The Hope Before Us

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged… (Heb 6:17-18)

As we move one more week into Hebrews, we find an interesting passage that to me, seems to dovetail perfectly with the season that we are in.  The writer talks about the promise God made to Abraham, a promise confirmed with an oath.  You bible students remember the promise to Abraham, but God not only promised the “Promised Land,” but also that the nation that sprang forth from Abraham would bless the entire earth:

In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. (Gen 22:18)

What was God speaking of?  He was speaking of the one to come, the Messiah, the same one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Is 9:6)

This Son would be born some 800 years after Isaiah spoke of Him – born of the seed of Abraham, born to a virgin, born to a simple family from Nazareth, born in Bethlehem.  Born to bring salvation to mankind, truly the greatest blessing that this world could ever hope for!

This Christmas comes during a time of difficulty for many families.  Most people I know are not as worried about what gift they will be giving or getting, but are worried about paying the mortgage, keeping the lights on, keeping our kids clothed.  People are hurting. 

But as Christians this is a great time to be reminded that Christmas is not about gifts, Christmas is about the One who gave Himself to be the greatest gift that mankind could hope for  -  Jesus Christ!  So friends, this Christmas let’s take time to thank our Heavenly Father for sending His Son, 2000 years ago, to this earth.  Lets take time to tell our friends and families that we love them.  Lets take time to worship our true King!

This Christmas season, let us all take hold of the hope set before us, that we might be greatly encouraged!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,

Pastor Clay & Tammy Ritter

The man who tried to Stop Christmas.

This morning I read a great post on Christmas by Greg Laurie (Harvest Christian Fellowship) - a post good enough to repost!    Thanks Greg, and I hope you all enjoy it...

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A real war has been raging over Christmas. Many retailers have instructed their employees to no longer say, “Merry Christmas,” but to say, “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” instead. We see this trend being carried through to the public schools and other places. Some school districts in Florida and New Jersey have prohibited the singing of Christmas carols altogether. And in Texas of all places, a school confiscated one child’s gifts for classmates, which were pencils with the inscription, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”A Wisconsin elementary school actually changed the lyrics for “Silent Night” to a secularized version, “Cold in the Night.” “God Rest You Merry Persons?”

Attempts to create a politically correct version of Christmas are not only happening in the U.S., but abroad as well. Cardiff Cathedral, an Anglican Church in Wales, has made the hymn, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” more gender-friendly by renaming it, “God Rest You Merry Persons.” (That just doesn’t have the same sound.) Some are even suggesting they take it a step further by substituting the words “higher power” for God in the lyrics. Now we are losing the whole point of the song.

Worse then the Grinch.

Efforts to stop Christmas have been going on for a very long time. In fact, someone tried to stop the first Christmas, and he wasn’t a fictional character like the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge. He is known as Herod the Great. Herod was born into a politically well-connected family, and at the age of 25, he was named the governor of Galilee – a very high-ranking positing for such a young man. The Romans were hoping that Herod would somehow be able to control the Jews who lived in that area. And in 40 B.C., the Roman Senate gave Herod the title of “king of the Jews.” This was a title the Jews especially hated, because Herod was not a religious man. He was not a devout man. He had no regard for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or for the Jewish people. But he loved that title because it spoke of power.

Herod the Great?

And that was Herod’s problem. He was addicted to power. Power has been described as the ultimate human obsession, and that certainly was the case with King Herod. His craftiness knew no barriers, because he had a morbid distrust of anyone who would try to take his reign. He had his spies fan out and constantly look for any potential threats to his throne. Over the years, he killed many people whom he perceived as a threat, including his brother-in-law, mother-in-law, two of his own sons and even his wife. The ancient historian Josephus described Herod as barbaric. Another writer described him as the malevolent maniac.

The real ‘King of the Jews’.

By the time Jesus was born, Herod’s life was coming to an end. The so-called king of the Jews was slowly dying of a disease, and he was rapidly losing his mind. He had successfully fought off all attempts to take his power away when mysterious visitors from the east suddenly came blowing into town. They were strange men with strange questions. And right off the bat, they pushed Herod’s button when they said they were looking for the one who was born the king of the Jews. That was Herod’s title, but he certainly wasn’t born the king of the Jews. Yet that is who the wise men were looking for.

So Herod called in the members of the local clergy to assist him, scribes who had spent their lives in the study of Scripture. Immediately they pointed to the prophecy of Micah that predicted the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. But Herod wasn’t thinking about prophetic significance; he was thinking about the threat to his throne. He secretly called in the wise men and asked them to tell him exactly when the star appeared. Then he told them to search for the child and when they had found him, to report back so that he could go and worship also. But the Bible tells us that after the wise men found Jesus and worshiped him, God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. So the wise men took a different way home. Herod was so angry these wise men had not reported back to him that he freaked out. All the worst instincts of a lifetime of cruelty came to the surface, and he ordered the cold-blooded murder of all males in Bethlehem and its districts under the age of 2.

Contrast of Kings.

We find an interesting contrast of kings in this story. Both possessed immense power, but how they chose to use it revealed the hearts of two radically different men. Herod was a tyrant; Jesus was a servant. One was consumed with self-interest; the other was focused on pleasing God and serving others. One manipulated, slandered, deceived and coerced, while the other healed, touched, taught and loved.

Herod tried to stop Christmas, and more to the point, he tried to stop Christ. But even with all of his wealth and power and influence, he came to ruin.

