Sermon Notes & Videos
2024-06-07 | Pentecost 2024 | A Power Worthy Church
Are you perfectly content with commemorating Hallmark holidays that are dedicated to man-made traditions, while completely ignoring the Feasts of the Lord—Yahweh’s Biblical Holidays? When you explore the prophetic relevance and magnificent imagery of Pentecost, you will no longer be satisfied with celebrating pagan holidays. Certainly Pentecost is a holy day that Christians would be interested in remembering, seeing that it was then that the Holy Spirit became available to possess all who believe that Y’shua is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.
Unfortunately, it would seem that while the world remains inundated with lies and wrapped in chaos, the Church often bows to a lower authority. Instead of being the dominant power in and influence over the world, in many cases the world has overpowered the Church and become the dominant influence, ruling God’s people as if they have no authority in the earth. Have Church leaders and thus church-goers been deceived? Have God’s people become devoid of power because they are prophetically ignorant and untrained in the times and seasons? It’s time to wake up and reclaim access to Divine power! Let’s begin with a deep dive into Pentecost, the Festival of Truth and Spirit.
2024-05-24 | Romans 11:16-24 | The Consummate Gardner
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One word, two pronunciations, different but related meanings, both are applicable here. One is a verb used to describe an action or occurrence. One is an adjective used to modify a noun by describing its attributes, hinting at some of its values and characteristics. Of course, context will help determine which is appropriate. Our word today is consummate: a long mark over the ‘ā’ in the verb instructs us to pronounce ‘ate,’ as in consummāte. The short mark over the ‘ă’ in the adjective instructs us to pronounce ‘met,’ as in consummăte. You can (verb) consummāte a marriage, or you can have the (adjective) consummăte marriage. Consummāte (verb): make a marriage complete by having sexual intercourse; complete a transaction; make perfect, conclude, finish, accomplish, achieve, execute, put into effect; put the finishing touch to, to perfect, crown, set the seal on. Consummăte (adjective): perfect, exemplary, supreme, ultimate, faultless, superior, expert, skillful, master, complete, total, utter, absolute, pure.
When you were born-again, you were bound to God as one is to a spouse in marriage; the two become one and there can be no separation. It is a finished work, a completed a transaction; God sets a crown upon your head and you become a member of His Royal Family. His seal is set upon your life from that moment and into eternity. You’ve consummāted your consummăte relationship with God—your perfect, faultless, pure union.
In the scriptures we often see the use of agricultural allusions, metaphors, and allegories to bring understanding. These help paint pictures on the canvas of your mind. God grafts you into His holy root perfectly, or He cuts you out; God prunes trees so they produce more abundant and exemplary fruit; Christ is the vine and you are the pure branch. It is difficult to grow good fruit in rocky soil or dust. Weeds and thistles will invariably choke the life out of any plant. Good soil is critical; pure seed is vital; cultivation, pruning and water are required to produce the ultimate yield. Barren trees will be cut down and burned; and counterfeit tares grow in the midst of authentic wheat. Do not grow weary in doing good; the fields are white and a double portion harvest is coming, if you persevere. Cultivate the soil of your heart; soften its stoney hard-packed earth; become a soil nutritionist; and do not sow among thorns. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and selfcontrol.
God is the Master Horticulturalist, the quintessential artist in the practice of garden cultivation and garden management. You too must become a wise and faithful manager of God’s garden. It is actually required that one be a good steward. You can consummāte your branch with God’s root, and you can have the consummăte grafted-in life with God. Both are highly recommended!
2024-05-17 | Romans 11:1-15 | One New Man
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The Father has been in the business of separating things from the beginning. He separated light from darkness; water in the firmament above from water below; and then water on the earth from the land. When creation was finished, He separated the six days of creation from the seventh; then He rested and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it—called it holy.
Paul has been emphasizing this doctrine of separation in what should now be obvious. Chiefly we know this; there are two Israels with two different inheritances, both good, but only one is holy; that’s the separation. There is also a third people group whose inheritance is not good, and again we see a separation, this time the bad from the two that are good. So, we count three eternal people groups.
