Making a Divine Investment

Leviticus 19:23-25 is one of those Old Testament passages that seems to have little application to New Testament Christians. As the children of Israel enter the land of Canaan, God tells them that their crops for three years. Then, on the fourth year, all fruit of the land is to be given unto Jehovah. The fifth year marks the first time the Israelites would be able to eat of these crops.

Being a farmer takes a certain amount of vision, knowing where to plant. Labor is involved, and this profession takes serious commitment. It is not an easy profession in modern times, and it was that much more difficult in ancient times. It was not something easily entered into, but it was not something from which to just walk away. Being a Christian is very similar.

Investing in the Church
As Christians, we must have vision and a focus. In Proverbs 29:18, Solomon says that where there is no vision, there is no sense of direction. Proverbs 17:24 speaks of the wise having focus, but the eyes of a fool are unfocused. Jesus, in Matthew 9:36-38, looks at the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd. These people don’t know where they were going or how to get there. They have no vision or focus. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that our hearts reflect our true selves. What vision for our congregation do we have? What do we focus on? We can dwell on negativity and failure, or we can focus on a successful vision for the Lord’s church.

Labor is necessary in making a congregation work. John 4:35-38 records Jesus speaking to His disciples, telling them to look up and see the work that needs to be done. He says the one that works receives wages and life. It is a work that others have begun that will be picked up by those who come after. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus speaks of too few laborers to do the work and that His followers should pray for more workers. I Corinthians 3:6 has Paul describing the work he and Apollos have done with the Corinth church, and verses 11-15 describe a testing of our efforts, revealing how hard we have labored for the Lord. I Corinthians 15:58 reminds us that our steadfast labor for the Lord is not in vain.

Finally, making a church grow takes commitment. Proverbs 20:4 tells of one who will not plow in the proper season, leading to his begging when harvest comes. In Luke 9:62, Jesus warns us not to commit to the Lord while looking back at what we leave behind, and returning to I Corinthians 3, Paul and Apollos demonstrate a great commitment in their work with the Corinth church. In this commitment, consider our obligation to each other. In 1519, Hernando Cortez sank his ships when they arrived in the New World. He motivated his 500-600 men to press forward because there was no going back. We should approach our service to God with a similar attitude.

Conclusion
What is our vision and focus as a congregation? What kind of work are we willing to do, and what kind of commitment will we exhibit? Will we be farmers that walk away because progress is too hard? Will we try to stay as uninvolved as possible, waiting for and expecting failure? If God asked for a five year commitment from those working in his physical kingdom, how much more does He expect from those of us working in His spiritual kingdom?

sermon by Tim Smelser

Finding a Church to Fit Your Needs

“We had people like you in mind when we designed this church,” reads a brochure our preacher has for a certain church. It speaks of a church that is built around the idea of appealing to a given market. You can even go to various websites to get feedback on what religion fits you best. The idea here is that what counts for a church is the programs. “What’s in it for me? What do I get out of this place?”

In the name of religion, many find clubs instead of spiritual food. The aim becomes about social support rather than salvation. Churches become inspected like restaurants. Whose menu do we like best? Instead of me fitting into religion, I try to make religion fit me. More than searching for the church of my choice, I should be interested in finding the church of God’s choice.

The Church God Designed
The New Testament church is not an afterthought. It is part of God’s eternal plan. It has purpose and design. Paul, in Ephesians 3:8 speaks of his mission to preach to the Gentiles and how, through the church, God’s wisdom is made known to all. In Matthew 16:18 and Acts 20:28, ownership is ascribed to Jesus. He died to purchase it for Himself. Ephesians 1:22-23 cites Christ’s authority over the church. It’s not a case of the church’s position on various topics. It’s Christ’s position that the church reflects.

I Corinthians 3:11 calls Christ the foundation, and I Timothy 3:15 described His church as the pillar of truth. Ours is not to see where the wind is blowing. Ours is not to market to public opinion. Paul described the church as something solid, standing firm in the tenets of its King.

Searching for Meaning
Everyone is in need of salvation (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23), and no one deserves to be belittled in their search for meaning or spiritual unification with God. Newsweek once wrote of those who are reexamining their lives and coming to the conclusion that they want their family to have some connection with God. One interviewee in the article simply says, “There’s gotta be something more. What is it?”

