June 12, 2010: Watch and Pray. Mark 14:32-42, Pastor John Glick
Watch and pray is the Worship message this morning. Jesus had gone into a garden to pray, and took His disciples with Him. It's kind of interesting, because it's the kind of thing that happens to us often when we pray. It's an interesting situation. Saint Mark, chapter 14. Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane. Jesus told His Disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be filled with horror and deep distress. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me." He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground. He prayed that if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting Him might pass Him by. "Abba Father, He said, "Everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want Your will not Mine." Then He returned and found the Disciples asleep. "Simon!, He said to Peter, "Are you asleep? Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour?" Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptations will overpower you. For though the Spirit is willing enough, the body is weak. Then Jesus left them again and prayed, repeating His pleadings. Again He returned to them, and found them sleeping for they just couldn't keep there eyes open. And they didn't know what to say. When He returned to them the third time, He said, "Still sleeping? Still resting? Enough! The time has come. I, the Son of Man, am being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Up, let's be going. See, my betrayer is here!" May God add His blessing to the reading of His word.
When you are a true, born again spiritual, practicing Christian, you are a totally different person from all those around you. A totally different person. It's a whole different situation. A drastic change.
I believe Satan has blinded the eyes of the Church. Many of us are at the point where we don't really see ourselves as the Church anymore. We don't recognize the awesome fact that we are in a spiritual warfare. We battle every day against forces of evil. Every moment of every day. Things are coming against us. Now the true meaning of the battle begins in a personal way. When it becomes personal and the Devil comes against us and we realize that we are losing the battle. Then it is so important to us we know what is happening, and sometimes it's too late. We just give up. God, if You are going to do anything. Where are you? I can remember when I was first a Christian. When God didn't answer my prayers in the immediate, my prayer was , "Lord, where are You? Why don't You hear me? Why don't You answer? Don't You care? That was my argument. Don't You care? The more I prayed, the more I lived as a Christian, the more I realized how much He really did care. He cared so much, He would not answer some of my prayers that were really not honest prayers. I say not honest in the sense of it's not something you ask God to do or ot do. That doesn't have anything to do with it. We begin to realize that Satan, like our blessed Lord uses people to get to us. The Devil is wanting to use people to "Devil" us, so to speak. He does this to the point of dragging us down into nothingness. We are in a terrible way. Yes, I realize there are principalities and powers, and powers of darkness, and so on, as the Bible points our. Spiritual wickedness in high places, and all of that. The rulers of the darkness of this world are not all spirits. Some of them have flesh and blood. Some of them are our neighbors, families, friends that come against us. There is so little we can do. I'm not talking about spooks or ghosts, but flesh and blood of those around us.
I want you to remember that we are talking about "Watch and Pray." Jesus took His Disciples and He went into the garden of Gethsemane which was a favorite place of His, it seems. He said, "Now you watch while I pray." He came back and said, "You are asleep. Now you better pray while I pray. You need prayer." He went away to pray again. When He came back they were asleep. "Could you not watch with me one hour?' He went away to pray again. The third time He came back and said, "O.K. that is enough. You can't make it. You are in trouble, boys. What is going to happen here is going to be terrible." It was.
Paul said in Second Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. A new creation. He is entirely new. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new. When we become a Christian, our life changes totally. We are not what we were. We are not what we were yesterday, or even the last hour. Christ changes us. He gives us a new life, a new spirit. A new being. We are totally new. We are a new creation. Creation - in other words, we are recreated. We are made new. We are different. We are made something we have not been before. That's the wonder of it, and the glory of it. We become new. It doesn't mean He will make our bodies well. It doesn't mean He is going to establish something that takes away all the pains that we have had. It doesn't mean that all of that is going to change. What's going to change is our nature. No longer are we the old evil thinking, living person that we were. We are a totally new creation. We are giving God the credit for life for what we are. Being born again, a person can unite himself with Christ. That means for us to take things Holy as God is Holy, and to be what He wants us to be. We put aside our own desires and serve Jesus Christ. We serve Him alone. We learn how to do that by reading the Bible. It means to put on or accept a whole new nature. We are a different person. We are not the same as we were. I'm talking about reality. I'm not talking about imaginary things. Church, what we have to face is people, friends, loved ones, Church's, religious people; not all are born again Christians. Don't model yourself after someone else. Model yourself after Christ. Jesus Christ alone. He is the answer to it all. Satan is against Him, and the Church is under attack, because of the Devil. We are in a bad way. Life isn't what it was a few years ago. Life is different. I notice it in one sense where college kids are now attacking and killing professors and other students all over the country. It's not just a one time thing. It's happening all over the country. A lot of other things are happening. People are losing a sense of hope. People are turning away from God to do their own thing and be their own thing.
I'm Mark chapter 14, following the events of the last supper, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and said, "We are going to go and pray. We are in trouble, we are going to do something. Come pray with me." He took them, went to the garden, and He went to pray. The Disciples went to sleep. Church, is that us? Are we sleeping when God is trying to do something for this world to save it. Are we asleep this morning right here in our community? when God is trying to do somethng real among us. We laugh when someone getys really excited about the Lord - or somebody raises their hand in the Service. We grin all over. Look at that fool, or somebody prays a little loud or long. Our supper is burning. What's the matter with us? Jesus said, "Sit here while I go and pray." He began to be so amazed at what was going on around Him. Then I think Jesus realized He was the only one who was really doing anything at all to bring God into the picture. In our mind we understand our sense and know what is before us. We just don't know what to do about it. We don't want to do anything about it really. When it comes right down to it. When it comes to what the Church should be doing right now in serving our Lord. We better realize we are engaged in a spiritual war. We are in the midst of spiritual warfare. It's not a physical thing. It's not a battle. It's not something you can take a club and defend yourself. It's spiritual. It's a battle of the mind. God is trying to help us. That's what the Church is all about. We need to be helping one another. We need to be realizing, hey we are in a spiritual battle here. The fight is going on in the instant while I am speaking to you. The fight is going on within you. Satan wants all of you. He wants to destroy us. The only thing Satan has to look forward to in life is defieing God, which he has done all along. If he can take one of us away from God that makes him happy. That's because he knows it makes God unhappy to lose one of us. Satan tries hard to do it. We better realize we are engaged in spiritual warfare. More bitter, relentless attacks are coming. More than we have had so far. You might as well realize that. So watch and pray or the Church of the living God might just enter into temptation and fall any time. Watch and pray. Pray to God with all of our being. God will relieve us of this situation. Pray with God in honesty. Become honest with Him. What do you suppose is the most evil in the organized Church today? Why is the Church growing weak? Why is the Church losing ground all the time? I don't mean just the Methodist Church. I mean the Church. People of whatever denomination they might call themselves. Whatever religious affiliation it is. Satan is coming against us. Satan is using the opportunity of God cleansing His Church, which God is doing, to say, look - let God do it. Now God is going to step in and help you. God is cleaning things out God. God is taking out the dregs of the Church. I am going to come in and help Him. We fall for it. Once Satan gets in the Church, we close it. We do. We close it. It seems the Church does well in routine endeavors, but it doesn't understand spiritual warfare. We are letting things go. The Church has lost it's sense of what us spiritual. What is sipiritual and what is carnal? What does God really want of us? God wants us to be like Him in our world. There is nothing more, nothing less. God wants us to be Godly in our life. He wants us to understand Him as we understand His world. That's how we know what God is like. Then we can be like God in our world. That's what He is aiming for.
Jesus prayed the third time, and He came back and said, "It's over. I am going to have to die for us. I'm going to have to do something drastic." And He did. We know the story. How Jesus died for mankind. What He did then is still in effect today. He still loves us. He will still save us. He will still spare us if we will but turn ourselves over to Him, and let Him be our God. Really be our God. God will take away most of the problems. God will help us. God will see us through. The reason the Disciples couldn't stay awake is they had never really been changed. Have you really been changed? Would you be changed this morning from the old sinner that you were to what you can be? Then to become a God-like person, to a God-like spirit. A person willing to be as God-like as you can, to live in this world safely. You can't do it if you are not God-like. The battle is on. Satan is gathering his forces and coming against us. Now what can we do about it?
I am going to very quickly make three or four suggestions. Then I am going to give an altar call. I'm going to give you a chance to come and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and get yourself on His side. Then your life can be changed for the better. Therefore, second Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ, he is born again. Come and give your heart to Him. Put your whole attention on the Lord Jesus Christ. Get spriritually filled. Get filled up with God's Holy Spirit. Until you have His Holy Spirit, you have nothing special with God. He is a new creation. A new creature. A new person, a new being. When God comes into us, you are all new. You won't think like this old world anymore. You will be a new creature. Old things are passed away. They are not the same at all. You are a new creation in Jesus Christ. Behold, all things now become new. That's where we need to be. That's where we need to be this morning. We need to be made new. Let the old things pass away, and be changed into what God would have us to be. So I give you the invitation this morning. I've done this before. Many times we have just laughed and passed it off. The invitation is this - come, and ask Jesus into your heart. It can change your life so you can face the things you are facing in the world today. You can't do it alone. You know it. You haven't before and you can't in the future. Come and give your heart to Christ and become a new creation that God creates right here at the altar. If you will come to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior - Will you come now? Let Him be in you. Let His Spirit be in you. You need the Holy Spirit. You can't live without the Holy Spirit. You can exist. You can't live. You need Him in the days ahead. You are going to see a more open greater, concentrated bitter attack on the body of Christ. It is going to get worse. It is not going to get better. There are two major things that it's going to do. It is going to try to destroy the Holy Spirits influence in the Church, and destroy the Holy Spirits influence in you individually. Let's stand up to sing "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." That will get you moving. Come to Christ. Don't come to me. (No one came to the altar.) Father, we thank You this morning that You were there. I pray that sometime yet this very day this entire congregation will in their own home or their own secret place turn their heart over to You. Change them Lord. Change them so they are able to live in these trying times. Help them to be what You would have them to be, and will be satisfied in Jesus Name. Amen.
