Sermon November 29 First Sunday of Advent “Hope Rekindled”

Trees, lights, candles, purple cloths… must be the beginning of Advent: a season of anticipation and expectant longing at its best and break-neck consumerism at its worst. To take seriously the congregational context as we consider the scriptures to be read and proclaimed is a big part of preaching. Not everyone lives in the Advent season like the preacher does. Not everyone is filled with thoughts of incarnation and candle lighters and what worship will sound like this time of year. People live in the real world during Advent…

And that is why our passage from Luke 1:5-23 was so poignant. Zechariah and Elizabeth lived life in the real world. Sure, they came from godly folks. But they had hardship like the rest of us. They had questions and doubts. Their lives were filled with unmet hopes and unanswered prayers. They felt like many of us do much of the time… “For a God who knows and loves me, he sure has been quiet lately.”

But then, out of no where, Zachariah is encountered by Gabriel. The angel knows his name. The angel says that God has heard his prayers. All of a sudden, a life of disgrace and anonymity is one encountered by the reality of God in a fascinating way. “God knows my name. God has heard my prayers.” That is Zachariah’s epiphany. God was at work in the silence after all.

Zachariah’s son was going to pave the way for the son of David, the seed of Jesse. In Isaiah 40 at the beginning of the chapter we read about the ministry of Zachariah’s son. He will make straight the path for the Messiah. Awesome!

There is a neat little detail in this story; a curious instance. For appealing to he and his wife’s old age as a reason why Gabriel had the wrong guy, Zachariah was rendered mute. It was his duty to walk out of the temple and address the gathered people with the blessing of his wife’s ancestor, Aaron. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Not every priest got to do that. This was a once in a lifetime thing.

But he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t say anything. And it was in his silence that the people realized that Zachariah had an encounter with God. His silence was what told them, “God is at work! God had done something and said something to Zachariah. But we don’t know what it is. What is God up to now?”

Zachariah’s silence was the indicator that God was present, active, working, redeeming, renewing, and rekindling the hope of a people. How interesting that chapter 40 of Isaiah that begins with “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord…’” speaking of son of Zachariah, ends with “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles…”

God is at work in the silence. Wait on him. Hope in him.

Pastor Scott

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Sermon November 22 “Stewardship: The Irony of Giving” Part 3 of 3

Two familiar passages fueled the third sermon in this series on stewardship. This was the final look at the irony of giving that showed that stewardship is not about money. The two passages we looked at were Micah 6:6-8 and Matthew 23:23, 24.

These passages are pretty plain in their meaning. Look at them:

Micah 6…
With what shall I come before the LORD

and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 23…

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."

The lesson? A tithe of money without a life that pursues justice and mercy on behalf of the forsaken is not honoring to God. The tithe is a fundamental part of our lives lived faithfully before God. But tithing without a life of mercy equates to straining out a non kosher gnat while eating a plate of non kosher camel… medium rare. Seek justice. Live a life of mercy. Be faithful. Walk humbly with God. Oh, and don’t neglect your tithe either.

Pastor Scott

click on the link and then the semon for Nov. 22 to listen

Sermon November 15 “Stewardship: The Irony of Giving” Part 2

The second sermon in this series picked up where Jesus left off. Our focus passage was Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus begins this with a “Therefore…” Basically he has told this gathered crowd that they can’t worship two things. The human heart only has the capacity to worship one thing. God or mammon, you choose.

What follows Jesus’ “therefore” is a life lesson for those who in their hearts have decided on God as the focus of their worship rather than mammon. The “therefore” then means, in a very real sense, “this is what such stewardship looks like in your life.”

And what does Jesus say? Don’t worry or be anxious! Stop worrying about what C. H. Spurgeon calls “the world’s trinity of cares”: what you eat, what you drink, and what you wear; what you put in and what you put on. Worry is not conducive to a life of worship. Anxiety does not produce good stewardship.

Jesus says, “Look at the flowers. Watch the birds. Let God’s creation testify to his ability to sustain all that he has made. And don’t you know that you are more valuable than the rest of creation? Pagans, godless wanderers, mammon worshipers fill their lives with worry over the things of this world- what we put in us and what we put on us. God is sovereign. God is benevolent. And humanity is the focus of both of those things.”

Jesus goes on to say that stewardship, a life of worship, is focused on God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. A life of stewardship is consumed with the godly kingdom purposes of our creation and calling. Focus on that and all of this other stuff, this important stuff, will find its proper perspective and place in our lives.

Stewardship is not about money, it's about the Kingdom of God.

Look to the lilly and the sparrow... "You see, he is making the birds our school masters and teachers. It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become the theologian and teacher to the wisest of men." -Martin Luther

Pastor Scott

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Sermon November 8 “Stewardship: The Irony of Giving” Part 1

We looked at two texts this week as we began a three week series on stewardship. Our New Testament text was Matthew 6:19-24. Here, Jesus speaks about money. He says two things about it primarily:
1. Your heart will be with your treasure- not the other way around.
2. You can’t love God and money at the same time. It’s impossible.
What it boils down to is idolatry. And what idolatry boils down to is worship. And that was the point of this first sermon on stewardship.

The first mistake many make when it comes to stewardship is that they make stewardship about money. In our culture that may be what it is about. But in scripture it never is. The first irony of stewardship is that it is not about money, it’s about worship. That’s why Jesus pointed beyond the treasure to the heart. God doesn’t need our money- but he desperately wants our heart.

And that is why Malachi 3:6-12 is so poignant. God tells his people through this prophet that they are robbing him. “How?” they ask. “In tithes and offerings!” God wants them brought to the temple. Why? Not because he needs the money but because he desires the worship. When their treasure comes to the temple their hearts come with it. They were robbing God of worship.

