The Four R’s of God Pt. 2

Last time I wrote to you about the first of four things that I believe make up and grow our relationship with God. The first one was repentance. Repentance is changing our mind and our direction to follow God’s best for life. It is not easy, yet it is simple. The second part of our relationship to God and others I want to address today is redemption.

Redeem means to “buy back” or “relieve of debt” through monetary or sacrificial means. Since all relationships are sinful according to the Bible, all relationships require some form of redemption in order to grow. Our relationship with God was broken completely by sin, but God had planned to redeem our sin with the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus the Christ.

First Peter 1:18-19 says that we were redeemed with “the precious blood of Christ.” God paid off our debt of sin to Him by the only means possible. The implication of this is enormous. This means that the sins of the whole world, past, present and future, have been paid off; leaving only an individual’s acceptance or rejection of this truth to ensure a personal, eternal relationship with God. That’s why we sing about such things as “Amazing Grace.” It’s what God is and has done.

Redemption does not end with our relationship with God, however. The Bible also teaches us that we are to build relationships of redemption. We are to love others the way God loved us and offer them redemption. After all, whether we offer it or not, God has already offered it to them. So it’s to our benefit to live a life of redemption, because that reflects the nature and love of God and keeps our relationships focused on Him rather than on us. Try living a life of redemption this week. You will be amazed at what God will do.

Peace.

 

Gifts Pt 2 – What For?!

Watch or Listen Here: TheCreekside.Org

Last week we started this new series called “Gifts.” The purpose of this series is to teach us about the gifts that God has given the world in general, each one of you individually, and the body of Christ corporately. So we began by acknowledging that God, in some way or another, has given the entire world the gift of life, the gift of family, as well as the gift and responsibility for the stewardship of creation. On a global yet personal level we also discovered that God gives the gifts of forgiveness, salvation and the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks for them and receives them. The receiving part is important because of this universal principle: a gift isn’t yours until you receive it. People can offer lots of gifts to you, but those gifts must be accepted… received to be your legitimate possession. 

We concluded last week talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit coming to live within people who choose to be a follower of Jesus the Christ. When the people of Bible times received the Holy Spirit some amazing things happened; they all developed abilities that were not natural – they were supernatural. In the case of Acts chapter 2 we read that they could speak languages they had never studied, and because of the Holy Spirit’s message through them 3,000 people believed in Jesus’ death and resurrection that day and were baptized to show their repentance. Jesus had promised his followers that if they waited for the right time, they would receive this powerful gift from heaven. And that’s exactly what happened. It was an amazing beginning for spreading the news of God’s love and for what we know today as the “church,” the “church” being all the people who believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus. 

Next week Simon Lin is going to teach us about the supernatural, spiritual gifts that come to you as a follower of Jesus from the Holy Spirit. But before that, I think it’s very important that we understand God’s purpose and plan for those gifts. What are spiritual gifts God for? Why does God give us these supernatural gifts anyway? That’s my goal for you today – that you would understand the “what for” of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts from God. There is a lot of confusion and misnomers about the Holy Spirit these days. It’s not a new thing. People have tried to bend God to their way of thinking for thousands of years. So to be clear, I want to start with what the Holy Spirit is NOT given for.

The Holy Spirit is not given:

1. For personal gain, agendas or power – no brainer

2. To make you famous or popular – God’s work is famously unpopular

3. So you can dominate the pagan culture – our job = share the Good News

4. To create powerful institutions – organism not organizations

If you take time to read the New Testament, and I highly recommend that you read a little bit every day for your personal, spiritual growth, you will discover that people tried to use the Holy Spirit for all of these things. But God told them over and over again through the New Testament writers, that these are NOT the reasons the Holy Spirit was given to people. Knowing these four things should make it easy for you to decided whether or not someone who teaches you, or writes things about God, or purports to speak to you from God, is really being used by the Holy Spirit or by their own ego. There’s more ego than truth that goes around in religious circles than you might imagine, so be careful and pay attention. 

Now here are a couple of things the Holy Spirit is given for.

The Holy Spirit is given to:

1. Convict you of sin and convince you of the Truth

2. Teach you and remind you of God’s direction (will)

3. Empower you to accomplish God’s plan

These first three we heard about briefly last week from the book of John. When Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come to dwell in his disciples, he said the Holy Spirit would do those specific things: convict, convince, teach, remind and empower them. I believe the Holy Spirit is always at work, all around the world and in your worlds of influence, to convict people, convince people and direct people. You don’t even have to believe in God for the Holy Spirit of God to be working on you. But, when you accept Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit starts to work in you and through you, empowering you to do God’s work.

Another very important thing this Holy Spirit does is this - 4. The Holy Spirit assures you of your salvation. Your belief that Jesus has forgiven your sins is based on the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit draws us to God through conviction and convincing, then He assures us of our faith so that we don’t walk around wondering all the time, “Am I really God’s child? Am I really forgiven?” God knows that people who are unsure of themselves and their position in life rarely succeed in accomplishing great things. And God’s plans for you are nothing short of great. When you struggle with your faith or your worthiness – remember the Holy Spirit. He lives within you. He is your guarantee of forgiveness, not your own ability to live a certain way or take certain actions. This assurance frees us up to focus on listening to God rather than worrying about our relationship with Him. 