Mark and Bev Donahue, Paraguay Missionaries
Mark: When Bev does her devotions in the morning, sometimes she is reminded of a song. Bev: If you turn to Psalm 37, verses 3 and 4, this is some of the words in the song we are going to sing. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Mark played the piano and sang along with Bev and their child Andres.
Mark: It's good to be with you this morning. I have special memories of Bible studies at the Methodist campground in Lancaster. Those were some of the years of my life that I wasn't sure where God was going to take me. I had no idea about Bolivia or Paraguay. We don't always know some things in our life, but we can still trust God to be faithful as we follow Him. I married the single gal who was a missionary to Bolivia. I remember those days when I had long distance phone calls. My phone bills were $400 and $500 for a few times. Some of my friends at work said, "Maybe you should just buy a ticket and go on down. It would be a lot cheaper." Finally, I did, and the Lord worked it out. We were married in 1995.
What I want to do right now is that I want you to imagine you are in the Paraguay International Airport with me, Bev, and Andres in July of 1998. We had been in Paraguay two years, and we were getting ready to return to the U.S.A. We had our things, our boarding passes, and our passports. Our friends in Paraguay were there to see us off and say goodbye. What would you have thought if something like this would have happened. I felt something being draped over my shoulders. It wasn't Bev. This was at the airport. How would you have felt if this happened to you at an airport? (He put the Paraguay flag over his shoulders and back. Bev tied it in the front near the neck. This looked like a superman or spiderman cape.) I felt a little more obvious than I wanted to be at the airport. I was a little upset. I felt all eyes were on me. My friend Ogle was writing on it. What he wrote on the back was, "We love you 100%." Then he signed it. I asked my friend, "Can you write on the Paraguay flag? Are the airport police going to escort us out of the airport?" He said words in Spanish that mean, tranquil. Everything will be alright. I left it on until we left the airport. We were friends from two years before when we first came to Paraguay.
What we want to share is just a little bit about those two years. God sometimes opts for change even with a missionaries life. We were in Bolivia. Another couple was in Paraguay. They needed to come home, and there was no one to fill in. Would someone in the Bolivia field come down? So Bev and I and our things rode a bus for 24 hours from Bolivia to Paraguay along with a group of Bolivians who worked in our Church. After that, we returned to the States. Andres first day of school was the day after we left for World Gospel Missions in the U.S.A..
In Paraguay, I was in charge of administration for World Gospel Missions. I was taking care of Visa work, paying bills, and so on. Asuncion was a city of about a million people. A very large city. Bev and I know Spanish, but we didn't know much about the city. I knew I needed to pay the bills and get them in the mail. I didn't know how you found the Post Office, and all those things. Ogle and his wife lived next door to the Church, and they were custodians of the Church. He was 26 years old. He and his wife had a three year old son. I found myself knocking on his door, "Ogle, this is what I need to do today." How do I get to the Post Office? Also, I had an alarm on my house, and I had to get some things changed in the authorization code for that. Sometimes he would tell me how to get there, and sometimes he would take me on the back of his motorcycle. That was an experience in itself, riding a motorcycle in Paraguay. I asked him, "Has any other missionary rode on the back of your motorcycle before?" Ogle answered, "No, you are the first." Anyway, he helped me, and I got to know him. Ogle told me that something happened in his family. There was some problem, and he moved out into the streets. He lived there about five years. He said, "I can sleep on a slab of cement like it's a mattress." Someone came across his pathway and offered him an invitation to God. He accepted the invitation. He put his things in a cart, then lived and worked at a Church where he met his wife, Edith. He also worked in a place where they sold motorcycle parts. I began to learn more and more about Ogle. One day, as I came home, Ogle's wife was outside working. She told me, "You are different. You are becoming friends with Ogle." I said, "How is that different?" She said, "Most people in the Church don't accept him, because he is different. He lived on the street." I said, "He is a child of God. To God, he is like us." It saddened me that because of his past, he wasn't accepted by the Church people.
Bev: As Mark became acquainted with Ogle, I began to become acquainted with his wife, Edith. I observed some things. One of the things I observed was that she had physical problems. One of the problems she had was varicose veins. She had worked all her life, even as a child. She already had one or two surgeries due to infection. The Doctor was saying that she needed to walk. How many of you have experienced how what the Doctor wants you to do and what you are motivated to do are different? I knew that she needed someone to come along side of her to help. I asked her, "Would you like to walk? I will walk with you." Behind the Church was what they called a Youth Center. It was a concrete floor with a metal roof. It was a place where her kids could run and play. We continued to walk. Now when women walk they usually don't walk in silence. We began to talk. Some things she talked about when she began to share with me; she gave me permission to share with you. As she shared with me, she told me some things that really saddened me. When she was four years old, she was sexually molested by a relative. She was the oldest kid in the family and had to take care of the younger kids when she was growing up. Basically, she described a childhood unlike we think of it, because she could not play. She had responsibility for the other children. By the time she was ten, she was taken from the country to be a maid for another family in the city. A lot of things had been going on in her life. Things she kept stuffing inside. One day when she was thirteen years old, she had a nervous attack. Basically she described a little 13 year old kid going out of control. Ladies, I have a question for you. If you had a thirteen year old child, what would you do if she suddenly went out of control? What would you have done? This lady went out and got drugs for her, sedatives. Little did she realize that was going to take her on a downward spiral. She started using pills for whatever negative thing that happened in her life. By the time I met her she was taking something to get up in the morning, something to get her through the day and something to help her sleep at night. The pills she was taking at night really were not working that well.
As we walked, she would talk. She would share what was going on in her life. We find when we use His Word as a foundation to hear about God. We can give them hope. Something to help them in their life. As time went on, she began to realize that what she was doing was ruining her body. Each and every one of our bodies is a temple, so I asked her if she wanted me to do something with her pills. I knew that as long as they were around, she would not be able to stop taking them. She had a room set aside for her things. She went in to get the pills. She had in her hand a little black cannister like a 35 mm film cannister. She put into my hand what had been her crutch to solve any problem in her life. Any sickness of if people critized her work, and so on.
Mark: There is a passage of scripture in Isaiah chapter 43, starting at verse 18. "Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" I continued to knock on Ogle's door and ask for help. Sometimes, Ogle would knock on my door and talk before he went to work. Sometimes, he just needed to talk at 5 o'clock in the morning. So we did that. I would call him to ask if he wanted to have lunch with me. I began speding time with Ogle as I was working on things I needed to do. I learned that Ogle desired to share Jesus with his family. He was from a large family. He said, "When I try to share Jesus they don't want to hear it. They ignore me, they change the subject, they will do something else. They are not really open to hear the Gospel. I am really concerned for my family. I would like to do something for them."
Time went on a little bit. Ogle said, "I have an opportunity. A gentleman out in the small village, where my family, lives owns a small radio station. The owner asked me if I would do a spot on Sunday morning at 6 to 8 a.m., two hours to do broadcasting on a radio station." My first question was, "Ogle, do you know anything about radio stations. Do you have any training?" Ogle looked at me and scratched his head, "Training? How hard can it be to talk into a microphone and play CD's?" I said, "Oh, O.K." It was going to start on Sunday morning at 6 o'clock. It was an hour and a half drive to get out to the radio station. I remember the Saturday before he was looking through his christian music CD's, and marking Bible verses to share. He told me, "Micals, you have to get up at 3 a.m. Sunday morning to wake me up so I have time to get ready." So I got up at 3 o'clock. You know, it's pretty dark at 3 o'clock in the morning. He was ready to go at 4 o'clock. He had his satchel and his black jacket on. I had a word of prayer with him. I prayed for God to protect Ogle as he traveled, and to annoint him with His Word. Then, off he went on his motorcycle. When he came back, I asked him, "How did it go?" He said, "Oh, it went great." He talked a little bit about it, but Ogle is not one for a whole lot of words. He was kind of quiet. During the week, I asked him, "Ogle, can I go with you? I want to see how it works." He said, "Sure, Micals." The next Sunday morning, we got up at 3 o'clock to get ready to go. I had a word of prayer with him. Then, off we went on his motorcycle. The radio station had a microphone about like this one (As Mark pointed to the microphone in Church.), except it was a little more beat up. It was in a very little room. It had a big old computer that was monitoring the sound. The owner came to the station. He was an older man riding a bicycle. We were sharing and I was just amazed. He said, "Micals, do you want to talk on the radio?" I said, "No, no, no." Ogle said, "My friend Micals is here, and he is going to greet you." So I greeted the people in Spanish. After the broadcast, we went to Olga's sisters home. She was all smiles. She said, "I heard you on the radio this morning." His mom and step-dad were there. "I heard you on the radio this morning." His grand-pa came walking in, "I heard you on the radio this morning." I don't know if any of them accepted Jesus. When I go back, I plan to continue to help Ogle minister to the people. What an awesome opportunity for a missionary. We are trained to do that. Ogle got to see how to do that - How God can use people like Ogle.
Bev: The last thing before we returned to the States, we were with some friends. Ogle's wife Edith was sharing her testimony. She was sharing what God had done in her life. That was July 2008. In 2007, cancer had been put in her veins. God had helped her well over a year. I remember going to see her one time. She told me that at one point, there was no way she could deal with it without going back on her crutches (drugs). She thought in her mind, I am going to my room to look in my closet or somewhere trying to find at least a half tablet. You know what? She found something. She said, "I got a glass of water, and I took the pill in my hand. A profound nauseated feeling well up in my stomach. I got my kitchen dirty right then." She vomited. I remember when she told me that, my response was, "Praise the Lord. " Why was I saying that? Because it was once again a confirmation of God's Word and His promise. You know, in His Word in First Corinthians. He tells us that He will not give us a situation greater than we can handle.
After she finished giving her testimony, we had a little ceremony. As time went on, people would bring pills and I would take them away so she wouldn't be tempted to use them. I had these pills and I didn't know what to do with them. Maybe someone could use them, but I didn't even know what they were. I was thinking what am I going to do with these? There was that confidentiality and trust. Lord, what as I going to do with these pills? I remembered when my father passed away, there were some pills left. The Hospice people went to the commode and flushed them away. We flushed Edith's pills down the drain.
