Shepherd

GOD – Part 3

GOD as Good Shepherd
Sunday, January 20, 2019
John 10:1-16, Ezekiel 34:11-16

[The shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he has gathered all of his sheep, he goes before them and they follow him, because they know his voice.

John 10:3b-4

Every one of us has most likely experienced a time or even a season in life where we felt hopelessly and utterly lost. I don’t mean that our GPS stopped working and we took a wrong turn. Rather, we have probably had that moment, likely more than once, when we paused just long enough to look at our life and wonder, “How did I get here?” or “Where am I going?” We might have even asked ourselves, “Where is here?” or “Where am I?”

These are existential questions about the meaning and purpose of life, about our journey and the path it has taken us on. Robert Frost wrote that we should consider taking the road less traveled rather than following the crowd, but there are times when we stop and say, “I took the road less traveled and now I don’t know where I am!”

If we’re not careful we find ourselves walking with Jesus and one day we look out from the mountaintop like Peter and John and say, “This is a nice place, let’s just pitch our tent and stay here.” Then Jesus wants to go back down to the valley and we think he’s crazy. Why would we want to go back down there.

It’s safe up here on the mountain. I have a comfortable pew. The light shines so beautifully through the stained glass. All my friends are here. And oh, by the way, did I mention it was safe?

The problem is that Jesus didn’t call us to “stay with him”. He said, “Come, follow me.” As our shepherd, he leads us beside still waters but he also leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. He cares for us in the safety of the sheep-pen but he also leads us out to pastures where we might just run into a few wolves.

Nobody ever said following the shepherd would be easy or safe. As C.S. Lewis puts it, “Of course he isn’t safe, but he’s good.”

In what ways are you feeling a bit lost or disoriented in your life right now?

• Where do you sense the shepherd leading you this week?

• What practical steps would you need to take in order to follow?

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)

Click here to listen to entire sermon series - “GOD”

Redeemer

GOD – Part 2

GOD as Powerful Redeemer
Sunday, January 13, 2019
John 8:31-36, Romans 6:12-23, Isaiah 43:1-3a

Jesus answered, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave isn’t a permanent member of the household, but a son is. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free. 

John 8:34-36

Our baptismal vows or membership vows as a professing Christian in the church are more than a simple statement that we believe in Jesus.

The second vow in the United Methodist Hymnal reads as follows:

Do you accept the freedom and power God give you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

Baptismal Covenant I – United Methodist Hymnal

Likewise, in our confession and pardon we pray:

Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Confession & Pardon, Service of Word and Table I & II – United Methodist Hymnal

Perhaps it would be more prudent to notice what is not said. We do not simply accept freedom from death and hell. Rather we accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil and injustice of every kind in this life. We do not merely accept a free ticket to heaven when we die. Instead, we pray that God might free us for a life of joyful obedience.

This is not to question or deny the reality of eternal life in Glory of God through the grace of Christ. It does, however, significantly expand our understanding of redemption. Christ did not live among us and die as one of us just to redeem us in death. Jesus himself said that he came to set us free and that he came that we might have life, here and now, and life more abundantly (John 8:36, 10:10).

In Romans 6, Paul declares that we are dead to sin and therefore redeemed from the power sin once held over us. When Jesus says, “Go and sin no more,” he is not giving a command he knows we cannot keep (John 8:11). Rather, as Paul writes:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB)

This verse is not, as many have claimed, a statement that God will not give us more than we can handle. In fact, it is just the opposite. We will face trials and temptations in life far beyond what we are able to handle on our own… but with those temptations, the Holy Spirit will provide a way so that we might endure in the power and all-sufficient grace of our Lord.

• What does redemption mean to you personally?

• How have you called upon the power of the Lord to set you free from sin this week?

• What might be different about the week to come if you began each day by praying, “Lord, set me free for joyful obedience.”?

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! (Psalm 107:2)

Click here to listen to entire sermon series - “GOD”

Personal Revealer

GOD – Part 1

GOD as Immanent Personal Revealer
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him”

Matthew 2:1-2

Take a moment to reflect on the image below. Where do you see God in this picture?

In a spiritual formation class many years ago, the professor asked us to find an image that represented our relationship with God. I honestly can not remember where I found this image, but I have kept it tucked in my journal ever since.

At first glance for me, I saw myself sitting at a table like this on the beach gazing out upon the horizon in amazement at the wonder and beauty of God’s creation. Christianity is not exclusive in seeing or experiencing the divine presence in creation.

But the longer I looked at this image, the more I realized a second truth about God’s presence, equally as important. God wasn’t just “out there”, somewhere beyond the sunset. God was also sitting in the other chair, watching the sunset with me.

God not only knows us intimately as one who created us along with all of the universe. God also wants to be known by us. God humbles himself to take on flesh and dwell among us, to sit with us at the table and enjoy the beauty of all that he created.

We have many images of who God is… Creator, King, Judge, Priest, Shepherd, Father, Redeemer… but understanding God as “Personal Revealer” brings all of these roles together. Jesus said that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. (insert reference).

Everything we know about God, we know because God chose to make himself known to us, even though our finite minds could never fully process what God continues to reveal.

• Who are we that God would be mindful of us and care to go to such great lengths that we might know him and love him as he knows and loves us?

• How do we respond to the grace of God’s self-revelation?

• How do we react when God, the Creator of the universe, calls out to us in the cry of a helpless baby in a manger?

O Come, let us adore Him! Praise be to God!

Click here to listen to entire sermon series - “GOD”