Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Hebrews 4:12 “Bible Study”
January 20, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
We are continuing today with our look at spiritual practices in our series from Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus. We have looked at worship, where we attribute supreme worth to God. Then we looked at prayer where we talk with God like a friend. Today we turn to Bible Study where we gather in groups to read and discuss God’s word. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The study of the word of God began with Moses. Moses commanded the people to study scripture.
Deuteronomy 31:9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
So it was the responsibility of the priests and elders to make sure that everyone, men, women, children, and foreigners all hear the word of God on a regular basis. They were to hear all of it, the first five books of the Old Testament, every seven years. Moses was clear that God would be present with his people whenever the word of God was read and heard. And the reason that the word of God must be read and heard was so the people would continue to revere and obey God generation after generation.
This is the responsibility of the church today. The session of the church is responsible for seeing that the word of God is read, heard and understood not only by those in the church but by everyone in Middletown. Everything we do as a church is to support the reading, hearing, and understanding of the word of God in this community. Everyone here must learn to revere and obey God. And when we hear the word of God proclaimed, God is here with us.
Moses’ successor was Joshua. Joshua expanded on the commands of Moses to study the Bible. Here is what Joshua told the people.
Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Moses said that the entire word of God must be read and heard every seven years. But Joshua wants the people to meditate on it every day. The reason for this is so that we will remember to obey God. God will with us as we read the Bible every day. And if God is with us continually we will be strong, courageous, prosperous and successful. So we too should read and meditate on scripture every day and receive all the blessings of God continually upon us.
A King of Judah took the responsibility of the proclaiming the word of God to his nation very seriously. King Jehoshaphat trained teachers and made copies of scripture. He then sent these teachers and scrolls to the farthest corners of his kingdom.
1 Chronicles 17:7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials … to teach in the towns of Judah. 8 With them were certain Levites … and the priests ... 9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the Lord; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
But for many years God’s people stopped reading scripture. They stopped obeying God and were conquered and exiled by the Kingdom of Babylon. But God had mercy on them and brought his people back to their homes. And they celebrated by reading the word of God.
Nehemiah 8:1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law...
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
The psalmist declares, Psalm 119:97 “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. 98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
Jesus firmly believed in the power of Bible study. He described it this way, Matthew 13:23 “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
There is no doubt at all that Bible study will benefit you. God is present when we gather around his word and God blesses us abundantly.
What are some of the benefits of regular Bible study? The first is that your faith will be strengthened. Romans 10:17 … “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ”.
Faith comes from hearing the word of God. So by attending Bible studies, you not only learn about God you also come to greater faith in God. You grow spiritually. And for this growth to occur the message that is heard must we about our savior Jesus Christ. So we attend Bible studies to increase our faith in Christ. What else do we receive? We receive the Holy Spirit.
John 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
So as we study the Bible the Holy Spirit is with us helping us to understand what we are reading and bringing us to faith in Jesus Christ. Are there any other benefits of Bible study? Yes, In Bible Study you experience deep transformation.
1 Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.[b] 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
By studying the Word of God the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus Christ and we experience a transformation to a new life where we love one another. But there are even greater benefits of Bible Study. We are given hope.
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Through Bible study, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus Christ, transforms us to new life, and gives us hope of eternal life. What more could we expect? Well, there is more.
John 8:32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”... 34 … “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
So through Bible study, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus Christ, transforms us to new life, gives us hope of eternal life, and frees us from slavery to sin so we may lead lives pleasing to God.
Since the time of Moses people have experienced for themselves the benefits of Bible study. It is the church’s responsibility to provide Bible studies for the community to attend. By attending Bible studies should faith will grow, you will experience transformation, you will develop hope in eternal life, and your slavery to sin will end freeing you to lead lives pleasing to God.
This church has many trained Bethel teachers. This is a great blessing from God. I urge those teachers to use the gifts they have received and offer Bible studies to this church, in your home, or someplace in the community where you can provide these benefits of Bible study to the community of Middletown Delaware. Let’s pray.
Holy Spirit we thank you for your presence whenever the Bible is read and heard. We thank you for the gift of understanding as we study the Bible. We thank you for the gift of obedience as we try to obey God’s word. Thank you for using the Bible to grow our faith, transform our lives, give us hope of eternal life, and free us from slavery to sin. We pledge to meet you regularly in Bible study. Amen.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Sermon Psalm 66:18-20 “Prayer”
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 66:18-20 “Prayer”
January 13, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
I am continuing today with our look at spiritual practices which is what we do to make us more like Jesus. Last week we looked at the spiritual practice of worship. In worship, we attribute supreme worth to God. We do this with the reading, proclamation, and hearing of the word of God, and the sacraments of baptism and communion. We respond with offerings, prayer, and singing. We do this every Sunday in our Service for the Lord’s Day. And we can worship by ourselves or with our families during the week. Do this and you will come closer and closer to God.
Today we will turn to another spiritual practice, prayer. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
What is prayer? If anyone knew how to pray it was Moses. He prayed all the time. Let’s turn to Exodus 33 and see what prayer was like for Moses
Exodus 33:7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
So Moses would go into a tent and speak with God the same way you and I would talk to a friend. It is that simple. You just talk with God and tell him whatever you want. You don’t have to prepare anything. You don’t have to go anywhere special. You just talk with God.
Jesus also prayed all the time. He would often get up very in the morning to pray. Sometimes he would climb a mountain to pray by himself. He prayed from the beginning to the end of his ministry. And he taught his disciples how to pray.
Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
God created us to be his conversation partners. He put Adam and Eve in a nice garden where God could come down and talk with them. But when sin came into the world our ability to talk with God was disrupted. Adam and Eve were too ashamed to talk with God so they hid.
Genesis 3: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
And what do you think God’s response was when he could no longer communicate with his people. Well, here is what he said. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
So we are to talk with God as we would talk with a friend, but sin disrupts the communication and so God is left asking of us, “Where are you?”.
The first thing we must do before we can have conversations with God is to confess any ongoing sin and repent, stop sinning. Sin always disrupts communication with God. But God still wants to have a conversation with you. And he is wondering where you are. So put the sin behind you, confess and ask for forgiveness and your communication with God will be restored.
I believe that there are three stages of prayer which I have experienced in my own life. And I would like to go over these different stages.
The first stage of prayer I call intersession. Whatever is on our hearts we offer it to God. If our mother has arthritis we pray that God will ease her pain. If we are having trouble at work we ask God to make it better. If we have financial difficulties we ask God for help. If we have a test coming up in school we pray for assistance. Whatever is on our hearts we pray to God. This is intercession. This is what we do in worship. You say what is on your hearts into a microphone and we offer it up to God.
