"Excelling in Generosity" - Ken Wagoner

When Doug asked if I would be available to preach this Sunday, I asked him what was the sermon series, and what text was scheduled for this week.  Doug’s response was there would be several weeks on giving but no specific text was assigned for the week.  He also reminded me it was Mother’s Day which made me think these two topics are not usually placed together.  To satisfy the Mother’s Day aspect, here is a story I would imagine many of you have heard, but it also makes a small bridge to generosity and giving.

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on.  After his mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting grass:  $5.00 – For cleaning up my room this week:  $1.00 – For going to the store for you:  $.50 – Baby sitting my kid brother while you went shopping:  $.25 – Taking out the garbage:   $1.00 – For getting a good report card:  $5.00 – For cleaning up and raking the yard:  $2.00       Total owed:  $14.75

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind.  She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote:

“For the nine months I carried you while you grew inside me.  No Charge. – For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:  No Charge. – For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years:  No Charge. – For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:  No Charge. – For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:  No Charge. – When you add it up, Son, the cost of my love is:  No Charge.”

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.”  And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote:  “PAID IN FULL.”   John (Gibby) Gilbert

In II Corinthians 8:1-9, Paul commends the Corinthians for their excelling in faith, speech, and knowledge, and he exhorts them to excel in generosity which he called “an act of grace.”  It is from the II Corinthians passage where I get the sermon title for this week.   Proverbs is also a book which encourages generosity in giving.  I know I can be more generous, and I suspect almost all of us have room for improvement in this area.  Below are some verses from Proverbs to look at before we gather together on Sunday.  We will look at these together in worship, but if you have time read these verses (and II Corinthians 8:1-9) in preparation for God’s working in our lives to grow in our generosity in response to God’s great love for us.

1. Proverbs 30:7-9 – What is the overarching question in this prayer, and what is the underlying assumption in these verses?
2. Proverbs 10:16 – This verse describes both a righteous and a wicked person.  How would you define these two different type of people?
3. Proverbs 11:1 – The word abomination is found in this verse.  What are some other words which can be used to describe this condition.
4. Proverbs 11:4 – What do you think of when you hear the words “the day of wrath?”
5. Proverbs 18:10-11 – What does the author mean when he uses the term “strong city?”
6. Proverbs 11:24 – What do we learn from this passage about the benefits of our generous giving, and the warnings about withholding what God has blessed us with?

Thank you for the privilege of being with you this Sunday, and I pray together all of us will grow in our giving, and generosity will flow from us for His glory!

"Fools and Their Money" - Doug Rehberg

One hundred years ago a man named Oskar was born in Germany who would change the face of history for more than a thousand people. In his mid-twenties, after starting several businesses, he went bankrupt. But then in 1939, with the help of the Third Reich, he gained ownership of a factory in Poland and began making a profit. The first thing he did was hire a Jewish accountant named Stern and together they began to make some serious money. Within three years, he was spending it as fast as he made it. You say, “On what? Homes?” No. “Perks?” No. People! He began buying people. He’d go to the commandants of the German concentration camps and offer bribes and payoffs to buy Jewish prisoners to work in his factory. Sometimes the price would be meager, other times it would be exorbitant. Either way he’d pay it. By the end of the year he had spent his entire fortune buying as many people as he could. By the end of the war he had risked both life and fortune buying 1,100 Jewish men and women, boys and girls, and sparing them from certain death.

When the last scene of Schindler’s List was aired twenty-two years ago on NBC, the television audience was as large as the first moon landing, some sixty million people. There, standing before his factory full of workers, Oskar Schindler announces the war is over, the Nazis are defeated, and everyone is free to go. And as he bids them farewell, he’s overcome by emotion. He cries out, “I should have done more! If only I had not wasted so much money. I could have done more!” He looks over at his automobiles and says, “I could have traded one of those for another ten lives.” He looks down at a small gold pin on his lapel and says, “I could have given them this and saved at least one more life.” And at that moment Schindler realizes something that most of us never realize – the difference between life and death is often just a matter of money. And, nowhere is that any clearer than in Jesus’ parable of the rich fool.

