Sermon July 26 “Josiah: A Day in the Life”

It was in the spirit of King Josiah that Martin Luther was confronted by the powerful Word of God- when his life changed and uncommon clarity left him unable to be the man he was before. The Word of God is God’s witness of himself as well as the mirror through which we are to understand ourselves. When Josiah heard the Word that had been lost for 57 years his life changed.

Our texts this week were 2 Kings 22:1-13 (the discovery) and 2 Kings 23:1-3, 21-25 (the implementation). Josiah is confronted by the weight of the “Book of the Covenant” read to him by Shaphan. Of the scholars I read most concluded that based on the reforms Josiah made it was a section from the book of Deuteronomy that had been discovered that day in the temple (perhaps Deut. 28:15- 29:28 and surrounding). On the hearing of the Word Josiah tore his robes. Shame for how despicable the people of God were living as compared to the holiness spelled out and fear for the wrath of a holy God gripped Josiah’s heart at once. He and the people re-covenanted with God according to the words of the scroll that was found. Josiah had become a man of God through the Word of God.

There were three points of application I came to in this text founded upon this basic principle: Before we can be the people of God we must be a people of the Word of God.

First, to be a people of the Word we must hear the Word. Josiah didn’t know what faithfulness was without the Word defining it. Neither can we. For us, to hear the Word might just mean reading your Bible. Or it might mean getting involved in a Bible study with a small group. For some it might mean showing up to church more where the Word will be read. But one thing is for sure, navigating life without the Word will result in faithlessness and idolatry.

Second, to be a people of the Word we must listen to the Word. This kind of listening involves understanding that it is God’s Word and therefore has authority over us! Josiah knew that he and the people had to change the way they lived because of the Word. For us that simply means that we need to submit to the authority of the Word in our lives. The Word gets to define how we view money, people, war, poverty, sexuality, and the character of God.

Lastly, to be a people of the Word we must teach the Word. Josiah included everyone in on what God had begun to do in his life through the Word. He read it to them. He committed to it publicly and invited them to do the same. We need to share how God is shaping us through his Word. For some that might mean teaching 3rd grade Sunday school. For some that might mean talking with a co-worker about how God has been working in you on a common struggle.

At the close of our services on Sunday, those there covenanted with me that we would hear, listen, and teach the Word of God that we might be the people of God. May it be!

Pastor Scott

Click here to listen to the sermon

Sermon July 19 “Hezekiah: A Day in the Life”

OK, so this sermon didn’t cover a single day in the life of Hezekiah, king of Judah. But this short season at the beginning of his 29 year reign never the less focused on the one thing Hezekiah thought most important- worship. From the repairing of the temple doors (2 Chronicles 29:3) to the reinstitution of the Passover celebration, worship was the one thing Hezekiah wanted the people of God to get right. This sermon pointed out four dynamics of “right worship” that I discovered in these two texts (2 Chronicles 30:1-9, 2 Chronicles 31:1-10).

First, right worship is God centered. Hezekiah’s implementation of Passover was not just a celebration of a meal or a memory. It was lived-out dramatized theology. It was reliving the story of redemption- from slavery through freedom by way of the blood of the lamb. The centrality of Christ, our paschal lamb, in Christian worship is a necessity. Each worship service should be a re-telling of the story of human redemption from slavery to sin and death to freedom and new life in Christ! But we make it less than that each time a style of music or a carpet color makes us lose focus on the story our worship tells.

Second, right worship costs us something. In 31:3-7 we see the length that the people of God went to ensure that worship happened, Hezekiah included. They tithed their lives for four months straight! When we bring a consumer mindset into our life with the body of Christ, asking what “church” can bring to us, then our worship, our experience of God will be thin.

Worship that is God centered, that we invest our lives in, produces fruit. My third and fourth observations about worship in these passages are the results of right worship. Third, right worship unifies the people of God. From Dan (the northern tip of the northern kingdom) to Beersheba (the southern tip of the southern kingdom) Hezekiah’s decree went out. These people who had been divided since Solomon’s reign were united in their worship. One indictment of the fact that Christian worship in our culture is less than right is our lack of unity. Socioeconomic, racial, and denominational segregation testifies to the fact that our worship is less than God-centered and costly.

Fourth, right worship results in holy living. When these people left this Passover worship they tore down idols that were not fitting for the people of God. When the greatness and grace of God are explored in right worship, when we encounter the holiness of The Almighty, we cannot help but be discontent with that which is not fitting to the people of God. Holiness issues in one’s personal life are the result of worship issues in their communal life.

The challenge in these passages is to do the hard work of Hezekiah by making worship central to our way of life. Abundant living begins with abundant worship.

Pastor Scott

(If you click on the link below to listen to the sermon you will need to turn the volume on your computer up. The recording is pretty quiet.)

Listen to the Sermon

Sermon July 12 “Elisha: A Day in the Life”

This passage (2 Kings 4:1-7) shows us an encounter between the prophet Elisha and a woman whose husband had just died and who stood to lose her two sons to a debt collector. This woman’s despair and hopelessness was compounded by the fact that her husband was a good man; he was of the company of prophets.

Elisha was certain of two things when this woman cried out to him for help. First, he knew that he was completely incapable of doing anything that would be of benefit. This certainty of inability is summed up in his first question to her, “How can I help you?” I read that as rhetorical. Elisha couldn’t pay off her debt. Second, Elisha knew that God doesn’t need much. That prompted his next question, “What do you have in your house?” She had nothing, oh, except a small jar of anointing oil. She would soon learn what Elisha was quite sure of, that God doesn’t need much. That oil became enough to pay of her debts and to provide for her and her sons in the future.