This final work of the Holy Spirit that we are covering this week is very important. Without this final action of the Holy Spirit you will never be able to accomplish God’s goals or plans for your life. And you and I together, as the body of Christ, will never be able to work together for God’s glory. The Apostle Paul wrote that the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power of the resurrection, is the same power that gives you the ability to live for God rather than for yourself. That power is the Holy Spirit. 5. The Holy Spirit enables you to become more mature. Ultimately God means for you to become more like Jesus, to grow in your relationship to God, to others and to the world around you, and to work together with other believers to show and tell the world of God’s love. We cannot accomplish anything of eternal value on our own. Without a firm understanding that the Holy Spirit is living in you and empowering you accomplish God’s plans, all the super cool, supernatural gifts in the universe are useless. God is the one who gives every good and perfect gift. God is the one with the plan. God is the one who gave you His Holy Spirit in order to accomplish these things. It’s all about Him, not you, but you have to allow Him to work in you and through your life.

The Apostle Paul wrote about these things to a group of believers in Ephesus. We’ve studied Ephesus before, but just for review Ephesus was a port city of about 250,000 people during the first century AD. It was founded by the Greeks on the west coast of Turkey back in 1,000 B.C. There were many ancient gods worshipped in this town, the most famous of which was Diana, whose Temple of Artemis was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. After the Jewish dispersion during the Roman takeover of Israel many Jews moved to this booming metropolis.

Ephesus was one of Paul’s first stops on his 3rd missionary journey. His teaching was well received and yet controversial to those who worshipped and profited from the worship of Diana – there was a merchandising arm to the religion, not unlike some today. A riot by these merchants caused Paul great grief and he ended up leaving after several years of teaching there. But he left a great many believers who, from time to time, needed his encouragement. So he sent other teachers to help them and also wrote them this letter. It may help to know that Paul was the one, who first taught them about the Holy Spirit, and he baptized and laid hands on many believers there, and they received the Holy Spirit. In chapter four he is encouraging them, and us, to live in a way that is only possible with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4

 Therefore I…beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 

2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 

3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 

4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 

5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all. 

7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. 

Paul reminds the believers in Ephesus, and us of course, that believers have a “calling” on their life. It is a calling to serve God and others with humility, gentleness, patience and by believing the best. This calling is united in the Holy Spirit and is accompanied with peace rather than conflict. The Holy Spirit’s power is meant to enable us to live out the calling of loving God and loving others, serving God and serving others, knowing God and knowing others. And through our commonality of one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God, we are to represent God’s glorious hope to the world. So, to help us accomplish this difficult task, the Holy Spirit is at work within us: convicting, convincing, teaching, empowering and assuring us – and giving each of us special, supernatural, spiritual gifts along the way, as Simon will talk about next week. We cannot do this on our own. We cannot love people with patience, gentleness and humility on our own. That’s why God sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. So, when we choose to listen to God speaking and directing us through the Holy Spirit, here’s what happens – verse 14:

 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 

15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 

16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Maturity-being more like Jesus-THAT is the goal of the Holy Spirit’s work in us. As we grow to know God, others and the world around us better, we can discern the truth and not be tricked by smooth talking, high pressure, spiritual salespeople. Maturity is marked by speaking the truth in love and showing growth in our attitudes and actions. As we individually become more mature, the whole body of Jesus Christ – the church – becomes more mature. And as we grow individually in these ways, then we grow in how we show love to our community, and the church grows, and the Kingdom of God grows. And that’s a good thing. We all know that our natural tendency as human beings is to be selfish. It’s NOT to be loving and self-deprecating. It’s NOT to ask God’s opinion and direction first. We know this. Paul is just trying to encourage us to let the Holy Spirit’s power loose to direct our paths, then these great things will happen on an individual, local and global scale.

Paul then goes on to address some issues common in a pagan culture, which Ephesus certainly was. He warns them not to live like they used to – where it was common to take advantage of people, to look out for oneself, and to participate in immoral behavior in the name of religion. Paul tells them that they are no longer the children of the darkness, living in the depths of ignorance and sin, but they are children of God’s enlightenment. Paul knows firsthand that the Christian life is very, very difficult to live, especially in what was one of the largest and most debase cities of their time. He encourages them by saying, “You’re not like that anymore. You are a new creation, a recipient of God’s gifts of forgiveness and salvation. And don’t forget, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Verse 23 - 

23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

Remember how we’ve said before that you can’t do these things on your own. You can’t will yourself into maturity; you can’t shame yourself into doing the right things. You won’t be able to control your temper; you can’t control your thoughts and attitudes – not to the extent that they are like Jesus. That’s the “what for” of the Holy Spirit. He is here to help us because we CAN’T help ourselves. 

Simply put, here’s how life has gone for thousands of years: We were created to be like God – really righteous and truly holy, set apart to accomplish God’s work. But sin entered the world and we all jumped on the band-wagon saying, “I can do this! It’s all about me!” So instead of being content as the children of a loving, beneficent, personal God, we became the slaves to our sinfulness. So Jesus came to pay for your sins and mine. And when he was resurrected and returned to heaven, God sent the Holy Spirit to take over our “old self” the Bible calls it. So as you let the Holy Spirit have control in each area of your life, He once again makes them authentically righteous and completely holy, a task that will only be completed when we enter heaven. That will be a great day, the best day ever.