When searching for a church that will fit us as individuals, we find groups in which experts do the work, and the members are allowed to become uninvolved. The concepts of sin and responsibility gives way to self-help and motivational lectures. Spiritual development and growth opportunities become limited in congregations that emphasize instant gratification. Finally, Heaven and God’s will becomes an afterthought.

What does it meant to you to be a Christian? Is it to be a good person? Is it to be religious? Is it simply to love others? Is it to accept Christ as your personal savior? Scripturally speaking, not a lot of people know. Think about the importance of the church in the scriptures. In Acts 2:41-47, believers come together for the first time, building one another up, and the scriptures describe these people as those who are being saved. These individuals define the church. Ephesians 2:12-18 describes Christ’s church as the path of peace and reconciliation between ourselves and God. Ephesians 1:3-15 describes spiritual blessings found in Him, in His body. Galatians 3:27 describes baptism into Christ enters one into Christ, and (connecting back to Acts 2) to His church.

Conclusion
We live in a consumerist society, but the Bible emphasizes that the church is not ours to design as we see fit. We do not have the authority to restructure the church to cater to a specific group. Our responsibility is to mold ourselves into God’s pattern. True Christianity takes time and discipline. It takes effort. To reject His plan is to reject God, but that is what we do when we substitute our wisdom for His. He has given us a church through which we can sustain a relationship with Him. Our church should fit the desires of God if it is going to fit our true and eternal needs.

sermon by Tim Smelser

Unity & Corinth: Part 3 - Christian Love

In the previous lesson, we spoke of love as a more excellent way to spirituality and unity within the church of Christ. Remember, all can posses and share love; love will never pass away, even in Heaven; and love demonstrates true Christianity. In this lesson, we are going to pay close attention to I Corinthians 13:4-7 and how we can apply these qualities to the love we are to have for each other as Christians.

Complete Christian Love
How important is love? In, Matthew 22:35, Jesus is asked about the greatest of the laws, and Jesus points to loving God and loving our neighbors as the focus of the Old Testament. Romans 13:8: “He that loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Again, love is categorized as the focal point of godliness. I Peter 4:8 says that love enables us to help each other take care of sin. Finally, I John 4:7-8: “God is love.”

Now we are going to look at the traits of love in I Corinthians 13, and it is important to note that all of these traits are verbs in the Greek. Love is not conceptual; rather it is an action. This is love that is devoid of self-benefit; it is selfless. It is a love like Christ’s – “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.”

• Love is long-suffering. When it comes to our involvement with each other, there are going to be traits and habits that possibly annoy one another. Beyond this, long-suffering involves restraining one’s self when wronged. It is a love that does not quickly or easily retaliate to offense.
  
  
• Love is kind. Not only can love take anything; it can also give anything. In the Greek, we are useful to one another for good.
  
  
• Love does not envy. Jealousy wishes it has something; envy wants to take it away. Instead we are to rejoice for one another’s blessings, and we need to be thankful for what we do have. Remember, we all have blessings from God no one can deserve, so we should not begrudge the blessings of others.
  
  
• Love is not boastful. We should not have an inflated estimation of ourselves. In Romans 12:3, Paul reinforces this concept, and he reminds us of God’s role in our lives.
  
  
• Love is not rude. We try to teach manners to our children, but we often uncaring toward others as adults because of our self-concern.
  
  
• Love is not self-seeking. It is not “my way or the highway.” Love is considerate toward others and patient, and we may have to get out of our own way to achieve this.
  
  
• Love is not easily provoked. A loving Christian is not waiting to pick a fight. In James 1:19-20: “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Conflict is not part of Christian love, but we may have to make a real conscious effort to stay silent.
  
  
• Love is not resentful. Love forgives and forgets. It does not keep an inventory of wrongs committed.
  
  
• Love does not rejoice in iniquity. We sometimes enjoy passing on bad information about others, nor does it take satisfaction in someone getting “what they deserve.” Rather, a loving Christian rejoices in truth.
  
  
• Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. It is always hopeful and protective. We believe the best of our Christian family, and we should always be looking out for each others – dirty laundry, warts, and all. Even in the face of disappointment, love is optimistic for others, and it helps us endure against insurmountable odds.

