Keeping It Real: Scientific Truth

Science is a great topic – studying our world, our universe, the animals and environment around us, the things that make up our world and keep it a habitable place. It is nothing new, though, that science is sometimes used and manipulated to lead people to specific conclusions that may not always be true. Regardless of your ideological leanings, we can see evidence of people using science and misrepresenting science to push a political cause or agenda, so how should we view this fascinating field as believers in Christ?

The Bible and Science

The Bible and science are not incompatible, but we should never try to make our Bibles into scientific textbooks. Some aspects of it are, in fact, scientifically improbable and impossible to prove. We take these things on faith. Take the age of Earth, for example. The Bible merely says God did it; the Word doesn’t go out of its way to conclusively state exactly how long ago it happened, so is it the best use our our time and efforts to debate such things?

In Job 38:11, God asks Job what he knows of the process of Creation. God points out that Job doesn’t understand, but He doesn’t go out of His way to explain every one of these details about which He questions Job. The Bible is not concerned with being a scientific proof text. Instead, it is concerned with the spiritual truths by which we should live.

John 17:17 records Jesus praying that His followers be sanctified in truth, and He qualifies this, saying, “Thy word is truth.” II Peter 1:3 goes on to say that God’s word gives all we need for godly living in the truth of His word. The specifics of the Bible may not satiate our curiosity regarding this physical world – that is the scope of science. Instead, our Bibles tell us the details of how we must live to be like Him. That is the truth in which we are sanctified.

The Role of Faith

Hebrews 11 begins with a passage we see as a definition of faith – we believe things the Bible says despite the intangible nature of those things. This is not blind adherence, but I Thessalonians 5:19-22 tells us to test our faith and to hold fast to what is good.

In this, we feel we have to get into Christian evidences, again trying to fit science into faith – fitting a field based on skepticism around the trust involved with faith. It doesn’t fit, and we have to live with the fact that there will always be some who will not believe those evidences. Even during His life, Jesus could not convince all who saw and heard Him, even amidst the miracles they saw. Instead, godly living should be where we put our strongest efforts.

John 20:24-29 illustrates faith versus skepticism. Jesus blesses those who believe in Him despite never seeing Him. Likewise, will we believe in the Bible? Will we live by faith? Science is not bad. Through it, we can see God’s love in the world and universe He made, and believing in His role does not necessarily mean you are uneducated or uninformed. The Bible’s truth should guide every aspect of our lives, and we follow that truth in faith – trusting in the unseen hand of a Creator who loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: A Sober Mind

The Bible contains several passages concerning being sober-minded – I Peter 5:8, I Peter 4:7, Titus 2:2 and 2:6, and I Timothy 3:2 among these. The point is that our thoughts are to be under God’s control as much as our actions. I Peter 1:13 tells us to prepare our minds for action, being sober-minded with our hope in Christ. We are to think and act like God thinks. Our minds have to be where His is.

Matthew 16:21 begins a story of Peter claiming he will stand between Jesus and death, but Jesus rebukes Him fairly strongly, telling Peter his mind is set on the things of this world rather than the things of God. In other words, Peter is thinking like man instead of like God. Jesus then speaks to His apostles about true self-denial, to align our minds and values with God’s.

Paul, in Romans 12:1-2, says we should not act like the world. Instead we should be living sacrifices, not conformed to the world, but transformed through renewing our minds. This is what being sober-minded is about – thinking like God thinks. That is our reality.

Challenges to Sober-Mindedness

What things can impair our judgment? What can take our minds off of our Lord? Part of it comes down to what we put in our minds with television, movies, our music, sites we visit. Along with filling our own minds, we are filling our family’s minds with the same content. We should always be cautious about this because God expects our minds to be under control, and we can become drunk on poor influences through the media we consume.

Also, in Galatians 5:19-21, Paul covers many activities we will fall into when out of control. Among these, Paul discusses physical drunkenness. I Corinthians 5:11 covers similar activities, warning us to even avoid people who live such lifestyles. Ephesians 5:18 instructs us to fill ourselves with the Spirit rather than drunkenness and these other poor qualities. Once we abandon sober-mindedness, it becomes easier and easier to lose all self control.