As we got near to the States, I was thinking God has changed the World for us. I am so thankful that He has been so good to us. When I was in Bolivia, we hardly ever hear from our friends there. When I returned home, I heard about Ogles brother. He said one day, "I want to mix with you." She said, "What do you want? You are already staying here with us." "You have something I want, but don't have." Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to share what she had inside about the Lord. That's what it is all about. God takes us to other countries to talk with other people. Sometimes, when you walk with people who are not Christians, you can share Jesus with them, you can share the light with them. You can share the Good News with them. That is a privilige. That is the hope we have for this World that we have everyday.
This morning, we extend an invitation to you. We hope to go back to Paraguay by the end of June. That is our trust in the Lord. What I want to draw your attention to is that on the table you will find prayer cards like this. Will each one of you stop to pick up one of these? You can put it in your Bible, or on your refrigerator or somewhere to remind you to pray for us. We need you prayers on a daily basis. You can tear the card off and write your contact information on it. Then give it to us, so we can keep in touch with you.
The World Gospel Mission says we have to be fully funded before we can go back. We have to go out in the States to raise support. We have 78% of the money needed. As you pray, maybe God will lead you to contibute as individuals. You may be led by God as a Church to contirbute on behalf of everyone in the Church. We do need your prayers. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today. Our doors are always open, if you can come to Paraguay. If you can't come, please continue to pray for us. Thanks again for the opportunity to be here with you today to share our world and our family.
April 18, 2010: The Joy of the Cross, Hebrews 12:2, Pastor John Glick
I want to preach this morning on the joy of the cross. It's the final Easter sermon. I know it's after Easter, but I'm still stuck with it. Something we don't consider very often is the joy of the cross. When you think of an old wooden cross and Christ hanging on it and suffering and bleeding and dying. There is nothing joyous about that. Yet in the scripture in Hebrews twelve verse two, it says Jesus knew the joy that was set before Him, and He endured the cross in spite of the shame. He didn't do it because it hurt. He didn't do it for any other reason. The one thing I want you to understand this morning is that He did it for you, and He did it for me. It is for us that He died. It's for us that He suffered. Of course, we ask ourself, "How can someone 2,000 years ago suffer and affect us?" As it was in the old testament, God could not forgive sin, because God is perfect and Holy. He just couldn't do it. There had to be someway for God to make a way to break through that Holiness, so He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die. When He was dying, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In that moment, you and I were given new life. He heard His Son and the Son was faithful to death which gave license to His words and God was able to forgive us of our sins when we ask. You know, we have to ask. It's not just automatic that Jesus is going to forgive us of everything, and that is going to be it. For the joy that was set before Him, the joy of seeing us set free from our sins, He went to the cross and died.
Easter is such an important thing to us that we don't usually just set it aside. You have heard a lot of sermons on the subject of the cross. How bad it was. Scripture tells us that He was so badly beaten that He didn't even appear to be a human being there hanging on the cross. He was in bad shape. He wasn't just dying, He was suffering. I think that is what we have to understand. He was willing to die for us. He was willing to suffer really bad. That's like when you have a tummy ache. It's not bad eating the candy. It's the hurt later, when you suffer the hurt of eating candy. The loneliness ofthat cross must have been terrible. Scripture tells us that everyone turned their back on Him. Everyone. Even those He was trying to save. They turned their back to Him. Peter who was one of His closest friends, one of the twelve who walked with Him, and Jesus taught him. The Romans said, "Aren't you one of those who walked with Jesus?" Three times, Peter denied knowing Jesus. How many times have you denied Jesus? How many times have you literally said - You probably didn't say it in those words - but your actions account for it. "God you might be there, and you might be real. I don't know, but I'm not going to do it that way. I don't want to be no religious type." I am just not going to do it." How many times have we put ourselves in bad, bad situations. When we do that we are saying, "God, I don't want you to help me. God, I don't want you there when I die. I don't want you to take me to Heaven. I don't want you to do anything for me. Just leave me alone. I'll do it my own way." You know, that's the way we are. We want to live our own life, and we want to live it the way we want to live it. "I am going to live as I please. I am not going to pay attention to anyone else. I'm not going to be kind just to be kind. I don't feel that wa. I'm not going to be honest just to be honest, and maybe do without something I really want. I'm not going to always say the truth, because sometimes the truth hurts. It gets me in trouble." Nontheless, we don't want to be that honest. We want to be just what we are. Jesus said, "I am going to the cross to die for you, so you can ask forgiveness." That's what we do. When we ask Jesus Christ to forgive our sins. We bypass all the evil we have done, because Jesus died on the cross to provide a way for God to say, "I'll forgive you. I'll do it." The only thing that can move God's heart toward us are the words of Jesus Christ. I can picture it. This is just me again. I can picture Him sitting in heaven beside God the Father, and as people come and stand before God to be judged. Let's say that I am standing there. Jesus will say, "Father, this one I know. Forgive Him. He asked." God will forgive me. Now I have a place in Heaven forever. I don't have to go to that place called Hell where I would suffer. Jesus suffered on the cross. The joy of the cross for Jesus was so that He could say to His Father, "Forgive him. He is one of mine." You know, it behooves us in these days to be one of His. We never know when we are going to be with Him suddenly. If it happens suddenly, you don't have time with the Father to make final arrangements we would like to make.
Here we are. We have a day in which we can ask God to forgive our sins. You can make it perfectly acceptable to God the Father. I know when I give an altar call at the close of service, I can read faces. I can see faces saying , "On, no. not that again." I still say, "That's your opportunity. You better take advantage of it. Don't wait until it's too late. After we die, it's too late." After we are gone - many times in these days, when we get sick.The first thing the doctor does is shoot us full of something that puts us out, and we don't feel pain. There is no chance then to ask forgivness. We are just unconscoius. We don't do it unconsciously. To Jesus, it was a joy that He gave His life for us that we could simply say, "God forgive me." God could forgive us for Jesus sake. Then you are on your way to Heaven. That sure beats this world. Beats anything in this world that I know of. It beats anything I ever heard about.
You know, the shame of the cross is frequently preached and talked about. I do it too. The shame of Jesus when He was put on the cross. He was put there unhidden and undeserved. He didn't deserve to go there in my place. I am the one who should have been on my cross. You are the one who should have been on your cross. Jesus said, "For my sake forgive them." and He did.
What would it be if we could possibly be in an attitude of Worship every moment of everyday. I don't mean on our knees and praying. That's not what I am talking about. An attitude of - God, I belong to you no matter what happens today. I am still going to be Yours. I built a Church once. I mean with my hands. I built a Church. I learned to lay block. All the things necessary to build a building. Not beautifully, but I did it. While I was doing that was one of the best times of my life. I was constantly praying to God. There was no one helping me. Nobody showed up. I mixed the mortar. I carried the cement. I wheeled it to the site and laid the block. I had to hoist the block. I am not a carpenter or bricklayer, but I built everything all by myself. I think if God called me to build a Church again, I could do it. I know what it takes. The point is all the time I was talking to Jesus. When I got a block probably about the twentieth one, it was so heavy I could hardly pick it up. I talked to Jesus. Oh Lord, I need some help here. My back is about to break. You know, He helped me. I got the job done. The hardest job I had to do was put the window frames over where the windows would be. Those things are heavy. They are not easy to lift, but I wrestled them into place head high. Then I cemented them in place level and even. How I did it, well Jesus was there with me. Look at what I did is not what I am saying. I am saying, "Look at what Jesus did" Today, if I had to do it, I would break my back. I still believe if I had Jesus help, I could do it again. Not that I am going to. I'm not going to build a building, but I could because Jesus is there. I know it, and He knows it. He is there willing to help me. That's what really counts. We have to have Him present.
Right in the book of Hebrews, He gave me something to think about when He said "for the joy that was set before Him, He went to the cross." The joy that was set before me was to build a Church. I saw the thing grow. I saw it become real. All the things it takes to be a Church. I served it for fifteen years. I saw it grow and saw it become financially solvent. It was great. It was done not because of me, but for God who was in it. God was leading it. God was doing it. I was His tool, His weapon. It became a beautiful little Church with a beautiful congregation. It was financially solvent. I felt the joy even with the pain of all the work. The joy of building for God. I wasn't building it for the community or the people. I was building it for God. This is the way we do it. God should be telling us what to do next and how to do it. Are you listening for God? If you just sit in a chair and wait for a voice to speak, that doesn't do it. You ask God to speak to you, and then you go about your business. The right time is God's time. God will speak, and He will tell us exactly what He expects of us, or God will show us. If we are the instuments to do it, God will ensure we have the strength to do it. We didn't have any money to build a Church, but we did. The first services we had were in a big old farm hnouse. We had the service in the living room. I stood in the dining room. The rabbits and deer outside were going around everywhere. It wasn't a civilized place. My little grandson who is my big grandson now looked out the window all the time watching the rabbits playing and the deer going by. It was a good little Church. Then we decided to build a building. I mean building it. Then the Church began to grow. You can do it if you have the joy of glorifying God. The joy of working for God. The joy of building for God. It wasn't for me. That's not the point at all.