‘Happy Holidays’

Like Herod, there are people today who oppose Christmas. They don’t want us to say, “Merry Christmas.” They don’t want us to say that Jesus is the reason for the season. They don’t want us to sing our Christmas carols. They don’t want us to post the Ten Commandments in our classrooms or have prayers in public places. They don’t want any freedom of expression in our culture. They want to impose their values – or lack of values – on us. There are people today who oppose everything about God or about Jesus Christ. And that is what Herod did. He was a man who fought against God and ended up destroying himself.

Don’t forget Jesus at Christmas.

Of course, we can complain about people who are leaving Christ out of Christmas, but let’s not do that ourselves. We can forget to keep Christ in Christmas with all of our busyness at this time of year. The wise men had it right. They wanted to worship Jesus. And that is quite dramatic when you consider these men were like royalty themselves, yet willing to bow before the baby king. Their gifts were an expression of worship from the overflow of adoring and grateful hearts. And right worship is always – and must be – the only basis for right giving and right service. Christmas is all about Christ. It is not about Christmas presents; it is about his Christmas presence in our lives.

Better Things...

Well folks, you better buckle your seat belts!  This Sunday we’ll be diving into one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament - Hebrews chapter 6!

Starting out in verse 13 of chapter 5, the writer rebukes his intended audience for having a severe case of arrested development (For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe).  Then goes on in verses 1-6 of chapter 6 to lay out the serious ramifications of remaining in this state:  the possibility of falling away from their faith altogether.

This passage has been the center of many theological debates regarding whether a Christian can “lose” his or her salvation.  Some believe the writer is referring to people who only “seemed” to be saved; others hold that he is making a hypothetical argument; and some believe this passage teaches that a person can walk away from their faith, and never be reconciled to God.

It would seem that this is a passage that we would do well to heed and understand! 

I told you last Sunday that we would be spending the next few weeks presenting the person of Jesus Christ, our great King and High Priest.  Well this passage is not a tangent from that topic.  This passage is going to direct our focus, like a laser, to the realization that Jesus Christ is indeed our Great King, and our Great High Priest, and thus He should hold the preeminent place in our lives. And while we will take careful measure of the warnings that we will be presented with, we will end the message with a confident encouragement of better things… 

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you…  (Heb 6:9)

Join us Sunday for the next installment of our Hebrews series:  Better Things!

Pastor Clay

Intoducing: Melchizedek!

This Sunday we open a new chapter in our study of Hebrews, and for the next several weeks we will be looking at an important aspect of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: His role as our eternal High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek. 

Melchizedek is a mysterious and interesting character in scripture.  First referenced in Genesis 14, Melchizedek was unique in that he was both a King and a Priest.  He reigned at Salem, which is held to be the early city of Jerusalem. His name means “king of righteousness” and “king of peace.

Jewish tradition holds that Melchizedek is actually Shem, one of Noah’s three sons. This is quite possible, since Shem lived to be 602 years old, and was still alive during Abraham’s time.  Shem was also related to Abraham (Gen 11), so there is good reason to believe that they knew each other. But the writer also states that Melchizedek was “without father or mother, without genealogy” (Heb 7:3), therefore many scholars hold that Melchizedek could not have been Shem.

Regardless, one thing is certain: Melchizedek is a presented in scripture as a type of Christ.  Psalm 110:4 declares: 

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Ps 110:4)

..and the writer of Hebrews will develop this theme further as we look at Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest!

Join us Sunday as we delve further into the book of Hebrews!

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Why is it so hard?

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Heb 4:9-11)

As we move forward in our study of Hebrews, chapter 4 brings us to an interesting paradox.  We have seen that the people did not enter the Promised Land because they had no faith.  In other words the writer is noting that there is a difference between belief, and faith: Belief "believes," but faith "acts on that belief." The Israelites were not willing to put action to their belief, which would be to step out and confront the giants in the land. It was simply too hard, and so they failed, and they all died in the wilderness.

Ironically, this is a place that many Christians find themselves today.  They believe in Jesus and what He did on the cross, and they believe that we are supposed to have an abundant life in Christ, however they find it simply too hard walk out.  They try and try to please God, but come up short, and end up giving in to the desires of their flesh. 

Why is it so hard?  The writer of Hebrews talks about rest, but some seem to live in a continuing cycle of striving to please God, then failing, then remorse… over and over.

Well friends, there is a solution, there is a rest; it's name is surrender, and we'll talk about it this Sunday in Hebrews chapter 4.

Pastor Clay

The Lord has done great things...

These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the LORD:

If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the LORD; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning.  (Lev 7:11-15)

One of the offerings given in Leviticus was the “thanksgiving offering”, which involved three types of bread:  an unleavened cake; a thin wafer; and a cake with mixed flour.  In a way these three cakes can represent the most sincere heart of thanks that a person can have:  “heart, soul, and mind” (Deut 6:5).  This to me represents a sense that we live our lives in a constant state of thanksgiving.  Despite our problems or difficulties, we realize that we have been touched by the Mercy King (thanks Fee!), and given new life! 

Another interesting aspect of this offering is that all of it had to be eaten that same day.  Nothing was to be kept until the next day.  This leaves the implication that the person would need some help eating all of that food – in other words it was a fellowship offering!  It was to be shared with others. What a great picture of our thanksgiving meal:  Coming together as family and friends, sharing a meal, expressing our thanks to God for all that He has done for us. 

I pray that you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.  Share your life with someone else this week - share in the fellowship offering!

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 

(Ps 126:3)

 ... till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Worship Magnifies God...

ran across this recently, thought you might enjoy it...