Maintaining a Sober Mind

This means we may have to avoid attending some parties we might want to go to. This means we may have to block some sites we’ve grown used to visiting. This means we may have to simply turn the television or radio off. In some cases, we may have to ask for help from our church family; Galatians 6:2 reminds us we are responsible for each other, bearing each others' struggles and burdens. We may even need to seek treatment in some cases, depending on the seriousness of our challenges.

I Peter 4 tells us Jesus faced all of the same challenges we do and that it is possible to think like He did, not subjecting to the tyranny of our own desires but subjecting ourselves to the will of God. That life will be one free of the burden of guilt and one with a clear mind. I Peter 3:13-16 reminds us to live with a clear conscious, with thoughts and minds prepared for God’s service at all times. We live sober lives because of what Jesus did for us and because we want to be closer to Him, and we want to be like Him.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: The Family

God has something much better in store for our lives than anything this world can provide, and we have to live God’s reality to escape the unreality of this world. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at God’s reality in various parts of our lives and what we can do to live up to that standard, and the first area we are going to examine is our family lives. How should we approach our families to keep in line with the reality of God’s word?

God’s Reality for the Family
The family was formed by God even before the entrance of sin into our world. The family was formed during the Creation, and God desires that we keep the covenant we make with our families as in Malachi 2:10. God keeps His promises to us, and He expects us to keep those implicit and spoken promises we make to our earthly families. What, then, are these promises we make or imply as parent to child, as child to parent, as spouse to spouse?

Genesis 2:24 describes a husband and wife as one united individual, the words are “one flesh.” The husband and wife are inseparable parts of each other, living in unity and accord. Malachi 2:15 illustrates they are one to raise up godly offspring, and Ephesians 5:22-33 draws a parallel between Christ’s relationship with the church and a husband’s relationship with his wife – in love, in sacrifice, in concern, in unity. This is what God wants for us, to raise godly families, to live in love, mutual respect, and kindness.

Avoiding Fracturing the Reality
Matthew 5:27 records Jesus warning against giving ourselves over to lust, going to any lengths to avoid letting that consume our lives, and he goes on to say we should never forsake our spouses for these images. We should never tear apart that unity unless unfaithfulness is involved. We should be actively fleeing from those temptations and those attitudes that can deteriorate our families.

We should avoid allowing a temptation to turn into something more. James 1:13-16 warns us against succumbing to the bait Satan dangles in front of us. He has no desire for us to have healthy marriages or to be one with our spouses. When we know we are being tempted, we have the choice to turn away, to not look, to not pursue, to not covet. Realize that these temptations are from the one trying to destroy us.

In our marriages, we cannot be selfish in possessions or intimacy. We should be open to each other. We should communicate with our families about our struggles as well as our strengths. We are not invincible, and we should avoid spending time with those we find attractive, perhaps even avoid rekindling past relationships. We need to know when we are most vulnerable to succumb to temptation and to avoid settings, websites, videos, and other materials that will play upon those vulnerabilities.

The Gift of Family
We cannot let the temptations of this world tear down what we have built as families. Instead, we should never take our wives and husbands for granted. We should be living by the attitudes and the conduct we find in God’s word, and we should be treasuring this gift of family God has given us. This beautiful relationship of family is His reality for us because that is the model for His relationship with us. It is a relationship of nurturing, of unconditional love, and of promises kept.

By caring for our family and preserving it as we should, we make ourselves more like God. We are a special people who God treasures and protects. We should have the same attitude toward our families.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Pharisaism and Mercy

Wrapping up the lessons we’re taking from the Pharisees, we want to look at Matthew 9:10-13, where Jesus says to the Pharisees, after they question his association with tax collectors and sinners, “Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” He is quoting from Hosea 6:6 on this occasion, accusing the Pharisees of sacrificing mercy for the sake of their legalistic attitudes. The lesson for us is evident – we must defend the faith, must preserve the old ways, but we must not forsake mercy.

