Stepping close to God

Colossians 4:5-6 New Living Translation (NLT)

5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

Our lives are to be examples to others. We are to live in such a way people recognize there is a difference in us and that difference is Christ living through us.

David Brainerd, the great missionary to the American Indians, was on one occasion witnessing to a chief, who was very close to deciding for Christ. But he held back; there was some pause or hesitation. Brainerd got up, took a stick, drew a circle in the soft earth about the chief, and said, "Decide before you cross that line." Why this passion and urgency? Because Brainerd recognized that at that moment, that chief was close to God. If he missed that moment, he might never be so close again.

[Bruce Thielemann, "Tide Riding," Preaching Today, Tape No. 30.]

Hope in God

Romans 12:12 New Living Translation (NLT)

12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

In this world we can lose hope when we think about the troubles we face, because we are often placing hope in ourselves. What we are to do is pray and keep on praying that The Lord would provide His hope to us. For it is hope in God that allows us to rejoice and be patient even in times of trouble.

Richard Halverson, former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland and also the former chaplain of the United States Senate used the following benediction at the end of each service/message for many years in his ministry. It reflects his deep conviction that his church was not only where the congregation met on Sundays, but at each place where they lived and worked through the week.

A Benediction

Wherever you go, God is sending you.

Wherever you are, God has put you there.

God has a purpose in your being right where you are.

Christ, who indwells you by the power of his Spirit,

wants to do something in and through you.

Believe this and go in his grace, his love, his power.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen

Paid for with His life

1 Peter 1:18-19 New Living Translation (NLT)

18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Christ gave of Himself for your sake. He was willing to take on your sin to save you from the condemnation of sin. It was His precious blood, the sinless blood of Christ.

 

Father Damien was a priest who became famous for his willingness to serve lepers. He moved to Kalawao—a village on the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, that had been quarantined to serve as a leper colony. For 16 years, he lived in their midst. He learned to speak their language. He bandaged their wounds, embraced the bodies no one else would touch, preached to hearts that would otherwise have been left alone. He organized schools, bands, and choirs. He built homes so that the lepers could have shelter. He built 2,000 coffins by hand so that, when they died, they could be buried with dignity. Slowly, it was said, Kalawao became a place to live rather than a place to die, for Father Damien offered hope.

Father Damien was not careful about keeping his distance. He did nothing to separate himself from his people. He dipped his fingers in the poi bowl along with the patients. He shared his pipe. He did not always wash his hands after bandaging open sores. He got close. For this, the people loved him.

Then one day he stood up and began his sermon with two words: "We lepers…."

Now he wasn't just helping them. Now he was one of them. From this day forward, he wasn't just on their island; he was in their skin. First he had chosen to live as they lived; now he would die as they died. Now they were in it together.

One day God came to Earth and began his message: "We lepers…." Now he wasn't just helping us. Now he was one of us. Now he was in our skin. Now we were in it together.

[John Ortberg, God Is Closer Than You Think (Zondervan, 2005), p. 103-104]

Death where is thy sting?

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 New Living Translation (NLT)

55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus took the sting of death for us that we may have victory over sin. For sin demands payment, but Christ payed the price for our sins with His death.

A boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon, when a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, who was allergic to bee stings, was petrified. The father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. The boy grew frantic as it buzzed by him. Once again the father reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his palm. There stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. "Do you see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you." We do not need to fear death anymore. Christ has died and risen again. He has taken the sting from death.

[Adrian Dieleman, Waupun, Wisconsin. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 1.]

Jesus make things right

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 New Living Translation (NLT)

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

Adam, a man, brought sin into the world, which affected every person. We all are descendants of Adam and carry that sin today. Jesus took those sins upon himself so that we could be given a life free from sin, a new life that would allow us to be with God at the given time. Jesus made things right with God. Then it's up to us.

In the movie The Words, a struggling young writer named Rory Jansen finds a mysterious manuscript stuffed in an old leather briefcase. Rory types the anonymous manuscript word-for-word and then submits it to a publisher pretending that it's his original work. To his surprise, the book becomes an instant bestseller and Rory wins literary acclaim.

