning’s sermon will be about prayer, but since our text this morning is addressing the particular issue of covetousness, let’s take a moment in the introduction to discuss the concept of desire. 

THE NURTURE OF PRAYER

Those who have walked with God for a time, times, and half time know that prayer has an exponential quality to it. You come to God in faith, expressing your agreement with the name of God, that He exists, and you ask Him for something specific, and you receive an answer which emboldens your faith even more, which drives you back to your knees to petition Him once again. And the cycle continues until  you find yourself in line with the commandment of scripture, to pray without ceasing. It is this ever present communion with God that defines what it means to be walking in the Spirit.

Prayer reminds us that this world is fallen. In this world homes burn to ashes, metal rusts, and moths destroy. And it reminds us that one day, one glorious day, we will enter our father’s mansion where there are many rooms and every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. This is the comfort prayer can bring. This is the hope we have in God.

THE METHODOLOGY OF PRAYER

The Lord’s Prayer has seven aspects. One, acknowledge who He is and where He is. Two, bestow reverence on His name, which we covered earlier. His name is “I Exist” so you agree with that statement and extol His name in faith. Three, you ask God for change. At the moment, there is a rift between heaven and earth. And you are praying that a restoration will occur. You are praying that Revelation 22 will be fulfilled, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Number 4, you ask God for daily bread, to be sustained physically with earthly bread, and to be sustained spiritually with the heavenly manna. Five, you ask God to initiate the cycle of forgiveness that starts from Him to you and then from you to others. Six, you ask for guidance and protection from evil, and lastly number 7, you recognize that He has the power, it is his kingdom, and he is to receive glory as long as forever is forever. 

THE IMPLICATIONS OF PRAYER

John 14 says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” The cardinal verse of the health and wealth, name and claim it gospel has led many astray and many have been deceived by it. If the verse does grant us carte blanche, and the only thing that’s preventing us from having whatever we want is that we haven’t asked yet, then there is a contradiction in scripture. Because our text this morning explicitly states “you do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” So which one is it? Our choices are, there’s a contradiction in scripture or we do the hard work of harmonizing the two verses and deriving our interpretation in a way that accords with the whole counsel of God. To rightly interpret this verse let us get some help from Jesus. In Luke 11, he says, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

CONCLUSION

 When we submit to the Father’s will, as Jesus did, it gives us direction. When Jesus stands up after the third prayer, having received a no from the Father, and having accepted the answer fully in his heart, you will notice that there is a line of demarcation. From this moment on, the Lord Jesus will wipe the sweat off his brow, dust himself off, gird up his loins, and display the greatest example of manliness the world has ever seen. He’s done defending himself. His actions and teachings and miracles over the last 3 years have spoken plainly as to who he is. He will say very little over the next 17 hours and he will display meekness on a scale that is incomprehensible. This is the power of prayer. It is prayer that gave Jesus the strength to endure his passion. And when the veil in the temple tore from top to bottom, he forever opened the channel by which we can commune with the Father. The Holy of Holies is opened to you saints. Your God is listening. So pray to Him and expect good gifts.



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What is Truth? (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

John 18:33-38

INTRODUCTION

What is truth? There is no other moment in history that could possibly trump this display of irony. Pontius Pilate, looks truth dead in the eyes. Truth incarnate stands before him, bruised and beaten from the previous night. He asks, “What is truth?”, like a sculptor staring at his finished work and wondering, “What is clay?” I do not fault the man the question; it is a good question. But the contrast of the scene is striking. Both men have authority, but only one recognizes where it comes from. One man exhibits courage, facing an imminent death. The other, conflicted about the situation, finds no fault in Jesus, but chooses appeasement and succumbs to political pressure instead of doing the right thing. One man is meek, knowing full well that he could invoke twelve legions of angels at a moment’s notice to rescue him from the Jews. But purpose, justice, and the fulfillment of all righteousness is what motivated his restraint. Pilate is motivated by a desire to be rid of the upheaval. He says, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” In other words, “Why are you involving me? I don’t care what you do with him.” And then in exasperation, he looks at Jesus and says, “What is truth?” Jesus could have responded, “You’re looking at him.” A few chapters earlier Jesus says, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” We certainly could explore Jesus as The Way. And there is also much to say about Jesus as The Life. But this morning we will focus on Jesus as the embodiment of truth.