Mercy is kind action motivated by compassion. In learning what God means that He desires mercy more than sacrifice, we must understand it is more than an emotion. It is more than a feeling. We can feel compassion for someone and do nothing about it, but we are merciful when that compassion drives us to do something about it.

The Importance of Mercy
If we would be like our God, we must be merciful, for mercy is a characteristic of our God. Exodus 34:6 records God describing Himself as one merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in love. Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:12-13, Jonah 4:2 – these passages and more explain or demonstrate the mercy shown in our God’s dealings with man. If this is who He is, it is who we should be too.

Furthermore, mercy should be a part of our lives, for it is what we expect God to have for us. Luke 18:13 records a tax collector’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” God’s mercy is requested some forty times in the psalms, and we entreat God’s mercy when we repent and lay our sins at His feet. Just as we expect mercy from Him, God expects mercy from us. Romans 12:8 calls on us to be gladly merciful. Luke 6:36 records Jesus saying we should “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Hosea 6:6, which Jesus quotes, and Micah 6:6-8, both are in the midst of half-hearted repentance. There is no heart in their appeal for mercy. They face judgment in asking for the mercy they refuse to show, but James 2:13 teaches that mercy triumphs over judgment. Micah 7:18 tells us God’s anger is only for a time and that He pardons iniquity and delights in love. If we have been merciful, we have no fear of an unmerciful judgment. Like we are taught to be forgiving to be forgiven, so we should be merciful to receive mercy.

Our Need to Show Mercy
We need to better show mercy to the lost. Consider the numerous exchanges between the Pharisees and Jesus. Those religious leaders viewed the lost as enemies, as undesirables, as arguments to win, as opportunities to prove our own rightness. When we are not moved by compassion, we show no mercy. Sometimes we act as if the gospel is only for the righteous, and we fail to show mercy to those who need it most.

We also need to be more merciful to new converts. We often expect too much of those new to God’s family. We grow exasperated and impatient for their failure to understand and accept convictions we already hold after years of service. Instead of giving them time to mature, we are unmerciful and unkind. These are the ones who need to be lifted up, to be supported, whose paths need to be cleared.

Finally, we sometimes fail to show mercy to our own Christian family. We listen to gossip about other Christians, and we accept these third and fourth-hand reports as fact. We condemn the very appearance of something without the benefit of the doubt. We do not listen to learn; rather, we listen to ambush. Doing so, we violate Galatians 5:14-15, destroying our strength and hindering God’s work.

Jesus quotes Hosea once more in Matthew 12:7 when the Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for picking grain to eat on the Sabbath. Like them, because we do not understand mercy, we criticize what we do not understand in others. We condemn the innocent. Instead of fighting the devil, we fight one another. If we are to walk uprightly and rightly divide God’s word, we must be a people of mercy.

Hebrews 8:10-12 describes God’s mercy toward our iniquities, and Hebrews 12:16 encourages us that we can receive His mercy by approaching the throne of grace. In doing so, we must also put on mercy, acting in humility, kindness, and loving kindness in all we say and do.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Lessons from the Old Testament

In I Corinthians 10, Paul refers to the Old Testament, the “things written aforetime,” as something from which we can benefit and by which we can grow spiritually.

Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did…They were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

- I Corinthians 10:6-12 (excerpted)

What can we take from these ancient writings to help us on our spiritual lives? What can we learn about our God and ourselves?

The Seriousness of Sin

In Genesis 3, after the creation of nature and humankind, Adam and Even are driven from the Garden of Eden because of sin. Genesis 4 sees Cain punished for his sinful conduct. Genesis 6 tells of a population who care for nothing but evil conduct. We can see that sin was a problem then just as it is today, separating them and us from God just as Isaiah speaks of in Isaiah 59:2. Likewise, Paul makes this same case in Romans 3-6, and we can see the seriousness of that separation through those Old Testament examples.

