Sermons from FBC - Jesus is the King

This is second of our series, Who is Jesus.  This week we see that Jesus is the King, but it's not the image of an earthly king that should come to mind.  Our King Jesus is a different kind of King, the king of a kingdom where the values are a little different than what we might think of.  A kingdom where the first shall be last and the last shall be first - sort of an upside down kingdom.

Sermons from FBC - Jesus is the Son of God

This week we start a new series titled, Who is Jesus?  Today, our topic is Jesus is the Son of God.  We will first look for proof from scripture, then, we look to see what it means for us.

Can we learn anything from the Super Bowl?

Some lessons your church can learn from the Super Bowl:

1. Make the worship leader keep his shirt on. The halftime show featured a Maroon 5 concert in which lead singer Adam Levine tore off his shirt mid-performance to reveal a canvas of bad tattoos. The show was widely panned by viewers—and Levine baring his chest was largely to blame. Most worship leaders have a lot of tattoos as well, but it’s never good to show em off like that.

2. Make sure your pastor isn’t too good-looking. Part of the reason this last Super Bowl was disappointing was that people really don’t like Quarterback Tom Brady. Why? Well, in addition to being one of the best players ever, the guy is good-looking, which doesn’t seem fair. If you have money and fame and success and athletic ability, the least you can do is look like the rest of us. The same goes for pastors. People will resent good-looking pastors (this is why I decided not to be one). Go for an average-looking pastor. It makes him relatable. It helps if he has a bit of a belly too.

3. Have enough points in your sermon. The biggest problem with Super Bowl VIII: not enough points. When neither team scores a touchdown, people tune out. Same thing with your sermon, pastor. It’s nice to have some stories and illustrations but make sure you have some points in there too. Just no celebrating in the end zone.

(from Drew Dyck, Church Humor Newsletter)

The Lord Knows Those Who are His

If you’re following along in the Devotion and Prayer Guide in the bulletins each week, the bible readings suggested will get you through the bible in a year.  And if you’re doing them each day, you will have read 2 Timothy 2 yesterday.

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his,^[a] and let everyone who calls on the name of^[b] the Lord turn away from wickedness.

2 Timothy 2:19 CSB

First, looking at the context, we’re told that there is a foundation, God’s solid foundation, that stands firm, that can never be shaken, and that there are words inscribed on the foundation.  The first, is that the Lord knows who are his.  The Lord knows.  Those names are written in the book of life.  God knows.  We don’t really know.  We can try to judge, we guess by their involvement in church, their service to others, the things they do, but we can never know who belongs to the Lord.  But rest assured.  The Lord knows.

The NIV treats the second part of that verse, “Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness, as a second quote, but there’s no reference for it.  CSB doesn’t treat it as a quote, but has the same words.  Regardless of whether it’s a quote from the OT or not, it is a command as far as Paul is concerned, and that’s what he’s telling Timothy here.

So we can’t know those who belong to the Lord, but we can guess because those who belong to the Lord turn away from wickedness.  This is a reminder for you tonight that you need to turn away from wickedness.  I don’t know if there’s something you’re struggling with that’s holding you back from really experiencing God, or not.  I don’t know if there is sin, or some kind of wicked, that is keeping God from really working in your life or not.  But the command from Paul to Timothy is that the Lord knows who are his, so we better turn away from wickedness. 

On the other hand, this command also helps us guess who might belong to the Lord.  If we are serious about growing in our faith, and getting closer to God, to really having the relationship we hear about, then we should be looking for Godly people that we can spend time with, that we can learn from, just glean a little about how to live life from.  And when we’re looking for a Godly mentor, we can look to someone who has turned away from wickedness.  If you see any wicked in them, then don’t follow them. 

Paul makes it a little easier for us turn away from wickedness and find others who have also turned away, by giving us a little more in verses 22-24, to help show us what this type of wickedness looks like, “Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach,[a] and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness.”

He tells us that youthful passions are evil, righteousness, faith, love, peach and purity are not.

Getting involved in foolish and ignorant disputes and quarrels is wicked, gentleness, patience, and a teaching spirit are not.

So be careful who you learn from.  Flea from those who argue, gossip, and cause disputes.  Flea from those who give in to youthful passions.  And make sure you yourself are lining up okay here.  Reflect on this and look for areas you might need God’s Spirit to correct.  Spend time on developing righteousness, be people of faith, love and purity.  Because we know that those who belong to the Lord do these things.

And most of all make sure you’re pursuing a relationship with Jesus.  Make sure you belong to him.  Believing in him doesn’t mean you believe that he existed, but that you believe he is your savior, your only hope in a world gone mad.  Cling to him, because if you want the Lord to know you are his, you must truly live as one of his.

God's Omnipotence and Omnipresence

Food for thought...

Last Sunday we had a visitor in services.  After service he came forward and introduced himself and told me he had his sister's ashes in the car.  He asked if I could bless them, and I agreed.  I prayed for him, asking for help with the grieving process, asking for God's peace and joy to return.  I also prayed for God's grace and mercy for this sister's soul.  considering she had passed away quite some time ago, I wondered if that part of the prayer was a little late.

In my time of reflection later, I got to thinking about that.  Since God is everywhere at the same time, and since He knows all things, and is even outside of time, could God have heard my prayer when his sister passed away?  Could God have been aware of my petition when his sister appeared before the judgment seat?  Could there be no such thing as a late prayer?

I would love to hear your comments on this. 

Sermons from WFB: Chosen to be Loved

This week we are starting a five-week series titled Chosen. This series looks at five different passages that highlight Jesus’ pursuit of those many would label “outcasts.” In the series, we’ll be discussing characters like Zacchaeus, the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, a leper, and the thief on the cross. In each of these situations, Jesus often goes out of His way to reach those who are left out. To Jesus, these individuals are not outcasts, they are chosen. His love is extravagant and relentless.

After hearing the religious leaders grumble about his attitude toward sinners, Jesus tells three parables that illustrate God’s extravagant love for the lost. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done or how far we’ve wandered; God chooses us and is actively pursuing us to come back to Him.

Listen to the message here...

Sermons from FBC: Clean Break: A look at relationships from Philemon

This week we it's part 2 of our two week series from the book of Philemon.  It's a short book, but Paul has some good stuff concerning relationships, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love.

Listen to part two here...