Knowing and Overcoming Greed

One of the mothers in the church told me Friday night that she thought her youngest boy would be a good illustration of greed, but it didn’t end up where she had expected. He came up to her with a proclamation. “Mommy, we need another Christmas.” Two of his pens from Christmas ran out of ink that same day, so she thought, "Maybe, he’s going to “need” more pens or “need” more toys." “So David, why do we need another Christmas?” “Cause we need another Christmas tree with ornaments.” We don’t know exactly why David needs another tree. Maybe to spruce up the living room? And while his first thought was not about Jesus, at least it was not about getting more stuff.

Today’s topic is greed. I cannot think of a more aptly timed subject. With all the economic turmoil, it seems as though greed is nearly daily in the news. We hear constant reports of someone lying, cheating, stealing, and being irresponsible or unjustly compensated in the pursuit of wealth. Of course that has been going on since Adam’s first sin in the garden, but now we are seeing the consequences of greed crippling the economy of the entire world.

Knowing and Overcoming Gluttony

What is gluttony? The word has its roots in the Latin word gluttire, which means to gulp or swallow. A simple of definition of gluttony is that it is the over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants. But I think a better definition also includes the phrase “over-attention to” these things.

In contrast, I love this short passage from I Timothy:

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. – I Tim. 6:8

Christ Died to Save Sinners

Today in a little while we will participate in the bread and the cup together, remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us. We have these times once a month as a church and encourage you to do this even more often because we wish to obey Christ in remembering Him in the manner He told His disciples to do so. Also, we do this because we know that there can hardly be a more profitable and beneficial way to spend time than by remembering the Lord and worshiping Him for His sacrifice of Himself to us. And, in addition, we do this simply because we love Him!

Following this, we will have a sharing time, where all are welcome to share a word of encouragement, a scripture, a prayer request, even a poem; anything that the Lord lays on your heart. We do this because we truly believe that the Holy Spirit lives in all believers and can speak through every believer. Also, we do this because we truly believe that all believers in a local body are gifted with different spiritual gifts that are intended to be used to edify the entire body. And in addition, we do this simply because we love each other; especially, we love to see Christ in each other just as the early church in Acts saw Christ in each other when they had the same kind of fellowship together.

Knowing and Overcoming Lust

Be Imitators of God

Ephesians 5:1-21
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,

A New Year, a New Series

Welcome! I hope you are excited about the fact that we are about to embark on a brand new series, a series on an encouraging, uplifting topic – the topic of … sin. Now, actually I do believe this will be an encouraging and even uplifting series, because, if we are honest, we have to admit that sin is a huge issue in all of our lives. I think sometimes we think that talking about sin is depressing, discouraging; but the reality is that it isn’t the talking that is discouraging, it is the actual sinning and the effects of sin that are so depressing. The name of our series is Understanding and Overcoming Sin because I hope that this series can help us in our daily battle against sin and help us more to do what we want to do. We are all familiar with the Apostle Paul’s cry in Romans:

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. – Romans 6:15

Looking Back, Looking Forward

As we begin the year 2009 A.D., I think it is appropriate to spend some time looking back over the past year and looking ahead to the year to come. I think it is valuable to do this as individuals, as a body of believers, and even as a nation. I will focus on the first two of these today.

About 10 of us just came back from the Faithwalkers conference in North Carolina. There were about 800 people at our location; in a parallel conference in Missouri, there were about 2300 in attendance. The conference was filled with worship, fellowship, and challenging teachings. The theme of the conference was “Total Commitment,” and teachings focused on commitment in the areas of living in the grace of God, honoring Christ as Lord of your life, being devoted to God’s Word, dying to self, living a life of purity, resolving conflicts, carrying out the Great Commission, serving a local church, and fighting the good fight for the rest of your life.

To Us a Son is Given

My purpose today, on this final Sunday before Christmas, is to simply present and marvel over a number of prophecies from the Old Testament that point to Christ. Before doing this, however, I thought it would be good just to talk a little about interpreting Scripture – in particular, about interpreting prophetic Scripture.

One thing I have thought about is the issue of word ambiguity. In all languages, including English, words often have multiple meanings, and sometimes even the immediate context is not enough to isolate the intended meaning. For example, if somebody says, “Have you seen John? He’s blue,” this might mean that John is sad, or it might mean that John stayed out in the cold too long, or it might mean that John almost drowned, or it might even mean that John is a great fan of Duke basketball.

Sometimes people are intentionally ambiguous about words. This is the basis of most puns. It is funny, or at least attention getting, when one does this. Reading through the Bible, it quickly becomes clear that God loves to do this. The Bible is filled with words that have double meanings, words that sound like other words, and so on. Just one of countless examples:

Hearts Burning

Luke 24:13-53

This week we come to the end of our series on Luke, begun back in January. It has been quite a journey for me personally, and I hope it has been a good journey for you. Last week we read how, on the third day after Jesus’ shocking and unimaginably terrible death, some of the women disciples went to the site of the tomb and found, wonder of wonders, the large stone rolled away and the body of Jesus missing. Then two shining angels, after no doubt frightening them half to death, asked them “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!” The women went back and told this to the disciples, who did not believe it. Luke tells us that Peter went back to the tomb to look for himself; indeed, the stone was rolled away, and the body was gone, but there was no sign of the angels. Peter left, wondering what had happened.

We now come to one of my very favorite passages in the entire Bible.

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him. – Luke 24:13-16

The Grave Cannot Hold Me

Luke 23:50 - 24:12

Last week we read in Luke of the death of Jesus – His trials and His brutal flogging, His being ridiculed and mocked, His carrying His cross and needing assistance, His words of prophecy to the women following behind Him, His crucifixion, His prayer that His Father would forgive those involved because they did not know what they were doing, the casting lots for His clothing, the sign saying “This is the King of the Jews,” His discussion with the two criminals being crucified on His left and right, His final words, and His death. Luke 23:49 mentioned that those who knew Jesus watched all this from a distance.

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. – Luke 23:50-54

Do Not Weep for Me

Luke 23:1-49

We are rapidly coming to the end of the book of Luke, which we have been going through line by line all year, and with it, we are even more rapidly coming to the end of Jesus’ life. Last week we read how Jesus was arrested in the garden at the Mount of Olives at night, betrayed by Judas. We saw Peter strike a servant’s ear with a sword, and then we saw Jesus miraculously heal him; yet, they went on with the arrest. Peter followed the group taking Jesus to the house of the chief priest, and we saw how Peter denied that he was with Jesus three times, just as Jesus had foretold. That night, Jesus was mocked and beaten by the men who were guarding Him. It says that they even blindfolded Jesus, struck Him, and then said, “Prophecy! Who struck you?”

I have been reflecting about that event this week, and I have also thought about a scene from the book of Acts (chapter 22) where the Apostle Paul is about to beaten, and then reveals that he is a Roman citizen. Everything immediately changes, because it is unlawful to do this – Roman citizens had many rights and privileges that the common person did not have.