The Cross of Christ DEMANDS My ALL

March 24, 2013

The Cross of Christ DEMANDS My ALL

John 19:25-30 / Matthew 27

Scott Howard

 

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ And to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’  From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.  Later, knowing that all was now completed, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on the stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  ---John 19:25-30

 

Ø  Sacrifice means that you look out for the needs of others even when you are hurting.

o   “Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27)

In the middle of his pain, Jesus had compassion on his mother and her agony.  He made sure she was taken care of.

Ø  Sacrifice means that you will experience dry times.

o   “I am thirsty” (John 19:28-29)

Sacrifice is unpleasant.  Comfort and sacrifice do not go hand in hand. (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-31, and Mark 8:34-35)  However, when the mission is complete, then our needs will be met, in Heaven. (see Revelation 7:13-17)

Ø  Sacrifice will tear down barriers.

o   “the curtain of the temple was torn in two” (Matthew 27:51a)

Before Jesus’ sacrifice, the presence of God, the Holy of Holies in the Temple, was limited to one priest once a year.  The priest offered offerings of sacrifice to God for the sins of all the people.  When Jesus died, God ripped the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple in two from top to bottom.  God removed the barrier between man’s sin and His holiness thru His Son’s sacrifice.  (see Hebrews 4:16)

Ø  Sacrifice will shake the world.

o   “The earth shook” (Matthew 27:51b)

The early church radically shook the world as they shared the Gospel.  Let’s shake things up and share the Gospel, and not assume everyone has heard the good news.  (see Acts 17:6-7 and Romans 12:1-2)

Ø  Sacrifice will bring life to dead things.

o   “…bodies…were raised to life.” (Matthew 27:52-53)

Jesus’ sacrifice also brought new life to us since he paid the price to make a way for us to have a way to escape eternal death.  (see Ephesians 2:1-2a, 4-5:     “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world…But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”)

 

                Jesus sacrificed everything for me in order that I might have life!

What am I willing to sacrifice for Him; in order that I might worship Him; in order that I might help others to accept that sacrifice as payment for their own sins?

True Worship and The Mission

March 10, 2013
True Worship and The Mission
Mark 11:15-19
Scott Howard

"On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and begain driving out those who were buying and selling there.  He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry murchandise through the temple courts.  And as he taught them, he said, 'Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of robbers.' '  The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.  When the evening came, they went out of the city."   ---Mark 11:15-19

A little history...
In this passage, Jesus is quoting first from Isaiah 56:7 and then from Jeremiah 7:11.  He is upset because the place where the Jews were setting up their merchandise and carting things back and forth was the outer courts of the temple, which was specifically set aside for the Gentiles and people of other nations to come and worship and experience the presence of God.  In addition to occupying the space for themselves, they were also showing disrespect for the sanctuary of Almighty God.  What kind of witness for God were they showing to the Gentiles and people of other nations if this is how they treat the temple of God? 

Ok, back to sermon notes...

When God is the center of our worship...

1.   We Revere His Greatness

• They had become uninterested in the Majesty of God.
• They had become unaware of the Presence of God.  ---see Isaiah 1:11-14  God wants sincerity of the heart.

      True Worship...

• Rediscovers His Majesty. --> if you truly worship, you will not grow casual with God
• Rejoices in His Presence. --> because we know He is with us, we can be joyful

2.   We Reflect His Holiness...

• The Church: A reflection of God, or the world?  --> in our text, Jesus came into the Temple courts expecting a place set apart for worship, but instead found a place that looked just like the market, same as outside the temple.
• We are the temple of God! --> after Jesus died, the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the Temple was torn, symbolizing our own personal access to God's presence.  This means we are the temple of God.  *See 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Personally: What areas of my life are not reflecting His Holiness?
Corporately: What areas of the church are not reflecting His Holiness?

3.   We Commit to His purpose...

• How we worship will greatly affect who esle worships.
• Worship is the fuel of this unstoppable mission.  -->others will see the Glory of God
• Worship is also the goal of this unstoppable mission.  -->we all will Glorify God for eternity

God-centered worship always leads to God-sized sacrifice and obedience. 

When we walk into the sanctuary at church, or even as we live our lives outside the church, are we really thinking about how we will Glorify God?  About His Greatness?  About His Holiness?  Most of the time we are consumed with what is going on in our earthly lives.  It is time we think on Heavenly things.  It is time we set apart the church, our hearts, our time, to truly worship our King.  When we are focused that much on Him, others will notice and come to know the Grace of God.