REALITY AND OUR SENSES

Our interaction with reality starts with our senses. It’s how we perceive the world. Our eyes tell us that the fire is bright, our skin that it’s warm, and our ears that it’s crackling. Because this is the case, that our senses inform us about our surrounding environment and help us to understand our position in space, wouldn’t it be important to know whether or not those senses are reliable? There are two views. One view proposes that our senses are a result of diversification, over billions of years, where undirected random mutations produce genetic variation, and then natural selection acts on this variation—favoring traits that increase an organism’s chances of survival. So, we’re supposed to believe that the human eye is a result of unadulterated luck and a whole lot of time. That’s the first view.

The Christian view states that Christ created everything. Colossians 1, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” John 1, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” Hebrews 1, “But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” Revelation 4, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they existed and were created.” This is quite a different story. Our senses were created and designed by a powerful God that we might give him glory for the privilege of experiencing His world.

RULES

Whether you’re an atheist, an agnostic, or a believer, there is one thing we can agree on: the universe is governed by laws. There are fundamental constants at play: the speed of light, gravitation, Planck’s constant, and Avogadro’s number. King Solomon describes it this way in Ecclesiastes 1, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.” We have the advantage of global positioning satellites, guiding our progress as we drive down the road, helping us get to our destination. But our ancestors were able to look in the sky, find the position of Orion’s belt and use it as a rough guide for east and west. Why does electromagnetism have the properties it does? Why does fusion work in such a way that the sun has 5 billion years of hydrogen fuel remaining? The answer is either God is amazing and that’s why we come here, to sing to Him, to worship Him, to thank Him for His grace. Or, the answer is, we have no idea why things are the way they are. We only can describe what we observe, we cannot answer why.

THE RULE MAKER

Looking directly at the lawmaker will incite one of two reactions. For the Christian, we look to the truth and are comforted. We look to him and see our salvation. We see our own sin placed upon Him as he goes to the cross. We see our hope, our justification, our adoption as sons. We see our blessed redeemer on a white horse, our high priest and intercessor, our king over all kings, our older brother the second Adam, and our friend. But, If you are here this morning and have not placed your faith in the messiah. Then you will see something very different. A day of judgment is coming. And if you do not have the covering, the white robe of righteousness afforded to you on account of faith, you will stand there naked and exposed as your judge brandishes a sword to smite you and send you to everlasting torment alongside the devil and his angels. In that moment, having spent your entire life denying the truth. There you will bend the knee, overwhelmed with your error, and finally acknowledge the truth for who He is. Unbeliever, today is the day of salvation. Let today be the day where you acknowledge your sin and cry out to Him. Do it today, because one day, he will listen to your cries no longer.

CONCLUSION

Pontius Pilate was blind and could not see the truth despite it standing in front of him. And it is this sort of blindness that vexes the Christian heart. Why is it that my family members cannot see the truth? Why do they kick so hard against the love of God. Why do they choose an existence that is devoid of meaning and has no foundation for truth, beauty, goodness, morality, and the uniformity of nature? My friends, do not cease praying for them, and do not give up hope.  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.  The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

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A Cascade of Love (Troy)

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Sermon Text – John 15:9-12

INTRODUCTION

When it comes to the subject of love, man has attempted to capture its essence using a variety of arts. The singer songwriter composes a ballad. The Hawaiians dance the hula. The artist paints a couple, enjoying a sunset. The poet writes a sonnet. And there have been plays and movies and concertos and books, all attempting to capture love and communicate its virtues. Now, given that the scriptures teach that God is love, that love is his very nature, that love flows out of Him as the fountainhead of life, christians have a particular artisanal advantage when they want to sculpt or paint or sing about love, because they can define it, “This falls under the category of love, while this falls under the category of hate.” We have a foundation to produce lovely things, because we know what love is. We worship a God who defines what love is by His very nature. He exists, and love, pours out on the human race in a myriad of colors, and shades and hues. God is love.