There are four things I want to say about the joy and glory of God. When Jesus prayed to God. "Father, the hour has come that the Son may glorify you." Jesus was not saying it's over. Jesus was saying "let the glory come forth." Let's make it worthwhile. Let's make it a worthwhile deal. God was building a Church. I think Jesus knew He was building a Church. I think He knew what was going to be even though He only had a few men Himself. He knew how it was ging to expand and grow and become the Church. Did you ever wonder how a group of twelve men with a leader became the millions in the Christian Church today? Christians in all places all over the world with all denominations. How coud the word spread so much. Even in 2,000 years, how coud it become so strong? There is a sad aside to that, because today I see the Church weakening in it's message. The message is not Church. The message is Jesus. The message is not; we have a place to go. The message is Jesus. Jesus is Lord. Church is not the important thing in our life. Jesus is. Church is not what makes the world go around. Jesus is. Do you realize the world today is the same as it was 2,000 years ago when Jesus was in it? Why? God hasn't changed a thing. God hasn't done anything different whatsoever except to access Christ when we ask. In Jesus, day you couldn't sit in a little Church like this, and at the close of service when we give an invitation for you to come to the altar to say God forgive me of my sins. Some of you have. So you know it's true, but have you done it lately? Have you asked Him again? Have you ever done anything wrong? Are you as sure as you were back then? Are you like the fellow who said, "I am not going to do it again. I did it forty years ago, and I am not going to do it over again." It's kind of like being married. Some of you have been married for forty years. You are not going to be married over again. I have been married fifty years, and I don't want to be married again. I'm going to pass right on by past that one, so I don't get in trouble. We don't have to re-do everything. But, I think we need to come to God every so often and make sure we are doing all right. It's the safest way. We never know when we are going to leave this world, and go to meet our God. It could be anytime, any moment. We need not to have in mind that I can wait, I'm going to die someday. That' not the way to live. I live with the idea that someday, I'm going to meet God. God is going to judge me. God is going to judge you. It's going to make a difference in where you spend eternity. I don't want to go to what the Bible calls Hell. I want to go to be with God, and the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven. I want to one of those who spend 10,000 years on my knees praising Him. 10,000 years? Wow! That's a long time. It's a worthwhile goal to live for. It's a goal worth going for. All it takes to get there is to be honest with God. Be honest with Him. It's not just kneeling at the altar. That's not what does it. It's coming to God and saying, "God, I am going to live for You. God, I am going to follow You. God, I'm going to be Yours. God, I am going to live for You, not this world." That's not saying, "I don't care about this world. We do care. We want to make this world a better place to live as much as we can. We want to build and rebuild it the best we can. We want to do things for this world and for the people of this world. We want to do the best that we can. Personally, we have to be associated with God. That is so we can be associated with Him in the afterlife.
Could Jesus have escaped the cross? The Devil thought so, and tempted Him. Remember the Devil came to Him, and said, "Here you are sitting on this cliff. Throw yourself down and let nothing happen to you." Jesus said, "No. You don't tempt the Lord your God." The Devil said, "See these stones? Make bread out of these stones so you have something to eat." Jesus said, "No. That's not the way God wants it." And on and on. I imagine He had a lot more temptations than what we have written, and what we know about. I'm sure He was tempted all His life. It was things that were important, but He never gave in. He stayed true to God and so can we. We can stay true to God. We don't have to give in. We don't have to give it up. We don't have to. We may do different than people around us, but we can be as honest as honest can be. I think we have to do that to the best of our ability. The Devil has misrepresented our relationship to God all down through history. He came to Adam and Eve, the very first couple, and tried to fool them. He did fool them once. He tried to fool them again, and couldn't get away with it. They wouldn't buy it.
So here we are today. Jesus died on an old cross to repute everything the old Devil has brought into this world, and to give us a way out. He says come onto me. I'll make a way for you. Come onto me. That's my message this morning Jesus, with the joy set before Him, went to the cross, so we could say to Jesus come to me. Help me. I leave you with that this morning. I give you this invitation. This altar is open to you. Come onto me. I'll give you peace. I'll give you what you need. I'll make your life worthwhile. If you will just come to me. You want to be related with Jesus, so that when He comes into His glory, He can bring you into His glory too. I'll pause right now for just a moment to give you an opportunity. Coming to the altar isn't the only way. You can do it at home, but I dare say if you won't do it here, you won't do it at home. So I give you the opportunity to come. Come to Jesus. Lay your life before Him, and join to Him. Come. (No one came to the altar.)
I have to leave you to go to the next Church to help the Minister there. As I leave, you will sing "Beneath the Cross of Jesus." After the song, Worship leader Joan Glick prayed: Father, just give us all a blessing this morning. We thank you for what Jesus did on the cross for each one of us that we can live fully and sacrificially for Jesus. Thank you for the love You give us. In Jesus Name. And all the people said, "Amen".
April 11, 2010: On the Road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-32, Pastor John Glick
I'm reading the Bible today in the book of Luke, chapter 24, starting with verse 13. This is the Sunday after Easter, and we are following up the Easter story. It's an event that has always thrilled me just to read it. I love this.
And behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. They talked together about these things which had happened. It always interested me that they walked seven miles home after all the excitement and the crucifixion in Jesuralem. That reminds me of back when I played football, and from school to walk home was six miles. During the war, back when I played football, there was no gas. It was rationed. My Dad couldn't come for me. I had to walk home all the way. It was six miles. I was probably in the best condition as anybody on the team. I got exercise all the way home even after practice at school. Sometimes, I ran all the way. Now, back to the Bible. They were seven miles from Jerusalem. They talked about the things that had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. Their eyes were restrained, so they did not know Him. He said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another when walking, and so sad?" The one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are you the only stranger in Jesuralem who does not know the thing that has happened in these days?" He said to them, "What things?" They said to Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazerous, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. How the chief priests delivered Him to be condemned to death and they crucified Him. We were even hoping it was He who was going to redeem Israel. This is the third day since all this happened. Certain women of our comany who arrived at the tomb early astonished us when they did not find His body, saying they had seen a vision of Angels who said He was alive. Certain of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it was as the women had said. Him they did not see. He said to them, "Oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had declared. Am I not the Christ who suffered these things, and then enter into His glory?" Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them all the scripture things concerning Himself. As they came near the village to which they were going, He wqalked ahead as if He were going on. But they urged Him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them. When He was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, and He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and He has appeared to Simon." Then they told what had happened on the road, and how He had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.
Easter is over, and Jesus has risen. We are living now in New Testament times. The difference between the coming of Jesus and before His birth, before His coming into the world was the Old Testament. After His birth, it was the New Testament. What's the difference? Him. Jesus. He is the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus also makes a difference in our lives. What Jesus was doing on that particular day was something we don't know. We don't know what He was doing. We don't know why He was there. The other two men were going home disappointed. They had been to Jesuralem to see all the excitement. They had gone to see Jesus crowned King. They went to see all their religious views accepted, and all that, and everything had failed. It was over. It was done. It had failed as far as that was concerned. They didn't know what else to do. Jesus had failed. Everything had failed as far as they were concerned. On the way home, they were talking aout it. They were disappointed. It was not like our Easter. We are not disappointed. Jesus had come and done what He said He would do. It happened a long time ago as far as our life is concerned. Yet we know it happened. I wonder sometimes if the Church really does know what happened. Does the Church really know that Jesus has risen from the dead. Does the Church really accept the Jesus who has risen from the dead? Does the Church really believe it? Can we believe it? Do we believe it, as a body of what we call believers? Jesus has risen from the dead. Do we believe that with Easter is just over last Sunday?.
These two guys were walking on the road were just disgusted. The whole thing had failed. They had great hopes for Jesus. They had great hopes that He was going to come and reign as King. Everything would be O.K. All their pockets would be lined with gold. That always seemed to be a part of it, but it wasn't going to be. They were talking about all the strange things that happened. It was strange. It was different. It was difficult to understand. All those things that happened that were not supposed to happen. These kinds of thing were not supposed to go on. Men are not supposed to be killed like that. They are not supposed to be raised from the dead after they are dead. We don't see it happening in our day. When people die, they are dead. Yet we say God is able to raise the dead. God is able to bring new life, and all those things. What are we talking about? The new life we receive is new life while we are living here in this time of testing and trial. Jesus can come into our life if we allow Him to. He can make all the difference in the world. I think that's what we have to understand this morning. It's not Jesus in the world. It's Jesus in our life that counts. It's what really means something.
Now these two men are joined by someone they don't know. He walks along with them and asks, "What are you guys talking about?" They said, "Where have you been? Weren't you in Jesuralem when all this was happening?" Jesu said, "What are you talking about?" I think that is what the world is asking the Church this morning. When we talk about Jesus, "What are you talking about? "Are you talking about someone who lived and died 2,000 years ago? Someone being alive and influential in people living today? How can that be? How can it be that Jesus can still touch our lives?" Then their eyes are opened, and they recognize Him. They said this Jesus was a prophet. He said He was the Son of God, but we call Him a prophet. We think He was something special. We hope this was the one who was to come and change the world for us. What Jesus answered, we don't really understand, but what He said was that's going to happen. That's the way it is. I did come. The world has changed. It's not like it was. You can have new life. Real life. Whole life. Eternal life. Now. They didn't know that was possible before. They didn't realize that the coming of Jesus was going to make so much difference in their Nation. In the time to come, what a difference it was going to make for people in all the world. No one could know that. No one could understand that. Easter was going to make a difference. That's why I think it's maybe blasphemous in our day when Easter is a time of flowers and clothes and a certain day to be brought to Church. Some will not darken the door for another year. Like a fellow said, he went to Church every Easter, and every Christmas. Never missed. Isn't that wonderful? What does it mean? What did he do it for? He just showed up. It's in the books, as a check-mark by his name. He was there that day. In God's book, there was no mark. Just an "X" that he wasn't there. He didn't come. He hadn't accepted. Jesus really didn't mean anything to him. He was just going because it was a certain day. It's like the fourth of July. We all celebrate the fourth of July because it's the birthday of our Nation as far as we are concerned. It means something to us, because we became a Nation. Did any of you watch the other night, the program on public tevevision about the writing of the Star Spangled Banner? They told the story of the flag at Baltimore when Francis Scott Key was on the ship that was there during the battle. What he saw are the words you sing about our Nation. I thought it was interesting. Francis Scott Key was there while the bombs were bursting. As they burst, he could see the flag. Do we honor our flag anymore? What does the American flag really mean to you? Let me ask, what does the Christian flag mean to you? The Christian flag and the American flag are both here on each side of the altar. The Cross is here near the altar. What does the Cross mean to you? The death of Jesus? Is that all it means? No, it means our salvation, our liberty. It means freedom from sin that we can have because of Jesus. It means a whole lot. How do you rate Jesus in your consideration of Him? How high do you rate Him? Is He really important to you? Is His influence important in your life? Is what He said, as you read your Bible, important to you as you study His words? Do you know what He is saying? I like certain sections better than others,even though He said it some place. I like the one where Jesus took a little child, and put him on His lap, and said, "Hey, leave hese kids alone, they belong to me." He didn't say it in those words, but that's what they mean - that such is the Kingdom of God.That's why I love these kids that come up here on Sunday morning. I love them. I really do. They keep me going. They give me new life. They give me new hope. They are onery. They are noisy sometimes. They are smart. These are smart kids. They really are. Sometimes smart-aleck, but they are smart. I love them. Such is the Kingdom of God, such is the future of this world. When I look at what's happeing around us, I think of the world they are coming into. It hurts me. I'm afraid they are coming into a world that's so ugly and debt ridden that all of ther energy is going to be put toward getting out of it. We are like the fellow who went down to the canal when Fulton was going to float his steam boat. Boats had been pulled by mule along the canal up to that time. The old fellow stood there and said it will never sail. It will never go. He will never get it started. He will never get it moving. Nothing will ever happen. All of a sudden, with a cough and a flash, and a puff of smoke, the boat was alive and started to move. He watched it as down the canal it went under it's own power. Wonderful! Wonderful! Then the old fellow said, "They will never get it stopped." But they did. The boat stopped. You know, we are like that. We are contrary sometimes. We just don't give in to anything.