Of all the Gospel writers, none is more acutely aware of the power of money than Dr. Luke. In fact, as you read through his Gospel in one sitting (or maybe two) you quickly see that Luke has a rich/poor theme running all the way through it. And that stands to reason, for of all the things Luke knows about the Gospel and the culture into which it is preached, he knows it’s all a matter of the heart and its affections.

Think of it. Here in Luke 12 Jesus is surrounded by thousands of people who are listening to His words. But, interestingly instead of focusing on the crowd, Jesus is addressing His disciples. He’s talking about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who say one thing in private and do another in public. He’s talking about the difference between pleasing people and pleasing God. He’s talking about their willingness to stand up for the Son of Man in the midst of a hostile, religious world. When you review verse 1 through 12 you see that it’s all weighty matters that occupy Jesus’ attention; and at the root of it all is a passion for the lordship of Christ. But suddenly in the midst of this sobering teaching, Luke says someone in the crowd interrupts with a self-serving demand, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Talk about a non sequitur! Talk about cognitive dissonance! But when you take a step back and analyze what Jesus says in response to this demand you find that there is perfect symmetry between what He says in verses 1-12 and what he says in verses 13-21. Here Jesus is talking about money – the very thing that is the master of most hearts. Here in a few verses Jesus enumerates three ways in which money can capture our hearts and make fools out of us.

In preparation for Sunday’s message entitled, “Fools and Their Money” you may wish to consider the following:

1. What evidence can you find of the rich/poor theme in the Gospel of Luke?
2. What significance is there to Luke’s description of crowd size in verse 1?
3. Why does this man interrupt Jesus in verse 12?
4. What leads him to think Jesus can help him get what he wants?
5. What does Jesus’ warning in verse 15 imply?
6. Why is the parable of the rich man so apropos to us?
7. Where do these thoughts come from?
8. What does the frequency of personal pronouns in verses 17-19 signal?
9. What does his desire to hoard signal?
10. What does his mention of his soul in verse 19 signal? How does that differ from what David says to his soul in Psalm 103?

See you Sunday!

To Dwell in the Dwelling

While I was growing up at Hebron, we would end the fall term of Youth Club by caroling around the neighborhood. It was always a fun time, as we would walk around the block, stopping at houses of people we knew, knock on their door and 15 of us would sing off-key Christmas songs. No one ever invited us in for yule log or wassail. (I'm beginning to think those things were made up.) As we walked from house to house, Jerry would always tell us to walk with him - not in front, not behind, but with. After spending many more years with Jerry, I've learned that his favorite English word is "with." (His favorite word is in German, "kartoffelsalat.")

As I've been studying to prepare for this sermon, I've wanted to take the rabbit trails the Scripture has given me, but know I need to stay on task. One of those rabbit trails is to study the timeline of God's presence with man. How has man's relationship, fellowship, and community with God evolved from the time man was created, to now, and what will it be like when the presence is complete? What does "God with us" mean?

Instead, I've learned a lot about the tabernacle, and the who, the with what, and the why to build it. You might even be pleased to know that I've even found out there is a numerical significance to the amount of materials God called for. The Exodus might have been 3300 years ago but God's request of taking up an offering to build the tabernacle still applies to us today...except the tabernacle has changed.

To help you prepare, for Sunday's sermon, I suggest reading the whole book of Exodus. I love this historical narrative of redemption. But if you are studying your own thing, and want just one chapter to read which will help you Sunday, I would love for that to be Exodus 12.

We will be reading Exodus 25:1-9 as we gather on Sunday morning. God has already given the 10 commandments and is now telling Moses who, with what, and why He wants to build the tabernacle. I'm really excited about how what God has shown me through my study, and I hope to see you at 8:15, 9:15 or 10:45.

For some extra credit, watch this, I'll refer to it Sunday.

"Discerning God's Will for Your Life" - Scott Parsons

One of the great tragedies of western culture is that we have made accomplishment and the acquisition of things matters of primary importance.  I don’t think it is a stretch to say that they are the gods of our civilization.  Not only do we worship easily and naturally at the altars of these gods, we teach our children to do the same.  From the earliest age we seek to get them into the finest schools we can and strive to give them every advantage so they get into the best colleges and land the best paying and most prestigious jobs.  It is our desire that our children be successful.  There is nothing wrong with that.  The problem is with the standard we use to measure their success.  The nearly universal measurement of success today is the job you have and the recognition we receive from it, the homes we are able to purchase and the cars we are able to drive.  Of course the details of this great pursuit vary, but the desires/goals of success are pretty much standard.  A successful life is a prosperous life.

