Sermons

As it stands there are many things we worry about, the largest of which is money, or personal well being; self preservation, safety. What’s your treasure? Whatever your treasure is will define whether you worry or not. Many think that our biggest threats in America are terrorism, ideologies such as Islam, the New Age Movement, Global Warming, or Humanism. Moderns worry about Post-Modernism with its relativistic nature. Years ago Marxism haunted America. Interestingly enough, most of what we worried about in the past never came to fruition. Our greatest threat could possibly be our own self; our affluence. Our desire to create a safe haven, or heaven on earth, drives our hearts farther from God. Our faith becomes a thing of convenience, and not something that governs all aspects of our lives. It becomes a feel good thing to add to our sense of security instead of something that we are willing to suffer for. Suffering actually ends up becoming ‘wrong’ instead of expected for the Gospel; instead of something that brings about a greater Godly character ushering the Kingdom into a community. God’s revolution in our lives constantly disrupts our desires and calls us to something better.

Our sexuality, or the appetite of it, is like a 90lbs jockey tying to control a 1200lbs horse. How do you control yourself, desires are so strong, and we are bombarded daily by imagery and ideas contrary to the biblical message. What does the story of God convey about our sexuality, marriage, fidelity and faithfulness? We will springboard from Ephesians and skip over Israel’s history to understand - this is a PG-13 sermon:) Bottom line is that the Gospel revolutionizes how we see sex and sexuality.

What is a midwife? She is a person the mother has a relationship with; her job is more about checking in, asking questions, moving the pregnancy along, watching for problems, rather than giving answers. She builds up, lifts up, and provides some expertise and security throughout the pregnancy, not only the birth. As a matter of fact she may not even be a part of the birthing process. Who knows when a child will be born? My children came a few weeks early in some cases, totally surprising us. Others came late, and the midwife nurtures the process along; she is not in charge of the timing of the birth or the creation of that life at all. The text does not tell us that Nicodemus makes a confession of faith at this time. But we do see him standing up for Jesus in the ruling council in chapter 7, and also attending to the body of Christ at his burial in chapter 19. So, whatever is going on with him, there is a progression, a process of believing happening in his heart most likely. I think we live in wonderful times, postmodernism is a wide open opportunity to make the Church grow and become more like Christ if we can be learners again; if we can take the time to listen, to love, to be spiritual midwives actually living out our faith, not only in mind but in action. Are you a spiritual midwife, or a spiritual car salesman? Is God bringing revolution to you as he uses you to bring that to the world?

Who and how would you choose followers to start a revolution? Christ chose his disciple leaders after much prayer; twelve men that were from the world’s standards an unlikely choice for success. He prayed for them, built into them, modeled his teachings in front of them, provided opportunity for them, challenged them, and let them know what was in store for them – which, by the way, was not a great way to win and influence people, “Hey, you wanna give up your life for me?”. The church needs Christ-like disciples as its leaders; leaders that will walk us forward challenging us while living like Christ. Disciples that have said, “Yes, I will follow you Jesus wherever it takes me.” Don’t we need someone that is following Jesus, and inviting us to do the same; a disciple maker? Don’t we need living examples of Jesus? Don’t we want our leadership to model Him? Or, are we content with the status quo? Are we content to seek those things which satiate our desires for the short term?