Sermon Notes & Videos
2024-02-23 | Romans 7:15-25 | Shards of History
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This is the diary of a man in the process of discovering what it means to be born-again and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To twenty-first century Christians, these struggles appear almost commonplace. We saw the Reformation over five-hundred years ago; we can recall countless Holy Spirit revivals throughout history; we’ve experienced many types of movements in Christianity: Prayer, Charismatic, Prophetic, Pentecostal, Messianic, and Hebrew Roots, to name a few; and we have study bibles, bible programs and apps; a myriad of Christian books, curriculums, and study guides; Christian television, radio, magazines, music, and the internet; and we have churches on every corner, over three-hundred thousand of them in the United States alone. You get the picture?
However, Paul is the first man alive to sort through and commit to words what took place in us when the great transaction occurred, ideas and words that have become part of the common vernacular for those whose lives Christ exchanged for His own. Let’s examine Paul’s struggle to discover just what happened to each of us when we got knocked off our feet in the great exchange. The last part of Romans seven is like taking a peek into the diary of a man on a long journey. Think carefully about your own life and history, contemplate any important event, and then consider if you were called to write about it. The words could hardly compare to the details of the actual story. Words can’t do justice to the seconds, minutes, and hours of reality. Sure we can overview life in snapshots, key moments and highlights, shards of history, but the minute details of reality can never be chronicled sufficiently, for any historical event, even one in your own life. Consider a soldier at war, for instance. There are key battles, strategic moments, memorial dates, and history-deciding losses and victories. And in that one soldier’s life, in his mind, he endured the expanded nano-seconds of time—an ongoing personal reality, but hidden from recorded history: the fears, the suffering, the cold, the pain, the doubt, the hope, the confusion, and the terrible longing for his loved ones. He experienced every continuous moment, reality that history never recorded. And this is but one soldier. Can you feel it?
Now, take a look back at Paul’s struggle, his dilemma. You are reading an encapsulation. He is opening his diary and allowing us to see, and possibly feel, the highlights of his journey of discovery; “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Yes, it all comes down to this journal entry; “Thank you Father, your Son has already delivered me from this struggle. I get it now, my old flesh serves the law of sin; but, the new man, born-again in Christ, serves the laws of my God.”
And then the great question for all of us. Do we join Paul in his struggle, or do we join him in his discovery, his victory? You have his diary entries to draw from; why repeat his mistakes? Choose now to agree with the law of sin that has you doing things you know you shouldn’t and neglecting things you know you should, or live as the new creature and serve the laws of God who sent His Son to die for you that you might be born-again and filled with His grace.
2024-02-16 | Romans 7:1-14 | The Operating System of Creation
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It’s all a matter of perspective. As the years of life pass, certain things come into focus much more so than when you are younger.
It’s a strange phenomenon, but as your natural eyes fail and the world around you begins to blur, your spiritual eyes sharpen, Holy Spirit boost to your spiritual engine. Let go! Yes, it’s often easier to let go as you age both naturally and spiritually because humility simultaneously coming into focus. To take advantage of this phenomenon you have to let go! Might this be an uplifting word, a settles in. But consider this, no matter what age you are right now, and no matter how advanced in the faith, this one thing is true. At this very moment, you are the youngest you will ever be for the rest of your life; yes, at this very moment, and at this moment, and again at this moment.
And may this unrelenting truth inspire a shift in perspective. Everything the Father does, everything He orders, is for our good as His children. It’s easy to inherit the beliefs of those who went before us, but that can be both a blessing and a trap. Each generation must be willing to evaluate what came before them and decide if what they inherited is good seed or has it been genetically altered.
For instance, Y’shua was the great Rabbi who specialized in shifting perspectives. “You’ve heard is said, but I tell you…” was paramount as He became the inflection point in human history. His audience had inherited certain lies and He was there to help them pivot. “I did not come to abolish the law, but to elaborate on it, so all could see the fullness of it.” God’s law is the operating system of creation, the fabric of the universe. You can see it as oppressive and death defining, or you can take on a whole new perspective; the law is spiritual; the law is holy; the law is just; and the law is good. “You’ve heard is said, ‘What is good has become death to me.’ But I say, ‘When the infection of sin in your blood is exposed by God’s operating system, a simple shift in perspective will show you that this is God’s way of saving your life, not His oppressive design to kill you!’” It’s all a matter of perspective.
2024-01-26 | Romans 6:15-23 | Slavery
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Slavery undoubtedly has an dark aura surrounding it, and it appears instantly, the moment you are asked to consider it. Check your gut right now—did the word itself make you feel warm inside? Not likely! Does it paint a pretty picture on the canvas of your mind? Of course not; it’s ugly! In your brain were pictures of chains, and whips, and bars, and oppressive hard labor. You are certainly drawn to envision the modern sex-slave market that has permeated the globe. You are staring into countless hopeless empty eyes as if death is looking back at you. The victims you imagine are hungry, frail, sick, oppressed, and seem as if they are being digested from the inside. They are disposable beings who appear to have died already, forced to wait impatiently for their beating hearts to catch up to what already occurred in their souls long ago. You have an abundance of these images from world history and current events floating around in your conscience. These historic and present instances of slavery are evil and oppressive. These brands of bondage are frightening, disturbing, and disgusting; they epitomize the exact opposite of what you believe is freedom.