Is this, however, the measure of success for a follower of Jesus?  Is the common pursuit of our culture consistent with God’s will for our lives?  You don’t have to dig too deeply into the Bible to see that the answer to these questions is a resounding, NO!  The Bible clearly teaches that there is nothing inherently wrong with wealth and success, but it also clearly teaches that these are not the primary pursuits of the follower of Jesus!  Jesus himself said; “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.”  So in kingdom culture, what is of primary importance?  What is to be our primary pursuit?  It is character.  It is a head and heart that is given wholly to God that translates into a life that is lived for His glory.  So when we think about the will of God for our lives, our primary thoughts should not be about success or things, but about our relationship with God and how our lives reflect his Spirit that lives within us.

In Sunday’s sermon from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul without hesitation declares that he knows God’s will for our lives.  Read these verses and reflect on the following questions:

1. Do these things characterize my life on a daily basis?
2. Which of these things do your struggle with the most?
3. What life priorities do you have that are at odds with God’s stated will for your life?
4. How can you change these priorities?
5. God always responds to his children when they ask for help.  Ask God to do whatever is necessary to conform your life to his will.

"The Reality of the Resurrection" - Doug Rehberg

The  whole of Christianity rests on one fact: “Christ has been raised from the dead.” Indeed, Paul labors this fact in many of his letters, but nowhere more clearly than in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15.  There he says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith; you are still in your sins.” But that’s not all Paul says about the essential reality of Jesus’ resurrection.

In Romans 1, Paul notes that Christ’s divinity finds its surest proof in His resurrection since He was “through the Spirit of holiness declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead.” Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to doubt His Deity if He had not risen.

In Romans 14 Paul notes that Christ’s sovereignty depends upon His resurrection. “For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”

In Romans 4 Paul argues that Christ’s resurrection assures us of our justification; the choicest blessing of the covenant of grace. Listen to what Paul says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

In I Peter another apostle gets into the act of pointing out the blessings of every believer when he links our regeneration to the resurrection of Jesus. Listen to what Peter says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Finally, Paul maintains in Romans 8 that our ultimate resurrection rests on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Listen to how he puts it, “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”

Thus, the golden thread of the resurrection runs through ever grace bestowed on every believer, from regeneration to our eternal glory, and binds us together with one another in Christ.

It’s hard to over-estimate the importance of the resurrection. Listen to Paul again, “His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is our subject this Easter Sunday. We will begin with its veracity and then move to consider Jesus’ clearest teaching on it in John 14:1-7.

In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider the following:

1. Who is Jesus talking to in John 14 and why are they scared?
2. This is one of only two places in the Gospels where Jesus speaks in imperative tense. What does that mean?
3. Where else does He use the imperative tense?
4. On what grounds is Jesus angry with His disciples?
5. What are His arguments for them to trust Him?
6. In verses 2 and 3 Jesus uses the word “place”. What does he mean by “place”?
7. How does His statement in verse 3 correspond to His statement to Mary in John 20:17?
8. How does the resurrection give unassailable credibility to His words in verse 6?
9. What’s the implication of His statement in verse 7?
10. How credible is the resurrection of Jesus Christ in our modern, rational, and scientific age?

See you on Easter!

"Marked by Jesus" - Doug Rehberg

Galatians 6:11-18

Here’s a riddle for you. Where in Paul’s letter to the Galatians does he mirror Jesus’ clearest depictions of His Father? Hint: It’s his use of the “B” word.

Here’s another riddle for you – Why is grace so much more difficult for Christians to fully embrace and dispense than the law? It’s an amazing thing. Paul uses the word “grace” eighty-seven times in his writings and each time he uses it his desire is that everyone who hears his words might come to apprehend grace in the same measure he has received it.

