"The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat" - Scott Parsons

I had the opportunity to take two of my daughters to see the total eclipse last Monday in Illinois. It was the first total eclipse I had ever seen and it was a phenomenal experience. As I reflected on the experience, I was surprised at how subtle the change in light was as the eclipse progressed. Even when the sun was 90% covered, it was still fully light around us with a full shadow being displayed under the trees. Ninety percent of the sun was blocked, but other than there being a slightly dulled effect to the light, things basically looked normal. But the instant the sun was totally blocked, everything changed. It was dark. The street lights came on, the bugs started chirping. We even had some bats fly by!

As I was thinking about this week's sermon, I was struck by how similarly sin affects us. Sin is so hideous because it seems to have so little effect on us. When the serpent told Adam and Eve that they really wouldn't die if they ate the fruit, it seemed reasonable to them. It seems reasonable to us too. Most sins we commit seem to make little difference in our lives. Others don't see it and after a short time, we don't either. Even as the sin progresses, we often see little difference and think it doesn't matter, but it does. It matters to God.

This Sunday I am going to be preaching from Joshua 7 about God's response to Achan's seemingly invisible and insignificant sin. Take the time to read through it carefully. It will seem shocking at first as the immensity of God's response washes over you. But do not be put off by it. Look deeper to try to understand why God's response is so severe. Also read Sunday's companion passage in James 1:12-18 to gain some insight into the subtle progression of sin in our lives. Pray that God will graciously reveal our sin to us, that we might see it for what it truly is, and that He would lead us to repentance.

"Who Is on the Lord's Side?" - Scott Parsons

Last week’s events in Charlottesville have been sad and disturbing on many levels.  But one of the things I noticed was how people on both sides of the conflict assumed that God was on their side.  I guess that shouldn’t be surprising.  Most people have always believed that in some fashion God is on their side.  Most of the wars our country has been in are between peoples who both believed God was on their side.  Even in our personal problems/disagreements, we generally assume that God is on our side and expect Him to resolve things in a way that is advantageous to us; and then become rather unhappy with God when He fails to do that. I think it is part of our sinful nature to assume that we are always right and that therefore God must be on our side.

This week as we look at Joshua 5:13-15 we discover some troubling truths.  God reveals himself to Joshua in such a way that it removes any question as to whose side God is on, and the answer is one that none of us particularly want to hear.  It’s just a few verses so read them carefully a couple of times and consider the following questions:

1.       Who is in charge of my life?

2.       What should my heart response be to this?

3.       What does Jesus actually want from my life?

4.       What needs to change in me if I am going to live the life Jesus wants me to live?

"Guilt's Only Remedy" - Doug Rehberg

A missionary returned to his home city where he announced a collection for foreign missions. A good friend said to him, “Very well, Andrew, seeing it’s you, I’ll give $500.” “No”, said the missionary, “I can’t take the money since you give it, saying it’s because of me.” His friend saw the point immediately and said, “You’re right, Andrew. Here is $1000, seeing it’s because of the Lord Jesus.”

It’s axiomatic for any Christian seeking to give. The target of our gift is not ourselves or others, but the Lord Jesus. If you were here last week, or listened to the podcast, you know that we were in Luke 8:26-39 where we examined a perfect portrait of what Jesus calls every disciple to do in fulfilling His Great Commission. Not only does He take His disciples to a place that is quite foreign to them, He shows them how to proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, and instruct others in observing His commands. In short, He shows them how to make “little Christs”.

The best evidence that this formerly demonized man becomes a “little Christ” is what Jesus finds when He travels to this area later in Jesus’ ministry. (See Matthew 15:29-31.) A whole crowd of believers come out to meet Him and seek His help. How is it that they have come to believe? What agency has God used? This one man’s obedience to the charge of Jesus. He goes back home and tells everyone what Jesus has done for him. And in following Jesus’ charge, rather than following his own desires, he presents Jesus with a glorious gift of gratitude; the believing hearts of his countrymen.