Conclusion
Think about all the problems the church in Corinth had. If there was hope for their love and unity, there is hope for the church today. “Love never fails” (I Corinthians 13:8). Love completes our spirituality, and it is something we should be continually working on improving and understanding more.

sermon by Tim Smelser

Be Still My Soul

It doesn’t catch any of us by surprise anymore to be confronted with dire circumstances. Over 250,000 Americans lost their jobs in October. Unemployment is at 6.5%, and this doesn’t count the number of people who have given up looking for work. Our politicians and media have gone from terming our economic situation as a recession to a depression. We might look around and ask ourselves, “Does God know? Does God care?”

Habakkuk was living in a period of terrible unrest for God’s people. In Habakkuk 1:2-4, the prophet asks, “How long shall I cry, oh Lord, and You do not hear?” He describes the terrible morality of the nation around him, the wicked prevailing at the cost of the righteous. Psalm 73:1-8 speaks of the goodness of God, but the psalmist acknowledges the challenges he himself has in keeping faith in that goodness. The psalmist sees righteousness suffering and wickedness prospering.

Changing Perspectives
This very problem afflicts Solomon in Ecclesiastes 8:9. He speaks of times when men have power over others to their hurt. He sees the wicked celebrated in their death, and justice remains undelivered. It does not add up in his or in our eyes. Returning to Habakkuk, God assures his prophet that He is in control. In Habakkuk 1:5-6, God tells Habakkuk he is rising up Babylon against Judah. In chapter 2:1, Habakkuk says he will wait for another answer.

Though it is hard, the righteous must accept God’s dealings. Returning to Psalm 73:11-14, the psalmist asks what good his godly behavior has done for him. Starting in verse 17, however, he takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture. He sees the end awaiting those wicked. Psalm 73:23 reassures his faith in God, his trust in Him despite those things he witnesses that tear at his faith. His conclusion, in verse 28, is to make God his refuge.

Stilling Our Souls
God has promised He will not forget the righteous. Psalm 94:12-14 states that God will not cast off His people. He is in control. While we may not necessarily understand or like all that is going on, we have to take comfort in the knowledge that God is still active. We have to still our souls in the knowledge of His presence. Psalm 37 calls on us to calm our souls and avoid fretting over others, to commit ourselves to Jehovah and wait patiently for Him.

Exodus 14:14, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 5:3, Psalm 27:14, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 119:166, Psalm 130:5, Lamentations 3:24, Isaiah 30:18 – these passages and more ask God’s followers to lay their concerns aside to wait on God. Perhaps this material world has come to mean to much. Hebrews 11:8-10 speaks of Abraham looking beyond this material world. He lived in hope of something better. I Peter 2:11 speaks of us as sojourners and pilgrims, not citizens of this world, but citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20).

Habakkuk 3:16 closes with the prophet confessing his stress over the hopelessness of Judah’s situation. He goes on to say, however, that his strength and his hope is in the Lord. Regardless of the troubles of this world, our hope is in something higher. We may not know what our immediate future may hold, but we can have hope, for our God is as alive and as active as He was in the days of Habakkuk.

sermon by Tim Smelser

Jonah's Gourd

Jonah is a Biblical character who is familiar to most of us. Many of us, in fact, have known this individual from childhood, but there is one element of the story we seldom give much consideration. That is the vine or gourd the Lord grows to shade Jonah. The book is set around 775 B.C. in the kingdom of Assyria. This was a nation whose leaders were focused on conquest, and their military was reputed to be extremely cruel and efficient.

In Jonah 1, God tells His prophet to go and tell the Assyrians to repent, but Jonah is more concerned with his own ideology and agenda than God’s plan. He goes down to Joppa, down into a ship, and finally down into the sea. Jonah seems to have the concept that Jehovah is his God and his alone. God belongs to Israel and no one else. He thinks politically, carrying an us-versus-them mentality that prevents him from sharing God’s grace with the Assyrians.

Jonah’s Roundabout Journey
We know the story of the great storm that leads to Jonah being cast from the ship. We know of the great fish God raises up to transport Jonah to his destination. We know of Jonah’s prayers, recounting his near-death experience and God’s saving of his body. He prays while drowning. He prays loyalty once saved. However, God is not done with Jonah, who gets regurgitated onto the land where God commands Him once again to go to Assyria.

