Sermon Notes & Videos
2022-07-08 | Numbers 19-21 | Do You Dare Grumble
As a society in the western hemisphere, we have become spoiled, by having everything in a “have-it-your-own-way, right away!” fashion. We have become accustomed to pressing a button on a microwave and in minutes extracting an entire meal—completely cooked and scorching hot. We pick up our cell phones, better described as hand-held supercomputers, for instant information about anything we can fathom: recipes, phone contacts, directions, opinion pieces, news, weather, or the population of Bismarck, North Dakota—you name it and you can find it in milliseconds. You can also run to a grocery store and buy anything your heart desires, with practically zero limitations.
Our level of patience is tested whenever those little trivial things in life do not function as they ought. You know, that little buffering circle on your device takes longer than, well, instantly, and you wonder if you should change providers. The waiter takes too long to come take your order and you are popping up your neck like a giraffe to get his attention. If this is your level of patience, how would you handle a truly challenging circumstance? Let’s say one that might cause a permanent shift in your life. Would you throw a temper tantrum?
In the likeness of the Children of Israel, would you dare grumble at or against God? Or, like Elijah, would you want to give up and throw in the towel after coming to realize that the people you’ve put your life in danger for are not really worth it? They have no interest in following the Lord and you are left as the only one keeping Yahweh’s covenant.
As believers in Christ, we are called to a totally different standard! We are charged with patience and perseverance; we are certainly not permitted to grumble. Question: Do you dare grumble?
2022-07-01 | Numbers 16-18 | Disgruntled Employees
The Bible comes alive when we insert ourselves into the various narratives and stories, when we contemplate how we might have acted if we were there. It’s fascinating to me and disappointing how often God’s children resisted Him and resorted to complaining about, well, everything. Would you have done that? It’s easy to know; if you act that way now, you would have then! This is most often how the people related to God. Be honest; is this you?
“We don’t like Your leaders; put us in charge.”
“We don’t like your instructions; we’ll do it our own way.”
“We don’t like where You’re sending us; we’ll stay right here.”
“We don’t like your directions; we’ll choose our own path.”
“We don’t like Your consequences; we’ll skirt the punishment.”
“We don’t like your assignments; we’ll do what we please.”
“We don’t like this work; we’ll choose what we like.”
“We don’t like Your warnings; we’ll hear what we want.”
“We don’t like what you call us; we’ll pick our own identity.”
And even in the midst of God’s lovingkindness, His tender mercies, and His long-suffering, His chosen usually act like negative nellies: pessimistic about everything, constantly complaining, glass half-empty-type people, who when given a choice, opt for the negative outlook on life. Can you imagine? God gives you yet another chance to be content, to avoid the most serious of consequences for your bad decisions. He lays out His plan and to what you must stipulate. And then, your negative glass-half-empty-attitude takes over again. You assume you are just going to blow it anyway, so why bother? “Surely we die, we perish, we all perish!” It’s utterly depressing. How miserable, how wretchedly unhappy you must be to always assume the worst outcome, to believe you just can’t obey God, won’t obey God. You exist in a forgone conclusion; we are going to fail, so why even try? We’re going down, so we might as well have a good time doing what pleases ourselves along the way.
In contrast to a negative outlook and a never-ending dissatisfaction with what we’ve been given, we have this wisdom: godliness with contentment is great gain. Think about it; discontentment leads to envy and strife, and contentment opens the doors to an abundant life of blessings and favor. No one likes to be around constant pessimism and complaining: not Moses, not God, and not even you! And no one is striving for chastening and poverty, but that is what you’ll get if you don’t stop whining. So, snap out of it, “Surely we will live, we will thrive, we will all thrive!”
2022-06-24 | Numbers 13-15 | Adding Insult to Injury
Picture this in your mind. You’ve already made a bad choice that is sure to have dire consequences. It may even be such that everything about your bad decision is out in the open already, and you are certain of the negative ramifications. What now?
As a parent, I’ve always taught my children that it will go much better for them every time, if they quickly acknowledge their poor choice, admit what they did was wrong, and graciously accept the appropriate punishment. They were well-educated about how much more unpleasant it would be if they did or said anything to make a bad situation even worse. “Don’t add insult to injury” is one way to describe my advice.
There is no doubt in my mind that this aspect of human nature, the sin nature, is one of the main themes that circles back over and over again in God’s Word. Paul said it like this; “I am carnal, sold under sin.” But he also said, “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” It’s bad enough that we see this pattern so often: sin—warning—intercession—penalty—repentance— forgiveness. But it makes matters so much worse, exponentially worse, if we insert another step between penalty and repentance! I am confident you would like to know what that is, hopefully to avoid making that critical error yourself.
It starts with not liking the penalty. “News alert! Not liking it is what makes it a penalty.” So, the human brain gets scheming. “I’ll take matters into my own hands!” That’s it! As bad as the ramifications for your sin might be, inserting that step, taking matters into your own hands, will make things exponentially worse!
We might say, “adding insult to injury” is a modern euphemism. A euphemism is a mild alternative, an understatement, or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt, when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Another euphemism I am sure you are familiar with is, “Two wrongs don’t make a right!” When you take matters into your own hands that is exactly what you are doing; you are stacking a new wrong on top of an existing wrong! Now, let’s dive a little deeper into what that looks like biblically.