Years ago I read the profound words of one of my favorite Bible expositors – A.W. Pink. He was writing of divine grace when he said, “The grace every Christian has received from God in Christ is more than ‘unmerited favor’ (the common definition used by many Christians). To feed a tramp who calls on us for food is unmerited favor. But suppose after feeding him he robs and beats you, and you feed him again. That’s grace. It’s more than unmerited favor. It’s favor shown in the face of absolute demerit. That’s the grace you and I have received on the Cross.” And it’s that grace that causes such consternation.

One of the reasons I wanted to preach through Galatians again (after fifteen years) was because I believe I apprehend it far more today than I did back then. But another reason I wanted to preach it again was because I believed it was exactly the message Hebron needed to hear at this time. Though I’m often wrong, I couldn’t have been more right this time. What I’ve seen since September 4^th has been classic, biblical evidence of the proclamation of the unvarnished grace of God in Jesus Christ – the full range of emotion from unspeakable, overwhelming joy -  to anger, judgment, and hostility. What a ride!

As Paul thought back to the final parable of the three Jesus tells in Luke 15 he must have shook his head and said, “That’s always the way grace always plays out. Some are overwhelmed and transformed. Others are angry and point fingers. But look what the Father does. He never stops dispensing grace to both, just like His Son!”

In preparation for Sunday’s message – “Marked by Jesus” from Galatians 6:11-18– you may wish to consider the following:

1. Which brother do you more often resemble, the younger or the older?
2. How about the false teachers?
3. What was the trigger for Jesus telling these three parables?
4. What are some ways in which religion is the antithesis of the Gospel?
5. How is religion focused on the externals while the Gospel is focused on the internal?
6. What marks is Paul referring to in verse 17?
7. How do they differ from the mark of circumcision?
8. How do you define “grace”?
9. What rule is Paul alluding to in verse 16?
10. How is Paul in verse 18 just like the father in Luke 15?

See you Sunday!

"Bragging on Jesus" - Doug Rehberg

This week we’re in one of the great texts of Scripture – Galatians 6:11-14. And the reason it’s one of the greatest is because it’s all about the power of the Cross – which is the Gospel. Here in these verses Paul sets forth the centrality of the Cross, the comprehension of the Cross, and the change that the Cross alone can make in our hearts.

To set up Sunday’s message, I’ve decided to quote verbatim the most recent newsletter one of my mentors, Dr. Steve Brown. It’s a little long. It’s biting. And it’s a perfect introduction to Paul’s message of Galatians 6. Steve writes:

A friend sent me a quote by C.F.W. Walther, a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod founder and probably its best-known theologian. I’ve thought about that quote all morning.

If you don’t like the quote, just stop reading there. You’ll probably end up outraged and offended…and that’s kind of “in” these days. Everybody is outraged and offended, so you can join that very big club. (Another friend said there ought to be a Sunday school class called The Outraged and Offended and it would be the biggest class in his church.)

Here’s the quote: “While it is indeed necessary to preach against gross vices…such preaching produces nothing but Pharisees.”

You want to feel guilty? (That’s neurotic but it is the gift that keeps on giving and a place where some people like to live.) Read Romans 1-3 but don’t read it at night before you go to sleep because it will keep you up. It’s in-your-face about sin and, unless you’re dead, it will make you wince. Then Paul in Romans 7 confesses his sins so that everybody knows he’s not an outsider of the human race. And then, just when you think Paul is writing a New Testament version of the book of Ecclesiastes, he writes something so amazing and wonderful it will take your breath away: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

I teach seminary students they should preach the law to get people guilty enough to run to Jesus. It’s God’s methodology of evangelism. Then they should preach grace until people profoundly and deeply understand its unconditional and radical nature. And I always add, “Preach it again so they won’t get discouraged. Then, if you must, preach on sin.”

The truth is that knowledge of sin is the least of a Christian’s problems…with serious Christians anyway. I’ve never met a Christian who doesn’t want to be better than he or she is. That’s true and it’s true of me too. I know about my sin and, Lord knows, I have spent a good deal of my life trying to manage it, hide it or fix it. And frankly, I haven’t been that successful.

The truth is that knowledge of sin is the least of a Christian’s problems…with serious Christians anyway.