Jonah delivers God’s message in a way that seems reluctant, simply stating that they had forty days until God would destroy their nation. Despite Jonah, the people of Nineveh believe the message, and they demonstrate a complete understanding of the depth of their sins. They humble themselves before God from the least of them to the king. They repent, and God spares Assyria.

A Lesson in Mercy
Jonah 4:1 records that Jonah is displeased. He states his displeasure to God, telling Him he knew that God would spare them. He goes so far as praying for his own death in the face of Assyria’s repentance. In verse 4, God asks him if this is so worth being angry over. In response, Jonah prepares a shelter outside the city to wait for its destruction. God provides him with some shade that exceedingly pleased Jonah. However, the next day, God allows the plant to die and great heat to pound on Jonah. Again, Jonah prays for his own death in the face of his discomfort.

What are the gourds in our own lives? Are we, like Jonah, more concerned with our wants than in the spiritual needs in others? Are we more concerned with national policies or with individual persons? We may talk about politics at the expense of the gospel. Do we grow impatient or intolerant when others’ ideologies or methods differ from those we prefer? Do we dwell on hurt feelings and fail to see the positive in others because things don’t go our way? We look at Jonah, and we call him silly because of the trauma he experiences over his gourd. We are guilty of the same.

Facing Our Own Gourds
Times of service, order of service, the seating arrangement, personal politics, tax structure, etc. – what do any of these have to do with saving the lost? The world needs the gospel, and they will come despite niggling details. However, we might leave for those same insignificant issues. We need to quit worrying about the gourds and focus on the gospel. Our concern needs to be for others’ souls more than for our own conveniences or personal ideas.

As Jonah concludes, God asks his prophet about his priorities. God reminds Jonah and us that God cares for all creation, regardless of race or background. He is full of grace and mercy, and He is no respecter of persons. We need to get rid of the gourds in our lives, seeing how much grace and mercy He has provided us. In turn, we should want to share that grace with anyone and everyone we can.

sermon by Tim Smelser

editor's note: I made some alterations to the specific list of personal annoyances in the second-to-last paragraph. Tim referenced some items very specific to our congregation, and I felt it appropriate to alter the list for a broader audience. -crysnrob

A Time for Everything

If I asked you what time it is, how would you answer? Time is a great equalizer in our lives. We all have time to spend, and, at any given moment, we all have the exact same amount of time. As stated in the song by the Byrds, there is a time for all things, and the song is based in part on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. There are fourteen points of contrast in these verses, and the word time is used twenty-eight times to remind us of our personal accountability.

What we do not have time for is procrastination. What if Noah had done things in his own time rather than God’s? We must be redeeming our time rather than spending it. In II Kings 20, Hezekiah is terminally ill, but his prayers to God result in fifteen years added to his life. How might we behave if we knew exactly how long we have left?

Effectively Redeeming Our Time
Proverbs 25:28 talks about having walls of self-control. Do we use our time to build these walls, or do we let time wear this self-control down? Before we can make a difference in others, we first have to make a difference in ourselves. If we don’t discover the weaknesses in our own walls, the devil will find them for us. He will put things in front of us that will waste and squander our time when our encouragement of ourselves and other Christians should be a constant goal of our time.

Hebrews 3:13 encourages us to edify each other daily – as long as today is today. The author encourages us to hold our confidence in Him until the end. In this, we have to protect our environment when it comes to what we allow influence our spirituality. I Corinthians 14:26 reminds us that all things should be for the point of edification, and Acts 4:26 tells us about the man Barnabas – named so based on the encouragement he was to others.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 reminds us that all is done in God’s time and that eternity is placed in our hearts, resulting in us dedicating our time and energy into doing good. The uncertainties of life teach us to rely on and trust in God. Birth and death, peace and war, joy and mourning: we have little control over when these times come. John 13:1 shares some insight into Jesus’ time to die, and we see that He loved those He came for to the end.

Conclusion
This life will be insignificant, in terms of time, when compared to our afterlife. The things that bring us joy or anger in this life will pass away forever. As our futures unfold, doors will open and close. Joys and sorrows will come and fade (Romans 12:15). We cannot try to hold time in a bottle, leaving our greatest deeds undone. Through simple procrastination, we let days, weeks, months, and years pass. We can either live no with some pain of self-discipline, or we can live in immortal regret.