Intersession is the first stage of prayer, but there is another stage of prayer I call discernment. With a discernment prayer, we ask God questions. We want to know God’s will for our lives. We ask God, “Should I marry this woman?”. Should I take that job? How should I respond to sin affecting my children? We offer these questions to God and patiently wait for an answer. This waiting is called meditation. The answer from God could be verbal, but more likely it will be a feeling that what you are doing is right. The answer could come quickly or may take days or years before God responds. So you have to be patient and quietly meditate until God answers.
So far we have looked at two stages of prayer, intercession, and discernment. Now let’s turn to the third stage, submission. Once you have told God what is on your hearts and have sensed an answer to your questions you are now to submit to God’s will. Too often we pray for a certain answer from God. And when God gives us an answer we didn’t expect we usually resist it. But with prayer, a conversation with God, we begin to accept God’s answer and submit to his will.
I have experienced all this. For years I operated a business in Washington. I would often pray that the business would grow. Sometimes it did well. Sometimes I needed to fix it. But, with God’s help, I was able to keep it going. I was also active in the church. I served as a deacon for three years and for nine years I was in the Bethel Bible Series program as a student, teacher, and coordinator. I offered up prayers of intercession for my business and ministries.
After teaching Bethel for four years the church decided to end the program and do something different. For the first time in years, I didn’t have my own ministry at the church. I didn’t know what to do. So I began to pray prayers of discernment to ask God what I was to do next. I had trouble hearing directly from God, so I went to see a pastor of the church. We prayed for discernment and began talking about requirements for becoming a pastor. I left her office with an application to become an Inquirer in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). And I prayed, asking God if this is what he wanted me to do. I had a sense that the answer was yes.
So God wanted me to be a pastor. I would have to spend three years of my life unemployed and in school. I hadn’t been a graduate student in 30 years. And my family thought I had lost my mind wanting to be a pastor. But through much prayer, I submitted to God’s will, began the process of becoming a pastor, and moved to California to study at Fuller Seminary.
As I went through these stages I found that I experienced great joy because I was doing what my creator wanted me to do. This is available to you as well. Just confess and repent any sin in your life, then offer up to God whatever is on your heart, discern God answers to your most difficult questions through meditation, and then submit to God will for your lives.
You pastor search committee is doing this right now. They started, a year ago, by praying for the wisdom to write a mission study and begin their search. Then as resumes started to come in they had to discern which candidates God wanted to be considered. The committee prayed, read sermons, listen to tapes, and viewed videos. Now they are meeting candidates face to face and listening to them preach at neighboring churches. They are doing this today. All this is to discern which candidate is being called by God to serve New Covenant.
And some point your committee will submit to God’s will and announce that you have a new pastor. This may be a difficult step because these are all really good candidates. Members of the committee will like different candidates. And they will try to push their own wishes forward. But there is only one candidate whom God has chosen. And once this choice is discerned then the committee must submit to God and bring God’s candidate to you.
Of course, I am going through another round of discernment for my own call. As my ministry for this church comes to an end, I am trying to discern where God is calling me now. I certainly have some preference for where I would like to go. But ultimately I will submit to God’s will because God knows best about where I should serve.
So what have we learned today? Prayer is a simple conversation with God. Sin blocks this conversation so we must confess and repent for our prayers to be heard otherwise God asks, “Where are you?” You offer up the concerns of your heart as intercessions to God. You ask your deepest questions to God and meditate as you wait to discern the answers. And once you discern God’s will you submit to it and do what God wants you to do. This is prayer. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that brings you closer and closer to God. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, you are our model of a person who prays. We know you prayed often, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes high on a hill. You prayed for and received guidance at each stage of your ministry. Hear our prayers now and help us to discern and submit to God’s will for our lives. This we pray in your glorious name. Amen.
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 66:18-20 “Prayer”
January 13, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
I am continuing today with our look at spiritual practices which is what we do to make us more like Jesus. Last week we looked at the spiritual practice of worship. In worship, we attribute supreme worth to God. We do this with the reading, proclamation, and hearing of the word of God, and the sacraments of baptism and communion. We respond with offerings, prayer, and singing. We do this every Sunday in our Service for the Lord’s Day. And we can worship by ourselves or with our families during the week. Do this and you will come closer and closer to God.
Today we will turn to another spiritual practice, prayer. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
What is prayer? If anyone knew how to pray it was Moses. He prayed all the time. Let’s turn to Exodus 33 and see what prayer was like for Moses
Exodus 33:7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. 10Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
So Moses would go into a tent and speak with God the same way you and I would talk to a friend. It is that simple. You just talk with God and tell him whatever you want. You don’t have to prepare anything. You don’t have to go anywhere special. You just talk with God.
Jesus also prayed all the time. He would often get up very in the morning to pray. Sometimes he would climb a mountain to pray by himself. He prayed from the beginning to the end of his ministry. And he taught his disciples how to pray.
Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
God created us to be his conversation partners. He put Adam and Eve in a nice garden where God could come down and talk with them. But when sin came into the world our ability to talk with God was disrupted. Adam and Eve were too ashamed to talk with God so they hid.
Genesis 3: 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
And what do you think God’s response was when he could no longer communicate with his people. Well, here is what he said. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
So we are to talk with God as we would talk with a friend, but sin disrupts the communication and so God is left asking of us, “Where are you?”.
The first thing we must do before we can have conversations with God is to confess any ongoing sin and repent, stop sinning. Sin always disrupts communication with God. But God still wants to have a conversation with you. And he is wondering where you are. So put the sin behind you, confess and ask for forgiveness and your communication with God will be restored.
I believe that there are three stages of prayer which I have experienced in my own life. And I would like to go over these different stages.
The first stage of prayer I call intersession. Whatever is on our hearts we offer it to God. If our mother has arthritis we pray that God will ease her pain. If we are having trouble at work we ask God to make it better. If we have financial difficulties we ask God for help. If we have a test coming up in school we pray for assistance. Whatever is on our hearts we pray to God. This is intercession. This is what we do in worship. You say what is on your hearts into a microphone and we offer it up to God.
Intersession is the first stage of prayer, but there is another stage of prayer I call discernment. With a discernment prayer, we ask God questions. We want to know God’s will for our lives. We ask God, “Should I marry this woman?”. Should I take that job? How should I respond to sin affecting my children? We offer these questions to God and patiently wait for an answer. This waiting is called meditation. The answer from God could be verbal, but more likely it will be a feeling that what you are doing is right. The answer could come quickly or may take days or years before God responds. So you have to be patient and quietly meditate until God answers.