When you worship, you magnify God.  Your enemies or circumstances may seem to be so large and powerful that they are all you can see. But when you worship, you not only magnify God, but you reduce the size and power of everything else around you.
- Jentezen Franklin

Jesus: fully God, fully man, our great High Priest!

In Hebrews 3 the writer presents Jesus Christ as our High Priest. Having a proper perspective of Jesus in this role is essential for a healthy Christian life, especially when we encounter problems in life.

When I worked in the tech industry, we would often find problems with our products that went beyond running a test or replacing a piece of equipment.  In those cases I had to escalate the problem to the design team, the guys that actually wrote the code or designed the hardware.  Those guys, because they were involved in the creation of the product, they were able to fix problems that no one else could.

Fully God

When we have problems in this life, problems that the counsel of men cannot solve, we can escalate our issue to the creator – Jesus Christ – who was personally involved in the creation of the world and man:  He was the design team for man!  He knows how we were built, what makes us tick. He knows how to reach into that deep place in our heart or mind and touch that tender place.  He knows exactly what is needed to bring us to a place of healing.

Fully Man

We also see that Jesus, being fully man, has walked in our shoes, so He can understand any problems we might have from our perspective. He can relate.  He is sensitive to what we are going through.

Fully God, fully man, our great High Priest, who loves us to much He died for us!

In His Presence...

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.  Hebrews 3:1-4  (NIV)

This Sunday we'll be holding communion together as a church, which I am really excited about! 

One of the things I have noticed in life (as the years click by) is that it is easy to fall into a routine.  For instance:  On the second Sunday of the month, we take communion. We do it every month.  Some months I notice it a few days earlier, and I'll have to somehow "fit it in" to the service.

This month I am feeling led to reduce the message time, and increase the time we spend with the Lord, to seek His face and enter into His presence.  I am really looking forward to it, and I hope you are as well.

See you Sunday!

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Drifting away

Chandler and I landed in California last night and Chelsea picked up up from the airport... We were so happy to see her! 

Of course with the time difference I woke up at 5 am!  As I was studying Hebrews this morning I ran across this illustration that really hits home the concept of drifting. I thought it tied in with the message from Hebrews 1 yesterday. 

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If we do not give the more earnest heed, we will drift away.  Drifting is something that happens quite automatically when we are not anchored to anything solid; if we are not "anchored" in the superiority of Jesus, we will drift with the currents of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

One doesn't have to do anything to simply drift away; most Christian regress comes from a slow drifting, not from a sudden departure.

An ungodly farmer died, and they discovered in his will that he had left his farm to the Devil.  In the court, they didn't quite know what to do with it -- how do you give a farm to the Devil?  Finally, the judge decided: "The best way to carry out the wishes of the deceased is to allow the farm to grow weeds, the soil to erode, and the house and barn to rot.  In our opinion, the best way to leave something to the Devil is to do nothing." 

We can leave our lives to the Devil the same way - doing nothing, drifting with whatever currents will drive us.

Pastor clay 

Sent from my iPhone

God has spoken...

The book of Hebrews opens with the following declaration:

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.  (Heb 1:1-2)

When we read the Old Testament it is clear that we are reading the Word of God, speaking to us through various people and circumstances. Starting with the book of Genesis we read the simple, majestic tale of creation and the flood. Then follows the straightforward narrative of the patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Then comes the thundering of the Law, followed by the sweet singing of the Psalmist, the exalted beauty of the prophets, and the homespun wisdom of the Proverbs. 

Next is the delicate tenderness of the Song of Solomon, then the marvelous mysteries of the prophetic writings, as Ezekiel and Daniel. All of it is rich and powerful, but it is incomplete. It never brings us to a point of closure. There is no ending.  After Malachi the narrative simply stops.

But when we open the pages of the New Testament and read the four-fold picture of Jesus Christ, we find that all the Old Testament merges into one voice; the voice of the Son, Jesus Christ. The words and the truth by which God spoke in the Old Testament are merged into one complete discourse in His Son Jesus Christ.  Therefore, God's word to man has been fully uttered in the person of His Son. There is nothing more to be said. Jesus Christ is God's final word to man. Jesus Christ is supreme!

Join us Sunday as we begin to unravel the message of Hebrews, the supremacy of Jesus Christ!

Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay

Upper Room - TONIGHT!

Just wanted to remind everyone that our monthly Upper Room worship/prayer/communion service is tonight!  There are a lot of things to pray for...

• The upcoming Kids Fun Day
• The upcoming Women's Conference
• The launch of our Holy Grounds outreach ministry

...greater things are yet to come!

Pastor Clay

Introduction to Hebrews

The book of Hebrews has many messages:  It is a book of evaluation, examination, exhortation, expectation, and exaltation!  It was written by an unknown author in the early first century, most likely before 70 AD. The purpose seems to have been to encourage Christians, and Hebrew Christians specifically, to stand fast in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This second generation of Christians, with whom the writer of Hebrews identifies, were under significant stress during that time period.  They were persecuted by the Romans, the Jewish religious leaders, and even their families.   Those Christians may well have been tempted to return to their old life, simply in order to exist in peace. Jewish converts may have been under particular pressure, as they would have been shunned by their Jewish family and friends.  They may have “looked back” to Judaism, and been tempted to return to it.

But the problem with looking back is that while doing so you cannot move forward!  If we as Christians look back to our old life (and we tend to only remember the “good times!”), our spiritual life can come to a standstill, and we even run the risk of going backwards.  So the writer of Hebrews exhorts these discouraged Christians, along with Christians today, to continue to be strong with Jesus in light of the complete superiority of who He is and what He has done for them, and for us. 