So here’s the deal, the Holy Spirit is the gift that keeps on giving: power to live a God-honoring life, assurance that your sins have been forgiven, insight to live by, directions to follow, life-changing transformation of your soul (mind, will and emotions). But, we have to accept this gift. And just like God didn’t force Himself on you in the first place, God will not force you to obey the Holy Spirit. He wants you to do it, but God will not force you. This is a day by day, moment by moment acceptance of the Holy Spirit’s control and power in your life. It’s your daily awakening. 

The Holy Spirit never leaves you; the Holy Spirit never gets weaker in you, but your willingness to follow His direction. We must make a conscious choice to say to God,
“This is your moment, I’m listening. This is your day, I’m going to follow. I can’t control my junk, but you can, through the power of the Holy Spirit within me, so please – go ahead.” 

Choose to follow the Holy Spirit. That’s what Paul is saying. Remember – God picked you, forgives you, assures you and holds onto you. And even when we can’t – God can. And even when we doubt – the Holy Spirit assures us. And when we don’t think we can do God’s will, the Holy Spirit is there to empower us. 

So, who’s in control of your eternal life once you accept the gifts of forgiveness and salvation? You? No! Thank God – the Holy Spirit of God now holds our eternity in his care, and he wants you to walk with him and listen to him so that your life will be fulfilling, maturing and honoring to God. Choosing to let the Holy Spirit transform your life will change your world for the better. It HAS changed some of your worlds. It IS changing the whole world. That’s what the gift of the Holy Spirit is for – world changing, family changing, life changing, individual changing power to live out God’s love and God’s Word. 

Is it hard? Yes. Can we do it on our own? No, and that’s the point…that’s why God sent the Holy Spirit as a gift to us. 

Will you receive God’s gifts today – Forgiveness, salvation, and the awesome power of the Holy Spirit within you today? Let’s pray.

Dear Father,
Thank you for seeing our crisis of sin ahead of time and creating us anyway. Thank you for making a way for our sins to be forgiven through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Thank you that your Holy Spirit is working in us, through us and in spite of us. Thank you that your Kingdom expands by your power and not our own. We are eternally grateful. Please help us to remember to ask for your help, to listen to the Holy Spirit, and to rely on your power to accomplish great things for you. We pray these things in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen and amen. 

Watch this as we celebrate God’s work through you: (Video)

Blessing:

May the power of the Holy Spirit be evident in your life this week. May he convict you of since, convince you of the truth, empower you to live for God and make you a mature part of the body of Christ. Be blessed today, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – amen.

 

Gifts Pt. 1 – “So What?!”

Listen or watch this message here: LINK

            We all like gifts, don’t we? I know I do. Christmas, birthday, anniversary – we love getting gifts. Do you remember a gift that you really liked, or one that you didn’t really appreciate? Was it fruit cake, underwear, or socks? Did you wonder if it was thoughtful? Or was it thoughtless – a last minute “Oops I forgot your birthday” gift? No matter, we love getting gifts. Most of us love giving gifts as well. There is something personally satisfying about buying or making a gift for someone else. (Maybe you’re not there yet.) What was the worst gift you ever gave someone? What was the best one? You think you ARE the gift?! Isn’t your spouse lucky to have you? The world just wouldn’t be the same without you (Insert sarcastic tone here).

 

            Okay, enough kidding around, here’s a serious question – Have you ever had someone offer you a gift that you didn’t accept? Maybe, but most of us have accepted every gift that’s been presented to us. It would almost be foolish not to. There are times when perhaps you think the gift comes with some strings attached so, in your own best interest, you turn it down. (That may be wise.) That might also be a good lesson for those in politics to remember. The best gifts are the ones that are truly free, given from an unselfish giver, with your best interest in mind.

             I remember several “best gifts” in my life. One was a Tyco HO train set when I was about 7 years old. My parents didn’t have much money, but they did have six of us kids. Despite all of that I got a train set for Christmas. I played with that train set for years. I bought other parts for it, reconfigured it and modified it. That was a great gift. I also remember a 10 speed bike I received in 8^th grade, weeks before we moved from Wisconsin to Kansas. That was an awesome bike. I couldn’t believe it. I road it through the snow of a Wisconsin winter for about a week – then someone stole it. But it was a great gift. I’m still fond of the memory of getting that bike.

             No matter what the gift or who the giver is, this one thing is true. It’s a principle the whole universe operates by. You’ll know it as soon as I say it. Here it is. Are you ready? A gift is never yours until you receive it. Profound, I know. Think about it, though. A gift that is not received is like an unclaimed lottery ticket; you have a right to it, it’s been offered, but you haven’t received it. Hopefully over the next four weeks the profundity of that statement will make you say, “Oh wow,” rather than, “So what!” Because we are going to spend this next month talking about the universal gifts that God offers to humanity in general and to Christ followers in particular. Understanding these things can and will empower your life in ways you have never imagined.

As we look at God’s gifts to us I encourage you to explore this topic on your own through web resources like YouVersion.com and Biblegateway.com as well as through conversations with the Pastors and LifeGroup leaders. Today’s introduction will touch on several areas that will be explored more by Pastor Angelo and Simon Lin later this month.