But what if, for a moment, we redefine freedom. Let’s say freedom is having no options. True freedom is when God is the only choice. Then slavery includes all people living in such a way in which they feel at liberty to make choices on their own, contrary to the will of God. Now slavery is extremely far reaching; it envelopes a much more diverse population; it gathers to itself everyday people living life in an ordinary way in an ordinary world, subjects of a kingdom which breeds confusion, as options abound. Two types of slavery emerge, one in physical chains, the other in bondage to their own sinful desires.
But wait; there’s more! A third type of slave is one who has been brought into bondage to the Lord, a bondservant of God. Slavery under these conditions is anything but oppressive. Rather than chains and confusion, it offers life-giving clarity. The Holy Scriptures enlighten us with this additional perspective on slavery. Sure it is slavery nonetheless, but this is a choice about the type of slavery. And if we circle back to understanding true freedom, then you should not see this as a choice at all! There exists a type of slavery to disobedience, lawlessness, uncleanness and death—a slave of sin. And, there is a form of slavery that embodies obedience, righteousness, holiness and life—a bondservant of God.
It’s time to draw a mandatory line in the sand—choose your form of slavery. And if you are truly free you will see only one option. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves?”
2024-01-19 | Romans 6:1-14 | A White Canvas
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If we zoom in it all begins to come into focus. Sure there is value in viewing this from forty-five thousand feet, and that perspective is necessary to define the outer edges of our canvas. However, the time comes when standing at a distance cannot provide the necessary, but subtle details, if we wish to appraise how the Master dissolves the intricate brushstrokes.
The title of the painting is “Sin.” That should immediately cause you to appreciate the vast size of the canvas and the infinite array of colors on the palette. But now, lean in; get your nose right up to the artwork. Your concern is no longer the immeasurable size of the tapestry, nor the limitless hues of color. Right now we are interested in the bleach that will remove every last remnant of even the remotest stain—restoring our canvas to pure white. You need to get up really close to evaluate if there is even a single pixel of color remaining.
White reflects all color, and might we say deflects or rejects all color. Yet, this one question remains. What type of artist will you be? It’s counter-intuitive, but the artist God is looking for is completely satisfied with a canvas that remains pure white. I know it is tempting to splash paint all over it again; even that you’ve been programed to believe you are destined to do so, as a helpless victim. But God says something different. God says you are no longer an artist slave; you are free to keep your canvas and bright. Oh, and if you choose not to, at least recognize that it was your choice to make.
2023-12-29 | Romans 5:12-21 | If I Ran the Zoo
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It’s just your garden-variety love story: man is created by God; he is put in charge of everything; success never fully satisfies him; man becomes lonely; God has a woman for the man; man meets the woman; man loves the woman; they are both naked; man’s head spins with desire (he can’t think straight); woman makes a really bad choice; man stands by and watches (he’s too distracted by her naked body); man participates in the really bad choice; God finds out; man blames the woman; woman blames the devil; they both receive a death sentence (along with all of their future children). The outcome looks bleak.
What would you do if you ran the zoo? What would you do if you had an opportunity to rewrite the story? What if you could just advise Adam before his fateful act of utter neglect? You could warn him that what he was about to do would birth death and destruction into creation. Would you do it? Would you attempt to change the course of history and help mankind sidestep thousands of years of pain, misery, and suffering? I wouldn’t! Certainly, we’d be better off had Adam never shirked his responsibility, no? Surely, if we had the option to rewind and help Adam make a better choice, all of mankind would benefit, right?
The answer is a resounding no! Had sin never come into the world, sure things would have been perfectly pleasant since creation. Unfortunately, one thing is easy to overlook that supersedes the potential benefits of living in a world that never tasted sin—the need for a Savior! And the ultimate inheritance we have with that savior—a perfect, permanent, unalterable, incorruptible eternity with God. You see, Adam and all humans after him, would have forever carried the risk of sinning at some point—resulting in death. Human beings are potentially fallible. But the glorified body we will inherit one day because we have a Savior is permanently infallible, and I would not attempt to prevent all the pain, misery, and suffering experienced throughout human history, if losing that was the price!
2023-12-22 | Romans 5:1-11 | Also
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This or that; this and that; this and not only that; this and not only that, but much more than that. Or maybe we will just say… also! That is the main thing here. By grace through faith and also by faith with grace. And not only by faith with grace, but ALSO through trials and endurance and character development and hope. And not only by faith with grace, and through trials and endurance and character development and hope, but ALSO God’s love.
Not only are we justified by His blood, saved from permanent damnation, reconciled for an eternity, but ALSO, and much more than that, we have His life as a perfect example of how we ought to live on this side of eternity. And maybe the most beautiful thing of all is that we are supernaturally empowered to live the life He expects of us by faith with grace. What are you waiting for?