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb 13:20-21

Join us this Sunday as we open this powerful, sometimes misunderstood, book of the bible.


... till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Giving in action

Last week we talked about our tithing and our giving.  We looked at the examples in the bible about the firstborn, and the firstfruits, and how God tells us to bring them into the house of the Lord.  We learned that everything that comes into our lives is a result of the blessings of God, and when we give Him our tithe, our ‘firstfruit,’ we are acknowledging that fact. We are saying “God I understand that you have blessed me, and I am going to be obedient to give you the firstfruit from my wages.”  It is, in effect, an act of worship.  And God responds by promising us a blessing, that our needs will be met, that He will cover our lives!

We also talked about giving, and how our giving is over and above the tithe. That’s why giving is optional! But God promises us that if we give, He will “make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor 9:8)

Well this Sunday we are going to put our faith into action.  In the last several months we have had an increase in the number of requests for financial help.  These are not strangers, but people in our church.  Due to the number of requests, our Benevolence fund is tapped out!

So this Sunday we are going to take up an special offering – a gift for the saints in our body. The verses preceding 2 Cor 9:6-8 give the setting:

2 Cor 9:1-5
There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we-not to say anything about you-would be ashamed of having been so confident.  So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. (NIV)

Now remember, the gift is over and above the tithe.  Think about it, if a person reduces their tithe to give a gift, its like the old adage “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. 

If you cannot give, then please DON’T!  Really!  But pray that the Lord would bless you, and provide you with the means to give.  And if He does, then give!

2 Cor 9:6-8
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

See you Sunday!

Go and Tell

Ever wonder why it is when we have a cookout, 100 people will show up to eat and fellowship, but when we have an outreach, we’re lucky to get 5?  I know what you’re thinking, “Uh oh, here it comes, the pastoral whipping!”

Actually not. Rather than be negative about a low turnout at an outreach, I would rather explore the reasons that many of us shy away from situations where we are called to share our faith in God.  Could it be that we don’t’ care?  I don’t think so.  When I think of our fellowship, I know we all have a genuine heart to reach the lost with the message of the gospel.  We do care about people. I doubt any of us want people to go to hell. 

I believe that there may be several things in play:

Reason #1
Sometimes we get busy with our lives, and we don’t think about the fact that there are people all around us that will end up in hell if someone doesn’t tell them about Jesus.

Reason #2
We are not sure how to go about being effective witnesses for Christ in our everyday lives.  We don’t know how to be missional in our lives.

Being missional simply means we are living our lives with the purpose of sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ to those around us. It means understanding that every Christian has been sent by Jesus into our communities and the surrounding culture for the sake of the King and His kingdom. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).

Being effective witnesses for Jesus Christ is not as hard as you think, it simply requires some focus on our part.  It requires that we become aware of people and their needs.  It requires that we take specific steps to build relationships with people.  And it requires that we have an understanding of our faith so that we can share it with confidence.

Join us Sunday as we conclude our Essentials Series with “Go and Tell – Becoming Missional in our lives”

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Providing for the bride

I mentioned on Sunday that I had to cut a lot of material from my message, and one of the things that I cut was an illustration that I think helps us see our tithe from God’s perspective.

Imagine you are a rich man, a billionaire, you went away for a long period, and you left ten stewards to take care of your wife.  You made arrangements for each steward to receive $10,000 per month, and you instructed each one of them to provide $1000 a month to your wife so that she would be taken care of.

After a year or so, you call your wife and ask her, “How are things going dear?  Are you getting your monthly provision?”  She then proceeds to tell you that five of the men have been faithfully giving $1000 per month, two of the men have been giving her $3000 per month, two of the men give are giving her $100 per month, and one of them has given nothing. What would your response be?  I’ll tell you what I would do:

• The men giving her $1000 per month - I would thank them for their faithfulness, and I would continue with our arrangement.
• The men giving her only $100 per month – there is no way I would continue giving them a $10,000 per month allotment.  I would reduce their allotment to $1000 per month, with instructions to continue giving my wife $100 per month.
• The man that is giving nothing – I would discontinue our arrangement.
• But the men that were giving my wife $3000 per month – Seeing that they have such a heart for taking care of my wife, I would take the allotment that I took from the other men, and give it to them. I would increase their allotment!

How does this relate to us?  The church is the bride of Christ (Eph 5), and God has instructed us, as faithful stewards, to provide for His bride with the provision that He has given to us.

Think about that:  God trusts us to take care of His bride!

Pastor Clay

Show me your statement...

This coming Sunday we will be talking about everyone’s favorite topic:  Tithing and Giving.  Yes I am being facetious, tithing and giving is probably not our favorite topic, but it could be said that money is a topic that people think about… a lot.  We could say it’s the most popular topic!

When the topic of money comes up, its usually in the context of us not having enough of it.  We could all use a little more.  Someone once asked Nelson Rockefeller how much money was enough, and he responded “just a little more.”

But in reality, the issue is not how much money we have, but "what does God want to teach us about money?"

Did you know that there are over 500 verses in the bible that deal with prayer, over 500 verses that deal with faith, but there are over 2000 verses that deal with the subject of money and possessions?  Jesus talked about money in sixteen of His thirty-eight parables.  Clearly, from the bible's standpoint, there is something that God wants us to understand about His principles concerning money and possessions.

Why?   Perhaps it is because money is a test of our faith and our priorities. You see, money is something that is near and dear to us;  we need it to live; we use it to buy stuff that we need, and stuff that we want.  So the way we manage our money can tell us a lot about what we consider to be important.  The is an old adage:  Show me your checkbook, and I’ll show you your priorities. I suppose today it would be “look at your online account statement…!