This week we see the same outcome – a gift of gratitude to Jesus – in a fundamentally different way. In Luke 7:36-50, we see a delivered woman coming to Jesus herself to show Him the full extent of her gratitude. It’s an amazing contrast, and yet, at the core there’s a striking similarity. The product of Jesus’ grace in a life is always an outpouring of tangible gratitude.

Here’s a man I seldom quote – Ralph Waldo Emerson. But what he says in his essay, “Gifts”, is profoundly true and vividly on display in the life of this former prostitute (or as Luke puts it: “woman of the city, who was a sinner”). Emerson says:

“But our tokens of compliment and love are for the most part barbarous. Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore, the poet brings his poem; the shepherd his lamb; the farmer his corn; the miner his gem; the sailor his coral and shells; the painter his painting; the girl a handkerchief of her own sewing.”

That’s what we see in this woman’s gift to Jesus. As we will see, it’s not a gift given to gain anything. It’s a gift given to acknowledge a great gain already received.

The title of this week’s message is, “Guilt’s Only Remedy.” In all the pages of the New Testament there is no one pictured whose guilt is more public than this woman. And yet, in the presence of Jesus her guilt has evaporated into nothing but profound gratitude. Her story is the story of every self-aware believer. True giving  is never the means of getting, but the product of having already gained more than you ever thought possible.

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

1. How widespread is guilt in your life?
2. How do you deal with it?
3. What’s the connection between Luke 7:18-35 and our text?
4. Why would a Pharisee invite Jesus to his table?
5. Why would this woman venture to come to Jesus’ feet in the home of a Pharisee?
6. What five things does she do at Jesus’ feet?
7. Where would she have earned enough money to buy such an extravagant gift?
8. What’s the problem with Simon’s question in verse 39?
9. What irony is expressed in Jesus’ question in verse 44?
10. How has her “faith” saved her and enabled her to gain peace rather than guilt?

See you Sunday at the Table!

"A Charge to Keep" - Doug Rehberg

It’s not often that I get a movie recommendation from a patient in the hospital, but today I did. Longtime Hebron member and friend, Ron Young, asked, “Have you seen Dunkirk yet? It’s worth every minute.” Funny, Barb indicated last night that Dunkirk is on the top of her “must see” list.

Frankly, I’ll take a hospital patient’s movie recommendation over those garish cinematic previews they expose you to before every feature film. For me, those Hollywood previews are a colossal disincentive to movie-going; I like the personal recommendations far more.

Well, this Sunday we are going to give you a preview of the coming preaching series this Fall – “A Charge to Keep”. Remember the “Great Commission” Jesus enunciates at the end of Matthew’s Gospel? Matthew tells us that Jesus is together with His disciples on a mountain in Galilee. It’s right before He ascends into heaven. He says to them:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Now that’s how Matthew ends his Gospel. He’s the only Gospel-writer to end with this three-part Commission. Mark gets close, but Luke and John leave it out entirely. Now there are reasons for that that we will discuss in September; but the essence of the Fall series will be to “flesh out” the third part of the Commission: “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

What’s that mean? What commands did He give us?

This Sunday we will preview the series, “A Charge to Keep” with an examination of an incident that occurs nearly two full years before Jesus issues the Great Commission. And the relevance is striking! As soon as He gets to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, He encounters a man who is in desperate need of Jesus. This man is a perfect candidate for the work of the Great Commission. And that’s exactly what He receives from Jesus. Here, nearly two years before He issues the charge to His disciples, Jesus shows them how to do it. Like a great movie preview He takes them into the reality of coming attractions! Come Sunday and see what I mean.

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

1. How does the location of this incident set the stage for the Great Commission?
2. How does this trip across the Sea of Galilee to the eastern shore mirror Jesus’ life in Nazareth?
3. What do we know about this area of the world?
4. How does this demon-possessed man epitomize those to whom Jesus sends His disciples after the Ascension?
5. Why does he fall at Jesus’ feet? (See Mark 5:6)
6. Why does he beg Him not to torment him?
7. What’s with his name? (verse 30)
8. Why do the demons beg Jesus not to send them into the abyss?
9. Why does Jesus allow the man to stay with Him?
10. How is His command in verse 39 mirror the Great Commission?