So far we have looked at two stages of prayer, intercession, and discernment. Now let’s turn to the third stage, submission. Once you have told God what is on your hearts and have sensed an answer to your questions you are now to submit to God’s will. Too often we pray for a certain answer from God. And when God gives us an answer we didn’t expect we usually resist it. But with prayer, a conversation with God, we begin to accept God’s answer and submit to his will.
I have experienced all this. For years I operated a business in Washington. I would often pray that the business would grow. Sometimes it did well. Sometimes I needed to fix it. But, with God’s help, I was able to keep it going. I was also active in the church. I served as a deacon for three years and for nine years I was in the Bethel Bible Series program as a student, teacher, and coordinator. I offered up prayers of intercession for my business and ministries.
After teaching Bethel for four years the church decided to end the program and do something different. For the first time in years, I didn’t have my own ministry at the church. I didn’t know what to do. So I began to pray prayers of discernment to ask God what I was to do next. I had trouble hearing directly from God, so I went to see a pastor of the church. We prayed for discernment and began talking about requirements for becoming a pastor. I left her office with an application to become an Inquirer in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). And I prayed, asking God if this is what he wanted me to do. I had a sense that the answer was yes.
So God wanted me to be a pastor. I would have to spend three years of my life unemployed and in school. I hadn’t been a graduate student in 30 years. And my family thought I had lost my mind wanting to be a pastor. But through much prayer, I submitted to God’s will, began the process of becoming a pastor, and moved to California to study at Fuller Seminary.
As I went through these stages I found that I experienced great joy because I was doing what my creator wanted me to do. This is available to you as well. Just confess and repent any sin in your life, then offer up to God whatever is on your heart, discern God answers to your most difficult questions through meditation, and then submit to God will for your lives.
You pastor search committee is doing this right now. They started, a year ago, by praying for the wisdom to write a mission study and begin their search. Then as resumes started to come in they had to discern which candidates God wanted to be considered. The committee prayed, read sermons, listen to tapes, and viewed videos. Now they are meeting candidates face to face and listening to them preach at neighboring churches. They are doing this today. All this is to discern which candidate is being called by God to serve New Covenant.
And some point your committee will submit to God’s will and announce that you have a new pastor. This may be a difficult step because these are all really good candidates. Members of the committee will like different candidates. And they will try to push their own wishes forward. But there is only one candidate whom God has chosen. And once this choice is discerned then the committee must submit to God and bring God’s candidate to you.
Of course, I am going through another round of discernment for my own call. As my ministry for this church comes to an end, I am trying to discern where God is calling me now. I certainly have some preference for where I would like to go. But ultimately I will submit to God’s will because God knows best about where I should serve.
So what have we learned today? Prayer is a simple conversation with God. Sin blocks this conversation so we must confess and repent for our prayers to be heard otherwise God asks, “Where are you?” You offer up the concerns of your heart as intercessions to God. You ask your deepest questions to God and meditate as you wait to discern the answers. And once you discern God’s will you submit to it and do what God wants you to do. This is prayer. Prayer is a spiritual discipline that brings you closer and closer to God. Let’s pray.
Lord Jesus, you are our model of a person who prays. We know you prayed often, sometimes early in the morning, sometimes high on a hill. You prayed for and received guidance at each stage of your ministry. Hear our prayers now and help us to discern and submit to God’s will for our lives. This we pray in your glorious name. Amen.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Sermon Psalm 95:1-2 “Worship”
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 95:1-2 “Worship”
January 6, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
Today is Epiphany. This is the day, 13 days after Christmas, when the church traditionally remembers the Magi who followed a star and visited Jesus. Symbolizing the light of that star, our liturgical colors today are white. By following the church calendar we shape our worship around the events of Jesus’ life.
Today we are going to talk about worship, as a spiritual practice but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
We are continuing our journey through Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus. Before the Advent season, we looked at what it is we must believe. We talked about who God is and that God loves us. We talked about what the Bible is and who we are. We talked about the Church and the requirements of compassion and stewardship. And we talked about our own salvation and the promise of eternal life. These are all things we believe.
Today we turn to what we do to become like Jesus. We will be looking at spiritual practices which, when built upon the foundation of what we believe, allow us to spiritually grow and become more like Jesus. Our goal is to achieve what we talked about in Advent, hope, peace, joy, and love. The first spiritual practice we will look at is worship.
This is a dollar bill. It is a piece of paper with some green ink on it. It has no intrinsic value. A piece of paper with some ink on it is worthless. But we attribute worth to it. We give it value. And so I can take this piece of paper with green ink to McDonald's and exchange it for a bag of small fries. I am happy to receive the fries. McDonald’s is happy to receive this piece of paper. So we attribute worth to a piece of paper and it becomes something valuable for us.
Worship is when we attribute worth to the most valuable thing in our lives. We worship
God by attributing supreme worth to him. We give God all glory and all honor. We worship. The psalmist put it this way.
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
We are gathered to worship our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is alive and is here with us. We glorify this God through Word and Sacrament. Then we are sent out into the world to glorify this God in our service to others.
We are worshiping here today because the grace of God has blessed us in many ways. God has promised to love us generation after generation. God has blessed us with Jesus Christ who forgives our sins and promises us eternal life. And so we have come to express our gratitude to God for these amazing blessings.
We express our gratitude for our blessings with the reading and hearing of God’s holy word and with the sacraments of baptism and communion. We express our thanks for God equipping the church to carry on his mission for the world.
The earliest Christians took three ordinary elements of human life, water, bread, and wine, and attributed to them great worth. They said that water symbolized our baptism into a new life in Jesus Christ. They said that the bread and wine symbolized the sacrifice of Christ that brings us salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life.
In America today there are many ways that people worship God. One of the most popular is the rock band church. The rock band church has a praise band, and a sound system turned up to 95-100 decibels. As the praise band sings of their love for Jesus many young people have intense spiritual experiences that bring them closer to God.
When I lived in Washington I worked at the National Cathedral School. I loved the evensong services in the cathedral when, as the sun set, the choirs of St. Albans and National Cathedral schools would sing music from the Renaissance.
A service of evening prayer would be read from the Book of Common Prayer. I was overcome by the beauty of these services and they brought me closer to God.
Just before I started at my first church, Grace and I went to Korea. I had the privilege of preaching at her church. Grace was my translator. Eight hundred people gathered on a Wednesday night. There were no musicians, so the pastor began worship by pounding rhythmically on the pulpit as people sang old hymns a capella. The pastor pounded faster and faster until all 800 people were shouting in tongues. When this finished I was invited forward to preach in the church where Grace began her spiritual journey of becoming closer to God.