A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission / Message 2

March 3, 2013
A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission / Message 2
Acts 7:54 - 8:4
Scott Howard

One Truth: God desires for SRWC to have a Spirit-filled passion that moves Hickory and all nations for Christ.

Four Questions: the church (particularly in America) should ask itself

1.  Will we choose Mission over maintenance in the church?  (not just maintaining our routines)

2.  Is our worship driven by a God-centered passion or a man-centered production?  (we tend to think that worship happens at our place on our terms for our glory). 

     *See the sermon post from Feb 27, 2013 for more detail into these first two questions.

3. Will we embrace Suffering as the primary means for the spread of the Gospel on Earth?

• God ordains for our lives to mirror the sufferings of Christ.  Stephen's death, in our text, mirrors the death of Christ.  As a result many people came to know Christ, even Saul (Paul) who was there approving of the persecution of the church.  How will we show the love of Christ if everything always goes right for us?  We need to show our dependence on Him.  Not that we actively pursue persecution or hardship, but that when it happens, we trust in Christ so that others will see the power and grace of God.
• God's strategy for redeeming the world to Himself:  A suffering servant.  He showed His grace to the world through the sacrifice of Jesus.
• God's strategy has NOT changed. *See Philippians 1:27-29 and Colossians 1:24-27

4.  Is this mission unstoppable enough to die for?

• Death is peaceful for the believer who is on mission with Christ.
• Satan's strategy to stop the church actually serves to advance the church.  In our text the people of the new church were scattered after Stephen's death and the persecution of the church. *See also Acts 11:19-21
• Nothing will stop this mission!

Four Challenges:

1. Get involved and participate in the mission of the church.
2. Repent of self-centered worship that never leads to the proclamation of the Gospel.
3. Embrace suffering as a means for accomplishing the Great Commission in your life.
4. Die daily to your self and to this world so that you might gain Christ and make His glory known.

A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission

February 24, 2013
A Spirit-Filled Passion for a Passion-Filled Mission
Acts 7:54-8:4
Scott Howard

One Truth: God desires for SRWC to have a Spirit-Filled passion that moves Hickory and all the nations for the glory of Christ.

If Acts 1:8 is our mission we should not get comfortable in our customs, traditions and routine.  We will look at four questions to ask ourselves; two this week and two next week.

1.  Will we choose the Mission over maintenance in the Church?

     The church is NOT about settling for a routine, monotonous motion of religious activity.

     The church is about sacrificing every facet of our lives to make the salvation and glory of Christ known in all nations.

     So then, how do we do that?  We should ask ourselves:

• How will I pray?  (to impact my family, friends, coworkers, the nations)
• How will I study?  (study God's Word, sharpen my mind)
• How will I give?  (use my resources for His glory)
• How will I go?  (be obedient to God's leading)
• How will I mobilize?  (make disciples, teach and lead)

2.  Is our worship driven by a God-centered passion or a man-centered production?

     We think worship happens at OUR place on OUR terms for OUR glory.  Do we limit our worship of Almighty God to a certain place, a certain style to make ourselves feel good?  It's not about us.

True worship...

• Sees the glory of God in Christ
• Proclaims the goodness of God in Christ

"'Look', he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'" 
--Acts 7:56
Stephen didn't just see the glory of God, he shouted it out and did not keep it to himself even when he was being persecuted.

Where is our passion?  We serve the eternal God Almighty!  And He has chosen us, adopted us into His kingdom. Isn't that something to be passionate about and something we'd want to share with others? 

Prayer, Outreach, Discipleship

Light is a very important thing. Without it the earth would be uninhabitable. Light is important to God too, because the Bible describes God's presence as light. It's what the ancient Hebrews called the Shechinah: the visible, divine presence. This was the light that shone around the shepherds when the angels came to announce the birth of Christ. This  was the glow on Moses' face when he came for the tabernacle after having communion with the Lord. This same manifestation was present at other times as well; for example, when Christ was transfigured before some of the disciples in Matthew 17;  when the angels announced the resurrection of Christ; and on the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:3. It is the light of God's presence we are commanded to shine in Matthew 5:14-16. Jesus said, "You are the world's light --- a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father."

The believer is to do more than just reflect light, we are to let the living Christ shine forth through our humanity so that an unbelieving world finds the path to God illuminated and made clear. When Paul commended the Corinthian believers for the generosity of their gift to the believers in Jerusalem, he wrote that their good deeds became the visible symbol of the invisible Christ.

As believers, our challenge is to let our light shine in a dark world. This shining light should be as natural as breathing.