The two people on the road to Emmaus; nothing was going right. Everything had gone wrong. To Jesus, who was walking along with them, everything had gone right. Nothing had gone wrong. Who can we trust? Two men walking along the road discouraged, or Jesus? I encourage you this morning to trust Jesus. That's the most important thing you can do. Trust Jesus. He is the answer. It was just another day in the life of those poor disappointed people. To Jesus, it was the greatest thing that could happen. He had died for the sins of the world that you and I could be set free. For us to be set free, we have to do something too. Jesus had done His half of it. We need to do our half by accepting Jesus. Accept what He did for us, and believe in Him. Jesus, as the scripture put it, rarely said trust me. He said believe in me. Believe in me. If you can you believe my words, your life will be changed. I say that this morning. If you believe the words of Jesus in the Bible, not me, the words of Jesus, your life will be changed too. In the right way. It will make a difference. It will make a difference in the life you are living, so that it takes away a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety about the future, and things like that.
Jesus said, "Oh foolish men, foolish and slow of heart to believe. Come on. Shape up. Were not the problems spoke of that Christ had to suffer in your place?" That's what the prophet said would happen. That's what I did." Then they believed. Then their lives were changed. Then they knew that everything is going to be alright. Do you believe what is written in God's Word is true and meaningful to you? Do you really believe some of the things He said could really happen to you? That you could be born again. That you could have new life. He told that to a preacher. The preacher said, "Oh come on - how can a man be born again when he is old. How can he enter again into his Mothers womb and be born again? It's impossible." Jesus simply said that what is impossible for men is possible with God. When God does it, He does it right. When God does it, it is done. Period. There is no question. You see, the only way that sin could be taken away from sinners was for Jesus to die in our place for our sins. That's what He did. Now, it is done. The thing is that God was interested in the common people just like us. God is still interested in common peope like us. The happiest thing that could happen as far as God is concerned is for a sinner to repent and come to Him. The greatest joy a Church could have is for a sinner to repent and come to God. Let me say this. We were just talking about raising money. Once we come to God and obey God. Once we come to Him and let our lives be changed the way they ought to be changed - Most of the problems of the Church would be solved. The problems of the Church are we who are sitting in the seats this morning. The problems are not in the building, the program, and so forth. The problem is we the people. We are the problem. That's the thing Jesus is working on this morning. He is working to make life more possible. More realistic. Easier for us. He does that. The way is to come to Him for it to happen.
So it says that Jesus began in Moses and explained to them scriptures about Himself. Wouldn't it have been wonderful? That's the part that I think would have been the greatest. Jesus began to explain to them how the scriptures applied to Him. I would have loved to have been there. I would have loved to sit at His feet. That's one reason I would like to go to Heaven, to sit at the feet of Jesus for 20,000 years and just hear him expound the Gospel. Jesus, what does this mean? How do you apply this? What do you do with all this. What do live like this? What is meaningful here? Let Him explain it. He would explain, for example, Isaiah 53:3. It says "He was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised and we did not care. All this happened to Him and we didn't care." Jeremiah 23:5 says behold the day is coming says the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and He shall reign as King and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Who is this? King Jesus. I fear that we come into this Church, and go through the motions of the Church. Then we miss the King. I fear tht we come into the Church and try the best "our way" to do it our way to make the Church meaningful to ourselves. We do this instead of letting God give it meaning. I think God will do that if we allow Him to. We have to change our ways first.
One of the two men asked Jesus to come and spend the night with them. He did. He took meal with them. In the morning, after breakfast, He just disappeared. They said to one another, "Didn't our heart burn within as we walked with Him by the way?" That's what you have to do this morning, my friends. When we walk with Jesus our heart should burn within us. With joy. Fulfillment. Anxiety. Interest in your head. This Jesus that we love. Eventually the two guys returned to Jerusalem, and went to the Upper Room, and they told the eleven disciples that they had met Jesus and talked with Him. I imagine they laughed at them. You two guys are having nightmares at noon. You two guys are nuts. But they had seen Him. They walked with Him and talked with Him. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Most of the world didn't. Just those two. They walked with Him and talked with Him. The point is that He ever lets us down. He never disappoints us when we need Him most. He is right there. Now He is not there to help us out of silly little things that we think are important. He is there to help us when we need Him. It's that we don't understand His way of working things out. He is there and He is doing it. He is blessing us and we are receiving His blessing. This morning, as we come to Holy Communion; remember we are coming to Jesus. We are coming to Him, to His blood that was shed for you, His body that He sacrificed for us. I never come to communion with what's in my mind to say. He did this for me. What am I supposed to do about it? Just accept it? Just believe it, and that's it? Just take a little cup, and a little bite of bread. Then go home, and that's the end of it? No, there is more to it than that. He said do this in remembrance of me. As often as you do it, do it for my sake. Remember me. Remember what I did for you. I stand here knowing Jesus died for me. I am just standing here sharing Him. It's come today to the point of Communion. I ask you to stand as I read to you the invitation. Then I will uncover the elements and instruct you in taking communion.
He who has truely and earnestly repented of your sins and intend to lead a Christian life, following the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to follow His Holy ways with faith. Take this Holy Sacrament to remember the sacrifice of atonement that He made for you. (Children and teachers came from the side room to take Communion along with the people in the Worship room.) You may kneel if you desire, or just remain standing. This represents the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was broken for you to bring you everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you. Drink this in remembrance of me. The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord give you peace. Amen. Hymn # 167, He Lives
Father, we thank you this morning that we can know you live. You live in our hearts and minds. Bless us as we separate and go to our homes today. Help us make this day special for you. In Jesus Name, Amen
April 4, 2010: Worship, Pastor Glick, God Makes a Way, Matthew 28:1-10.
There is really only one message you can preach on Easter Sunday. That is the resurrection of Jesus. Right? You always try to have something that is new and different. I'm reading in the book of Matthew chapter 28, verses one to ten. After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord, descending from Heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him. This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to Him, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, there they will see me." May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.
We spend our time leading up to Easter doing just that, following the path of Jesus Christ as He went to His death. That's not a very happy sounding thing. We follow His footsteps to His death, and His point of victory, His resurrection. I am proud and happy to say this morning that He is not dead. He is risen. He is alive. He is just as real right here this morning in this little Church as He was anytime in history. Right here. I praise and glorify His name more than I do anytime. He is Jesus. He is Lord and Savior. He is alive. He is not dead. God was not going to let His Son be dead. I thought about that a lot. Particularily this time of year when I am trying to prepare sermons that are meaningful. What does resurrection really mean? We read about it, and think about it. We are used to reading books, papers, and magazine stories that most of them are made up about things that happen. We are kind of used to unusual things. I wonder if we think of it in that way - Jesus coming back to life after death. Sort of a science fiction like thing.
You know, God's problem wasn't about Jesus death. God's problem was our lives. He didn't need to change. He needed to change our lives. That's why Jesus died. He wanted us to have life. There was no outcome solution for mankind until Jesus. Now we have it. God allowed it, because it was the only way for mankind to be redeemed. Resurrection is the one big word. The other one is redemption. This morning, I want to think more on redemption than the other word. We are redeemed by God's lamb. It was Him hanging on the cross. It was Him dying. It was stained with His blood. If there wasn't a cross stained with His blood, there would be a cross somewhere stained with mine. I would have had to die for my sins. He died for me. I didn't ask Him to do this. God made a way. Maybe that should be the thing this morning. God made a way. Whenever you have a real problem, go to God. God will make a way. Whenever something is really bothering you, go to God. God will make a way. I've told you different times a number of things I am involved in where I didn't fit in. Always, God made a way. God has always made a way out of the situation. Even with getting lost and getting found. God makes a way. No matter what it is in your life that is holding you back and hurting you, destroying your happiness and peace of mind. Whatever it is. God will make a way. That's redemption. That is what it's all about. God will redeem you. God will change things. God will make it right. God has to do it. You can't do it on your own. I can't do it on my own.
Today, we need to consider some things that answer the question that Pilate had to answer. What do we do with Jesus. People asked Pilate, and Pilate asked the people. What do we do with Jesus. They said crucify Him. Pilate said let Him go. He was outnumbered. He dared not do what was right. He told them to kill Him. That they did. They killed Him for the moment. God said that is enough. Redemption is now paid for. He paid the price. His blood is sufficient. God raised Him from the dead for us. We don't have to die. We can live. Oh, we can die. We will do the natural thing, but that isn't the end of it. God has a way. God has a plan. God has a purpose for us. That's what Easter is all about. Easter is God's purpose for us. It's to live with Him. God's purpose is for us to have something, and that something is hope. Not you Hope. (As he looked to one of his relatives named Hope). I mean hope in God. Maybe you don't realize it, God is wonderful. God is absolutely wonderful. God is out there for free today. What would you do with Jesus this morning? The first thing that's important is to love Him. Lets adore Him. Let's really appreciate Him for who He is and what He is. Jesus is the greatest person who ever came out of history. The wonderful thing is that He is still living. He still cares about you and me. Easter proves that. I can't imagine in my wildest imagination Jesus going to the cross to die for me. I cant imagine the horror it must have been on the cross that He would hang there until He died. Three days later, God brought Him back to life. I don't know how God did it. I don't know if God stepped into the tomb and said stand-up. Maybe He just waved his hand, and said come forth. I don't know how He did it, but He did it. Someday, Jesus is going to face me, and say you are forgiven. I hate to think of facing Him knowing He is perfect and how imperfect I am. I can't imagine how He can even forgive me. In my imagination, I can see myself standing before Christ, and looking up at Him probably with tears in my eyes. Hoping against hope that something will happen that spares me from going to hell. I can imagine Jesus leaning over and saying, God forgive him. He is one of mine. Can you imagine how happy I am going to be when I hear those words? It won't be that way exactly. I am sure He may say something like, "Look at that dummy. We can't let him go." That's alright. Just so it happens. I believe He has a way that He is going to determine something about me.