I Thessalonians 5:21 encourages to examine things carefully and hold unto what is good. Identify and abstain from those things that affect you negatively. Finally, II Corinthians 13:5-6 tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are allowing Christ to dwell in us. In our days to come, we will be presented with opportunities that we will use how we choose. Will we spend these opportunities making difference for our own agendas and worldly concerns, or will we redeem our time, investing in spiritual priorities?

sermon by Mike Mahoney

Unity & Corinth: Part 2 - A More Excellent Way

This lesson continues our study of the church at Corinth and the topics of unity, love, and spiritual gifts. The previous lesson provided a cultural backdrop the this church and how society shaped the attitudes and values of the Christians in Corinth, and Paul appeals to the knowledge these individuals think they have ten times in chapters twelve through fourteen of this epistle while encouraging them to become more spiritually minded and more united in their conduct.

Disunity & Worship
The attitudes of superiority and class consciousness affected their worship. Paul addresses their “coming together” five times in chapter eleven. He is addressing their problems during services, most notably the abuse of the Lord’s Supper. Furthermore, worshipping together is brought up several times in chapter fourteen. Their carnal minds were affecting their service to God.

Again, it seems that the Corinthians placed a great emphasis on the spiritual gift of tongues – that is, speaking a foreign language with no prior knowledge of that language. He reminds us in verses 4 and 5 that each gift is equally important and that they all come from the same source. The functions are different, but each gift is equal in power and importance. We cannot deny the usefulness of other Christians dependent on a sense of self-importance.

The More Excellent Way
Verse 25 reaffirms the fact that unity within the congregation is important, and he promises to reveal a more excellent way. What is the way? Is it a way to get spiritual gifts? Rather, it is a more excellent way to unity and spirituality: Love. Before looking at chapter 13, here are three immediate reasons love is a more excellent path to spirituality.

• Everyone can posses love. This is in direct contrast to spiritual gifts and various abilities.
  
  
• Love will never go away. Again, this contrasts spiritual gifts, and this contrasts basically everything else we can hold to in this world, for love will be what continues into Heaven. Even faith and hope will no longer be needed in Heaven.
  
  
• Love distinguishes true believers from pretenders. In John 13:34-35: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.”

The first three verses of chapter 13, emphasize the importance of love: praise, generosity, spiritual gifts – all of these are worthless without love. He then goes on to enumerate the qualities of love, and all of these descriptors of love are verbs in the Greek. Love is active, not conceptual, and we will look into these qualities in a subsequent lesson. Paul also speaks of partial gifts – like speaking in tongues – passing away like childhood when the perfect, or the complete/mature, is made known.

Realigning Priorities
In chapter 14, Paul returns his attention to misconceptions the Christians in Corinth had in regards to spiritual gifts. He tells them to pursue love. He goes on to contrast tongues and prophecy.

Paul reminds them that speaking in another language does not benefit the congregation as a whole if an interpreter was not present. (Remember, the person speaking the language did not necessarily understand the language they were speaking.) On the other hand, prophesying would, yet tongues were more highly valued by those in the church at Corinth.

Paul also points out that tongues are a sign to unbelievers (verse 22) while prophecy is most beneficial to believers. Take Acts 2 for example. By the crowd’s assessment, the apostles were ignorant individuals, meaning their knowledge of foreign languages would clearly be a miraculous event. Likewise, such a miracle would be useful in a city that had so many transients from other lands. Furthermore, in verses 23-25, Paul asks them what it would look like to a visitor to the congregation if everyone was speaking in diverse languages. In contrast, a prophecy may personally touch this individual. What is more valuable? Is it more important to look impressive, or is it more important to save souls?

Paul concludes this chapter by explaining the outcome to properly aligned worship: edification. Paul brings up edification multiple times in chapter 14, and he reminds us that God is the author of peace rather than confusion. This is in direct context of the love and unity spoken about in these verses, and the word translated as confusion comes from the Greek for discord or instability. God does not want his church to be split up and unstable. He wants it unified in love. He wants our worship to be orderly and decent (verse 40) in our attitudes toward one another, our behavior in the assembly, and our views of what it means to be spiritual.

Conclusion
A godly church works for love, edification, and unity. However, in order to work toward edification and unity in love, we need to understand what Christian love is, and we will be looking at the love of I Corinthians 13 in our next lesson.

sermon by Tim Smelser