I certainly don’t want to look at anyone’s account statement, but perhaps we should ask ourselves:  What would my account statement say about my priorities?  What would it say about my faith?

Everybody worships something

Its true,  everyone worships something: The atheist worships at the alter of truth;  the scientist worships at the alter of knowledge; the businessman worships his money.  We all have something in our live that we live for, the question is do you know what you worship?

For the Christian, we know whom we worship: We worship the living God, who created the heavens and the earth, and who calls us by His name into a glorious inheritance!

Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him. Isa 43:7

Join us Sunday morning at Calvary Chapel, 9 & 11 am, as we explore worship, and why it's important to us.

Pastor Clay

Why should we worship God?

Worship.  The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship – meaning to give worth to something.  When we as Christians ‘worship’ God, we are putting action and meaning to our belief that God is worthy of our worship.  But the worthiness of God goes way beyond how we might apply worth to other things in our lives. A house or a car has worth, but we wouldn’t worship our house simply because of the value that it holds. 

So we should consider:  What makes God worthy of our worship?  Its an honest question that we should not be afraid to ask, because God has an answer. A big answer.

Think about this:  God is a being that has existed since eternity past, that is a long time! He spoke the universe into existence, a space so big that even with our most powerful radio telescopes, that can look hundreds of trillions of miles out, we cannot see the end of it.  That is big.  He not only spoke the universe into existence, with it’s billions of galaxies and trillions of stars and planets; He formed this little rock that we live on.  He formed it in such a perfect way, and hung it in the perfect spot in our little solar system, that it would be habitable for life.  He created it to have a self-sustaining atmospheric and ecological systems that would perpetuate live as we know it.

But He didn’t just create this reality for us and then walk away, He has made Himself known to us, since the beginning of time, that we might know Him and have a relationship with Him. That is pretty awesome when you think about it, that a God this big and powerful would care about us that way.  That He would greatly desire to have a relationship with us, even calling us His children.

To me that’s pretty exciting!  To me our God us a great God!  And I don’t know about you, but that is why I worship Him.

A few weeks ago I watched Louie Giglio talk about how great God is, and I thought you would enjoy it too.

Lioue Giglio - How Great is Our God


Titled from Eric Lee on Vimeo.

The Heart of Worship

This coming Sunday our Essentials topic will be worship.  So leading up to Sunday, I’ll be posting some things to think about regarding worship.  

Worship is a many-faceted experience for the believer, and the “how” is not as important as the fact that we worship. 

2 Cor 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

But we need to realize that a heart of worship is not brought about by having good praise music. In fact we must be careful here.  As a church that is gifted musically, we run the risk of falling into the trap of becoming "connoisseurs of worship”. That's when we start thinking “I like/don’t like that song,” or “I like/don’t like the way he/she sings,” or “I like it better when _____ (fill in the blank!) leads the worship”. If we are not careful, we can idolize the music of worship, which is just as idolatrous as bowing to an image of a pagan god.

One of our well known songs “The Heart of Worship” was the product of just such an error.  Matt Redman was part of a church in England that was growing, and as you might expect the music was awesome! The guys realized one day that the music was part of the reason the church was growing:  People were coming to hear the awesome music. Matt and his team made a courageous decision, "We have created an idol with our music. We are going to stop playing all music in our corporate worship until the Holy Spirit clears us of our conviction about idolatry."

Essentially, he said "we're going to put ourselves out of work.” So the music stopped. I’m sure some left, but many saw the error of their ways and stayed, and prayed, and read the word, and grew.  The church even continued to grow because these folks were seeking something real, something beyond a good worship set and emotional times in the music. The were seeking the LORD.  At the end of it – Matt wrote “Heart of Worship”, and the theme of the song is “It’s not about the music, Lord it’s about you!”

This is not what everyone should do, stop the music, but it is a good example for us in that we should be in a continual state of examination of our heart.  We want to ensure that we are not seeking an emotional experience, or a state of spiritual bliss ... or anything else ...except God

A heart of worship is a byproduct of our love for the Lord.  If He is in us, and we are in Him, then our fruit will be apparent, including a desire to worship Him: A heart of worship is had by developing a relationship with the object of our worship

Pastor Clay

The unborn have a right to life...

This Sunday our church will be joining many other area churches to stand for the right to life of the unborn. This is the story of Gianna Jessen, a Christian recording artist who was born in 1977 in Los Angeles, CA. Her mother went to a Planned Parenthood facility to obtain a saline abortion in the third trimester.  However, instead of dying in the womb, as was the plan, Gianna was born in the abortion clinic - severely injured but alive.  This is her story.



Gianna Jessen from LMF CAM on Vimeo.

Join us Sunday - click here for info

For real?

I ran across this article today - for real?


Athiests and agnostics know more about religion according to new survey

to be sure, this doesn't apply to Calvary Chapel folk!  Do you guys know who Martin Luther was?

PC

Why the bible?

Someone passed this on to me and I thought it was a great follow up to the message on Sunday.  And, Ravi Zacharias rocks!

The Bible - message notes...

I received some requests for the message - the audio and the notes are up on the website...

www.calvaryofwilmington.org/TLW/Essentials/EssentialsSeries.html 

PC

The bible and why we can trust it

The Bible exists among us as one book. Yet it is in fact it is made up of sixty-six books, written by forty authors. Its compilation extended from the days of Moses (1400 BC) to the days of the apostle John (end of 1st Century AD); a period of 1,500 years. Its narrative extends from the creation, and extends through history right up to the present day; then goes further and tells what will happen to man and his world in the future.

