Sunday April 11, 2010 "Who Is This Jesus?"

This begins a new sermon series in John's gospel.

John's gospel is built around seven signs or miracles, seven discourses, and seven sayings. This series will take a look at these seven sayings: the I Am statements.

I am the Light of the world.
I am the bread of Life.
I am the door.
I am the good shepherd.
I am the resurrection and the life.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
I am the true vine.

To get into this series I felt it necessary to understand how John's gospel "works." He lays this out in his prologue (1:1-18).

Verse 1 and verse 18 are essentially saying the same thing. The Word was with God (pros ton theon- literally "toward God") and was God. And in verse 18 we read that the One and Only Word is at the Father's side. He is now where he was before time began. What John's gospel seeks to tell us is the story about the blip on the screen of eternity when this Word became flesh and took up residence with us.

This Word, while he was here, was named Jesus Christ. He was full of light and life. Light and life are the two things that frame God's activity in creation. First in Genesis 1 the word demands light and darkness is put in its place. Lastly in Genesis 2 the Word breathes into humanity the breath of life. This creator Word of God was not diminished when he became incarnate. He was stilled filled with that which made him God- Light and Life.

This Word, while he was here, was filled with grace and truth. He was filled with the strange paradox of complete holiness and complete love. This paradox that demands righteousness and yet loves sinners, that judges the nations, yet forgives the repentant, lives in perfect harmony in the person of Jesus Christ- even as his deity lives in perfect harmony with his humanity. They are both at once all the time.

This story of Jesus is a story about God. It is a story about God's holiness and love in our midst all at once. This is a story about God's glory on display! God's glory upon which no one can gaze but which we can behold in Jesus. The beauty and irony of John's story is also filled with tragedy.

He says that the Light shined but the darkness did not comprehend. The Word came to that which he created but the created did not recognize him. The Son of God came to those who were his own but his own did not receive him. This is a story that has tragedy beyond compare.

But it is also a story of hope. "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

I am preaching this sermon series so that we might understand who Jesus is, recognize who Jesus is, and receive who Jesus is. And in so doing experience the irony of calling the glory of God our savior and friend.

Pastor Scott
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Easter Sunday 2010 "The Empty Tomb"

We read Mark's account of the resurrection in Mark 16:1-8.

This account is filled with trembling, bewilderment, fear, and fleeing.

The point of the sermon was very simple. Jesus of Nazareth lived in Palestine 2000 years ago. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on a Roman cross. History, and not just biblical history, bears witness to this.

No good historian can deny the existence of Jesus. No good historian can discount his crucifixion on a Roman cross. What history can not account for is what happened with the tomb!

The lynchpin of the Christian faith hinges on the real and bodily resurrection of Jesus. If by faith we believe what we cannot know, that he was indeed raised from the dead it changes everything. If he was not raised then we who believe he was are to be pitied more than all people.

One thing is for sure: when it comes to the resurrection it makes all the difference inthe world and the next. One way or another, Easter changes everything.

We concluded this sermon at the communion table set before us. We looked at Luke's account of the road to Emmaus. In the mystery, sadness, and fear of the day Jesus shows up. The Resurrected One goes unrecognized. But it is in that table that he is revealed. May it be with us! May the sacrament be the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see and experience the risen Lord in a way that changes everything!

Pastor Scott

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Palm Sunday 2010 "Figless"

Bad blogging does not become me!



I need to update my sermons for the last 3 (busy) weeks.



Palm Sunday was a wonderful celebration of Christ, our prophet, priest, and king.



However, the sermon was a stern warning us about not being ready for Jesus' second triumphal entry.



The texts we looked at were Jesus' ride into Jerusalem in Mark 11:1-20 and the description of Jesus' second triumphal entry when his kingdom is consumated at the last in Revelation 19:11-16.



The message was one of warning; a theme to often overlooked on Palm Sunday. The story of the triumphal entry is one about no one being ready for who Jesus is or what he had come to do.



1. The foal wasn't ready to be ridden. It had never been ridden before. Jesus needed not only this colt as a display of his kingship, but an unbroken one as prophetic message that ready or not, he is here as king.



2. The crowd wasn't ready for a messiah that would suffer. They wanted the crown but not the cross through which it must come.



3. The fig tree wasn't ready to bear fruit. It may have not been the season for figs, but the Lord of the universe was hungry and the fig tree was held accountable to for its lack of fruit.



4. Those overseers of the temple were not ready for God to show up. Here they were at the place designated for God's presence with his people. But when God shows up they have turned the house of prayer in to a den of thieves. They were cast out.