So people worship in many different ways. And I urge this church to try new things. You might find that a second service with an alternate worship style may help the church grow.
You can worship God at any place and at any time. All you have to do is acknowledge God’s supreme worth. You can sing in the shower or pray before meals. I set aside the 7 am hour every day for devotions with Grace. We read the Bible together and pray. Whenever I come to church I like to be here before anyone else. So I get here early during the week and on Sundays. I pray the intercessions I wrote down on Sunday. I pray while looking at your pictures in the directory. I listen to devotional podcasts. I ask God to bless this church. This is all worship. I praise God for what he has done in my life and for what he is doing for this church.
Sunday is a special time for worship because Sunday morning is when we worship together remembering the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We use a Service for the Lord’s Day. A Service for the Lord’s Day begins with scripture gently calling us to worship God.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
Then we praise God in song by joining our voices with heavenly choirs as we are lifted up into the presence of God. Since we are coming into the presence of that which we attribute supreme worth we must first humble ourselves and confess our sin. “Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.”
Suppose for a moment you are an army general and your king has ordered you into battle. Suppose also that you lose this battle and your army scatters. You are alone in the battlefield when the opposing king comes toward you. What is going to happen to you? The king will probably kill you so that you will never threaten him again. But if you discard your weapons and remove your armor, and go face down in the dust as a sign of your complete devotion to the victorious king, what will happen? Probably you will be killed. Maybe, if the king is merciful, he will graciously spare your life and restore your honor.
Our God is merciful. He graciously forgives our sins. And so we hear these wonderful words, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. I declare to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. May the God of mercy, who forgives you all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life.” When we hear these wonderful words we respond again with a song.
As forgiven children of God, we then gather around the word of God which is read and proclaimed. And then we respond with gifts, tithes, and offerings, with prayers for ourselves, our families, our church, our community, and the world, and with singing. And we conclude by holding hands and boldly proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.
We worship God with a Service for the Lord’s Day every Sunday morning. We attribute to God supreme worth because of his value in our lives.
You are to continue worshiping throughout the week until we return to worship together next Sunday. I urge you to take the bulletin home with you. In the bulletin, you have the order of worship we used today, the scripture we read, and household prayers for morning and evening. Use these throughout the week as part of your worship for every day.
In worship, we attribute supreme worth to our God. We humbly confess our sins and remember the forgiveness we have received from our merciful God. We acknowledge all the blessings we have received with gratitude. We gather to hear the word of God read and proclaimed. We respond with tithes and prayers. We use water, bread, and wine to remember what God for us. And we go into the world to glorify God by serving others and by bringing people to Christ. We are a worshiping people. Let’s pray.
Lord God thank you for this freedom to worship you. We give you all honor and praise. You are our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Redeemer. You love us, forgive our sins and promise us eternal life. And so we worship you together every Sunday and continue throughout the week. We attribute to you supreme worth and you are the most valuable part of our lives. Amen.
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Psalm 95:1-2 “Worship”
January 6, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
Today is Epiphany. This is the day, 13 days after Christmas, when the church traditionally remembers the Magi who followed a star and visited Jesus. Symbolizing the light of that star, our liturgical colors today are white. By following the church calendar we shape our worship around the events of Jesus’ life.
Today we are going to talk about worship, as a spiritual practice but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
We are continuing our journey through Believe, Living the Story of the Bible to Become Like Jesus. Before the Advent season, we looked at what it is we must believe. We talked about who God is and that God loves us. We talked about what the Bible is and who we are. We talked about the Church and the requirements of compassion and stewardship. And we talked about our own salvation and the promise of eternal life. These are all things we believe.
Today we turn to what we do to become like Jesus. We will be looking at spiritual practices which, when built upon the foundation of what we believe, allow us to spiritually grow and become more like Jesus. Our goal is to achieve what we talked about in Advent, hope, peace, joy, and love. The first spiritual practice we will look at is worship.
This is a dollar bill. It is a piece of paper with some green ink on it. It has no intrinsic value. A piece of paper with some ink on it is worthless. But we attribute worth to it. We give it value. And so I can take this piece of paper with green ink to McDonald's and exchange it for a bag of small fries. I am happy to receive the fries. McDonald’s is happy to receive this piece of paper. So we attribute worth to a piece of paper and it becomes something valuable for us.
Worship is when we attribute worth to the most valuable thing in our lives. We worship
God by attributing supreme worth to him. We give God all glory and all honor. We worship. The psalmist put it this way.
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
We are gathered to worship our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is alive and is here with us. We glorify this God through Word and Sacrament. Then we are sent out into the world to glorify this God in our service to others.
We are worshiping here today because the grace of God has blessed us in many ways. God has promised to love us generation after generation. God has blessed us with Jesus Christ who forgives our sins and promises us eternal life. And so we have come to express our gratitude to God for these amazing blessings.
We express our gratitude for our blessings with the reading and hearing of God’s holy word and with the sacraments of baptism and communion. We express our thanks for God equipping the church to carry on his mission for the world.
The earliest Christians took three ordinary elements of human life, water, bread, and wine, and attributed to them great worth. They said that water symbolized our baptism into a new life in Jesus Christ. They said that the bread and wine symbolized the sacrifice of Christ that brings us salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life.
In America today there are many ways that people worship God. One of the most popular is the rock band church. The rock band church has a praise band, and a sound system turned up to 95-100 decibels. As the praise band sings of their love for Jesus many young people have intense spiritual experiences that bring them closer to God.
When I lived in Washington I worked at the National Cathedral School. I loved the evensong services in the cathedral when, as the sun set, the choirs of St. Albans and National Cathedral schools would sing music from the Renaissance.
A service of evening prayer would be read from the Book of Common Prayer. I was overcome by the beauty of these services and they brought me closer to God.
Just before I started at my first church, Grace and I went to Korea. I had the privilege of preaching at her church. Grace was my translator. Eight hundred people gathered on a Wednesday night. There were no musicians, so the pastor began worship by pounding rhythmically on the pulpit as people sang old hymns a capella. The pastor pounded faster and faster until all 800 people were shouting in tongues. When this finished I was invited forward to preach in the church where Grace began her spiritual journey of becoming closer to God.
So people worship in many different ways. And I urge this church to try new things. You might find that a second service with an alternate worship style may help the church grow.
