SUFFERING

Listen as Pastor Rick shares a message with us about suffering as he attempts to very carefully share some very important ideas that may give strength amid difficulty and at very least will give food for thought.  This message comes with Pastor Rick's prayers.

Moms in The Vine

Listen as Pastor Rick shares what he believes are the most important words he could say on this Mother's Day.

"Mothers are uniquely created and designed by God.  They are gifted with instincts and abilities that Dads just don’t quite do the same way.  In our culture, Godly mothers are needed perhaps more than ever before.  It is in the hands of moms that God has placed the huge responsibility to nurture everlasting souls.  That’s kind of a BIG DEAL! J  So we celebrate you today!"

Our Ascended Advocate

Listen as Pastor Rick enlists the help of the audience to discover the importance of the Ascension in the doctrines of Christianity.

A Dirty Pool & A Clean Heart

How can Pastor Rick find a sermon in a dirty swimming pool?  Listen to find out! :-)

It is a fact that we will never be able to stand before God at the Judgment, or commune with Him here below if our hands are unclean and our hearts impure.  It is only when we allow Him to connect His purifying element (the Holy Spirit) to our hearts to cleanse us and daily filter the water of our hearts through His Word that we can discover personal cleansing, earthly communion, and the hope of eternal love and favor as a cherished child of the Father and bride of Christ.

Face to Face with God

Listen as Pastor Rick shares a very burdened message about the certainty of death and the judgment.  He also shares the positive part of this message.  We pray that you will find both conviction and encouragement in this message.

When I stand face to face with God whether I am ushered into his presence from I-64 or elsewhere, I want to know that I will not stand before Him clothed in the rags of my own righteousness or naked from the lack thereof but instead fully clothed in the wedding garment of the righteousness of the Son of God Himself.  I want to know that the books are empty of my sinfulness and full of the righteousness of Christ in me – the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)!

HE KNOWS

God knows you: precisely whom you are, where you are, what you are, why you are, and how you are.  He understands you and cares about you.  Listen as Pastor Rick passionately shares the wonderful story of Thomas.

"Have you been where Thomas was that night?  A whole lot of other people tell you they have met the risen Christ.  A whole lot of people tell you that it was incredible and spectacular and you should have the same experience.  Have you felt confused by all the voices?  Have you felt that your experiential reality doesn’t match up with others’ reports of the supernatural?  Have you grieved because YOU longed to know Him in the power of His resurrection too – but somehow have missed it?  Have you been frustrated – maybe even angry – that you have been left out of His presence?  Have you determined in the midst of your pain, your loneliness, and your lostness that you WILL NOT BELIEVE?

Ah.  This I believe is part of the why of Thomas’ story.  God knows us and understands us and He wants us to know that He knows and He cares about us even when we struggle with doubt and uncertainty."

The Tomb & Jesus the Master

In this final sermon of the series, "A Donkey, A Garden, A Cross, & A Tomb" Pastor Rick shares the glorious message of Easter.  

The "message to us today is not one of apologetics or defense of the faith.  I have [shared such] in the past and will likely do so again in the future.  But today, I simply want to share a story with you so that you may feel with me the joy of the resurrection.  For today is a day of rejoicing!"

A Cross & Jesus the Mediator

Due to technical difficulties, the third sermon of the series was not recorded.  As a result, the notes of the sermon are included below.

Today is Palm Sunday, when typically the church is decorated with palm fronds and we celebrate the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem.  However, I already shared a message about this day with you two weeks ago.  Today is also the First Day of Spring – though it doesn’t feel like it out there!  However, I am very happy Spring is here.  I love Spring!  It is the season of rebirth, and all things spring to life after the bleakness of winter.  Today I also want to talk about life – eternal life – but I am going to talk to you about it framed within a picture of death.

Two weeks ago we began our sermon series “A Donkey, A Garden, A Cross, & A Tomb.”  So far we have discovered that the donkey itself was a prophecy fulfilled and that this humble animal heralded THE Messiah.  We learned that the story of the donkey mattered because it underscored the accuracy of the Scriptures as trustworthy.  It emphasized that Jesus the Christ was fully cognizant of His own identity as both God and man and lived according to the Messiah paradigm.  It demonstrated that Jesus willingly purposefully approached Jerusalem to fulfill his destiny: not of an earthly throne but a cross.  And, finally, it highlighted the fact that having fulfilled hundreds of prophecies and promises to come the first time, Jesus’ promise to come again is rich and full and can be relied upon.  He kept His promise to come the first time.  We can be sure He will keep His promise to come the second time.

Last week, we learned of the agony suffered by our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prepared to drink the cup of suffering, sin, and death that was set before Him.  We discussed this at length but concluded that His love is high and deep and wide.  His love is so great that though He was under no obligation to do so, He chose to redeem mankind.  Though He does not need us, His love is so great that He would rather die than live without us.  And so, Jesus submitted to the Father and accepted the cup that night in the Garden where His suffering began. There in the place of the olive press, the Christ was pressed and out of Him flowed submission and willingness to humbly obey.  Driven by His love for the Father and His love for mankind the Man of Sorrows took the cup in His hands, lifted it to His lips and began to drink.