You know, sometimes when I think about it, not everybody has a word of praise for the Lord. When I read the newspaper and magazines and the junk that comes out from writers, God is not really exalted. Isn't God more important? It's come to a point in history where it's chic to bad mouth God. There is a total shift to bad-mouth something. That's putting it in a nice way. We make fun of God. We make fun of what's holy. We struggle with that, because we know it's wrong. I think of some of the great men of our day. People whose names are in the news constantly. People who are supposedly doing great things for us. People who are going to have to face God. God will say, "Why did you say that? Why did you put me down like that?" There will be no answer. I'm sure many will say, "Hey, that's the way I believe." God will be able to say, "I taught you." They will say, "No, you didn't teach me. No one ever taught me." God will say, "It's in my book." They will say, "I didn't read it." Why not read it? If we don't understand what God has for us, its our fault. It's all there. If you don't have it, I have a copy of it right here. (He held up a Bible). It's all in here. What God wants for us. How we can know Him. How we should act. How to live for Him. It's all here. I think we have to under stand. God is serious about what we are doing. We come to Church on Sunday morning. We sit and worship in our own way, and our thoughts are a million miles away. For example, there is a roast in the oven. If we don't get home a certain time, it will burn, and so on and so forth. God will say, "Why didn't you hear me?" "But my roast was burning." I can imagine God saying something like, "Better your roast than you. It's too late now. You burn."
We have to do it for ourselves. We have to determine who Christ is to us. Then begin to live it. He is already resurrected. He is the resurrected Son of God. You don't have to go to the cross. He is crucified. He is alive. He is sitting at the right hand of God right now. Right this instant, He might be pointing His finger at us and saying, "Father, look at that little group of people down there worshipping. I know them. Forgive them. I know them by name. I know they are not perfect, but they are mine." God for Jesus sake will forgive us. Did you ever wonder why when you pray that you pray in Jesus name? You are praying to God, but you are praying by the authority of Jesus Christ in His name. By His authority you say, "God for my sake." It's God, for Jesus sake. In His name, Amen. Amen, I am done. I think we say amen too soon. You need to understand. We have to learn to know Him and let Him know us for Easter to be real. If He doesn't know us, He didn't die for us. He died for those who will accept Him. He died for those who believe in Him. He died for those of us who will live for Him. There has to be a response from us It has to be more than "I read that or I read a whole chapter last night. What do you think of that?" I read whole chapters of the Bible, and I think I've done a good job of it. I think back on it, and I can't remember very much of what I read. I can read ten verses, and pray about it. I think about it for a while, and then I get a lot out of it. Sometimes I don't even use my Bible, the Upper Room devotion, or other devotions that have scripture in them. I will think of just two or three verses. I'll think on those verses. Lord, what did you really mean? What did it mean in that day, and what does it mean in this day? I go through all kinds of twists trying to get the truth out of it. I'm sure sometimes I never do understand what I read. I think I do, and I'm satisfied I did. I probably was wrong. I might have been right. I believe when we read God's Word with more sincerity and intensity, God gives us a special understanding of His grace. A special outpouring of His grace. That's what I pray for this morning. A special outpouring of grace.
Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for us that we could be here this morning and hear Him. He went to the cross to die for us, so if we never get home. If for some reason our life is taken from us before we ever get home, we can be in Heaven. Did you take Him with you when you left home today? Did you bring Jesus with you when you came into Church today? Did He come in with you? Is He waiting for you at the door? Is He sitting with you in a seat? Do you hear His voice in your mind? I pray, Father God, that you speak to the minds of everyone here today. Make your Word plain, so we know whatever you have for us, and we will understand you this morning. This is Easter. This is, God, your day. Speak to our heart. You died for us. You were raised from the dead for us. Now speak to us again. Help us to understand you.
Jesus represents God to us. He is God. You know, this is His Church. This is not just a Church. This is the Church of Christ. This is where we Worship Him. This is where we either accept Him, or we reject Him. This is where good things happen or not. Maybe nothing will happen. Nothing happening is a bad thing. Did anything happen in your heart this morning? You have sat through many Easters like this. You sat and listened to the preacher. Then you went home and thought that was a good message. Then you forgot it. Is God speaking to your heart today? Was God with me any moment? Has God touched me? Is your life going to be any better, any different? Any more hopeful? Any more fulfilled? Any more different than it was when you came in this morning? It can be. Ask God to come into your life and change those things. Problems? God can help.
When you turn your radio on to listen to a ball game, you have to adjust it to the right station. You have to have the menu adjusted so you can hear it clearly. You adjust little knobs to take out the static. That's what we have to do when we are listening for God. We have to adjust our thinking, dial out static noise. Turn to the right station. I listen and get the score at least of the ball-game. If I don't have the score, it doesn't mean too much. Just because a player takes the ball down the court, throws and misses doesn't mean anything to me. What's the score. If we are ahead ten points, it doens't matter if he does miss. It's kind of that way with us when we get with God. What is the score? Is God on your side? Are you on His team, or are you on the other side? It's Easter. It's not just a day to reminisce about life. Easter means life. I wish I had a good term for this day. Resurrection day? Salvation day? That just doesn't fit. It's Easter. It's a day that God made special for our lives. The world can't understand it. Oh, they might say, "We won't call it Easter. We will call it something else." That doesn't change anything. It's still the resurrection day of Jesus. You will be resurrected if you will change your life. You can change your heart. You can change your hope. You can be different. You can call it Holy Youth day. I hope you understand. Life is no childish game. Life is not just that we are here for 100 years. In that 100 years we have to work hard. Earn money, struggle, have an illness, go to the hospital, and raise a family. All that, work hard to the end of our life. Then lay down for someone else to take over and get benefits. The goal of life is to know God for our own future. Our future is not in this world. Our future is in the life of Christ. It's coming. It's not here. It's kind of like all this past week. We have looked forward to Easter. It wasn't here. It was coming. That's the way God is. He's coming. He is not here. When our loved ones die and are in a casket, we go see them. They are quiet. No, they are not. They are in their world. They are in a place God has prepared for them; Heaven. Or if they miss that, they are in the alternative place. I don't want that. I want to, as the Bible says, cast my crown at His feet. Can you believe of all things that we will have a crown in eternity? If I make it, when I make it. At a certain time, I will cast my crown at His feet and glorify God. Hey, that will be easy for me. I can take off my golden crown and cast it at His feet, and glorify God. Let's start doing that this morning. Let's in our imagination cast our crown at His feet. Glorify Him. Jesus the Son of God. Our redeemer. Lord of our lives. Jesus is everything. Here you guys thought your wife was everything. You guys thought your children were everything. No, Jesus is everything. Put Him first in your life, and everything else will fall into place.
I pray that on this Easter Sunday; if you haven't done it before, you will make plans to be with God in eternity. That's what Easter is all about. Jesus made a way. Heavenly Father, we thank you for making a way to give us a place in glory. Jesus, we thank you for making a way by dying on the cross for us. We think of the cross and talk about it, and read about it. We read it in the Bible. Help us to appreciate it more. I pray that in our heart, we will glorify you more. I pray that we glorify Jesus as Lord and Savior of all mankind. It's Easter. It's a resurrection day. Resurrect us in what you want us to be. In Jesus Name, Amen. Hymn # 167: He Lives.
March 28, 2010: Palm Sunday March, Mark 11
Pastor John Glick
This is Palm Sunday. We may think more of palms than what it represents. Palm Sunday is the Sunday that Jesus made His last entry into the Temple. I'll tell you in the sermon why He did it. It's an event that turned out to be a non-event. The crowds were looking for Him to go into the Temple, and throw out the soldiers and foreigners. Then to restore the country to them, the people who had been badly treated for a long time. They really wanted something to happen, and this was it. This was the event. You know, we have times like that in our own lives. We are expecting something big to happen. All of a sudden - nothing. How do we handle that? Let me read from Mark, the eleventh chapter, the first few verses.
As Jesus and His disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. "Go into that village over there.", He told them. "As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ""What are you doing?" just say, "The Lord needs it and will return it soon." The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, "What are you dong, untying that colt?" They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and He sat on it. Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of Him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around Him were shouting, Hosanna, Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna. Praise God in highest Heaven! So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, He left because it was late in the afternoon. Then He returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples. May God add His blessings on the the reading of His Word.
It was a joyful day. This was the day that was supposed to happen. This man Jesus who had been going through Israel proclaiming Himself to be something now needed to prove who He was and what He was. He had to do something. What is He going to do? They gathered to get a closer glimpse of what was happening. Do you suppose their curiosity was increased just by the mystery of religion in general? Was there really something to this man Jesus? Was it the rumors spread by His followers that He was the Son of God? Which they didn't believe. I wonder how many people today still do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God? He really is God, or do we just accept what Churches spout.? Do we accept what the Bible says without really thinking through who this man Jesus is? Who is He? What does He do for me? What has He done for me? I didn't see Him. He didn't come to my house. He didn't knock on my door. he didn't send me a letter. He didn't pay any of my bills. What was this man Jesus?