             For today I want to look at one question. The question is this: What gifts has God given to you? I’m speaking in general of course. That’s a pretty simple question, not too hard to answer, either. We can all think of gifts from God: Life comes to mind; you know – the gift of being, existence, breath and all. Family – that’s another fairly easy one. Our friends, our jobs, maybe even our spouses are gifts from God. These are not the gifts we want to explore though I encourage you to be thankful for each one of them.  So, how about this one? Did you know that God has given us everything that is good and perfect? Yes, it’s true.

           

            Let’s look in the book of James chapter one. In this passage, James the Apostle was just telling followers of Christ that God does not tempt people to sin. Rather, people are tempted by their own minds and soulishness. Back then ancient peoples believe that the gods or God created good and evil in equal measure and then just let it go, so it was normal or even God’s fault that people were tempted. Contrasted with this Yin & Yang relationship of the universe, James says this:

 James 1:16-18

16 Do not be deceived, my dear friends! 17 Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.18 By his own will he brought us into being through the word of truth, so that we should have first place among all his creatures.

            What does that mean? Frankly I’m not sure of all the implications here. I do know we were created by the word of truth, literally “God speaking,” because every verse of the Genesis story starts, “And God said….” I also know that I’ve never received anything good or perfect and wondered, “Did someone or something evil give this to me?” No, I always think that someone who loves me gave it, don’t you? And though we kind of mentioned life being a gift, it is included in these verses. God brought us into being because he wanted us to be the rulers of creation, tending it and cultivating it. Until Adam and Eve decided to disobey God they lived in a perfect and harmonious state. Those are some pretty good gifts. But once sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, we needed something more from God. We needed forgiveness and salvation.

             I put those together because you can’t have one without the other. We would never know about forgiveness or the concept of salvation if it weren’t for God. From the beginning of time, even before Adam and Eve disobeyed and caused sin and self-centeredness to enter the world, God’s plan was to offer humanity forgiveness and salvation. After all, God knew that anything with a “will” and self-determination was going to choose to sin. He created us that way on purpose so that we could love Him by our own choice. So God knew we would need these gifts as well. Here are some verses from the Old and New Testaments that show us God’s plan.

 Nehemiah 9:17


            They (the nation of Israel) refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt! But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them…

Romans 5:15

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10

            8 God saved you (offered you salvation) by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

            Forgiveness and salvation are incredible gifts from God. Many people can’t even forgive themselves for stuff. But the God of the Universe offers to forgive your sins as a gift, paid for by Jesus’ death and resurrection. But forgiveness and salvation are a useless gift unless we receive them. Jesus said it was simple, “If you believe in me, you will receive eternal life.” Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Two great gifts, aren’t they? And these are gifts that keep on giving, because Jesus said that when he rose from the grave and returned to heaven that he would leave his followers another gift. This gift is actually the focus of our whole series; the gift and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

            Now without going into an entire theological treatise about the Holy Spirit and how he is the third person of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and trying to explain how all of that works, I want to simply explain how the Holy Spirit is a gift to those who believe and follow Jesus. This summer, Pastor Angelo will be leading a LifeGroup called “Doctrines.” There you can learn in depth who the Holy Spirit is and how that all works. But for now, I ask you to exercise just a little openness and faith to understand the Holy Spirit.

            Back in the farthest reaches of history, the Spirit of God “hovered over the waters of the deep,” assisting in the creation of the world. The Holy Spirit was also personally involved with helping people to accomplish God’s work on earth. He would lend power and wisdom to those who were open to Him. All of the prophets were said to operate under the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit. When Kings were anointed by the prophets, we read that the Holy Spirit would come upon them. The Holy Spirit would “rest on them” and give them wisdom, but when they decided to do things their own way, the Bible says the Holy Spirit was lifted from them. It was a temporary empowerment based on the recipient’s willingness to obey God.

            Fast forward to New Testament times, about 4 A.D. or so, and we find one, lone prophet who was said to be full of the Holy Spirit – John the Baptizer. John was Jesus’ cousin and lived a rather ascetic lifestyle. He preached repentance from sin, and baptism as a sign of one’s repentance. John told people, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” That seemed kind of odd to them, just like it may to you. But one day Jesus came to John to be baptized, not to be forgiven of his sin as he was perfectly sinless, but rather as an example that people should make a public stance for their belief and trust in God. When Jesus came out of the water the people reported seeing the Holy Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and rest on Jesus. Then God spoke from heaven like the sound of thunder, and everyone was awestruck – a pretty impressive way to start a ministry, eh?

            Jesus handpicked disciples. He taught them, showed them how to serve the poor, showed them miracles, and taught them some more. For three years Jesus did this daily. Now Jesus’ disciples had all grown up hearing about God, learning about the prophets and so knew something of the Holy Spirit. But to them the Holy Spirit was someone who would come and go in special people’s lives. Imagine their surprise when Jesus blessed them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” These men were not considered prophets or teachers. They were certainly not Kings of anything. None of them expected this. But Jesus had been teaching about the Holy Spirit in a way they had never heard before. Here’s what he told them:

Luke 11:13


So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

            The Holy Spirit could be asked for? Like a gift? Yes. That was a new one to them. They thought only the elite could have the “pow’r!” Now Jesus said that anyone could have this gift. That was pretty cool, but there was a catch. The Holy Spirit would only come permanently when Jesus returned to heaven. This made them very sad. At this point they had been following Jesus for three years, and were really starting to “get it,” all this Kingdom of Heaven stuff. They couldn’t imagine losing their leader, their teacher and friend. They couldn’t comprehend how a “spirit” would be a good replacement for a flesh and blood mentor. So in order to help them understand Jesus tells them this, just days before his trial and crucifixion:

 John 14

            16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. (Never? Really? How? Who?)