You can worship God at any place and at any time. All you have to do is acknowledge God’s supreme worth. You can sing in the shower or pray before meals. I set aside the 7 am hour every day for devotions with Grace. We read the Bible together and pray. Whenever I come to church I like to be here before anyone else. So I get here early during the week and on Sundays. I pray the intercessions I wrote down on Sunday. I pray while looking at your pictures in the directory. I listen to devotional podcasts. I ask God to bless this church. This is all worship. I praise God for what he has done in my life and for what he is doing for this church.
Sunday is a special time for worship because Sunday morning is when we worship together remembering the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We use a Service for the Lord’s Day. A Service for the Lord’s Day begins with scripture gently calling us to worship God.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
Then we praise God in song by joining our voices with heavenly choirs as we are lifted up into the presence of God. Since we are coming into the presence of that which we attribute supreme worth we must first humble ourselves and confess our sin. “Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.”
Suppose for a moment you are an army general and your king has ordered you into battle. Suppose also that you lose this battle and your army scatters. You are alone in the battlefield when the opposing king comes toward you. What is going to happen to you? The king will probably kill you so that you will never threaten him again. But if you discard your weapons and remove your armor, and go face down in the dust as a sign of your complete devotion to the victorious king, what will happen? Probably you will be killed. Maybe, if the king is merciful, he will graciously spare your life and restore your honor.
Our God is merciful. He graciously forgives our sins. And so we hear these wonderful words, “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. I declare to you, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. May the God of mercy, who forgives you all your sins, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life.” When we hear these wonderful words we respond again with a song.
As forgiven children of God, we then gather around the word of God which is read and proclaimed. And then we respond with gifts, tithes, and offerings, with prayers for ourselves, our families, our church, our community, and the world, and with singing. And we conclude by holding hands and boldly proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.
We worship God with a Service for the Lord’s Day every Sunday morning. We attribute to God supreme worth because of his value in our lives.
You are to continue worshiping throughout the week until we return to worship together next Sunday. I urge you to take the bulletin home with you. In the bulletin, you have the order of worship we used today, the scripture we read, and household prayers for morning and evening. Use these throughout the week as part of your worship for every day.
In worship, we attribute supreme worth to our God. We humbly confess our sins and remember the forgiveness we have received from our merciful God. We acknowledge all the blessings we have received with gratitude. We gather to hear the word of God read and proclaimed. We respond with tithes and prayers. We use water, bread, and wine to remember what God for us. And we go into the world to glorify God by serving others and by bringing people to Christ. We are a worshiping people. Let’s pray.
Lord God thank you for this freedom to worship you. We give you all honor and praise. You are our Creator, our Sustainer, and our Redeemer. You love us, forgive our sins and promise us eternal life. And so we worship you together every Sunday and continue throughout the week. We attribute to you supreme worth and you are the most valuable part of our lives. Amen.
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Sermon – Matthew 1:18-25 - “Encountering a Messiah”
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Matthew 1:18-25 - “Encountering a Messiah”
Christmas Eve 2018
Listen to this sermon.
This evening is the eve of Christmas. Christmas is a period of 12 days when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So we prepare ourselves for a joyous celebration by worshiping God on this most important night.
Will you pray with me? “Glory to you, almighty God, for you sent your only begotten Son, that we might have new life. Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for you became flesh and dwelt among us that we might become your people. Glory to you, Holy Spirit, for you direct and rule our lives. Glory to you, almighty God, and to your Son, Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.” (Book of Common Worship 178)
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Christmas is a joyful time. It is a time for visits with family and friends, gift giving and all the preparation for food, tree, and presents. In Washington DC I used to spend Christmas day in the car. I would drive to Middletown MD to bring gifts to my nieces and nephews, the children of my brother Keith. Then I would get back in the car and see my parents. We would then go to my sister Jamie’s house in Lorton VA where I had another group of nephews and nieces. Christmas is a wonderful time for a single uncle to spend with children. Christmas is a time when we celebrate new life as we come together to celebrate the birth of our Messiah, Jesus.
Christmas is a wonderful time, unless, of course, you really need a messiah. I know many of you are facing giants in your lives. You have been diagnosed with a debilitating disease. Your mortgage payment is due and you have no money in the bank. You are facing the loss of your independence. At times like these celebrations seem inappropriate. You need a messiah to save you.
Others of you are dealing with the effects of sin. The abuse of drugs and alcohol has taken its toll. Words you wish you had never said destroyed a relationship. You are ashamed of your behavior. You need a messiah to forgive you.
And some of you are experiencing grief this time of year because a loved one is not here to share the holiday with you. You need a messiah to comfort you during this time of grief and loss.
There was a man named Joseph who really needed a messiah. Joseph was a good man. He listened to the rabbi carefully when scripture was taught. He kept the Sabbath. He went to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. He always tried to do the right thing. But one day his life came crashing down around him when he found out that his fiance was pregnant with someone else’s baby. We can only imagine the emotional trauma he experienced and the intensity of his feeling of anger and grief. He was afraid of the great shame that would cover himself and his family. When he was finally reconciled to the fact that the relationship was over, exhausted, he finally went to sleep.
Matthew tells us that while Joseph was sleeping he dreamed about a messenger from God. This angel reminded Joseph that he was a descendant of David. But he should not fear to take Mary as his wife because the child she was carrying was not from another man but from God, the Holy Spirit. The child Mary was carrying was the Messiah, the Son of God.
The prophets of the Old Testament were all very clear on this. As Samuel had said many years before Israel did not need a king because God was their king. Isaiah made this very clear when he called the coming messiah Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. They were expecting a messiah from the Davidic dynasty. But the real messiah was God himself, born as a small baby.
No earthly messiah could come to heal us when we are sick, repair our broken relationships, find us when we are lost, save us when we are in trouble, bind up our wounds, battle the giants facing us, forgive our sins, and comfort us as we grieve. No child of David could bring about a kingdom of justice and righteousness so that the world could live a peace. Only God can do these things. And the good news of Christmas is that God has come.
When the angel spoke to Joseph he announced that the child to be born on Christmas was not the son of Joseph, the son of David, but this child would be the son of God. So what we celebrate on Christmas is not the coming of a messiah, a king, but the coming of God into the world. We are celebrating the birth of Immanuel, God with us. This is really good news because it means that God is neither distant nor uncaring. Rather God loves us so much that God wanted to be with us and to experience what we experience, to feel what we feel. God wanted to die for us so that our sins would be forgiven. Yahweh, the LORD God of Israel saves us from our sins. Yahweh saves us. Yahweh saves us. In Hebrew, Yahweh shua. Yahweh shua. Ya shua. Ya shua. Ja shua, Jesus, Jesus. The child that is born tonight is Yahweh who saves us from our sins, Jesus.