See you Sunday!

"What's The Sense In Worrying?" - Barrett Hendrickson

Ask my kids what they know. The first thing they'll tell you: "God is always in control." It's a tough concept to get under. "God is always in control." What would life look like if we really believed that? The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) starts chapter 3 like this: "From all eternity and by the completely wise and holy purpose of his own will, God has freely and unchangeably ordained whatever happens." It has a whole slew of scripture to back it up as well. Eph 1.11, Rom 11.33, Heb 6.17, Rom 9.15,18, Acts 4.27-28, Mt 10.29-30, Eph 2.10, Is 45.6-7.
This Sunday, we'll be looking at Psalm 46, the Psalm that Martin Luther was reading when he wrote "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." There is a lot of power in the Psalm. The imagery of it can be kinda scary: Earthquakes, wars, destruction. But in the end we see that God is always in control.
So, in preparation for Sunday morning, I'd love for you to read this Psalm, morning and evening. Take the beginning of the Psalm, ch 46:1-2a,

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble

Therefore we will not fear...

and use it as an anchor reading the rest of the psalm, apply the universal truth of "God as refuge and strength, and help, therefore I won't fear" to the rest of the chaos in the psalm. Think of that earth shaking day that you saw mountains falling into the heart of the sea. What is the sense in worrying.

Questions to consider:

1. What is the role of open water in the Bible? Look at Genesis 1, 7, Matt 8:23-27, 14:22-33, Mark 4:35-41
2. What is a earth shattering day that you've experienced that you saw figurative mountains crashing into the sea?
3. Where does God dwell?

I'm excited to show you what God has been teaching me through my study of Psalm 46 over the past few weeks. I hope you'll join us for worship at 8:15, 9:15, or 10:45 on Sunday morning.

"Blind Awareness" - Doug Rehberg

There’s a text in John’s Gospel that I thought about referring to last week in the message entitled, “The Gift of Humility”, because it fit. Instead, I determined to preach it this week; because I believe it requires more attention than a passing reference.

It’s often called the story of the blind man (in fact he’s the only person in the Bible said to be born blind); but that’s a misnomer, because there are a lot more people blind in John 9 than this one fellow. In fact, Jesus heals him; but not them! The truth is, everyone else in the story, with the exception of Jesus, is blind as a bat. And at the core of every instance of blindness is the absence of humility.

Providentially, as I was preparing this week’s message, I read Paul David Tripp’s entry for July 17 in his devotional, New Morning Mercies. His lead statement for the morning is, “Sin causes me to be all too convinced of my righteousness and too focused on your sin.” Before I excerpt more of what Tripp says, let me point out that the issue of sin is foremost in the minds of the disciples when they see this blind man.  They ask Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents; that he was born blind?” And while Jesus’ answer redirects their focus from sin to the glory of God, the link between sin and blindness is well-established in the balance of the story. Jesus answers, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” But, amazingly, in the immediate aftermath of God’s work is blindness brought on by the hubristic sin of the people around this man. It’s the same blindness that’s all around us today. We’ll seek to unpack all that John is telling us this week in a message entitled, “Blind Awareness”.

But back to Tripp. In commenting on Jesus’ words to Christians at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-19, Tripp says:

Here’s the problem that these hard words are addressing in a warning that we all need to hear: you and I like to think that no one has a clearer, more accurate view of us than we do. We all tend to be way too trusting of our view of ourselves. We do this because we do not take seriously what the Bible says about the dynamic of spiritual blindness. If sin is deceitful (and it is), if sin blinds (and it does), then as long as sin still lurks inside me, there will be patches of spiritual blindness. I simply will not see myself with the accuracy that I think I do. In the language of poverty and riches, the passage above basically says, “You look at yourself and you think you’re okay, but you’re far from okay.”

Not only does sin blind, but as sinners, we participate in our own blindness. We all swindle ourselves into thinking that we are better than we are, that what we’re doing is okay when, in fact, it’s not okay in the eyes of God. The spiritual reality is that we’re like naked homeless people, but we see ourselves as affluent and well-dressed. It’s an embarrassing and humbling word picture. It confronts us with how deeply distorted and delusional our view of ourselves can be. Don’t be defensive as you read this; take in the warning.

