Sermon Notes & Videos
2022-05-27 | Leviticus 26-27 | Valuations
From where do you derive your value? Pay close attention here; I’m not asking you from where you derive your values, as in principles and standards of behavior. I’m asking about your self worth. It’s easy to fall into the trap that defines you as your profession or vocation; your possessions, position and accomplishments; your situation and circumstances; relationships and associations; your true outer appearance or how you appear to others, including their opinions, judgments, gossip, posts and compliments. Even your divine calling and purpose is not who you are, is not how your real worth is measured.
Many people today are victims of selfie-worth, an inner belief that you are what you can convince others to believe about you. I am not sure that’s any better than those who feel they have no worth at all. Any combination of these valuation formulas is a lie, and we know who fathers lies! Yet, if you are not any of these, what are you? Who are you? How much are you worth and who decides? These are all excellent questions, and if you are not asking them, maybe you should be!
I’d like to introduce you to a concept. Those who are not born again, justified by faith in the precious work of the cross of Christ, have at their disposal a sole self-valuation formula that demands they load their balance-sheet with self-worth assets derived from the above. Christians, however, have a different form of accounting at their disposal, should they choose. Yes, it’s available, but not guaranteed. You must exercise the option.
Sure, at your born-again encounter, you confessed who God is and what Y’shua had done for you. In other words you openly acknowledged with your mouth that God is who He says He is. But, there is another side to the faith coin, and that is the belief in your heart that you are who God says you are. And that is the optional side. You can believe who God is and yet your opinion of yourself can still be wrapped up in all of the above lies. The cross-over happens when you abandon those lies and begin to see your self worth through God’s eyes. Yes! He is from where your real valuation comes. The High Priest of our confession sets the true value of people, places and things, and I highly suggest you adopt His accounting method!
2022-05-20 | Leviticus 25 | The Acceptable Year
Here’s the challenge.
And this will only work if you are willing to become a consistent student of Yahweh’s Word. First, commit to daily reading. Then, get yourself into the correct posture as you approach the Holy Scriptures. Remember, it is the Living Word of God. It’s unlike any other book in existence. It is literally the voice of the infinite Creator. Now, if that does not give you pause and cause you to approach with deference and reverence, then I suggest you not take this challenge.
Once in position, humbly, and with the curiosity of a child, ask God to speak through His Living Word, this double-edged sword. Ask Him to reveal something new. Seek for deeper revelation, to discover what you’ve never known before. Search for magnificent intersections and allusions that will fascinate and excite you. He will show you, you know. If you are genuine and authentic in your quest, He will expose marvelous things, wondrous things. Knock on the door of prophetic inspiration and you will not be disappointed when He answers.
And that’s the thing. His Word will come alive and jump off the pages. It was there all along and yet you will see it for the first time. You wonder if anyone else ever noticed. You’re sure someone has and yet no one told you. You wonder why. Then, you follow it where it leads you. You chase it down every tortuous trail and leave no stone unturned. Many unseated rocks reveal nothing. But some, some of them have hidden diamonds just below the pressed earth.
You pick one up, wipe it off and examine it closely. You may even shed a tear or two. It’s so beautiful, so valuable. You feel privileged just to have engaged in the process. And the reward you now hold in your hand is priceless. You smile—only the Spirit of the Lord could have brought you here. Now, only one thing remains; you must steward what you’ve discovered. Deploy it to release the captives; use it to set the prisoners free.
2022-05-13 | Leviticus 21-24 | Make Your Light OR Let Your Light SO Shine
What is it about light that everyone loves, especially light that emanates from fire? In today’s reading, we witness how Yahweh instructed Moses to fashion a lampstand, and a light that is meant to burn continually.
When we leap forward to the days of Y’Shua, and His words in the Sermon on the Mount, He reveals that we are that “light of the world” meant to burn continually. This, undoubtedly, is our call to ministry. It’s a call for His disciples birthed directly from an intimate, deep and powerful relationship with Him, not a choice made from the intellect. Unfortunately, this authentic call is not always what we see today, as those “in ministry” are oftentimes self-assigned and self-empowered!
We are called to “let our lights SO shine” not “make our lights SO shine.” We are not called to be the source of light, but instead the conduit of His light. Over the centuries, the more diverse and specialized Christian denominations have become, the more reflective they’ve become of their own light, and subsequently less representative of His light and thus less impactful.
A lighthouse exists on a coastline for a specific purpose, to guide those who are seeking entrance inland, and in some instances in times of an emergency. Look around; presently the world is in a “State of Emergency!” People are frantic and in need of a beacon of light to guide them, as they near an ever-increasing tumultuous coastline. They are desperate to find their way inland. And now I leave you with this critical decision; will you “Make” or “Let” your light SO shine? One will save them; the other will end in shipwreck.