I’m writing this in January. Tomorrow morning I’m going to Birmingham as one of the speakers (along with David Zahl and Dudley Hall) at a conference sponsored by my friend, Jack Williams (among others), a state congressman who profoundly understands grace and wants everybody else to understand it too.

The conference is “Coming Back Stronger.” It’s a great name because it presupposes that if one comes back…one has left.

And we do leave, don’t we?

As you know, in Jesus’ story about the prodigal son in Luke 15, there were two sons. One went to live with the pigs in a far country. The other son stayed at home, went to church, obeyed all the rules, and flossed every morning. Now let me tell you the rest of the story (Jesus told me and he’s a friend of mine).

The son who went to the far country went back there. They always do. Okay, he didn’t stay as long this time, but he did go back. And that’s not all. The “perfect” brother went to the far country too. He got tired of being good and when he wasn’t, faking it. So in a fit of anger and frustration, he made his way to the far country as well. They almost always do.

However there is a difference. The rebellious son came back, perhaps more than once, because they (i.e. those who have been loved and know they don’t deserve it) always do. The other son went to the far country, built a house there and stayed because they (i.e. those who are faking it) almost always do.

Steve, you are so frustrating! Don’t you care about sin?

Actually, I do. I’m an expert. I know the horror and destruction of sin. (It’s why the Bible talks about it so much.) Almost all my life I’ve watched sinners sin and, as a preacher/teacher, tried to do everything I knew to prevent it. But I know it firsthand too. I know the darkness, destruction, and guilt of my own sin. While I haven’t built a house in the far country, I regularly rent a place there…and I’m ashamed to even admit that.

I just got off the phone with a missionary friend with a large radio ministry in Mexico. He has been criticized for being antinomian (not caring about sin or the law) and asked me how to handle it. He knows I’ve been there and have the T-shirt. Frankly, I gave him some good advice. (I’ve been doing this for a long time and, while I may not be all that smart, I’m not stupid and have learned some important things along the way.) I told him to not let it go, but to address it over and over again. And then I told him to tell the critics that sin is dangerous not only because of what it does, but because of how, when we think we’ve conquered it, we can become Pharisees. That kind of self-righteousness is the most dangerous place in which we can live. Walther was right.

Did you hear about the man who walked into a bar and saw a dog playing poker? In his astonishment, the man asked the bartender, “Is that dog really playing poker?”

“Yes, he is.”

“That’s amazing.”

“Actually,” the bartender replied, “it really isn’t. He’s not very good at it. Every time he has a good hand, he wags his tail.”

You can always tell a Pharisee. (No, it’s not because he or she wags his or her tail.) You can always tell Pharisees by where they live and set up permanent residence. If it’s in the far country, don’t bother to kill the fatted calf or prepare the party. They probably won’t show.

You can tell when someone gets grace too. They often blush, sometimes are ashamed, and on occasion lie about being in the far country. But watch them. You’ll find they almost always run back to the Father because they know that living in the far country is a dark place and remember the Father’s love.

And each time they come home, as Lincoln said about the South after the Civil War, “It will be as if they never left.”

Now that’s the Gospel and only the Cross makes any of that possible. It’s the Cross that’s center stage this Sunday – Confirmation Sunday.

In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider the following:

1. What’s your definition of grace?
2. What’s significant about Paul’s handwriting in verse 11?
3. Why has verse 14 been called “one of the greatest explanations of the Cross and its meaning in Scripture?
4. What is the problem with linking the Cross so closely with conversion?
5. How does I Corinthians 2:1-5 shed light on our text?
6. How does Jesus’ rebuke of Peter in Matthew 16:23 prove that Jesus’ essential mission was the Cross?
7. What does Paul mean in verse 14(a) when he says, “Far be it from me to boast except in the Cross?”
8. Why does Paul reject this common Christian refrain, “It doesn’t matter what you believe. It only matters how you live”?
9. What test does Paul suggest in verse 12 to determine whether you are comprehending the meaning of the Cross?
10. How does the Cross alone change the human heart?

See you Sunday!

Steve’s letter is reprinted from the Key Life website:  http://www.keylife.org/articles/how-to-spot-a-pharisee