This week I would like you to join me in looking upon the cross.  Many in the world today and for thousands of years have looked upon the cross with misunderstanding, with skepticism, with disapproval, or even nonchalance.  For some the cross is an insurmountable obstacle to faith.  They cannot understand it.  They say things like – how could of Love require such a bloody thing?  For others they look upon the cross askance saying, “What good would that do me?”  Others look upon the cross and say, “Cursed is everything that hangeth on a tree” – quoting the Old Testament – and they walk away shaking their heads in disapproval.  For still others, the cross is merely a talisman or piece of jewelry worn thoughtlessly as they continue in their sin and wickedness.

These problems are not new.  In his first letter to the new Christians at Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.”  I would like to try to explain just a little bit why this is so. 

Let’s start with a difficult Scripture: Hebrews 9:11-15 – “11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 15 ¶ And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

This is an incredible portion of Scripture worthy of careful study.  But I only call your attention to it today because of what it emphasized – that Christ is a Mediator through the shedding of His own blood.

What is a mediator?

According to Webster, a mediator is “one that interposes between parties at variance for the purpose of reconciling them.”[1]  Now that might seem a little hard to understand, so let’s try the GOOGLE definition: “a person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement; a go between.”  Maybe that is still too hard to follow.  So let’s try Pastor Rick’s explanation.  Let’s say Emma smacked Abbie.  Abbie is ready to haul off and smack her back – but I come between them and say, “Wait a minute.  Hold on.  What is going on here?” And I get involved to figure out the source of their fighting and resolve it – to help them make peace with one another and return to happily playing together.  When I do that – and play the peacemaker – I am a mediator.  So for Pastor Rick, the simple definition of a mediator is the one in the middle.

I want you to hold onto that thought that the mediator is the peacemaker in the middle as we now turn to the Scripture I want to focus on today.

Colossians 1:19-21

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 

21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

This Scripture is talking about an idea known as the doctrine of “atonement.”  Atonement is almost the only theological term of English origin. It was likely first used in William Tyndale’s English translation of the Bible and derived from the phrase “in accord” or literally “at one.”  In most places it is translated today as the word “reconciliation.”[2] 

Shockingly, there are people out there today even in Christendom that deny the atonement and its place in Scripture and theology.  They deny or water down the importance of the substitutionary work that Jesus did on the cross.  This is difficult to comprehend because it is central to our faith.  Now this is a subject that is broad and deep so much so, that I can scarcely even introduce it today, but I want to try. 

To atone is to reconcile a broken relationship on behalf of another. The Christian teaching of atonement is not just about the general idea of dying for others, but about an actual terrible sacrificial death.  It happened to a man from Nazareth on a particular hill on a particular day.  The significance of that death is not merely an expression of human violence and hatred, or of Jesus” moral courage.  It accomplished an incomparable work of divine mercy for humanity.  The word the cross speaks is not a word we say to ourselves.  It is a word that God speaks to us through an inescapably concrete, irreversible, disturbing event.  The heart of its meaning is confessed in the creed: he died for us.  “He died” is a fact.  “For us” is the meaning of that fact.[3]

I.                Righteous God

First, I want you to understand that God is righteous, holy, and perfect in all ways and all things for all of eternity.  There are many things we do not know about God but we do know these.  Leviticus 20:7 – “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God.” 1 Peter 1:16 – “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”  Matthew 5:48 – “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.”  Daniel 9:14 – “…for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth….”  This is hard for us to grasp because we live in a broken scarred world as part of the human race which is shattered by sin.  Yet, we can glimpse the magnificence of the perfect God in things like an atmosphere so finely tuned to support life that it could not possibly have evolved which exists under the glare of a remarkably stable star perfectly placed at the right distance to sustain life on earth where it resides perfectly placed in the Milky Way galaxy so that we can look beyond our own cosmic neighborhood into the depths of the far-flung universe with awe.  Yes, in these things and many others we can clearly see the magnificence of a perfect God and His marvelous creation.  But, this is intimidating to us because we are not righteous.  We are not perfect.  We are not holy.

II.              Sin & Sinners

Far from it.  We are unrighteous.  We are imperfect.  We are unholy.  From a very early age, children begin to display incorrect unrighteous behavior.  They are broken inside.  Oh – sure – every human child has a capacity for goodness due to retaining vestiges of being created in the image of God.  But every human child also has within them great potential for evil due to the corruption and curse of sin. 

What is sin?  Sin is an “immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.”[4] This is that which violates the righteousness, holiness, and perfection of God, particularly in the areas where He has given express command.  People try to deny that sin exists.  But with the vile events that occur in our world, we are confronted with the problem of evil and the existence of that which is unrighteous, unholy, and imperfect: from innocents are slaughtered in the name of religion to the drug dealer on the corner that feeds your addiction so he can make money from your pain.  Yes sin exists.  And in its simplest form, sin is a breaking of the relationship with God.