The Bible maintains one view of human nature from beginning to end:  Man is not only mortal, a creature destined to die after a period of years, but he is morally weak as well. Endowed with the most remarkable powers of intelligence and reason, conscience and will, he is also subject to the pressures of his own desires to please himself. He is constantly under pressure to be self-indulgent, covetous, and above all to defend his own pride. Knowing what he ought to do, he so often fails to do it. In the terms of the Bible, even when men know the will of God, in general they prefer to do their own will instead.

The bible details the birth of a people: The nation of Israel.  A people called by God to follow Him, yet who failed time and time again to live up to God’s calling.  The portrait of the nation which emerges is that of a people constantly abandoning the true worship of their God and adopting the corrupt idolatrous practices of their pagan neighbors, with the inevitable immorality. The writings of the prophets without exception contain substantial passages exposing Israel’s failure to obey their God, and prophesying the judgments which would come upon them, if they did not mend their ways. Those judgments were fulfilled in successive invasions by surrounding nations.

The bible clearly speaks of a coming Messiah to the nation of Israel; then fulfills that prophecy through the account of the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The bible devotes significant room to the exhortation of the New Testament Christian, through the writings of Luke, the Apostle Paul, James, Peter, Jude, and John.

Finally the bible spells out in vivid detail what will come to the present age: The rise of a world power, lead by none other than Satan and the Anti-Christ, who will be defeated at the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will then establish His Kingdom here on earth.

There is no other book in the world which has such a range and scope as this.

The question is, where did it come from? Judging by the evidence of the past, no man nor any human authority could have thought out this view, nor would they have been able to maintain it over a period of many centuries. The one explanation that remains is that the bible is truly the Word of God, given to us through the hand of man.

For, “All men are like grass,and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:24-25

Join us Sunday for “The bible, and why I can trust it”
Pastor Clay

The practice of prayer

Last Sunday we talked about the practice of prayer, and I challenged each of us to spend time praying this week for one thing that was “God sized” in our life.  This is your reminder!  And remember that we would love to hear about it when God answers your prayer!

And remember when you come to the Lord in your quiet time, to spend some time in each of these areas:  Adoration (praise), thanksgiving, confession, forgiveness of others, supplication (asking), and contemplation (listening).

I cant wait to hear what God does!

Pastor Clay

When to pray

Someone has said, “If you are swept off your feet, it’s time to get on your knees.” Scripture backs up this claim. In its pages we find ample evidence that prayer can dramatically change situations, people, and sometimes even the very course of nature.

• Nehemiah prayed before he made a request to king Artaxeserxes for materials to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 2) , and the Lord gave Nehemiah favor with Artaxeserxes, granting his every request!
• Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, was a king after God’s heart, yet one day he awoke to find himself surrounded by a coalition of armies bent on destroying Judah (2 Chron 20).  Jehoshaphat prayed and God set the coalition forces against each other, so that Judah did not even have to fight!
• When Joshua needed extra daylight to finish off the Amorites (Josh 10), he prayed and God made the sun stand still in the sky!

In James chapter five we are given a list of times when we might pray:  when you are suffering, when you’re cheerful, if you’re sick, when you have sinned, telling us “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Ja 5:16).  Paul tells us that we should pray “everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim 2:8).  Come to think of it, I think that whatever the circumstances, prayer is always a beneficial!

Join us Sunday, September 19, at 9 & 11 am, as we look into the practice of prayer.

… till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Prayer - Everyone's doing it!

This morning I read an astounding fact:  according to a 2008 study by Brandeis University, ninety percent of Americans say that they pray every day.  Wow!  And it seems to be a growing trend;  A 1996 Time/CNN poll found that eight out of ten Americans pray every day; the numbers are growing!  With the growing economic and political problems our country is facing, it wouldn’t surprise me if that number weren’t even higher today.  There are simply a lot of things to pray about, it would seem.  But is prayer just about getting God to help us out when we’re in a pinch?

This coming Sunday we’ll be talking about prayer, and its place in the life of a Christian: Why we pray, how we pray, and what we can expect of prayer.  But we will also discover that the fundamental purpose of prayer is not about ‘getting things from God’, but rather ‘getting to know God.’  Prayer is about the relationship between God and man.  Just as our verbal conversations are the lifeblood of relationships with our family and friends, our prayer conversations are the lifeblood of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Prayer is like air to the Christian:  Prayer is as essential to knowing God and growing spiritually as breathing is to living and staying healthy.

Prayer is our connection to heaven, and heaven’s connection to us; that is why we should always keep the lines open!

…till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Why I need a church... because its a time to spend with my heavenly Father!

Our last post this week of “Why I need a church”, it is because it is a time to spend with my Heavenly Father.  King David wrote in Psalms: “O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells.” (Psalm 26:8)   Think about it, as a Christian I am a child of God.  My heavenly Father is not cold and aloof, He loves me!  He delights in spending time with me.  He wants to reveal His plan for my life, and as His child I want to get in on the details, to cooperate with Him in that plan!  “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)


But see God is not only my Father, He’s our Father.  And Christ is not only my Savior, He’s our Savior.  Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.” When we gather together to spend time with the Lord, he assures us He is there with us. As we worship God together, Jesus is in our midst, the Holy Spirit is moving in our hearts, and our Heavenly Father is enthroned in our praises, “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (Ps 22:3)

Over the course of the past week, we have seen five very good reasons why we need church in our lives.  Doesn’t it make sense to plant our family’s roots deep into our local fellowship?  I think so.   See you Sunday!