If we are not living out biblical stewardship through a life that revolves around bringing our first fruits to God (“the top dime”) then we will be deficient in our worship. And when our worship is deficient our lives will be empty. In Malachi, God challenges his people. “Test me in this” he says. “Try me! See if the floodgates of heaven aren’t opened up when you get stewardship right!”

(God’s floodgates are real. But this is not a prosperity gospel message- some kind of trumped up biblical-ese investment program in order to "get blessed" with money- because it’s not about the money; it’s about worship. If it’s not about the money in our stewardship then it won’t be about the money when the floodgates open. Money given to God for the sake of the financial return is not worship- it's worldliness.)

The challenge in this sermon was to those who may be robbing God of worship through deficient stewardship. Test God. See if he isn’t faithful to those who hearts are invested in him through the worship produced by a life of stewardship.

Pastor Scott

P.S. The children’s sermon involved a dollar broken down into a stack of dimes. “They are all God’s dimes. But he let me have them,” I suggested. It glorifies him when we give him one back. “Which dime does God want back?” I asked. “The biggest one!” a kid shouted. “The shiniest one.” another suggested. “The top one.” I told them. Stewardship is that simple. God is glorified by the top dime- pre taxes. Simple.

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Sermon November 1 "The Kingdom, The Church, and The Reformation"

What a wonderful Sunday yesterday! Reformation Sunday was celebrated in a single worship service with the welcoming of 17 new members. Providing music for our worship was our children’s choir, choir, organist, pianist, guitarist, bass player, drummer, praise team leaders, and a bag piper. All who lead us in contemporary worship songs and hymns as we celebrated not only our Reformation history but the continual work of reformation that Christ is doing in his church. Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda indeed!

My sermon text came from Matthew’s gospel, 13:31-35. Here Jesus speaks of the inbreaking kingdom of God using the image of a mustard seed planted in a field and a small amount of yeast mixed in with some dough. Jesus began his preaching ministry by proclaiming that God’s kingdom was at hand. Throngs of people gathered to discover what that meant.

And here Jesus tells them that if they are not careful they might miss it. Jesus doesn’t point to the cedars of Lebanon and say “the kingdom of God is like that!” He doesn’t point to a power wielding empire and say “the kingdom of God is like that!” He points to a seed that grows into a garden bush. He points to a lump of dough that is bigger in the morning.

The irony of the kingdom is at play in this parable. “God’s kingdom is here!” Jesus cried. God in flesh was standing right in front of them announcing “I’m here!” Where? They were looking for something a little more robust than a homeless teacher. The work of God’s kingdom swirls around us. God is present and he is at work building his kingdom right where you are right now. But we miss it. All we see are shrubs and leaven bread.

The sermon yesterday was a call to pay attention, to get involved in the day to day newness of God’s kingdom work. It rages around us looking like dirty stables and empty mangers, fishermen and folk tales, bushes and bread. We want to see God rip open the sky and prove himself to the world! All the while his kingdom work continues faithfully on while we wait around for the good stuff. Anybody up for a mustard sandwich?

Pastor Scott

P.S. I mentioned in my sermon (one of those unplanned insertions) that yeast was a bacteria. 9 year old Amelia was puzzled by this statement- knowing that yeast is actually a fungus. Oops! Thanks for the catch Amelia.

Sermon October 18- 2 Corinthians 5:14-12

This sermon was fueled by a lot of reflection on my time in Egypt. While there, I looked at this part of the Muslim world through the window of my own life and experience. It was a different world than one had ever experienced.

This sermon was a call to reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. Only in him can we have the assurance of our salvation. Righteousness is a gift of grace through faith in Jesus. That’s it.

I offered a very simple understanding of Islam- one gathered more from observation than study. And I paralleled the practice of Islam to the dutiful religiosity of cultural Christianity practiced in so much of our great nation.

This sermon in a word was an invitation. Click here to listen.
Pastor Scott

Sermon September 27 "Exceeding the World"

(Sorry this post is so late. I woke up on Sunday, September 27th with the flu. I was in bed all week trying to rest and recover for my trip to Egypt... and then I was in Egypt. Better late than never I hope).

This sermon was preached on the verses that conclude this particular section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-48). Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven...

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is all about holy living; living as children of God. And that is what he points out here. Why do we love enemies and pray for persecutors? So that we can act like what we are- children of God. Jesus began this section by saying that he came to fulfill the law and the prophets- not to abolish them. And what were the law and the prophets but the guidelines and resounding clarion call to holy living.

Loving your enemies and praying for your persecutors fly in the face of our natural inclinations. But part of our sanctification is about having those natural inclinations transformed by God's grace in our lives through Christ. That is why Jesus concludes this section by saying "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." What is at stake in not loving enemies and praying for persecutors is our living as children of our Father.

But how do we do that? I Corinthians 13:4-7 describes what love looks like. And it has nothing to do with how we feel and everything to do with how we choose to act. Loving enemies doesn't mean feeling fondness for people who hate us, but rather responding to them in patience, kindness, humility, trust, and hope.

If we choose not to live this way toward our enemies then we are not living as a holy people- we are not living as children of God. We are not reflecting God’s love toward us.

How happy am I that God dose not treat me by the standards I used to treat Sal Dana (my childhood nemesis and neighborhood bully)? How can we live that way? How can we muster up the ability to be patient and kind, to not give into our pride and envy, how can we protect, trust, hope, and persevere through maltreatment from the Sal Danas of this world?

We go to the cross. We reconfront God’s love for us on display. We hear Jesus cry out again and again, “father forgive them for they know not what they do.” And we realize that he is saying that about us!

I concluded the sermon by reading Romans 12:9-21 in which the apostle Paul provides the exclamation point to Jesus' teaching here.

Pastor Scott

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