The following story gives us a good example of how we can do this. It's the story of a young mother of three, ages 14, 12, and 3. In addition to being a mother she was also a college senior completing her last class in Sociology. Their final assignment was to write an essay on the subject of SMILE. They were to smile at three people and document their reactions. For this young mother, that was not a problem because she constantly smiled at everyone. Soon after her assignment, she, her husband and the 3 year old went to McDonald's, one cold wintry day. While standing behind her were two, poor homeless men. As she looked down at the short gentlemen, she noticed that he was smiling. She noticed his beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. Both men clutched a few coins in their dirty hands, counting their money to see if they had enough for coffee. This young mother then said, "I really felt it -- the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all the eyes in the restaurant were on me, judging my reaction. I smiled and asked the young lad behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then took the tray to the table where the men were sitting, drinking their coffee and trying to get warm. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." She patted his hand and said, "This is God just working through me to give you hope." She joined her husband and son at their table. Her husband smiled and said, "That is why God gave you to me, honey. To give me hope." They both talked and realized that it was only by the grace of God that they were able to give.

She wrote her essay and her professor asked her to share it with the class. In her own way, this young mother touched not only the people at McDonald's, she also touched her husband, son, her professor, and the members of her college class.

The world is filled with hurting people who are looking for 'something' that will make a difference in their lives. That something is UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. God has given each of us an abundance of love, mercy, and forgiveness; and He asks us [the believer]  to pass these along to those we come in contact with. Many people will walk in and out of our lives, looking for some light to show them a different way. Jesus said that we are to be as a city set on a hill. What a challenge it is to shine for Christ in such a way that everyone around us can see.

My prayer for this year is that we will send forth the light of the Good News that JESUS SAVES.

God bless you, and I pray we will have a greater sense of God's presence so His light will shine brighter through us.

My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message 3

February 10, 2013
My Life: A Waste or one that Counts / Message 3
Philippians 3
Scott Howard

• God wants to raise up men and women in His church whose lives count for His glory on the landscape of human history.

**See the previous two sermons, Message 1 & 2 in earlier posts for more detailed notes regarding the first part of Philippians chapter 3.

Four Characteristics of someone who's life will count for God's glory:

1. They Treasure Christ above everything this world has to offer.

• The only treasure of life that Counts: Christ
• We have found something worth losing everything for

    2.   They Trust in Christ to provide everything that they could ever need.

• His Righteousness covers our sin
• His Power guarantees our resurrection
• His Satisfaction transcends our suffering

Characteristics # 1 & 2 above come from Philippians 3:1-11
Characteristics # 3 & 4 below come from Philippians 3:12-21

    3.   They Persue Christ with obsessive passion --> the word "persue" in the original language of Paul's letter literally means to run or to follow after.  The language of running a race, or running after something is used also in Acts 20:24 and 2 Timothy 4:7

So why follow hard after Christ?  We ask this question because we think if we already have been saved, why persue Him more?  We misunderstand being "found" in Christ isn't just a one time thing--it means that we find Him so fulfilling that we want more of Him until we are made complete in Him.


The Qualities we need to Persue Christ:

• A Holy dissatisfaction with casual or comfortable Christianity
• A Fresh understanding of the degree to which Christ has followed hard after us
• A Single-minded discipline that governs our lives

Since the seeds of sin are born in stagnation, we should be careful not to coast idly through Christianity, but rather discipline our lives to persue Christ daily.

    4.   They look forward to the Prize of His praise
The Two-Fold prize of the life that Counts:

• The Completion of our salvation--> we will experience the fullness of Christ in eternity so we live to manifest His Glory here on Earth
• The Crown of their salvation--> we live for & persue Christ for other's sake, so that they can also come to know salvation through Christ.  We live to multiply His Gospel so that many will enter eternity along with us.  It's much greater than just being delivered from Hell ourselves--to share the Good News to others will further the Kingdom of God.

May we not get distracted and miss the whole point, may we live productive Christian lives; lives that count for His Glory.

One prayer:  God, even if it costs us everything, don't let us waste our lives, and don't let us waste Your church.

Announcements 2-10

                                      

New Members Class – There will be a NEW members class offered beginning on Sunday, February 24^th. This is a four-week class and is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about our church. If you are interested in taking the class, talk to Pastor Scott.

NEW Young Adult Small Group – Beginning March 3^rd @ 10:00 AM. This class is for young adults from high school seniors to the age of 24. If you have any questions, see Pastor Drew.

Thank you! – Our youth went door to door in surrounding neighborhoods and collected 101 lbs. of food for our Open Arms Food Pantry.