…till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Why I need a church... because its a refuge

Do we think that God instructed us to have a Sabbath one day a week because He wanted to hinder our progress?  I think not!  Our heavenly Father, who created us, knows that we need one day a week not only to take it easy, but we need a day to be refreshed, to be renewed, and to reflect on Him!  For the Christian Sunday is that day!

Coming to church is a way for us to get away from the busyness of the world and the stress of our lives, sort of like a mini-retreat.  It is a place to let the troubles of the world go, and focus my heart on things above, as I worship the Lord.  Coming together with the community of believers, worshipping God in the congregation, allowing the Spirit of God to renew our hearts; this is the essence of a church service.  I don’t know about you, but I have experienced incredible times of healing and refreshment in the midst of a church service.  The Psalmist David wrote “O taste and see that the Lord is good.  How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalms 34:8)  I think David knew what he was talking about.

…till the whole world hears,
Pastor Clay

Why I need a church... because its a billboard!

Have you ever noticed that you can tell what is important to your friends?  Some people love to fish, and you can tell because they spend all their extra time and money keeping up their boat, and they talk about fishing all the time!  I have a neighbor that always has the prettiest yard in our neighborhood, and you can tell it’s important to him because he is out there every day keeping it looking nice (yes, I have yard envy, but that’s another topic).  It is interesting to watch people and observe what is important to them.

We may not realize it, but people are watching us too, and one of the ways that the people in your life can tell that your faith is important to you is when they see you attend church services week after week.  Our commitment to church services makes a strong statement about our relationship with God to our family, our friends, and our neighbors.  Early in our marriage, Tammy and I made a commitment to each other that we would 1) be in church every week, and 2) that we would tithe faithfully.  I believe that these commitments, while they might seem ‘legalistic’, have played a significant part in testifying to our friends, our family, and especially to our children that our faith is real.

In Second Corinthians 3:2-3, the apostle Paul tells the people in the church at Corinth, “You are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men…written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

Join us Sunday at Calvary Chapel Wilmington, at 9 and 11, as we explore this living organism called “the church.”

…till the whole world hears,
Pastor Clay

Why I need a church... because it's a classroom!

As we continue our commentary on the church, and why it’s important in our lives, today’s post is “Why do I need a church? Because it’s a classroom!

For the rest of my life I will be enrolled in a course entitled:  “Growing strong in Jesus Christ,” and each weeks lesson builds upon the one before.  Indeed, our personal time of Bible reading and study is important, but along with that God has placed some within the church who are gifted teachers to help equip us.  In Ephesians 4:11-13, the apostle Paul tells us that: “He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastor-teachers, for the equipping of the saints (that’s us!)…”

Whether it is a small group bible study, a men’s study, women’s study, an Equipping the Saints class, or the Sunday morning message, let us make full use of the many opportunities that we are given through the local church to grow in our faith.

…till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

MOVING!

hey everyone - i am moving my blog to a new location...

http://calvaryofwilmington.org/clayonlife/ 


please make a note of it!  i'll leave this site up for a while, but all new posts will be on the new site.  thanks!

Got Jesus?

“Hey man are you saved? Got Jesus?” 

Perhaps you have been asked this question, hopefully if you’re reading this you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (AMEN!).  But, what does it really mean to be saved? Saved from what?  Am I in danger? Is something bad about to happen to me?

The term “saved,” along with “salvation” and “born again,” are fairly well-known terms in our Judeo-Christian society.  But what do they really mean?  Some people assume that they are Christians because they were born in America, or because they were baptized as infants, or because they belong to a church. I’ve had people tell me “I’m a good person, God will recognize that…”  Sadly, there is a lot of confusion about what it really means to become a Christian.

Even among Christians there is uncertainty.  Many Christians don’t have a firm grasp of what really happened when they were born again:  The change that occurred, the new life that lives within them, the powerful resources that are now available to them, and the incredible inheritance that awaits them in Christ.

This Sunday we will uncover some of these truths in the first session of our Essentials Series:  What Happened When I Got Saved?  Sunday @ 9 & 11 am.

Pastor Clay

He Is Risen!

…do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Matt 28:5-6

According to one study, there are approximately 4,200 religions practiced in the world.  Of these, a dozen are considered “major religions”, in that they have a large following, have one or more “holy books”, and have an identifiable set of beliefs.

But what makes one different from another? Is there one God, with different paths?  Do all roads lead to the same destination?  How can one religion claim to be true above the others?

Well, there is one defining aspect about Christianity that separates it from every other religion:  That Jesus Christ rose from the grave!  Buddha is dead, Mohammed is dead, and Confucius is dead.  You can visit their tombs.  But there is no tomb for the Lord Jesus Christ, His tomb is empty!

Spme have set out to prove that the resurrection of Jesus was a myth, only to find that the evidence proves the resurrection!  Men such as Lee Stroebel, and Josh McDowell set out to prove that Christianity was false, and ended up becoming believers as the evidence was set before them.

That is the true message of the cross:  Yes Jesus died, and His death paid the price for my sin.  But Jesus not only died, He also rose from the grave!  And His victory over death is a sign to us that we will share in this victory:

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection… Rom 6:5

None of the other 4,199 other religions can deliver this promise!