So the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ that we have been waiting for has come, but not in the way we expected. We thought that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and would rule as king. Instead, we find that the Christ is really God Incarnate, God in the flesh, a human being, like you and I. Our wait is over and we can rejoice because the Messiah has come and is named Jesus.
When Joseph woke up from the dream he knew exactly what he had to do. As always, he was obedient to God. He married Mary and named their son Jesus. He protected Jesus from King Herod by hiding his family in Egypt. And he brought the young Jesus back to Nazareth when he would grow and prepare himself for ministry. So Joseph fulfilled his role in the biblical drama. We don’t know what happened to him after that. All we know was that he was a carpenter and had a large family. From all accounts, he was just an ordinary person who had an extraordinary encounter with God.
That is what happens at Christmas, ordinary people have extraordinary encounters with God. You should expect tonight that your encounter with Jesus will have extraordinary effects on you. Whatever problems are facing you, Christ has come to help. Whatever evil you have done in the past, Christ has come to forgive you and restore you to the proper relationship with God. And if you are grieving over the loss of a loved one, or a job, or health, or something else, Christ has come to comfort you. This is the good news and the great gift from God at Christmas. Let’s pray.
“God of mystery and might, we praise and worship you, for you came in silence, while all lay sleeping, to enter our world as a child of humble birth. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, born of your handmaid Mary. In his face we behold your glory, for in his life as in his death is your gift of salvation. By your Spirit, make our hearts burn with thanksgiving, that we may give as we have received. Let our whole lives be gifts of praise to you, God of love and peace, in the gracious name of Jesus Christ, your Son, by the power of your Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen” (Book of Common Worship 185)
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Matthew 1:18-25 - “Encountering a Messiah”
Christmas Eve 2018
Listen to this sermon.
This evening is the eve of Christmas. Christmas is a period of 12 days when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So we prepare ourselves for a joyous celebration by worshiping God on this most important night.
Will you pray with me? “Glory to you, almighty God, for you sent your only begotten Son, that we might have new life. Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for you became flesh and dwelt among us that we might become your people. Glory to you, Holy Spirit, for you direct and rule our lives. Glory to you, almighty God, and to your Son, Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.” (Book of Common Worship 178)
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Christmas is a joyful time. It is a time for visits with family and friends, gift giving and all the preparation for food, tree, and presents. In Washington DC I used to spend Christmas day in the car. I would drive to Middletown MD to bring gifts to my nieces and nephews, the children of my brother Keith. Then I would get back in the car and see my parents. We would then go to my sister Jamie’s house in Lorton VA where I had another group of nephews and nieces. Christmas is a wonderful time for a single uncle to spend with children. Christmas is a time when we celebrate new life as we come together to celebrate the birth of our Messiah, Jesus.
Christmas is a wonderful time, unless, of course, you really need a messiah. I know many of you are facing giants in your lives. You have been diagnosed with a debilitating disease. Your mortgage payment is due and you have no money in the bank. You are facing the loss of your independence. At times like these celebrations seem inappropriate. You need a messiah to save you.
Others of you are dealing with the effects of sin. The abuse of drugs and alcohol has taken its toll. Words you wish you had never said destroyed a relationship. You are ashamed of your behavior. You need a messiah to forgive you.
And some of you are experiencing grief this time of year because a loved one is not here to share the holiday with you. You need a messiah to comfort you during this time of grief and loss.
There was a man named Joseph who really needed a messiah. Joseph was a good man. He listened to the rabbi carefully when scripture was taught. He kept the Sabbath. He went to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. He always tried to do the right thing. But one day his life came crashing down around him when he found out that his fiance was pregnant with someone else’s baby. We can only imagine the emotional trauma he experienced and the intensity of his feeling of anger and grief. He was afraid of the great shame that would cover himself and his family. When he was finally reconciled to the fact that the relationship was over, exhausted, he finally went to sleep.
Matthew tells us that while Joseph was sleeping he dreamed about a messenger from God. This angel reminded Joseph that he was a descendant of David. But he should not fear to take Mary as his wife because the child she was carrying was not from another man but from God, the Holy Spirit. The child Mary was carrying was the Messiah, the Son of God.
The prophets of the Old Testament were all very clear on this. As Samuel had said many years before Israel did not need a king because God was their king. Isaiah made this very clear when he called the coming messiah Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. They were expecting a messiah from the Davidic dynasty. But the real messiah was God himself, born as a small baby.
No earthly messiah could come to heal us when we are sick, repair our broken relationships, find us when we are lost, save us when we are in trouble, bind up our wounds, battle the giants facing us, forgive our sins, and comfort us as we grieve. No child of David could bring about a kingdom of justice and righteousness so that the world could live a peace. Only God can do these things. And the good news of Christmas is that God has come.
When the angel spoke to Joseph he announced that the child to be born on Christmas was not the son of Joseph, the son of David, but this child would be the son of God. So what we celebrate on Christmas is not the coming of a messiah, a king, but the coming of God into the world. We are celebrating the birth of Immanuel, God with us. This is really good news because it means that God is neither distant nor uncaring. Rather God loves us so much that God wanted to be with us and to experience what we experience, to feel what we feel. God wanted to die for us so that our sins would be forgiven. Yahweh, the LORD God of Israel saves us from our sins. Yahweh saves us. Yahweh saves us. In Hebrew, Yahweh shua. Yahweh shua. Ya shua. Ya shua. Ja shua, Jesus, Jesus. The child that is born tonight is Yahweh who saves us from our sins, Jesus.
So the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ that we have been waiting for has come, but not in the way we expected. We thought that the Messiah would be a descendant of David and would rule as king. Instead, we find that the Christ is really God Incarnate, God in the flesh, a human being, like you and I. Our wait is over and we can rejoice because the Messiah has come and is named Jesus.
When Joseph woke up from the dream he knew exactly what he had to do. As always, he was obedient to God. He married Mary and named their son Jesus. He protected Jesus from King Herod by hiding his family in Egypt. And he brought the young Jesus back to Nazareth when he would grow and prepare himself for ministry. So Joseph fulfilled his role in the biblical drama. We don’t know what happened to him after that. All we know was that he was a carpenter and had a large family. From all accounts, he was just an ordinary person who had an extraordinary encounter with God.