An odd kind of day in that far off land was a day of contrasts. The Sun was rising high in the city when Jesus and the crowd came. Jesus was riding on a donkey or colt. I'm sure it was a funny looking outfit. Here was this man riding on a colt. The people throwing clothes and palm branches on the road in front of Him. Shouting Hosanna in the highest. Hope was high in their hearts. You know how it is when you want something bad. Bad enough to get your hopes up. Then nothing happens. You know how it is. You know how you feel. It's rough. Then there was that moment when things got bogged down a little bit. He stopped and got off the donkey. He looked at the city and for some reason He began to cry. A grown man standing in the middle of the street crying.Can you imagine that? Maybe they didn't hear Him, but some of them must have heard in order to record it. Oh Jesuralem, Jesuralem, how many times I witnessed to you, but you wouldn't have it. We don't want you. He could have been saying, "You don't understand." I'm sure they didn't. They didn't understand Him or what He was about. People grabbed anything they could lay hands on and began to throw it down for Him to walk on.
The point of the story here is not what happened. The point is what did not happen. He was there to throw out the money changers, the foreigners, the Romans. He was there to change things, to put the country back in Jewish hands. He was supposed to come and take charge. He was the Son of God. He was something, but what was He? He did nothing. He cried, went into the Temple and looked around. Then He walked out and left. What a disappointment. That's the story. That is what happened. He went away. Laughing and shouting, the crowd went through the city gates ready for something to happen. You can't possibly imagine what it meant to the crowd to realize that this is the day. This is the day we are going to take over again. We are going to have our own nation. We are going to be able to go back to our Temple and worship the way we want to. We are going to do it. We are going to make these unclean foreign dogs leave our land forever. It didn't happen. He didn't say a word. He just cried. Then went away. That is one of the saddest moments in the whole New Testament. He went away. He left without doing anything. We have a tough time understanding. The scripture says He went into the Temple and looked at everythig. Since the hour was late, He went out again. That's the only way they could record it. He went out again. He left. He took off. Why didn't He do something? Why didn't He just snap His fingers and get rid of the Romans? Why didn't they all fall dead? Why didn't they pack up and leave? Why did He not sit on the throne and be the King of Israel? If He was God, He could do that. Why didn't He do those things? We look back at it and we see why and what caused the let-down that day. Oh Jesuralem, Jesuralem - how many times I wanted to save you, but you wouldn't have it. Jesuralem, you wouldn't have me. Now Jesuralem, I am leaving you to your fate. Jesus knew what was going to happen in the situation with Himself. He knew what was going to happen in the situation with Jesuralem. The moment Jesus arrived in the city and did nothing, He fate was sealed. When He did nothing, the soldiers captured Him. When He did nothing and said nothing, His fate was sealed. What we have to understand, even in our day is that His fate being sealed at that moment for our salvation meant His fate was sealed, not ours. Had He declared Himself in that hour, we wouldn't be here. Had He declared Himself Son of God and taken over, history would have changed. Maybe time would have ended. It was be as though we didn't count. It would be as though we didnt matter. Jesus didn't see it that way. We all matter to Him. It mattered, so He went to the cross and died for us.
The people who were following Him. Why were they following Him? For what they could get out of it. They really didn't see Him as God or Son of God in that sense. Their worship of Him was empty. Think of what that means - empty. Think of that this morning. Is our worship empty? Are you really feeling God? Are you feeling God in the depth of your soul? Do you realize you are in the presence of God? God is right here among us. Do you suppose today that Jesus came in and looked around, shook His head, then just left? Do you suppose Jesus just looked at us and said, "Oh no, not again." Then walked away. Will there be big crowds in Church this morning? As people come and do their thing. People will come and say, "O.K. preacher, now get to it and do your thing, so we can get out of here and go home. We have spent enough time on this religion business. Let's go do our thing. Dinner will be ready when we get home. We have to go places and do things. Life just can't take a back seat because it's Easter. We can't just go along as usual. Things just haven't changed much.
Theologians said we are like the Pharisees. We go down to the Temple to pray and prove ourselves, then go home feeling justified. We feel like a cloud to almighty God and imagine He can't see through us. God does see through us. Easter comes once per year. It comes to remind us that God is still God. Reality is still real. God is still here. God is right here, no matter how we feel about Him. God is still in charge of this Church. This is still God's Church. I thought about it many times. It is kind of funy. It's the Oakland United Methodist Church. Maybe it's God's United Methodist Church. Maybe it's just God's Church. That's my seat. That's my place. That's where I belong. I -ME. Do you understand what I am saying? This is God's Church. It is God's presence here this morning that makes this a worshipful place. It's not the preacher, or even the people. It's God. Do we recognize God this morning? Do we see Him in the cross? The flowers? The candles? The Altar? The kneeling benceh? Do we see God here anywhere? Does any of this stir our hearts? Does it stir our memories? Does it stir our souls?
I heard a Pastor say one time when leading His congregation that a woman complained that she couldn't understand a word the choir sang. His answer to her was, "Who was the choir singing to, God or you?" I bet God. Maybe that's what we ought to realize when we come to Church. We don't come just to see each other, we come to see God. Can you see God or just each other. Strange isn't it? How often I hear the old excuse, I don't come to Chruch, because I don't understand what is going on. I don't get anything out of it. My answer is, did you put anything in to it? Did you mean to get anything out of it? I think of a lady who told me not too long ago, I go to a big Church in Columbus. I can get lost in the crowd, and they can't single me out to give me a job. Isn't that some reason to go to Church? Saint attendance, Saint preacher, Saint choir, Saint and so on. Attending Church is for God. That's what we have to understand. It's all for God. I hear someone once in a while who asks, "Can't we sing some song I enjoy? Some song I know? Some song that stir my heart? Joan keeps saying to me, "I want you to sing with me." I'd like to, but I can't sing any more. I lost my beautiful voice. I say that humbly of course. I lost my voice. I used to sing bass. I sang in a quartet. Now I can't sing at all. I still love to sing, but I can't do it. I hear, for example, with all the money we spend for heating, we didn't have the house very warm this morning. In the summer, "We have air-conditioning, but we didn't cool it enough - or it was too hot. There is always something that is not just right. Always. The preacher is either too loud or too soft. I either heard, and I didn't want to hear, or I didn't hear, and I wanted too. We are never satisfied. That's just the way we are. I have an idea that God might leave us to ourselves, because it gets disgusting. We gather for Worship and Prayer. Yet it's like we do so without the slightest concern for God. Does God really want us together? Yes. He wants us together. He also wants us to Worship Him. We don't just gather to read a Sunday School lesson. We don't gather just for the Preacher to read the Bible, or just take notes. Where is God? Are we listening? Are we listening to God? Are we hearing God? Are we Worshiping God? Are we just going through the motions? Do we feel God at all this morning? We never learn, do we?
The man on the colt going into Jerusalem was criticized, because He didn't do what they expected. He went into the Temple and looked around. They didn't realize He was checking. Do you suppose if God came to our Church Sunday morning, came in and looked around and heard what the Preacher is saying. Maybe He would be checking. Then He would go back out. Let's give God credit. God knows what He is doing. I don't know God does that, but it's possible. I know there are some Sunday mornings that I don't feel God here. I don't imagine God feels me here. We try to get together as often as we can. What's He doing today? If He is in our Temple, what is He doing? What is God doing here? He is trying to get our attention to realize that He is something, and that we need Him far more than He needs us. We need to learn to Worship God. That's what Easter is all about. Learning who God really is. Learning to accept God. Learning to be what we should be. You see, He gauges the thoughts of our hearts every day. He guages our lives. If we allow Him to, but if we don't, then He doesn't do anything. He just turns and walks away. God may have turned away this morning. No, it was not God's fault.
Palm Sunday. We do a thing here, and all laugh about it. After the Ushers hand out the palm leafs, we are going to do a victory march with Palm leaves. I am going to say everybody get up, and follow me and I'm going to march around the inside of the Church. We are going to do something. We are not going to just sit this morning. We are going to do something. We are going to march with Jesus. We are going to carry and wave our palms just like they did when Jesus was riding on a donkey. He won't be on a donkey ahead of us, but He will be with us. Alleluia will be sung without piano as we walk. If you want to walk. I'm not forcing you. Palm Sunday and you all have palm leaves. Are you ready to march? (The kids came from the side room and walked around the Church behind the Preacher along with all the adults.) Everyone walked around the Church, behind the Preacher, and one behind another.
O.K. thanks, you all. Lets pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning for palm Sunday. We thank you for the coming of Jesus into our lives to make a difference. Lord, we accept Him into our hearts. Bless us now as we go our separate ways into our homes. Bless us real good. Bring us together next week. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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March 21, 2010: The Cup and Bread, Luke 22:14-20, Pastor John Glick
I want to continue on this morning with the meaning of Communion. (Pastor Glick talked about Communion in the young disciples part of Worship). What does communion really mean to us? What is this drama of the bread and the wine we go through every so often. Why do we do it. I would like to ask, but I won't - I wonder how many of us really know what communion really is. What it really means. It's just something we do as a Church. It's a ritual that we go through, and don't really understand what it means. Do we know what Jesus was doing when He instituted the Holy Communion. I'm going to read St. Luke chapter 22, verses 14-20.
When the hour had come, He sat down with the 12 disciples with him. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this with you before i suffered. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. So He took the cup and gave thanks and said take this and divide among you. For I say to you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God comes. He took bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, "This is my body which was given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Likewise He also took the cup after supper saying, "This cup is a new covenant in my blood which was shed for you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the table. Truly the Son of Man knows it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed." Then they began to question among themselves which of them it was who would do this. May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.