The Perfect God designed and created a perfect universe – including perfect people.  But when they disobeyed His command, they violated the righteous, holy, perfect order of things and plunged all of time into chaos and separating themselves from the Perfect God who loved them.  This was a moment of despair for all of creation.  What could possibly be done to restore redeem or repair this brokenness?  Some say, “Well if God is a God of Love, why didn’t He just forgive everybody and everybody live happily ever after?  That’s a nice idea, but here’s why not.

III.            Judge & Lover

God is holy.  His holiness constrains, orders, and conditions His love.  His love infuses, empowers, constrains, and complements His holiness.  God would not be as holy as God is without being incomparably loving.  God would not be as loving as God is without being incomparably holy.  God’s holiness without God’s love would be unbearable.  God’s love without God’s holiness would be unjust. 

“Suppose a plan of salvation in which God’s holiness would be stressed but God’s love neglected.  If God’s holiness should remain unmitigated by God’s love, the supposed “salvation” could easily turn into a distorted picture of God as angry avenger who unmercifully permits the slaying of his own Son to even the score for the divine honor” [as some sort of righteous Divine honor killing].  This would be a distorted view and if God was only holy and not also love it would be what we were left with.

Let me see if I can explain.  If Ethan here murdered Christian – God forbid – what kind of judge would let him go free with no penalty?  Certainly not a just and fair judge.  A righteous judge is compelled to punish unrighteousness.  In the same way, God’s holiness makes a penalty for sin necessary.  If He did not require it, He would be unjust.  However, God’s love compelled Him to provide mercy to humanity.  As a result, He offered Himself to endure the penalty for the transgressor(s).  “In this way, both His righteous holiness and His perfect love could be in harmony and justice would be satisfied.  It is God’s holiness that manifests God’s love on the cross.  It is God’s love that sustains and embodies God’s holiness on the cross.  There the holiness and love of God is once for all clarified, and the love of the holy God is fully embodied.”[5]  

IV.            Cross of Christ

“It is only in the cross that Christianity finds the proper balance of God’s holiness and love.  There holiness opposes sin.  There God’s love provides a ransom for the history of sin.”[6]  Love was the divine motive.  Holiness the divine requirement.  “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).”  This is why the cross is so special to us as Christians.  We grasp that the Holy God must see justice satisfied.  He cannot do else.  On the cross justice for all mankind for all of time is satisfied.  But we also grasp that the Loving God must be true to His creation.  He cannot do else!  On the cross, His love is displayed for all to witness – that He would rather lay down His own life under the terrible weight of sin than to leave us to face His just wrath.  On the one hand we have the holy perfect righteous God standing rightfully in judgement.  On the other we have mankind smashed by sin willfully violating the holiness, righteousness, and perfection of God.  If this were all there was in the picture, then it would be a hopeless picture indeed. 

V.              Mediator – Mediation

But such a picture is incomplete.  For between the righteous, holy, perfect, good God, and unrighteous, unholy, imperfect, bad humanity is a mediator – the God-man in the middle.  Jesus Christ, himself, laid down His life as a ransom – a redemption for many! 

“Jesus come to be the sacrifice, not clarify the concept of sacrifice.  He did not come to teach about the cross, but to be nailed to it.  He came that there might be a gospel to preach.  Christianity proclaims not merely that Christ died, but that his death had significance for the otherwise apparently absurd course of human history. 

Sin dug a gulf in a relationship.  The cross bridged it.  Sin resulted in estrangement.  The cross reconciled it.  Sin made war.  The cross made peace.  Sin broke fellowship.  The cross restored it.”[7] 

The cross of Christ is the re-uniter between God and His dearest creation.  Only on the cross could man be reconciled to God.  Only in the cross do justice and love meet.  Only in the cross is the curse of sin vanquished and the love of God triumphant.  Only in the death of Christ upon the cross could eternal life be restored to mankind. 

There are many more things that might be said about this concept of the atonement.  It is a wonderful thing to study.  But the simple facts are these: God in His perfect holy righteousness cannot ignore evil and must respond to it justly.  God in His perfect holy love cannot ignore the sinner broken by sin.  As a result, He sent His only son to be a mediator.  This mediation was accomplished on the cross by Christ where both justice and love were satisfied and displayed and by which atonement was complete and reconciliation between man and God was made possible.    

On this final Sunday before Easter I ask, have you knelt at the cross so that YOU might be reconciled to God?  Have you come before His righteous holiness and cast yourself upon His mercy and love to find your sins forgiven?  If you have not, I welcome you to do so. 

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[1] http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/mediator

[2] http://www.theopedia.com/atonement

[3] Thomas C. Oden, A Systematic Theology, p. 401-402

[4] https://www.google.com/search?q=mediator&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=sin

[5] Thomas C. Oden, A Systematic Theology, p. 404-405

[6] Thomas C. Oden, A Systematic Theology, p. 404-405

[7] Thomas C. Oden, A Systematic Theology, p. 401