That is what happens at Christmas, ordinary people have extraordinary encounters with God. You should expect tonight that your encounter with Jesus will have extraordinary effects on you. Whatever problems are facing you, Christ has come to help. Whatever evil you have done in the past, Christ has come to forgive you and restore you to the proper relationship with God. And if you are grieving over the loss of a loved one, or a job, or health, or something else, Christ has come to comfort you. This is the good news and the great gift from God at Christmas. Let’s pray.
“God of mystery and might, we praise and worship you, for you came in silence, while all lay sleeping, to enter our world as a child of humble birth. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, born of your handmaid Mary. In his face we behold your glory, for in his life as in his death is your gift of salvation. By your Spirit, make our hearts burn with thanksgiving, that we may give as we have received. Let our whole lives be gifts of praise to you, God of love and peace, in the gracious name of Jesus Christ, your Son, by the power of your Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen” (Book of Common Worship 185)
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Sermon 1 John 4:10-12 “Love”
Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon 1 John 4:10-12 “Love”
December 23, 2018
Listen to this sermon
The countdown to Christmas continues. This is the fourth Sunday of Advent. The Season of Christmas starts Tuesday. So we complete our Advent waiting on Monday night at 6:00 pm when we welcome our savior into the world with our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service Pageant. Please join us.
So far this we have looked at hope, peace, and joy. Now we turn to the greatest of all virtues, love. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Today we are talking about love. Love is very different from hope, peace, and joy. Hope, peace, and joy all are internal. They exist in our hearts. We have hope, peace, and joy within us. But love requires a relationship. I love another. Another loves me. Love is always two-ways.
Our culture defines “love” in several different ways. The first is that “love” is used to refer to intense sexual attraction. We say that we have “love at first sight”. This kind of love is necessary for us to have marriages, families, and children. But it doesn’t last very long. The feeling of love goes away and we move on. This is not biblical love.
Another way we use the word “love” is to signify an intense feeling of liking something. You go into a restaurant and you love the meal. You hear music on the radio and say you love that song. You would love to get a new Lexus for Christmas. Again, this is not biblical love.
A third way we use “love” is as a synonym for tolerance. Increasingly the culture and some churches say that love of neighbor requires us to be non-judgmental. So if we love someone we must not hold them to ancient biblical standards. This love requires us to tolerate what we used to call sin. Again, this is not biblical love.
Biblical love happens when we place the welfare of someone else about our own welfare. We will do anything for that other person. We will sacrifice our own lives for that person if we have to.
Biblical love forms the building blocks of families. A man and women fall in love. Each one places the welfare of the other above their own. Each one would sacrifice their life for the other. This kind of love is needed for raising children. A child needs biblical love. They need parents who will place the child’s welfare over their own. They need parents who would sacrifice their own lives for them. And so biblical love is what binds families together.
And this is why God prohibits adultery. When two people share biblical love they are committed to raising the welfare of the other above their own. But adultery breaks this commitment, destroys families, and is devastating to the one left behind. So adultery must be avoided for the sake of love and families.
Biblical love is not just for families. It can characterize friendships as well. In our Christian education classes this week we have been looking at the story of David and Jonathan. Jonathan was the Son of King Saul and was expected to be the heir. David had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel to be the next king. So these two were competing for the throne, but instead, they became best friends. They loved each other. Each lifted up the welfare of the other above his own. Each was ready to sacrifice his own life for the other. And when King Saul wanted to kill David, Jonathan, risking his own life, protected his friend.
Love causes us to speak out when someone else is hurting himself. If someone is leading a life of sin, love requires not toleration of the sin, but a call to repentance from the sin. So love compels us to proclaim salvation and forgiveness of sin to the world. Love requires us to bring people to Christ.
Biblical love is also the foundation of our triune God. We read in 1 John 4:8 “God is love”. For God to be love there must be a relationship within God. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. Both put the welfare of the other about their own. Both would sacrifice their lives for the other, as the Son did. Love comes from the Father through his Spirit. Love comes from the Son, through his Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit is the love that binds Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into our one triune God.
So biblical love is a characteristic of God and the building blocks of families and society. And this brings us to today’s scripture
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
“We ought to love one another.” What kind of love is John telling us to have? Are we to have an intense sexual reaction to each other in the church? No. Are we to intensively like everyone in the church? No. Are we called to be tolerant of whatever behavior people in the church do? No. What kind of love is expected among members of the church? Biblical love. John is telling us to lift up the welfare of each person in the church above our own, even if this means living sacrificially. We are to model Jesus’ love in our relationships with one another.
How is this possible? How can we have biblical love for people we barely know? How can we lift the welfare of someone else without first being in a committed relationship? We can do this because we have already received God’s love. And if God’s love is in our hearts then certainly we can love each other unconditionally and sacrificially.
Here is how it works. God reveals himself to us in many ways. We read about God in scripture. We encounter God in prayer. We see God at work in the world. And as we get to know God more and more we begin to develop a relationship with him. And since God is love we begin to experience God’s unconditional and sacrificial love in our lives. We know that God loves us because God sent his own Son into the world for our benefit. And this Son loves us so much he sacrificed his own life for our sins. The evidence is there. God loves us unconditionally and sacrificially.
Jesus put it this way, John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
When we love one another this way God’s love is complete. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit comes to us we are empowered to love as God loves us. God’s love comes to us and goes through those we love before returning back to God.
Let me tell you a true story about sacrificial love for a church and a nation. Beginning on Sunday, December 9 of this year over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China have been arrested. Pastor Wang Yi, Senior Pastor of Early Rain wrote a letter in October and asked that this letter be released 48 hours after his disappearance. Pastor Wang and his wife, Jiang Rong, have not been seen since last Sunday. And so this letter has been released to the world. Pastor Wang was arrested because he loved his church and the people of China unconditionally and sacrificially as Christ commanded. His only motivation was to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. But his message has angered the authorities in China. And it is feared that he has disappeared forever. I have placed copies of his letter in the back of the sanctuary for you to read. Please keep Pastor Wang, his family and his church in your prayers.
God is love. The Holy Spirit brings the love of the Father to the Son and the love of the Son to the Father. And the Holy Spirit brings the love of God to us.
We are the beloved of God. Our mission is to deliver God’s love to a world that needs it. This task will not be easy. But it will be fruitful. We are to love people so much that we will bring them to Jesus Christ without regard to what might happen to us and possibly at the cost of our own lives. But the task is worth it because of the surpassing value of God’s love which we have already received.
Let’s pray. Lord in heaven we pray this day for Pastor Wang and the members of Early Rain Covenant Church. They are loved by you and in turn, they love you. They love one another and the people of China so much that they want everyone to come to the saving faith of Jesus Christ. But now they are being persecuted by the government of China. We ask Lord that protect these your servants and let them once again worship you freely and bring others to Christ.