17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

            After Jesus’ resurrection, during the 40 days he appeared to his disciples and followers, Luke, the doctor, apostle and writer records this from Jesus:

Luke 24
49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

            Here is the picture. Despite the fact that their leader, the Messiah – the Savior of the world, would soon be leaving, they now had hope of a promise – the gift of the Holy Spirit himself. God would no longer just be WITH them (or with you and me), but God would dwell IN them and IN you and me. God’s power wouldn’t be on the outside trying to work in, but would now be working from the inside out! This would give followers of Jesus power from heaven, from God himself. In fact, get this, the Apostle Paul wrote many years later that this power of the Holy Spirit was and is the exact same power that raised Jesus from the dead! That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t need more power for living? Who doesn’t need God’s presence to direct their path and guide them? I know I do…and so did they…and so do you. What a tremendous promise; what an unbelievable gift, if only they, if only we, would receive it.

            So there they were. Jesus gives them instructions to stay in Jerusalem until God the Father sends the Holy Spirit. Then Jesus ascends into heaven in this great show of glory and power. His followers were excited now. They saw him crucified. They saw the spear pierce his side. They saw blood and water flow from his side – he was dead. They saw his body placed in the tomb and Roman soldiers standing guard. But then…then they saw him – alive! And over 500 people reported seeing Jesus – alive. This group even ate with him. How does a ghost eat? How is it that we saw him die and now he’s alive? It must be true – he IS the promised One: Jesus, Messiah, the Christ. So of course they were ready to follow his instruction. Of course they were going to wait until the Holy Spirit would be sent by God the Father. You can believe what you want, but they were following the instructions of the man who rose from the dead. Whatever was coming was going to be good! And here’s what happened. It’s recorded in the book called Acts, meaning, the actions of the disciples and the early followers of Jesus, Acts chapter 2:

 Acts 2

            On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.

7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

14 Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you…

            The crowd thought these Jesus followers were all drunk – at 9am. It’s the only explanation they could think of.

16 No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel:

17 

‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

 Peter continued to quote the Scriptures from a prophet named Joel from almost 1000 years before. These were religious Jews, they had studied the prophets. They knew these words, and now the power of the Holy Spirit caused these words to make sense to them. They were stunned, dumbfounded…convicted of the truth.  Peter continued:

 36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

38“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

            They would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit himself, and not just the Jews, the special people, but ANYONE who believed.

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

            Wow! What a day that must have been! I’m not trying to be overdramatic or sensational. But I believe this story. I believe that when the Holy Spirit came, the spiritual lights of the world turned on! Ordinary men and women became lovers of God, seekers of truth, willing to do whatever it took to share the good and perfect gifts of forgiveness, salvation and of the Holy Spirit with everyone, even Gentiles. That would have been like slave owners including their slaves in the family. It’s just NOT going to happen short of a miracle. And that’s exactly what it was, and is – the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit in person.

            It did not end on that day. In fact, it continues to this day. As a follower of Jesus Christ the Bible promises you that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to you. He lives in you, empowers you to do things you could never do on your own. He convicts you of sin, convinces you of truth and guides you in the ways you should go. All you need to do is receive the gifts of forgiveness, salvation and the Holy Spirit.

            You may be thinking, “How do I do that? I want that.” If so, consciously say to God, even this very moment, “I welcome and receive these gifts from you. Please forgive me of my sin, save me and empower me with the Holy Spirit.” That is the one prayer that can come from anyone in the world, at any time, and God will answer, “Yes. Here you go.” God always answers that request with a “yes.” “Yes, you’re forgiven. Yes, you are saved from your sin. Yes, receive the Holy Spirit.” It’s sooo incredible, so awesome, so unbelievable. But it’s the Truth.

            So what’s holding you back? Are you afraid of what God might ask you to do? Or maybe you’re leery of who God might ask you to become? Don’t be afraid, the gift of the Holy Spirit will do all the work, you just have to receive Him.

Let’s pray.

            Father God, I pray that your Holy Spirit will move through this room today and through every person who hears this message. Help us to be ready and willing to receive these amazing gifts from you. Protect us from those doubts and sins within us that keep us from wanting to receive these gifts. And we thank you for caring enough about us, to forgive us, to save us from sin, and to empower us to live the life you’ve destined for us. Amen.

Blessing:

Now may God the Father, our Savior Jesus, and the Holy Spirit within you, empower you to live a life worthy of Heaven. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Destinations Pt. 4 – Pay Attention!

Watch or listen to this here

     Pii Chui has figured out the Principle of the Path. “Your direction determines your destination.” He is, for us, an example of trusting and following God no matter what. His path is not easy. It is not without its distractions, suffering or roadblocks. But he clings to God for direction, knowing that God has his ultimate destination in hand. Pii Chui knows the truth – your direction, not your intention, your dreams, or your wishing, determines your destination. That’s how we started this series – learning this principle.