God’s words equates disobedience to unbelief, or a lack of faith. If I were to use the opposite of a euphemism, what is instead a dysphemism, and call a spade a spade, I’d rephrase “Don’t add insult to injury,” bluntly and with harsher terms like this; “Don’t add rebellion to unbelief!” Taking matters into your own hands to avoid the consequences for your sin is really the quintessential example of “adding insult to injury or adding rebellion to unbelief.” I have a secret for you that will change your life… “Don’t do that!”
2022-06-17 | Numbers 8-12 | Predictable Tides
The sun rises and the sun sets; the tide comes in and the tide goes out. You don’t even think about it. It’s like your heartbeat: steady, predictable, dependable, and without any forethought. Well, that is if you are healthy of course. But there would be no questions, no doubts or concerns, if we are measuring the beating of God’s heart.
David was a man after God’s own heart. What does that even mean? It means David was synchronized with God’s desires; he was in-tune with what Yahweh wanted and specifically what Yahweh wanted of him. It means to trust in God’s provision and protection no matter what threats surround you. It’s comforting to connect with the heartbeat of God, but how comforting could it be if the beat of His heart was erratic, unstable, unpredictable, or undependable? The sun rises and sets and you don’t give it a second thought; you literally can “set your watch by it.” The tides also come in and go out like clockwork, unless there is a storm approaching and the heavy rain and potential storm-surge cause rivers and oceans to spill over onto what is otherwise dry ground.
Many heavy rains act as enemies against the riverbanks of our lives. All sorts of storms threaten to overflow our personal coastlines. But God’s heartbeat is steady and predictable; His tides never get so low that you bottom out or so high that you drown in the flood. David writes, “Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near me. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” Isaiah reveals the heartbeat of God with His words of comfort; “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.”
There is one final piece I must confirm. You are not meant to go it alone. God has placed others around His people and His institution to remind them that His heart never stops beating for them. God’s heart never skips a beat, never flutters, has no leaks or clogs, and is immune to arrhythmias and infarction. Stay connected to God’s beating heart; it is your hiding place. In other words, there is no storm so powerful that He can’t “tide you over.”
2022-06-10 | Numbers 4-7 | Racial Profiling
It’s about to get controversial. But, that should not come as a surprise, because God is not bound by what feckless political hacks call inclusion. If you demand that the Creator of the universe operate in equity, then I have some disturbing news for you; we all deserve to burn! Let me be clear about what is meant by equity: the quality of being fair and impartial. I’m not sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. Yahweh’s version of fair and impartial must include justice. You see, a just God who operates in equity must exact punishment on everyone equally. This, of course, is true unless He allows a third party to be inserted into the equation to cover the cost for some!
Some! How is that equitable? This is where the examination of inclusivity enters and is likely what will disturb you most. If Yahweh was all-inclusive, He’d not favor any particular person or group. Yet, it is clear that He does: some get His name… some are special… some get double… some are chosen… some are above… some get blessed… He identifies, isolates, and then closely examines some. He treats them differently by offering them a unique opportunity. Should they accept, they are given special privileges. Some and not others? Yikes! God is guilty of racial profiling. His version of equity has an exclusivity clause—some and not others. Report that in today’s “woke media” and you will witness the colossal character assassination of Yahweh. Let the indictment of the Judeo-Christian God begin!
Can you imagine the arrogance, the gaul, the utter absurdity? Mankind with his modern institutions and mores decides, using his own set of standards and beliefs, if the Creator of the universe is right or wrong. Let that sink in! I pray you are not fooled by the relative morality of the day. A culture of virtue is not defined by people. Virtue is simply, and in its purest form, defined by God. Yahweh decides what is good and right! That is reality.
If you don’t like it; if you disagree with God, that He chooses some and not others, His use of racial profiling, take it up with Him. Be warned however; every example of every pious, self-righteous boob, who ever challenged God’s right to make His own rules and standards, regretted his decision. What makes you think it will be different with you?
2022-06-03 | Numbers 1-4 | Re-Fund the Police
The imagery is striking. Your job is to uphold the law; you establish yourself in a well-defined precinct and you serve and protect those around you, as they all maintain their own property. You are like the glue that holds the community together and you are provided every resource to perform your duties.
Service is your name and protection is your game. Things are constantly in motion and you are right in the midst to ensure all goes according to plan. You look up and serve the leaders of your community and you look out to serve every member.
You are completely dedicated to preserving property rights and the rights of the people. In some regards you are members of the most practical side to governance. The more compliant each member of your community, the easier your job. It gets substantially more difficult when the people would rather violate the laws than uphold them. They are not your laws, but those created by your leader and universally adopted by your society. You serve the people and maintain order, so that life for everyone who obeys the laws is not disrupted by those who would rather break them.
And that leads to your final role—protection. You protect the people and their property from those who violate the laws. And equally as vital, because you serve everyone, you even desire to protect violators from themselves. You do so by setting an example and by emphasizing the benefits of living within your supreme leader’s legal parameters and accepted standards. You consistently point to the one from whom the law originates. Your mission is to serve and protect. Who are you?
I am sure you recognize this imagery. You see it within modern day law enforcement—the police! Biblical law enforcement officers are called priests. Today’s spiritual police force or priests are often called pastors! Calling all pastors…are you serving and protecting your flock? The Chief of Police is coming soon to check on His police force. Are you pointing your flock toward your own laws, or toward the One from whom the supreme law originates?