One of my main points of focus was not in the miracle itself, but how it was that Elisha came to be used so mightily. He wanted to be used mightily. His great desire was for God to use him. He begged Elijah for a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9). And he received it- there are 14 recorded miracles of Elijah and 28 of Elisha!

So what does that mean for us as the church? Being used by God to carry out the ministry of Christ (Luke 4:18, 19) through the power of the Spirit begins with us saying, “Give us a double portion of your Spirit Lord!” We say this not because we think we have the ability in and of ourselves to carry out Christ’s mission, but because God desires to use us anyway. The incarnation is God’s proof to us that God doesn’t need much to accomplish his great work of redemption in the world.

Pastor Scott

To Listen to the Sermon, Click here

Sermon July 5th “Elijah: A Day in the Life”

A communion Sunday… I always like sermon preparation on a communion week. I enjoy seeing how a text relates to the table. Communion keeps me focused on the gospel I am supposed to preach each week. I enjoy the fact that it is in the meal of the Lord’s Supper that God speaks most profoundly to the hungry souls of needy people. It takes the pressure off of me a bit.

Looking at Elijah this week was challenging. This familiar passage (1 Kings 19:1-18) of Elijah running from Jezebel- from the top of the promised land (Israel) all the way through the bottom (Beersheba in Judah) and into the wilderness to Horeb or Sinai, where God met with Moses, is the passage that has us encounter the irony of the still small voice of The Almighty.

Of course the context of this week was that it was July 4th weekend. I Have been reading a biography of John Adams and the role he played in the establishment of America’s independence. This informed the way I asked questions of this text. What does where we are as a nation today and where Israel was in Elijah’s day have in common? The pervasive godlessness of Israel under the leadership of Ahab and Jezebel, and Elijah’s lament over that does strike a chord with many Christians in America today. Many faithful people in our nation lament where we are and where we are going.

Elijah ran and found a cave. Christians do the same. Elijah wanted God to make the situation right by his righteous judgment of the godless. But God wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He whispered, telling Elijah to go back and do the things a prophet is supposed to do in the place he was called to do it. Fear tells us to retreat. Faith tells us to engage. It was through Elijah’s small acts of faithfulness that God worked out his justice and redemption. Where has God called us to small acts of faithfulness?

Pastor Scott

To Listen to the Sermon, click here

June 28th Sermon “David: A Day in the Life”

This sermon was a great surprise to me. I have had more comments from people about them needing to hear this message than any other sermon I have preached since being here. But at the same time, I talked with a couple of people who found it nearly irrelevant to where they were. Such is the nature of preaching.

To say that this sermon went in a direction I never intended would be a huge understatement. Knowing that king David had to be a part of this series, I challenged myself to find an episode in David’s life that would be unfamiliar to people. I found one that was unfamiliar to me too. And I wrestled with it all week (2 Samuel 16:5-14). I looked at parallel passages in 2 Samuel 19:15-23 and in 1 Kings 2:8, 9 that made this story more intricate than I had anticipated. Those continuations of the story ruled out the straight forward interpretation I had anticipated preaching. And by Saturday I found myself wondering what in the world God was going to reveal. (I find that much of sermon preparation involves “letting it happen”-waiting until God shines the light on some particular angle that becomes the focus. By Saturday I was like, “God, shine the light already!”).

Eventually I sensed the need to deal with the bitterness that invades the human heart when we are violated or offended by the actions of another. That bitterness makes for ugly, angry, and unhappy people. Shimei and David had been hurt by each other and those wounds festered and got ugly. So what do we do when we are offended, when our hearts get cut by the words or actions of another person? We repent. We go to the cross of Christ- the Great Offense of Humanity! We confront the grace of God that is the sole source of living in grace toward others.

I felt the need to preach without notes. Therefore, the sermon was a little different at each service. And when I was done I didn’t feel like it was one of my best homiletical moments. But boy was it needed. So many people resonated with David and Shimei. Who knew? I found myself praying prayers of praise as I drove home, thanking God for speaking to the very specific needs of folks at First Pres Ocean Springs. And I thanked God for moving me out of the way some to do it.

Pastor Scott

Click here to listen to the sermon

June 21st "Samuel: A Day In The Life"

Sunday, June 21 was Father’s day. Throughout the week I reflected on God’s grace to me by allowing me to be a dad to my kids. Undoubtedly my sermon preparation through the week was informed by the context of the day on which I would preach. When I set up my summer preaching series “A Day in the Life”, where we focused on particular days in the life of Old Testament characters, I did not know that this particular text in 1 Samuel would fall on Father’s day. I’m glad it did.

This passage (1 Samuel 7:3-14) is about the people of God setting their hearts right with God through worship together. When they came under attack God “thundered” against their attackers with a “great thunder.” God won a victory that day. Samuel recognized God’s victory and set up a monument to point to God’s help and mercy calling it “Ebenezer”, which literally means “stone of help.” This sermon was a call to recognize ebenezers in our own lives. I was hoping to encourage people to tell their stories of God’s help in the midst of their own difficult circumstances, not allowing God’s work to be reduced to human achievement. The story of my son Eben is one such story in my own life.

At the end of this sermon I brought up the stone that was rolled way from Christ’s tomb as God’s greatest ebenezer. That stone that was rolled away is a monument to Christ’s victory over sin and death. If your life lacks an ebenezer, start with that one.

Pastor Scott

Click here to hear the sermon