2022-05-06 | Leviticus 19-20 | Gray is the Original Google
Oh my how things have changed. Many cultures have shifted away from venerating their aged population, and moved toward esteem for their young. We have become child-centric with the vast majority of our attention invested in the activities, opinions, interests and desires of youth.
Yet, the Scriptures paint a very different priority. God’s word demands that considerably more emphasis be placed on the gray-headed generation. And it becomes strikingly obvious that this attention is not simply because they need to be provided for in their old age. Rather, it is a directive to revere the older generation with such honor, as if their silver locks were a crown of glory.
That’s right, the gray hair that adorns the heads of our elders is likened to wisdom and understanding, a crown of glory if it is found atop those practicing righteousness. But instead, the superficiality of today’s common culture has inspired our sages to cover up the “splendor of old age” with dyes and treatments.
Somehow we have descended into the “me generation.” This is a whole crop of entitled young people who can’t resist “selfie everything.” Every Instagram post, every complaining Tweet, every silly TikTok, and practically every photo opportunity is about self. As such, it should be no surprise that they’ve left behind the connection to and reverence for the silver generation. It has rapidly declined into the practice of, “ask Google everything and let the wisdom of a dying age die with them.”
It used to be we would sit at the feet of our elders, gleaning their wisdom and advice; they are the original Google. If you needed to know something, anything, they are where you searched. Remember those who came before you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith you should emulate, as you consider the years of experience resulting in what you see in them. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in them, these things learn from them and do. Let us never forget how the Scriptures equate the gray hair of the aged to the wisdom of the ages! Your life just might depend on it; Solomon thought so! “The way of life winds upward for the wise, that he may turn away from hell below.”
2022-04-29 | Leviticus 16-18 | Alter Ego
Two identical goats are selected on Yom Kippur to be considered for the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the people. Soon after, one goat becomes that sin offering. It’s easy to see the shed blood of Christ in the imagery of this sacrificial goat. “And He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” And the other, the scapegoat, is set loose, freed into the wilderness, kept alive for another purpose. Who does the imagery of this scapegoat represent?
Y’shua prophesied of a type of “identical goat” in His last sermon before He was arrested; “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” There He was; about to cover the sins of the world with His blood. But also, right in front of Him was another image. It looked exactly like Him. Yet, this one sheds no blood and is instead sent off into the wilderness. Why?
The prophetic revelation is crowning with imminent birth. One sheds His blood as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world—that’s Christ. The other, created in the same image, is sent off into the wilderness carrying an assignment. Who is being transformed into the image and stature of Christ, and what is his assignment in the wilderness? It’s impossible to ignore Isaiah’s words in search of an answer. “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Isaiah identified the assignment, and Y’shua identified the image of His identical goat. “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.” We are to be perfect in one with Christ, His identical image, His alter ego. An alter ego is another version of oneself, a person who behaves so similarly to another that the difference is unrecognizable. Are you one with Christ, indistinguishable from Him, His alter ego, His scapegoat? He promised we’d do greater things, be His ambassadors through whom He is pleading? He is finished for now; it’s time to complete your assignment. Are you ready? “Go therefore!”
2022-04-22 | Deuteronomy 14-16 | Learn to Fear Yahweh
Fears—everyone has them. The very thing I’ll be doing immediately after Dr. Jeff’s introduction is the number one fear I found when I researched “things people fear the most.” Yes, public speaking is considered a “social phobia” and it tops the list of things that people fear the most. It’s hard to imagine considering the competition: death, poverty, loss of a loved one, sharks, etc. Interestingly enough however, is that nowhere on the list of things people fear the most is the “fear of the Lord.” Sure, not everyone surveyed was a professing believer, but since the study was conducted in the United States, where the majority of people still claim Christianity as their faith, it should have had some influence on their responses. I pray “fear of the Lord” missed the list because of a proper understanding of what it really means, awe and reverence for a holy God; may it always be.
But I have a strong suspicion that is not the case at all, especially if we observe the lives of most church attendees. If what is easily observable is any representation of how most “professing Christians” really feel about Yahweh, then I’d say self-deception is much more prevalent than awe and reverence. A sad commentary for sure, and I shudder when I think about what God views as lip service. Y’shua said this of religious hypocrites, as He affirmed the words of the prophet Isaiah; “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Self- deception is much more common than we would like to admit and, as you can see, we are not alone; both the children of Israel and first-century leaders suffered from the same character defect.
One of the hardest things to do in our daily walk with Christ is to recognize the areas in ourselves that require attention. These are classically things we like to avoid, often painful things.
Unfortunately, these are the sins in our lives that ought to be addressed promptly, but instead we oftentimes minimize them, saying, “I’m not perfect; I’m just a human.” Of course you are human! But that should be no excuse for Christians, as you are no longer “just human”. You are now human with a heart possessed by God. My prayer for you today is you put aside your defense mechanisms and let God’s word be the spiritual scalpel He designed it to be, one that is “sharper than any two edged sword.”