In Revelation 19 we get a glimpse of Jesus' second coming. It is quite different than his first. The foal is a war horse and the only robe mentioned is the one the King is wearing and it is dipped in blood and the armies of heaven are in tow.

Are we ready?

Submit to his Lordship.
Take up your cross daily.
Invest your life in bearing fruit for God's kingdom.
Become a person of prayer.

We closed with reading from Matthew's gospel.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.’

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Pastor Scott

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Sermon March 21 "The Devil Is Going Down"

This final sermon in this short series on the reality of Satan came from two texts: Ephesians 6:10-18, in which Paul admonishes the believers in Ephesus to put on the full armor of God so that they could stand against the devil’s schemes; and Revelation 22:1-6, in which John’s vision of the new Jerusalem includes the tree of life which humanity was barred from access to because of the curse.

Paul reminds us that there is a war going on! But it’s not against flesh and blood. It’s against the spiritual forces at work in the world that oppose the things of God. “Stand firm then…” is Paul’s big appeal. And he makes this appeal by telling them how to dress for the battle- like a Roman soldier.

Put on the belt of truth. Christ is the truth. The truth is that Jesus was who he said he was- the tomb was empty. This truth defines the whole of history and eternity.

Stand firm with the breastplate of righteousness- a tall order for sinful people. However, Paul explains to the Philippians that it is Christ’s righteousness not our own that defines us.

Our feet should be fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The sandals of a roman soldier were designed not for protection but swiftness. We ought to be swift in our willingness to advance the good news of Jesus Christ.

Take up the shield of faith so that the fiery arrows of the devil might not find purchase in our flesh. Faith, the gift of the gospel, is able to protect us when Satan would have us doubt the character of God and his affection for us as his children.

Wear the helmet of salvation. This is our hope that comes with the gospel- that God’s grip on us is eternal. We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved.

Wield the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. This is what Adam and Eve forgot in the garden and what Christ clung to in the wilderness. The Word of God is the weapon of those who would share in this victory over Satan.

And finally Paul gives one last admonition for those in the battle. Pray. Pray all the time. Pray for everything. Pray on alert. And keep on praying, not just for yourself but for all the saints in this battle with you. We must always be in communication with our command if we would stand firm.

We closed with this picture of the New Jerusalem in Revelation that shows us the outcome of this battle. God wins. The garden we were expelled from is where the New Jerusalem is built. The tree we were barred from is the one that gives nourishment to the nations. The curse is no more.

Good news! God wins and we are his. Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Stand firm.

Pastor Scott

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Sermon March 14 "The Devil's in Your Desert"

The Devil Is Real and He Doesn’t Like You

The second sermon in this series was entitled “The Devil’s in Your Desert”. This was a contrast in images from last week’s look at the devil in our garden. The primary text for this sermon was Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness from Matthew’s gospel 4:1-11. We also looked at what Peter says of Satan in 1 Peter 5:5b-11.

Although these temptations were uniquely messianic they do provide us with a basic scheme from God’s enemy. Life is a desert at times. Sickness, depression, poverty, worry, physical weariness… any of these things come to us in seasons- sometimes long seasons. In this state we become easier prey for our enemy the devil- that roaring lion. That’s why after 40 days of fasting Satan came to Jesus. He was weak, tired, lonely, seemingly broken- lion food.

It was then that Satan used 4 tactics that we would do well to be aware of when we are in the desert.

Scheme 1. He tried to get Jesus to question his identity. Jesus had just been baptized by John and heard the great affirmation. God the Father called out from the heavens "This is my son in whom I am well pleased." That's who Jesus was. But Satan's first two temptations begin with "If you are the Son of God..." It was an attempt to get him to question who he knew he was. Satan's first ploy against us in the desert is the same. Are you really God's child? If God really did care for you why this 40 days of trial and weakness? The truth is we are heirs with Christ- we are God's children and just like it was the Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness, so too it is God who has led us into our own deserts- because the testing of our faith produces endurance that we may be made mature in Christ Jesus!

Scheme 2. Satan appeals to Jesus' most fundamental need at the moment- his physical hunger. "Turn these stones into bread." Satan would have our carnal appetite distract us from God's greater purposes. C.S. Lewis' demon Screwtape speaks of appealing to that part of his patient over which he had most control- his stomach. Tiger Woods "turned stones into bread" and fed his carnal appetite because he could. He became lion food.

Scheme 3. Satan appeals to that part of Jesus' humanity that was self-aware- his ego. "Throw yourself down off of the temple mount- let the world see how great you are." There is a part of us that longs to be noticed- to be recognized, to be honored in the eyes of others. There is an appetite for ourselves to be the objects of other’s envy. Satan would have us feed our ego just as he would have us feed our physical desires. Screwtape writes, “The Enemy [God] wants to bring each man to a state of mind in which he could build the best Cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in that fact, without being any more or less or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.”