        Our second week we noted that, even though it’s obvious when we look at the lives of others, this principle is often not apparent to us, and especially not in relationships, finances, careers or spiritual lives. In those areas we tend to leave things to chance or fate, because we don’t think about how the path we are on steers us towards or away from our desired destinations. 

 

        Two weeks ago we were given a warning from Solomon, the wisest man in the world, that dangers and distractions lurk on the path. And we would do well to look ahead rather than living just for the here and now. That’s when we began to memorize this verse in Proverbs, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” We learned that acknolwedging and seeing the dangers that lie ahead is imperative to successfully navigating life. We also learned a prayer that simply asks “God, help us see the dangers of the path we are on, and the courage and wisdom to make changes.”

 

        But then…then, there was last week, when Pastor Angelo slapped us around a bit with probably the most obvious, yet most underutilized, truth of the year – “We Need God.” Information is not enough. Intention is not enough. A personal plan is not enough. We cannot do it on our own! We need God! Without God’s guidance and wisdom we are woefully inadequate to navigate the paths of life with any kind of proficiency whatsoever. It was revolutionary for anyone who took hold of it and put it into practice – only our admission that we need God and our submission to God can rightly direct our paths. This was illustrated to us through the life of the King Solomon who submitted to God in every area of his life – except one, and that was the area that mattered the most, for his future, and that of his family and nation.

 

        So today, as we close the series, I want to add one more part to this formula. Well, it’s not really an add-on, it’s an expansion of the thought that danger lurks down every path, and so we need to be wary. It reminds me of something I learned in drivers ed. How many of you took drivers education? Yeah. Our teacher was very adamant about this one thing, especially when he was in the car with us. He said, “Don’t look at the oncoming cars or you will steer towards them.” Of course we were smarter than he was, so some of us did not pay attention and found out what guardrails were! Anyway, why did he try to warn us? Why was he teaching us not to look at the oncoming traffic? Because he knew today’s key to the Principle of the Path – Whatever captures your attention, influences your direction.  Daytime or nighttime, driving a car, a boat, or a tractor – this warning is true – you will head towards whatever gets your attention.

 

        Now in English we use phrases like “that captured my attention,” or “that grabbed my attention.” When something captures our attention it is most often an emotional experience. Psychology teaches us that people remember and are often captive to the events that had an emotional impact. Good or bad, people remember those events the most. We can all think of things that have captured or grabbed our attention. We can still sense the emotion of that moment. And some of you post those on Facebook. You have to admit – there are things that capture your attention.

 

        What captures my attention? Music – I love sound, composition, pianos, guitars, etc…. Cars – I really like cars: old cars, new cars, foreign cars, domestic cars. Some of my best and worst memories involve cars or music (there’s the emotion.) How about my wife? Yes, she captured my attention. So, I steered towards her. It was and is emotional. I’m a blessed man.

 

        But there’s another phrase in this same vein that we used several months ago which is very important, and it starts this way, “pay attention,” or you could say, “give attention to.” All of us have things we need to pay attention to or give attention to: education, health, money, family. We can probably think of areas we WISH we had given more attention or we’d BETTER pay more attention. Unlike the emotional grabbing or capturing of our attention, paying attention is intentional. And, as we all know, if you want something to happen consistently it has to be done intentionally. When we say our first value as Creekside Community is “seeing people that others might not see and building authentic relationships with them,” we mean that with intentionality. It takes time. It takes focus. It takes intentionality. And that’s what paying attention or giving attention to something means – watching, looking, and taking action with intention.

       

        It’s critically important that we acknowledge the differences between what captures our attention and what we GIVE our attention to. So here’s the phrase for today: while your direction DOES determine your destination, whatever gets your attention WILL influence your direction. Our problem is that we let our attention be captured far more often than we pay attention. If you’re captured by something, or someone grabs your attention, then whatever/whomever captured or grabbed your attention is really your captor. They own you. It’s definitively an emotional attachment or experience. It’s not intellectual, reasoned or rational. And it’s certainly not intentional. Captured by anything is rarely something to be desired. Think “imprisoned.”

 

        Currently there are things you are giving or not giving attention that are influencing the direction of your life and the lives of those entrusted to you. You ARE being distracted by, enticed by, or captured by something. And since attention influences direction, and direction determines destination, we really need to focus intentionally on the best things for our lives. Needless to say, the Bible gives us a lot of insight and wisdom in this regard. It reminds us of this principle of over and over again. The principle of the path, complete with this 
“intentionality clause,” appears many times in the Bible. We are going to look at several verses today. Our first one is from the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 7. I know this is a favorite book of the Bible for many of us – just kidding.

       

        But in Deuteronomy God gave lots of instructions for the nation of Israel to protect them from things that might grab their attention once they left Egypt. God didn’t want them to be pulled away from the truth by the pagan rituals and heartless idols of the nations around them. So here’s what God said to them in

 

Deuteronomy 7:12.

        “If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers” (that was Abraham, Isaac & Jacob).

 

        Right from the start God was trying to keep them on the right path, the best path for their nation and families. God knew that when people stray from following His Laws, the 10 commandments, that all hell breaks loose – literally. So just like as parents we give our kids some basic rules and expectations to keep them safe from harm, so God did this for his nation of Israel. Did they always follow God’s advice? No! And did it turn out bad for them when they didn’t follow God’s advice? Yes! We even saw that last week in Solomon’s life, that one huge mistake he made by marrying foreign wives for the sake of treaties. It was not God’s plan. And those foreign wives and their cultures and religions captured Israel’s attention and sent them in the wrong direction for hundreds of years.