Later in the film an old man confronts Rory and claims to be the true author of the book. The man informs Rory that he originally wrote the story in an attempt to deal with the pain of his child's death and his subsequent divorce. Tragically, his precious manuscript was lost.

Later on, Rory, wracked with remorse, locates the old man, who is working in a greenhouse tending plants. With the two of them alone in the greenhouse, Rory tells the old man, "I want to fix this."

"There's nothing to fix," the old man replies. "You just go and live the life you've made for yourself."

Rory tries to hand the old man a packet of money as he says, "This is all yours. I'm going to take my name off the book and tell everyone the truth."

The old man says, "Then you're even more of a fool than I thought you were."

**Rory asks, "What is this about then?"

The old man says, "It's about my life. It's about my wife and about my child. It's about the joy and the pain that gave birth to those words. You take those words. You take the pain. Why don't you buy a plant with that money?"

The old man shoves a plant into Rory's hands and says, "Take your plant and your money and get out of here." Then he pushes Rory away.

Rory counters, "Hey, I want to make things right!"

"You can't just make things right. Things are just things. Do you understand? No matter how you try to martyr yourself."

Rory pleads with him, "Sir? Sir? Please!" but the old man walks away without offering forgiveness.

[The Words. Directed by Brian Klugman. 2012; Submitted by Greg Asimakoupoulos, Mercer Island, Washington]

Believe, trust and obey

Romans 10:9-10 New Living Translation (NLT)

9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

This is the command of The Gospel. Jesus died and was raised from the dead. It is by faith, believing in your heart that God gave up His only son so that you could be free from sin. For when you believe in the hope of Jesus Christ you are saved.

At the height of his worldwide fame, rock musician Alice Cooper drank a bottle of whiskey a day. But the bottle almost destroyed his marriage to Sheryl, his wife of 25 years. He started heading off to church with her and felt as if God was speaking to him every Sunday.

Now a believer, Cooper takes the opportunity to speak to curious fellow musicians about the reality of the Devil and the change in his life. "I have talked to some big stars about this, some really horrific characters, and you'd be surprised," he says. "The ones that you would think are the farthest gone are the ones that are the most apt to listen."

[Steve Beard, "The Way of Faith for Alice Cooper," Good News Magazine (May/June 2002) p. 29]

There is hope in Christ that cannot be found anywhere else. Believe, trust and obey.

The wrong side of life

Proverbs 17:9 New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,
  but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

God has told us to love one another and when we do the offenses we have committed are healed. However, if we fail to love we repeat the same mistake and separate ourselves from friends.

Flash of Genius is inspired by the true story of Dr. Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear). After creating the intermittent windshield wiper, Kearns pitches his idea to General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. All three companies turn him down, only to steal his idea and add them to all their automobiles. Dr. Kearns decides to take on the Ford Motor Company in a legal battle that no one believes he can win.

At this point in the film, Dr. Kearns has not yet invented his famous windshield wiper. He is currently working as a mechanical engineering professor at Wayne State University. As the scene begins, Dr. Kearns is writing the word "ethics" on a chalkboard. His students enter the classroom. He turns, and says, "Morning, everybody! I want to welcome you all to the first day of the quarter for Applied Electrical Engineering. My name is Dr. Robert Kearns, and I'd like to start by talking to you about ethics."

"I can't think of a job or a career where the understanding of ethics is more important than engineering," Dr. Kearns continues. "Who designed the artificial aortic heart valve? An engineer did that. Who designed the gas chambers at Auschwitz? An engineer did that, too. One man was responsible for helping save tens of thousands of lives. Another man helped kill millions."

"Now, I don't know what any of you are going to end up doing in your lives," Dr. Kearns says, "but I can guarantee you that there will come a day when you have a decision to make. And it won't be as easy as deciding between a heart valve and a gas chamber."

Flash of Genius (Universal Pictures, 2008), directed by Marc Abraham;

We so easily step into the wrong side of life when we should be on the right path to loving others.