Scheme 4. Satan appeals to that part of Jesus' humanity that would accumulate earthly glory and excercise power and dominion over others. "Worship me and the world is yours." The will to power is the poison of Satan. The first and worst place he makes this appeal is within the marriage. Satan would have us be people constantly striving for dominion over our own worlds. God, of course, would have us take the lowest seat at the table in order that we might serve.



So how do we withstand the schemes of the devil when he is in our desert? Jesus stood on the rock of the Word of God. How fitting that Jesus' retorts to Satan's temptations all came from the book of Deuteronomy! Deuteronomy was given to the children of Israel when? After 40 years of wandering in the desert where God had brought them right before going into the promised land!



Be alert! Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The devil is in your desert. Let us stand fast on the Word of God knowing that we are his.


Pastor Scott
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Sermon March 7 "The Devil's in Your Garden"

A Communion Sunday...

Having just finished the series on our mission statement and being in the middle of Lent I happened upon a three week sermon series idea that is a bit odd for Presbyterians. The unofficial (but in my mind it is official) title of this series is "The Devil is Real and He Doesn't Like You." For three weeks we will look at the fact that Satan is a real thing- not an idea or a metaphore but an actual created being that rebelled against God and is opposed to God's purposes in the world and in our lives.

Sunday we looked at Genesis 3:1-10 as the foundation for this study through a sermon entitled "The Devil's in Your Garden."

1. We have an opponent who wants us to fail- to rob our glory, to tarnish God's image in us, and to choke God's breath out of us.

2. The Devil hasn't changed his playbook that much. In the garden God gave Adam a rule of law that was more freeing than restrictive. "You may eat of any tree... except this one." Satan, incarnate as a sepent, found Eve and asked, "Did God really say...?" This question pretends as though God's word is subject to revision. The devil's first ploy in the garden is to have us question the authority of God's word.

3. Once God's clear command was brought into question, Satan convinces Eve there there will be no consequence in her disobedience. "You will not die..." God becomes a liar in Eve's mind. Adam and Eve attempt to become God. Satan is obeyed. God is ignored. And the results? Shame, seperation, and death. The devil's second ploy is to convince us that adherance to God's word is simply humanity being duped by a cosmic kill-joy.

I left the pulpit to conclude the sermon. I walked to the table prepared with the Lord's Supper. And I spoke the gospel. Though death came to us through the tree in the garden, life comes to us through the tree of calvary. Genesis says, "she took some and ate..."- fruit that results in death. Jesus says "take and eat." - fruit born from his death that results in life.

The devil's in your garden. Hold fast to his word. Seize the fruit that gives life!

Pastor Scott

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Sermon February 28 "Making Christ Known through Our Life Together"

Sunday was the final sermon in this series on our Church mission statement. The two texts we learned from spoke clearly about the most effective means of communication we have for making Christ known; namely, our communal life on display for the world to see.

We looked again at the Acts 2 passage that provides a concise snapshot of the life of the first body of believers in the gospel message. Weeks ago we mentioned that the four disciplines this early church was devoted to were scripture study, fellowship, worship, and prayer- our four keys to knowing Christ. What we looked at on Sunday was what those disciplines resulted in.

“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” The result was the transformation of the world around them as people were being redeemed from lives of sin into life in Christ. Their witness was their life together.

And why was this the case? We discovered that in the passage we read from John 17. Jesus prays, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message… may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me… may they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Christ’s prayer was that the unity of those who would believe through the message of the apostles would bear witness to the world of God’s love for them in Jesus. The church does a disservice to the cause of Christ when we are divided over the trite and inconsequential. How we serve and sacrifice and honor one another within the body is the validity of our testimony; it’s the picture of our profession; it’s what makes our faith ring true for the lost around us.

In closing this sermon I drew attention to a prayer card that we printed. This business card on one side said, “________________ is committed to prayer for First Presbyterian Church of Ocean Springs.”

And on the reverse side it had a prayer based on the mission statement we have been studying which reads, “Great God of love, give us a vision for your church. Show us how it is that we are to know you more fully. Reveal to us what it would mean for us to make Christ known both near and far. Through your Spirit we pray that you would do more in us and through us than we could ask or imagine for the sake of your kingdom and glory. In the name of Jesus we pray these things. Amen.”

Those cards were handed out to the congregation after both services. Lord, hear our prayer.

Pastor Scott