 

        King David also wrote about the causality of things that capture our attention. And he knew what that was like. The Bible says that King David was a “man after God’s own heart.” He loved God. He served God from his youth. He was the greatest king to ever rule Israel. But he also veered off God’s path when his eyes spotted a beautiful woman on a rooftop. When she captured his attention, he let his emotions and actions run wild resulting in murder, adultery and the death of an innocent child. David knew what he was talking about when he wrote Psalm 119:37 –

 

        “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to you word.”

        He was asking God to direct his path. Because he had let his eyes give attention to unworthy things. “Preserve my life – don’t let me be captured by distraction. Let me see danger coming long before it gets here. I don’t want to go through that again.” David knew what he was talking about, didn’t he? And his son, Solomon, found out the hard way that it pays to give attention to the right things and not be distracted or grabbed by the unintentional. Solomon wrote this Proverb in his old age. He wrote it to young men, as were most of the proverbs.

Proverbs 4:25-27

        “Let you eyes look straight ahead (pay attention), fix your gaze (intention/focus) directly before you. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (Wherever you look that’s where you head. We all know that’s true.)

        This verse is perfect for you men who have to travel, or those of you who are alone or away from home a lot. As a guy I understand the temptations that happen along the way. Culture doesn’t think anything of it. The women who dress like they shop in the Juniors’ section are either oblivious to it or are wanting your attention. There are a lot of things begging for our eyes to dart and focus on them. Yet, like our simple young man from two weeks ago, we know this is not just an event. Looking around at worthless things is a path. This verse is also perfect for those of you who shop. “I didn’t even know I needed one of those until I saw it!” Have you ever noticed that the benches in a mall are never point down the aisles? Where are they pointed? Yes, at the stores. Have you ever noticed that most stores, including grocery stores, place the things you might need wayyyyy in the back. And they make you wind through a maze of other things you might want to get to the things that you really need. If you don’t fix your gaze, you will quickly be distracted, enticed or tempted by the things you don’t need. It’s true, isn’t it?!

        Jesus weighs in on our subject with his own word picture. Back in his time they did not have electricity. When it got dark outside or if you went into a cave you had to take a torch or an oil lamp with you. Here’s what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23:

        “The eye is the lamp of the body. (Where your eye wanders, where your attention goes, so goes the rest of you) If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. The little Greek word for “good” here means wholesome or pure. Jesus knew us pretty well didn’t he? “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Picture this – you are in a cave deep underground with your oil lamp to light the way. You can see brilliantly. It’s the best spelunking trip of your life. But, somehow, you’ve grabbed a “bad” lamp. You don’t know why. You don’t know how. But your light goes out. You can’t see anymore. You are captured BY the darkness and IN the darkness. No matter how hard you try you cannot find your way out. You’re swerving and bumping into walls and hangy downy thingys. (That’s a technical geological term). Your eyes are full of darkness, and now you’re left to follow a blind path into the unknown. That’s what Jesus is saying it’s like to be captured by something rather than living with intention.

        One more verse – an early follower of Jesus wrote a book called Hebrews. It’s a very deep and rich book in the Bible. This writer knew that people usually don’t intend to embrace things that lead them down destructive paths. People don’t intend to go caving with a defective lamp. People don’t intend to look around for something newer, bigger, better, or cuter, to ruin their life. It just happens – by a lack of attention to what’s important.

Hebrews 2:1

        “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

Drift happens. We may not intend for it to happen, we just didn’t make a plan for it not to happen. It’s like swimming in the gulf, itchy, dirty accoutrements and all. You leave the place you’ve staked out on the beach and head out into the water to swim, or boogie board or whatever. It’s fun – minus the itch and such. You swim or paddle out for just a couple of minutes and look up – you’ve drifted quite a ways from your entry point. The only way to keep from getting lost is to keep your eyes on that focal point. You have to pay attention, or you WILL be swept further and further away from where you really want to be. And our paths in life are no different.

The people on the shore may be watching you. They can see where you are headed even when you can’t. They know how far from the path you are. You’ve been there and done that, haven’t you?

        You’ve seen your friends or families’ attention captured by something bad. You watched them slowly drift down a path they would have never chosen. You may even have warned them. But they wouldn’t pay attention. They just kept going. And like the simpleton in our memory verse they suffered for it. This is why parents are concerned for their kids. We don’t want someone or something capturing their attention and luring them down a path they will regret. We can see it. They can’t. Instead of paying attention, something has grabbed their attention. Every one of us knows what that emotional tug of war is like. But often we can’t see it. The Principle of the Path is true. Whatever gets your attention will influence your direction, and your direction WILL determine your destination.

        So let’s make this personal. Let’s take a few minutes of practical reflection. Open your minds and hearts to the possibility that God will speak to you today. Here are two questions I want you to think about. First of all, “What has captured your attention that you need to be freed of?” What are the negative implications of that? What is the emotional draw luring you down the wrong path? Is it nicer stuff, a business opportunity, a person, sports or a hobby? What has captured your attention from which you need to be freed?