Join us this Sunday, as we look the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay

The Suffering Messiah

Isa 53:3-5
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

When we look at this prophetic utterance regarding the death of Jesus on the cross, we see a man who is rejected, despised, stricken, and afflicted.  These are the sufferings of Jesus Christ on that day some two thousand years ago.  But the question often comes up, “Why did Jesus have to suffer?”  I did an internet search on the question; and got 342,000 results!

But after looking through about 100,000 of the answers (OK, I’m joking – I only looked at five!), something became clear:  All of the reasons that Jesus had to suffer boil down to one thing – US.  You and I.  Look at the words of the scripture in Isaiah:

• He has borne our griefs
• carried our sorrows
• He was wounded for our transgressions,
• He was bruised for our iniquities;
• The chastisement for our peace was upon Him
• by His stripes we are healed

Jesus Christ suffered the cross for you and I, that through His suffering and death, we would be reconciled to God, and have eternal life!

Phil 2:5-11
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Join us Sunday as we look to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

The Suffering Messiah

Isa 53:3-5

He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

 

When we look at this prophetic utterance regarding the death of Jesus on the cross, we see a man who is rejected, despised, stricken, and afflicted.  These are the sufferings of Jesus Christ on that day some two thousand years ago.  But the question often comes up, “Why did Jesus have to suffer?”  I did an internet search on the question;  342,000 results!

 

But after looking through about 100,000 of the answers (OK, I’m joking – I only looked at five!), something became clear:  All of the reasons that Jesus had to suffer boil down to one:  US.  You and I.  Look at the words of the scripture in Isaiah:

 

• He has borne our griefs
• carried our sorrows
• He was wounded for our transgressions,
• He was bruised for our iniquities;
• The chastisement for our peace was upon Him
• by His stripes we are healed

 

Jesus Christ suffered the cross for you and I, that through His suffering and death, we would be reconciled to God, and have eternal life!

 

Phil 2:5-11

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Join us Sunday as we look to the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

 

 

Till the whole world hears...

 

Pastor Clay

 

What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?

Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
Matt 27:22

As we prepare to wrap up our study of Matthew (only three Sundays left!), we come to the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. By the morning of the Day that Jesus was crucified, Jesus had already been before three trials, if you can all them trials.  Perhaps “mock trials” would be a better description, since the outcome had already been determined by the religious leaders.  No matter what, Jesus was going to be found guilty.

Jesus trial before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator of Judea, contains many interesting aspects which we will explore on Sunday.  But one statement stands out, when Pilate asks the Jewish crowd "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"  

I do not believe that it was just a question, asked by a Roman, to the Jews.  To me this question was initiated in the mind of this Roman by the Living God, a question that was recorded for all of history by Matthew, a question that rings out to all mankind, throughout the ages:  What shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?

It is a question that every human being must answer.  What is your answer?

Join us Sunday, for “From Gethsemane to Calvary Part 3 - The Trial of Jesus”

Till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay

Called out by a servant girl...

Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you are saying." 
Matt 26:69-70

As I read this passage I thought “Oh c’mon Peter!  A few minutes ago you were bragging to Jesus that you would stand with Him to the death, and now a little servant girl says “weren’t you with Jesus?” and you completely fail!”

But suddenly I remembered a day in my own life some 30 years ago. I had just become a Christian, and I was working really hard to stay away from my “old ways.”  But on that day I was driving around, and decided to stop by the house of one of my previous ‘partners in crime”, Rick.  It’s not like I wanted to go there, I just happened to be in the neighborhood, and I thought that since I was already there, it would be fine to just drop in and say “hi.”  You know, see how things were going. Of course I hadn’t seen Rick for a few weeks (being all ‘saved’ now and everything), and of course he wondered where I had been.  I’ll never forget his joking comment, “what’d you do, find Jesus!”  The statement hit me like a brick.  That was exactly what had happened, but the thought of admitting it terrified me.  “Ha” I laughed, “no man, I’ve just been busy!” Whew.  Close call.  Who knows what those guys might’ve thought if I told them the truth!

Funny thing, that day.  I thought I was just stopping by to say “hi”, but the next thing I knew it was 11 pm at night, and I was trashed.  Wow, just like old times. But it wasn’t just like old times.  I was different now.  I was one of God’s kids; I had a new life in me, and that old life didn’t jive with my new life.  At the end of the night I got out of there, and I remember the feelings I had.  I felt just like Peter did that night in the courtyard. I felt like I had totally failed, I had let Jesus down.

Join us Sunday as we look at Matthew 26:69-75, Peter’s denial of Christ, and why it should matter to us.

Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay

Law and Order

Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward..."
Matt 26:59-60

The law is a funny thing.  It surrounds us, it constrains us, it protects us.  But at the same time it condemns us.  Laws are enacted by governments, yet they themselves selectively enforce only the laws they agree with. One recent political pundit commented that our own government has become “lawless.”  It gives new meaning to Jesus words in Matthew 24:

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold ...  Matt 24:12
This scripture also helps me to better understand the error of the Jewish religious leaders on that night, two thousand years ago, when they broke many of their own laws in order to condemn Jesus Christ to death.  Like our own government, the Jewish leaders had written a set of laws, based on God’s law.  Those laws were supposed to guide the process of administering justice when a person was accused of wrongdoing.  But on that night those laws got in the way of their personal agenda to get rid of this man, Jesus, so they simply broke them.

But before we judge them too harshly, we must ask ourselves:  What is my response when Gods law interferes with my agenda?  What happens when there is something that I want, some agenda that I have, and in order to get what I want I must break one of Gods laws. What choice do I make in that situation? Good question. I’ll leave you to determine your own answer.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
Ps 1:1-3Till the whole world hears...

Pastor Clay