And so I too, would like to take the brush and paint a picture for you. And do what we humans cannot help but do, and image the invisible God of love through artistic expression, particularly, through the art of preaching. 

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM THE FATHER TO THE SON

If you are seeking for the perfect picture of a loving relationship, look no further, because there is absolutely no barriers, nothing standing in the way from the Father’s love reaching the heart of his son.  He sends the son, and the son goes. He assigns a mission, and the son accepts without grudge. His disposition is the same as the Father, and they both think that the mission is wonderful. He says, “Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”

When Christ took on human flesh and dwelt among us, he kept the law perfectly, including the greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus was never in a location that He wasn’t supposed to be. He never was doing anything that He wasn’t supposed to be doing. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” 

When it comes to the exchange of love between the Father and the Son, there is no shame involved. There is no instance where one party loves the other party, less or more. They both infinitely love each other perfectly, with no sin.

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM THE SON TO US

At the end of John’s gospel he says, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” So where do we start when talking about the love of Christ? In the story of the prodigal son, the wayward young man, returned of his own volition, convinced of his own folly, recognizing that being his Father’s servant was superior to tending pigs in a foreign land. Jesus uses the story to reveal the hard heart of the nation of Israel during his ministry. 

But I’d like to borrow the characters in Jesus’s parable to draw another analogy. Imagine that the prodigal did not return willingly, but rather was dragged back home. Maybe he got in trouble with the law; he was to be executed. So the authorities took him home to have a discussion with his Father. The father sees a platoon of Roman soldiers in the distance, and his son being led in shackles. It’s been five years since the incident. When his son figuratively ripped out his heart and rebelliously asked for his inheritance early, an unprecedented display of disrespect. An offense that was essentially communicating, “Father, I wish you were dead.” Oh, how the Father wished everyday that the son’s silhouette would break over the horizon in the distance, and he could run to him, and hug him, and forgive him. But the soldiers reach the house, his son hangs his head in shame and the captain says, “This man is to be executed for his crimes. We’ve come to make an offer to you. Your life for his. We will execute you, and we will let him go free. What say you?”

You already know what he would say, don’t you, because he did it for you. You are that man in shackles. It is you who were in rebellion and spit in the face of your father. You wanted things your way, you wanted the inheritance now, so you could squander it and gratify your sinful desires. And you are quite right to stand there, with your head to the ground in shame. But the reason you do not look your Father in the eye, is because his look of love would melt you, as he says to the captain, “I accept, please set him free, kill me, and exonerate him.”

THE FLOW OF LOVE FROM US TO OTHERS

Like an expansive orchard, abundant with ripe fruits, life presents us with an endless harvest of opportunities to love others. It starts in the home, with your own family. It radiates out towards the church body, your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends, and even strangers. The author to the Hebrews reminds us to “not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

The catechism of the world teaches that you should hate your enemy. And the tactics of this hellish dogma include slander, attack, bearing false witness, stubbornness, and an unwavering moral indignation. The operative word there being “moral”, as it’s only a supposition of morality, a decoy, a stool made of two legs. These are blunt and crude instruments. But the Christian is not afforded any of these. We function and operate under a completely different paradigm of truth, God’s law, and the love of Christ. As such, slander is off limits. Bearing false witness is forbidden. But we are not to see this as a disadvantage. That would be like coveting their stick, when we’re armed with a sword.

CONCLUSION

Having reached the end, keep in mind that our love for the world and for each other, thanks be to God, is not something we have to psych ourselves up for because the power does not originate with us. The cascade of love has the power to split rock, and then shape it over time. The rock conforms to the flow of water, not the other way around. The barriers we once had, that prevented us from loving others, have been washed away. The waters of baptism have cleansed us, freeing us to be channels, and canals, and aqueducts that carry the love of Christ to the ends of the earth. 

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