        Second, “What or whom do you need to give more attention to?” What or who do you need to intentionally, systematically pay better attention to? Maybe it’s your health. You don’t eat right, you refuse to exercise. You’ve put off going to the doctor for advice.    Maybe it’s your job. Have you quit focusing on what’s important to your company? Are you eating their profits with your lack of effort or intention?    Maybe it’s your relationships or your marriage. Marriage never does well on autopilot. You WILL drift away from one another. Friendships drift, partnerships drift, and marriages drift apart one day at a time. Or maybe, just maybe, your faith is drifting. You started coming on Sunday’s to learn a little bit for your faith journey. You may have even attended a LifeGroup on and off or been on a mission trip or community project. But the reality is, you don’t pay much attention to God or how God’s directing you. You don’t want to pray on your own. You’re not interested in reading the Bible for yourself and learning the Truth. Faith drifts as fast as anything.

        But that’s why we are all here together, to lead each other to grow in our relationship to God, to others and to the world around us through Jesus Christ. We are all in this together. Don’t just drift. Don’t let other things capture your attention and take you away from the most important relationships in your life – God and your family.

But that’s exactly what will happen if you don’t remember this, you must take intentional action. You can’t dream it and hope it into “rightness,” you must take action. Your direction determines your destination.

        One final thing, and please grab onto this, you can take a wrong turn while driving to Galveston and it will only cost you a few minutes. But when you lose your direction in life – it could take years to get back on track. Ask God to help you get on track today. Ask some wise, faith filled friends to help you stay on track. And then, give your attention to the most important things in life. Let’s pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

        None of us want to ignore the Principle of the Path any longer. We do not like the danger. We do not revel in the regret. We do not enjoy the consequences of our ignorant, simple, selfish actions. Help us, God, because you’re the only one who can.

        Empower us to follow your direction so our destination is one that brings you honor and glory. Empower us through your Holy Spirit to not let anything worthless grab us or capture us. Protect us, God, from ourselves and from those who would bring danger to us and our families.

        We ask these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus, amen and amen.

Blessing:

        May the light of God’s truth light your paths as you make your way through the maze of life. May Wisdom be your friend and guide so you can live a life free of regret and full of the blessings of God. Receive this blessing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Four R’s of God Pt 2

This is part two of what I’m calling the 4 R’s of God. The first one, as disseminated in a previous post, was “repentance.” That post has been updated and edited for clarity, so you may want to peruse it first before proceeding to this one. I believe these are four components of a relationship with God. I also believe these are four areas that God is concerned about in our relationships as His children. This second part could be very long and tedious, but that is not my purpose here. Please accept the succinct nature of this post with that in mind as we examine the second “R”.

Redemption – to make better/acceptable; to buy back or repurchase; to release from blame or debt. (compiled)

We all know what redemption is. If you’re a couponer, like I am, you receive value from something you did not pay for because you turned in the appropriate paper work, i.e., a coupon. It has no value if it is thrown away or never used. Using the coupon is considered acceptable payment for a purchase. It releases you from that certain amount of payment of debt. I like redemption – for me. I don’t much like it when other shoppers have already cleared the shelves of all the items available for purchase with said redemptive coupon. I think that people who clear the shelves for selfish reasons don’t “deserve” to redeem that coupon. Wow, I’m really over thinking this!

What does that have to do with our relationship to God, to others or to the world around us? Ok, try to follow this. My attitude towards those other couponers is one of, in my mind, justice. It’s a question of fairness, a question of misusing an opportunity. And I, like all of us, want justice on them. However – on the other side of this coupon scenario – if I cleared the shelves because there were only a couple of items left and I really needed them, I would certainly call for “mercy” from my fellow spendthrifts. Wouldn’t you? Justice is great when we get to decide for others, but mercy is much more palatable for us personally.

God’s holiness and perfect sinlessness demands justice against anyone and everyone that is not holy or perfect. I guess we’re all in trouble, then. Fortunately, God is a God of repentance – that is, God is willing to give up the right to extract justice from all of us and chooses to provide us mercy. God’s justice demands a payment, though, so that His perfection and holiness is not diminished. Enter “redemption,” the second “r” of God’s relationship with us.

God’s idea of justice? Offer mercy to those who don’t deserve it and ask for payment from the only person that could pay off such a huge relational and spiritual debt – Jesus, Son of God, God made flesh, born of Mary, sinless in life and therefore capable of paying for the sins of the whole world. This only worked because Jesus, being fully God as well as fully human in birth, was complicit with God’s plan for mercy and redemption. Jesus was there and had a hand in the creation of the world. Because He IS God, Jesus was there when Adam and Eve turned their backs and chose to sing. Jesus felt the pain and agony of God wishing he’d never created mankind in the first place.  And Jesus suffered the emotional and physical distress of becoming the Redeemer of the world when the Romans executed him for no earthly reason. Jesus couldn’t help it. He wanted redemption for humanity, though in his Deity he had to extract justice.

If redemption was THAT important to God, so much so that He would become human flesh just to extract justice from Himself, shouldn’t it be important to us as well? Holding grudges and wishing justice on others only makes us look all the more impure and selfish. Hoping for, working for, asking for mercy on others is an indicator that we, too, understand the heart of God.

I’m sure I will edit and rethink parts of this second “R”. But I hope it challenges us all to live as God lives, changing our minds towards mercy as often as possible; and offering redemption in all our relationships instead of trying to extract justice. That’s all for now.