So here’s what happens. When you think that you have this righteousness thing licked, then you quit being concerned about you and you focus your concern on the sins of others. You really need to know that you’re in spiritual trouble when you’re more concerned about the sin of the person next to you than you are with your own. Spiritual clear-sightedness always leads to personal grief and confession, not condemnation of your neighbor. Perhaps your eyes are more closed than you think they are. Perhaps you don’t know yourself as well as you think you do. Pray for the sweet, loving, sight-giving, convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. His presence in you is a grace.

Tripp nails it. And in case you have any doubt, read John 9 and see that the deepest blindness is not ocular, but psychological and spiritual.

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

1. Read Jeremiah 5:15 and see the universality of spiritual blindness.
2. Why would the disciples ask that question in verse 2?
3. What are the works of God that are to be displayed in him?
4. Why does Jesus spit on the ground and make mud to put in the man’s eyes?
5. What is the significance of sending the man to the pool of Siloam to wash?
6. Why don’t the neighbors believe that he’s been healed? (verses 8-12)
7. What’s the impediment to the Pharisees believing that he’s been healed? (verses 13-17)
8. Why do his parents say what they say in verse 21?
9. Why do the Pharisees get angry in verses 28 and 29?
10. What’s the irony of the Pharisees’ statement and action in verse 34?

See you Sunday!

"The Gift of Humility" - Doug Rehberg

There’s a great statement from Charles Spurgeon that should give us all pause in this period of Facebook and Instagram mania. Read what he says nearly two hundred years ago:

“We have plenty of people nowadays who could not kill a mouse without publishing it in the Gospel Gazette. Samson killed a lion and said nothing about it: the Holy Spirit finds modesty so rare that He takes care to record it (Judges 14:6). Say much of what the Lord has done for you, but say little of what you have done for the Lord. Do not utter a self-glorifying sentence!”

Spurgeon wasn’t simply uttering his own bias; he knew the Scriptures. He knew that there are negative references all over the pages of the Bible regarding self-aggrandizement and pride. Indeed, as we’ll see this week in our text, James 4, humility is not just a laudatory virtue; it’s foundational to the character of God.

Listen to what the Psalmist says in Psalm 24:9, “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way.” In Proverbs 15:33 we read, “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” Listen to what the Lord says through His prophet, Isaiah, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones (Isaiah 57:15).

While there are over seventy specific references in the Scriptures to the supreme virtue of humility, the full import of this trait is most profoundly seen in the Lord Jesus. Remember how He describes Himself in Matthew 11? “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am humble and lowly of heart: and you will find rest for your souls.” All through His life and ministry humility is on full display. That’s why Paul, writing from a Roman prison in Philippians 2 says, “Have this mind in you which is yours in Christ Jesus.” What mind? The mind of humility.

In a message entitled, “The Gift of Humility”, we will examine what James, the half-brother of Jesus, has to say about the importance of humility in a Christian’s life. Indeed, without the gift of humility, unity among believers and fellowship with God is destined to be pallid at best.

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

1. What link can you find between humility and peace or rest in the Scriptures? (See James 4:18f.)
2. What is the meaning of the word “passions” in verses 1 and 3?
3. How does pursuing these passions mark us as adulterers? (v. 4) (Note Matthew 12:38f.)
4. In what way is pride the first and foremost sin in our lives?
5. What does the Bible say are some of the consequences of pride?
6. What is your interpretation of verse 5? How does verse 6 follow from verse 5?
7. Why would Paul cite the words of Philippians 2:4-11 from a Roman prison?
8. What does true humility recognize? (See verse 4.)
9. What does true humility REALIZE about the Holy Spirit’s work? (See verse 5.)
10. What is true humility’s REACTION to the presence of one’s sin? (See verse 6.)

See you Sunday. We will be using the Litany of Humility as our morning prayer. You may wish to use it as well.