Might we use the crosses of Calvary to depict the three? To help, create a picture in your mind—see them atop Golgotha. There is a man in the middle and a criminal on each side. The imagery is striking; there are three crosses on Calvary: the redeemed man, the perfect man, and the rebellious man. One will be a citizen into eternity, one a ruler, and the last a rebel. So, again we count three eternal people groups.
Allegorically, these three crosses require two gospels, the gospel of salvation and the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of salvation moves a man from the cross of rebellion to the cross of redemption; the gospel of the kingdom moves a man from the cross of redemption to the cross of perfection. One man will believe that only his salvation matters and, as such, the gospel of salvation is all that is important. One man will recognize his role in bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth, and thus he will also include the gospel of the kingdom in his repertoire. One man will remain rebellious and believe neither. Which one represents you; which is your ultimate inheritance? Once more we count three eternal people groups.
Paul has already made a distinction between the citizens and the rulers; between Israel and Israel, and allegorically between redemption and perfection. One will inherit the earth, the other heaven. And those who inherit neither will inherit eternal flames. Let’s disregard that third group here because they just don’t care about this topic. They need not come to any civil agreements with the two groups that are good; it is really between the good and the holy that we might feel contention.
The Father has been in the business of separating things from the beginning and everyone has a role to play. But here, Paul is about to set the record straight once and for all. God has a plan to bring some of the natural branches of Israel together with the heavenly branches of Israel as one new man, and He is showing us what that will look like. Who ultimately plays on which team will not be completed until the very end. “If the fall of natural Israel is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!” What does it all mean and how can you file away these confusing thoughts in such a way that you understand who you are to God and what role you will play in God’s eternal plan? Let’s find out!
2024-05-10-Romans | 10:14-21 | Discriminating Questions
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Romans is a letter filled with questions. Right from the start of exploration into this deep “theological treatise,” we discovered that ninety-two times Paul asked a question. As any good teacher should, Paul used questions to stir the imagination of his readers and provoke contemplation. It is a powerful tool to engage with people. Questions offer a significantly more effective method of interaction than flooding a teaching with statements. It’s the perfect way to advance a conversation, discern someone’s position, determine their current level of understanding, share new information, impart knowledge, influence thought, and challenge disagreement. Questions must, however, be intentional, as both quality and delivery will determine their effectiveness. In just eight verses, Paul asks seven discriminating questions: How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they are sent? Lord, who has believed our report? Have they not heard? And, did Israel not know?
As we venture deeper still, we might add seven additional critical inquiries: Who can be sent? What is the message? How will they know the report is true? What have they already heard? Who will provoke who to jealousy? Who will listen and obey? And, why do we keep preaching? There are many questions to answer and this one thing we know… good questions are an excellent way to reverse discrimination. How so? Most see discrimination from a perspective of prejudice; Paul sees it as a path to holiness.
2024-05-03 | Romans 10:1-13 | Cognitive Dissonance
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When your behavior does not align with your values or beliefs, that discomfort you feel in your inner being is known as cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon experienced as an unpleasant emotion or mental conflict. It is the result from simultaneously contemplating two contradictory beliefs, attitudes, values, or behaviors. It also occurs when persistent ingrained beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this type of conflict causes uncomfortable feelings and unease.
When you are exposed to new information that is inconsistent with what you think, know and believe, and yet you remain unwilling to change your behaviors and beliefs, even when you know it is true, you are forced to do something that will allow you to maintain your position. This motivates a response that will help minimize feelings of discomfort. People attempt to relieve the tension from exposure to new threatening information with various reactions: rejection, rationalization, dismissal, or total avoidance. Or, you might just be humble enough to adopt the new way of thinking and change because of it. Everyone experiences cognitive dissonance to some degree, but it’s not always easy to recognize.
Cows are my favorite animal and I enjoy eating meat, and meat comes from cows—so, I just can’t think about it. It’s a silly little example that you might find easy to recognize. One potential source of cognitive dissonance that is poignant to today’s lesson sounds something like this. I was saved by grace through faith from the death caused by my sin. Sin is defined by God’s law and I am no longer in bondage to sin, which means I am empowered by Christ to obey God’s law. And, yet I am also taught that God’s laws are not applicable to Christians because Jesus abolished them and now all I need is faith. But, Jesus actually said He did not abolish the law; instead He empowered me with a new perspective and new abilities. God’s laws are not anymore too difficult to obey. And Paul said that faith does not nullify the law, but to the contrary establishes it. Christian history tells me that all I must do to be saved is to confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead. But, the Bible teaches that the very confession that saves me concludes that with Christ, I am now empowered to obey God. So what exactly am I to obey if sin is lawlessness and I am no longer a slave to sin, but simultaneously obeying God’s laws is no longer required of me?