The act of communion in the New Testament is really a way of observing what God had already done in the Old Testament. As I explained to the kids, and I hope to you, Jesus was reinstituting the Passover event. God had once saved the Jewish people from being annihilated by the Egyptians. Now He was going to save the people again through Jesus Christ. This time it had to be a different sacrifice. In the Old Testament, they sacrificed lambs. The scripture said they would bring a lamb - You will find this in the book of Exodus, chapter 12 - You take a lamb and kill it and eat all of it. Eat it all. Don't leave anything. If it was too much for one family, then they would get together and two families would eat the meat. But do it My way. Save the blood, don't lose any of the blood. The way it was instituted was to take the blood outside and dispose of it in a proper way. There is a whole chapter in Exodus that explains how that should be done to eat the Passover lamb. It must have been pretty important to God that He be honored at this time and in this way. When we have Holy Communion that is what we are doing. We are honoring God. We are remembering what God did for us, individually as people. God did something in our place. He died for us on a cross. The old rugged cross. Thats what Easter is all about. Communion really favors Easter a lot, because it's part of what we should do. The idea of blood is a token of obedience to God. This is my blood shed for you. We have Communion, and we use grape juice. Someone questioned me - why don't you use wine like Jesus did. That's because I don't have wine like Jesus had. The only wine we have is the stuff you buy in stores. That's strong wine. We use grape juice. I would not use boughten wine, because that's not the kind of wine they drank in Jesus day. What they drank, they made themselves. It was a flavored drink made from the juice of the grape. How they made it, I don't know. You see pictures of people climbing in the vat and stomping grapes with their feet. I wouldn't want to drink that. I imagine you get a lot more than just juice.
In the Old Testament, the blood was put over the door, the top of the door and over the sides as a sign for the death Angel to pass over that house. When we take communion and we drink wine in the cup, we are asking the death Angel to pass over us. God is going to do someting special for us. He is going to passover us. That's where we get the term passover. The death Angel passed over the house, and they were saved. That's where we get passover in the Easter service. We have a passover meal. Have you ever had a true passover meal? The same as the one outlined in the Bible? We have. We have eaten it a time or two in Church groups. It's not good food. It's bitter with no sweetening or anything like that, and no salt. You don't add anything to God. When God gives you something, you don't add anything to it. Do you realize that? If God gives you meat, you don't add salt to it. You don't try to flavor it. That's what was going on there. When God saw the blood applied to the door, He passed over them. When we take Communion, and drink from the cup, we are applying the blood to ourself, so that God will passover us again. We don't think of that when we take Communion. We just be careful that we don't spill it on our clothes and things like that. Communion is more important than that.
And the bread. The bread represents the broken body of Jesus. When the Passover lamb was slain, part of it was torn apart, not cut. There were things you had to do - save the blood. As it went on, they built temples, and they built altars like this one in Church. Around the outside altar was a trough. There was a horn at each corner. There was a place where you could hang a chunk of meat. The blood would run into the channel to be saved and taken outside to be disposed of. That's all explained in the Old Testament. God gave instructions on how to do that. As I understand, Jewish people still do that to a certain extent. Although it is now illegal to kill lambs or sheep even for sacrificial purposes. It has to be done dishonestly or in secret. That's not a good way to serve God.
God said to meet the conditions that I set. God sets those conditions, not because He wants to give us rules. He wants our obedience. God is high on obedience. He wants us to obey Him. He wants us to obey His laws. He wants us to obey Him in every way. As a result of our obedience then, we can be spared death. We can be spared a lot of things in this life. Jesus and His disciples were observing and obeying the command to keep the early feast. It was in the Upper Room that Jesus took the occasion to tell the disciples, "I am going to die for you." That's where we come to the cross. Jesus said I am going to die for you. Of course, they didn't understand that. He was going to replace the old Passover situation with a new one, with Him at the center of it. We don't keep the Old Testament Passover anymore. We remember Jesus who hung on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins. He didn't ask us if we wanted it. He died for us irregardless. If we don't accept it, it is as though we reject Him. If we can't accept that Jesus died for our sins, then we are denying Him. He said that if you deny me, I have to deny you. What that does is it puts into our own hands whether or not we are going to Heaven. Whether or not we are going to be spared in the afterlife. I decide every day where I am going to be, if I should die. I decide every day if I am going to obey God. That doesn't mean I sit down first thing in the morning and say, "Well, yes I will be a good boy today, or no, I won't be." We have to recognize the fact that every day we have temptation to sin, to do wrong. If we sin, we are against God. If we don't, we are for God. Sometimes we have to suffer a little bit, because of that. We suffer, because we really don't know what to do. We have to be obedient, if we can. Having His body broken on the cross Jesus became our sacrifice. When we leave the altar after Communion, we are observing the sacrifice of Jesus giving His body and blood for us. It's a very solemn and Holy thing. It's not just something we do once in a while, because it says so in the Book. We do it because God said so. As often as you do it, do it in remembrance of me. He didn't say do it often in remembrance of me. He just said, "Do it." You could only do it once per year. They only kept Passover Feast once per year. If we would keep Holy Communion once a year, it would be satisfactory, if we would keep it in that way. We have to remember that people in Egypt obeyed God and lived. Those who didn't obey God didn't live. The Jews in Egypt who didn't believe Moses, and didn't keep the rules as he laid them down, they died. It's as simple as that. You know, God isn't playing games with us everyday. He really isn't. God is serious about how we live for Him. He is serious about how we act for Him. He is serious about what we think of Him. He is serious about our prayers. For many of us - I am pushing this a little bit - our prayers are sort of automatic. I've got to do this before I go to bed. I generally do it every night anyway. We don't really put our personal emphasis in our prayers. God I really want communication. I really want to talk to You. We get into trouble, and we are hurting. Then we get pretty serious. We will sit down and say, "God, I hurt." We are serious. When we are just praying on an everyday basis, we don't get serious. I do. Sometimes I don't really feel the presence of God when I pray - as far as a deep warm feeling is concerned. Other times I do. God expects us to obey Him and God expects us to pray. God is waiting on us to pray. We are obeying God's command to obey Him. That's how we remember, "This is my body." and "This is my blood." As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me.
The Last Supper was an illustration of what was going to happen in the New Testament. If the Jews could have known thousands of years ago that Jesus was going to come and give His life for all mankind, it would have made a difference to them. It was prophesized hundreds of years before Jesus ever came on the scene. It was prophesized what He would do, who He would be, and what He would do. It's all there in the Bible. You can read it for yourself. Of course, He did. He was going to be a sacrificial lamb. Isn't it something to think that God - This God that we pray to - sent His Son, His Holy Son, His sinless Son to die for us. I look at myself. I look at my life. Am I deserving of that? I have to be honest, and say no. But God still did it. God I haven't been everything you want me to be. God, you did it anyway. He didn't wait for me to get better. He went ahead and died for me 2,000 years ago. He made a place for me in history. All I had to do is say yes, Jesus. I've loved You. I want You in my life. That's why I invite people to come to the altar. I don't invite you to come and be a Church member or become a super-hero, or anything like that. Just come and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Then you too will live forever. If we never do that, we live forever, but we don't live in Heaven. We don't want that outcome. What I have read in the book of Revelation makes me not want any part of that. We want to avoid that Lake of Fire. Ive wondered sometimes why God would even make a Lake of Fire, and prepare it for us. The Bible explains it pretty specifically for those who don't obey God. Those who don't love God. Those who don't accept God. That's the alternative. You don't want me, then I don't want you. Yet God loves us so much that He allows us to be what we are. Holy Communion alone symbolizes a oneness between us and God. We don't feel that oneness in any other way in the Church that I know of. I always feel when I am serving the Communion elements. God forgive me. Am I worthy to do this? Am I worthy to hold the element, or pass it to my people? God, is this right? Should I just sit them down, and say here they are? Help yourself. No pretense of any king. At the campground, sometimes at the end of services, we have Communion, and the Communion Steward stands at the front of the service and holds the elements while people come around to take them. You have to come to get them. We don't bring them to you. I like that. I really do. If you want it, come and get it. If you want God, come and get Him. If you want to be Holy, come and get Holy. You can if you try. Then there is the bread. This is my body. I've thought about it many times. Jesus broke a loaf of bread demonstrating His body being broken for us. It's pretty hard for me to realize His body was broken for me. Why did He do it for me? I wasn't alive at that time. I wasn't going to be around for 2,000 years. Yet He died for me.
In these days, when a covenant is made, we don't take it very seriously. Covenants are easily broken. Yet what we are doing when we take Communion is make a covenant with God. Now I am going to obey You. I am going to love You. I am going to be what You want me to be. I'll do what You want me to do. I'll be a Church member. I will give my tithe. I'll do what I am supposed to do. I will do what You want me to do, God. I'll be what You want me to be, God. I think that's the way we have to see it. Back in those days, when a covenant was made, it was sealed by a blood sacrifice. The deal was made then a lamb was killed, and blood was put on both people. You have probably seen this in movies, sometimes each cut their finger or their wrist and put them with the other persons blood. That made them one. They did that kind of thing when they sealed a bargain in Bible days. Maybe we ought to do that now. Maybe we ought to cut our wrist and say, God here I am. Here is my blood. I'll shed my blood for You. I don't know about you, but I don't want to. I am squeamish. Never let us take it lightly, the service of Holy Communion. If we do then we are taking lightly the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are taking lightly what He did for us. What He did for us is eternally effective, because it gives us the opportunity to be with Him. Without it, we would not be with Him.
We are not taking Communion today. When we do take Communion, I want you to remember what we are doing when we pass the cup to you, and when we pass the little pieces of bread. It's not just little things to eat. It isn't the body and blood of Jesus. Now these are representative. They are not the actual body. Sometimes there is a a question, "Why do you allow children to take Communion?" Remember when Jesus took a little child and put him on His lap? He said, "Hey, don't forbid little children to come to me for such as these are the Kingdom of God. Why would I deny a child to receive Holy Communion and bond with Christ? Jesus Himself did it. That's why. You just have to remember that Christ's blood atones for the sin of the world. His body was broken and His blood shed for that atonement. Thank You Jesus, thank You for what You did for us. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You this morning for Your sacrifice. Thank You for dying for us. Thank You for being alive today. Because of You, everything is possible. Without You, nothing is possible. Help us to realize, Father, the Church is not just a place, not just a building. It's not just for the people. Church is Communion with You. Church is being alive in this old dead world. Thank You for what You did for us and what You do for us every day. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Closing Song # 154, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. Closing Prayer: Father, show us Your glory. Help us this Easter season to see You. Help us to know You as our Lord and Savior. Bless us each one now as each one of us goes our separate ways. Bring us together again next week. In Jesus Name, Amen