We also pray for our church. Help us, Lord, to love one another just as you love us. Help us, Lord, to reach out into our community a love people be bringing them to Christ. Help us to love others as unconditionally and sacrificially as you love us. This we pray in the name of the love that came at Christmas. Amen.
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon 1 John 4:10-12 “Love”
December 23, 2018
Listen to this sermon
The countdown to Christmas continues. This is the fourth Sunday of Advent. The Season of Christmas starts Tuesday. So we complete our Advent waiting on Monday night at 6:00 pm when we welcome our savior into the world with our Candlelight Christmas Eve Service Pageant. Please join us.
So far this we have looked at hope, peace, and joy. Now we turn to the greatest of all virtues, love. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Today we are talking about love. Love is very different from hope, peace, and joy. Hope, peace, and joy all are internal. They exist in our hearts. We have hope, peace, and joy within us. But love requires a relationship. I love another. Another loves me. Love is always two-ways.
Our culture defines “love” in several different ways. The first is that “love” is used to refer to intense sexual attraction. We say that we have “love at first sight”. This kind of love is necessary for us to have marriages, families, and children. But it doesn’t last very long. The feeling of love goes away and we move on. This is not biblical love.
Another way we use the word “love” is to signify an intense feeling of liking something. You go into a restaurant and you love the meal. You hear music on the radio and say you love that song. You would love to get a new Lexus for Christmas. Again, this is not biblical love.
A third way we use “love” is as a synonym for tolerance. Increasingly the culture and some churches say that love of neighbor requires us to be non-judgmental. So if we love someone we must not hold them to ancient biblical standards. This love requires us to tolerate what we used to call sin. Again, this is not biblical love.
Biblical love happens when we place the welfare of someone else about our own welfare. We will do anything for that other person. We will sacrifice our own lives for that person if we have to.
Biblical love forms the building blocks of families. A man and women fall in love. Each one places the welfare of the other above their own. Each one would sacrifice their life for the other. This kind of love is needed for raising children. A child needs biblical love. They need parents who will place the child’s welfare over their own. They need parents who would sacrifice their own lives for them. And so biblical love is what binds families together.
And this is why God prohibits adultery. When two people share biblical love they are committed to raising the welfare of the other above their own. But adultery breaks this commitment, destroys families, and is devastating to the one left behind. So adultery must be avoided for the sake of love and families.
Biblical love is not just for families. It can characterize friendships as well. In our Christian education classes this week we have been looking at the story of David and Jonathan. Jonathan was the Son of King Saul and was expected to be the heir. David had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel to be the next king. So these two were competing for the throne, but instead, they became best friends. They loved each other. Each lifted up the welfare of the other above his own. Each was ready to sacrifice his own life for the other. And when King Saul wanted to kill David, Jonathan, risking his own life, protected his friend.
Love causes us to speak out when someone else is hurting himself. If someone is leading a life of sin, love requires not toleration of the sin, but a call to repentance from the sin. So love compels us to proclaim salvation and forgiveness of sin to the world. Love requires us to bring people to Christ.
Biblical love is also the foundation of our triune God. We read in 1 John 4:8 “God is love”. For God to be love there must be a relationship within God. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father. Both put the welfare of the other about their own. Both would sacrifice their lives for the other, as the Son did. Love comes from the Father through his Spirit. Love comes from the Son, through his Spirit. And so the Holy Spirit is the love that binds Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into our one triune God.
So biblical love is a characteristic of God and the building blocks of families and society. And this brings us to today’s scripture
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
“We ought to love one another.” What kind of love is John telling us to have? Are we to have an intense sexual reaction to each other in the church? No. Are we to intensively like everyone in the church? No. Are we called to be tolerant of whatever behavior people in the church do? No. What kind of love is expected among members of the church? Biblical love. John is telling us to lift up the welfare of each person in the church above our own, even if this means living sacrificially. We are to model Jesus’ love in our relationships with one another.
How is this possible? How can we have biblical love for people we barely know? How can we lift the welfare of someone else without first being in a committed relationship? We can do this because we have already received God’s love. And if God’s love is in our hearts then certainly we can love each other unconditionally and sacrificially.
Here is how it works. God reveals himself to us in many ways. We read about God in scripture. We encounter God in prayer. We see God at work in the world. And as we get to know God more and more we begin to develop a relationship with him. And since God is love we begin to experience God’s unconditional and sacrificial love in our lives. We know that God loves us because God sent his own Son into the world for our benefit. And this Son loves us so much he sacrificed his own life for our sins. The evidence is there. God loves us unconditionally and sacrificially.
Jesus put it this way, John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
When we love one another this way God’s love is complete. Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit comes to us we are empowered to love as God loves us. God’s love comes to us and goes through those we love before returning back to God.
Let me tell you a true story about sacrificial love for a church and a nation. Beginning on Sunday, December 9 of this year over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China have been arrested. Pastor Wang Yi, Senior Pastor of Early Rain wrote a letter in October and asked that this letter be released 48 hours after his disappearance. Pastor Wang and his wife, Jiang Rong, have not been seen since last Sunday. And so this letter has been released to the world. Pastor Wang was arrested because he loved his church and the people of China unconditionally and sacrificially as Christ commanded. His only motivation was to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. But his message has angered the authorities in China. And it is feared that he has disappeared forever. I have placed copies of his letter in the back of the sanctuary for you to read. Please keep Pastor Wang, his family and his church in your prayers.
God is love. The Holy Spirit brings the love of the Father to the Son and the love of the Son to the Father. And the Holy Spirit brings the love of God to us.
We are the beloved of God. Our mission is to deliver God’s love to a world that needs it. This task will not be easy. But it will be fruitful. We are to love people so much that we will bring them to Jesus Christ without regard to what might happen to us and possibly at the cost of our own lives. But the task is worth it because of the surpassing value of God’s love which we have already received.
Let’s pray. Lord in heaven we pray this day for Pastor Wang and the members of Early Rain Covenant Church. They are loved by you and in turn, they love you. They love one another and the people of China so much that they want everyone to come to the saving faith of Jesus Christ. But now they are being persecuted by the government of China. We ask Lord that protect these your servants and let them once again worship you freely and bring others to Christ.
We also pray for our church. Help us, Lord, to love one another just as you love us. Help us, Lord, to reach out into our community a love people be bringing them to Christ. Help us to love others as unconditionally and sacrificially as you love us. This we pray in the name of the love that came at Christmas. Amen.
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