Can you feel the cognitive pressure building in your brain? When persistent ingrained beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information, it creates unpleasant emotions and mental conflict. This is cognitive dissonance. This type of conflict makes people uncomfortable, and as such they seek to realign their attitudes and perceptions. You’ve just been exposed to new threatening information. What will you do to resolve the conflict? Choose one: rejection, rationalization, dismissal, total avoidance, or perhaps change.
What can remove the conflict between your old beliefs and this new information? What can inspire new behaviors in the face of old habits? What can dismantle your desire to reject, rationalize, explain away, invent loopholes, or downright ignore novel ideas that demand a verdict? The love of truth will! Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
2024-04-26 | Romans 9:19-33 | Pavlov’s Humans
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You came prepackaged with an ensemble of built-in character traits. These personal attributes seem to be part of your inborn nature. Many of them are good and can be used for good; some are not so good, and those can tend to hurt you and others. Then add life-experiences to your natural tendencies, and your unique personality becomes cemented. Yet, life is not all sunshine and rainbows; difficult moments arise when the not so pretty aspects of your unique personality take over and rule the day. This oftentimes can inflame circumstances. In those moments you might recognize from a feeling of inner turmoil and conviction, or because it was pointed out, that you are not only harming yourself and others, but that your behavior is offensive to God. A great controversy ensues and you put God on trial for how He made you. “Why have you made me this way?” The inner voice gets louder. “This is the way I am; I was born this way. If it’s wrong, then why did God make me like this? If God gave me certain natural instincts and tendencies and those involuntarily intersected with life and formed who I am, and some of those ways offend God, then it must be God’s fault.” What would God say about your reasoning? “Who are you to talk back to God, to question Him?”
In the famous experiments that Ivan Pavlov conducted with his dogs, he believed that events could trigger a conditioned response. In 1902, Pavlov started with the premise that there are some things that a dog does not need to learn. For example, dogs don’t learn to salivate whenever they see food. This instinctive behavior is a reflex and is hard-wired into the dog. However, Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food. This conditioned response or triggered behavior demonstrated the formation of a new association between the unconditioned stimulus (inborn nature) and the neutral stimulus (life experiences). Pavlov’s research shed light on the underlying mechanisms of learning and provided a framework to understand how environmental stimuli and repetitive experiences can shape our behaviors and responses.
If God made a dog to act like a dog, then He certainly can’t punish the dog for being a dog. And aren’t humans just like animals, with animal instincts hard-wired into us? It seems plausible that the same reasoning should apply to humans. How can God fault you for displaying the very nature that He willfully placed in you? No man can reject what was inserted in him before his birth. Therefore, we must conclude that Yahweh is responsible when you “act like a dog.”
To a certain degree, it’s true, but this faulty argument quickly fades as it runs into its limitations. Humans can opt out of their inherent nature, their conditioned responses and triggered behaviors, because we were created in the image of God. The dog was not! Man is the only member of God’s creation that carries His DNA. As such, no matter how deeply hidden, you have the option to express the DNA of your Creator. But, the full expression of God’s genetics can only manifest when, by grace, you personally encounter God, and you become aware of who He is and who you are in Him. However, this encounter will not change your personality or your triggered behaviors. Your new creature will still look like the old you and will tend to act like the old you, unless you purposely change. Those built-in character traits and the conditioning from your life experiences can only be effectively altered with God’s help—with further access to His grace.
When you come naked and vulnerable before the Lord a whole pantheon of personal gods and idols are uncovered. And when the god of self is exposed, the one who sits on the throne as your supreme leader, you must make a choice. Serve Yahweh—or all the gods on the other side of the River and in Egypt that are lurking in your heart. We are all on the same journey from slavery to freedom, from the bondage to sin to becoming a prisoner of righteousness. And that is not without a tsunami of emotions, rising to destroy the old man and receding to reveal the catastrophic damage to the carnal nature left behind.