God’s Authority

In Genesis 8:13-14, Noah opens the ark to see the dry land in the beginning of one month, but he and his family do not leave the ark until the end of the next month when God finally tells them to do so. In II Samuel 7, David expresses a desire to build a better house for the Lord, but God responds by asking when He had ever asked for such a house; David respects God’s authority and relents. As Paul writes in Colossians 3:17, we need to look to God’s authority for all we do, and the writing of the Old Testament help us understand the completeness of that authority.

God’s Expectations

In Genesis 2:16-17, God lays down a single ground rule for living in Eden, simply expecting faithful obedience. In Genesis 4:3-4, God gives regard to Abel’s offering of faithful obedience. Genesis 22:12 records God recognizing the significance of Abraham’s faith, and Acts 10:34-35 shows Peter expressing that God will accept all who will serve Him in faith and reverence. God’s expectation has always been simple faithful obedience, and we can see that expectation endure from generation to generation.

God’s Love

When Adam and Eve sin in Genesis 3, God approaches them and talks to them. He also, in verse 15, sets in motion a plan of reconciliation for all of mankind. Genesis 12, 26, 28 – these record promises of blessings to the nations. Time and again, we see God deal patiently with imperfect and sinful man. We see His love ultimately in the sacrifice of His son, and how can he be so forgiving and loving to those who continually resist Him?

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

-Isaiah 55:6-8

In Luke 13:34, we see Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem, expressing that continual desire to gather His own to Him, even though they reject Him. II Peter 3:9 reminds us that God is patient with us, wishing that all would come to repentance. His love is still the same.

Conclusion

In I Corinthians 10, Paul writes about some specific events and shows how they point to the New Covenant. Our salvation in Christ began with roots in the times of Adam and Eve, and that plan built up through generation after generation. During that time, the problem of sin persisted, as it does today. Also persistent is God’s love, though, and if we respect His authority and render unto Him the faithful obedience He expects and deserves, then we can hope to be with Him one day.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Value of a Soul

We value things like our health, our jobs, our friends and families, but, when we experience something that shakes our foundation, sometimes circumstances force us to step back and look at what matters beyond the things of this life. While jobs, relationships, and even health are important in life, it is not these things God values the most. For a snapshot of what God views as important, look no further than Luke 12:13 where one comes to Jesus, demanding that his brother rightfully split their inheritance. Jesus responds by telling a parable of one who laid his trust in the things of this world while making no provisions for his soul. In verse 21, Jesus admonishes that people should strive to be rich toward God.

What God treasures the most for and about us is our souls. In the parable, the wealthy man seems to think he has provided for his soul by amassing sustenance for many years, but God then uses that same term to demonstrate his spiritual unhealthiness. While this man had provided for himself for a time, only God can make provisions for eternity.

The Worth of a Soul

Why does God place so much emphasis on our souls? For one thing, it is something singularly unique. We can change jobs; relationships come and go; health fluctuates; but we only get one soul, and no one else can affect our souls. He has invested a great deal in providing for and saving our souls, and God has paid an incredible price for our souls. When it came to our creation, God granted us a part of Him, making us in His image, giving us eternal souls. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus is speaking to the worth of our souls, and verses 26-27 asks what could possibly be more valuable than our souls. We are quick to chastise Esau for selling out his physical birthright, but are we any better when we sell out our spiritual birthright for the things of this world? We have, within us, a part of God that He values immensely. We should value it as much.

God is patient regarding our souls. In II Peter 2:5, Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness, and that is exactly what he was during the century in which he built the ark. II Peter 3:8, then, reminds us that God counts time differently than us, that He is patient, waiting for all to come to repentance. In the days of Noah, God waited 120 years for a small number to respond to His salvation. Every soul that is saved matters greatly to our God.

This soul salvation comes at a great price. John 3:16 beautifully sums up the love it took for God to provide for the saving of our souls. Romans 3:23 reminds us that we have all hurt our souls with sin, but the following verses assure that Christ took those injuries for our sake, rising up as a propitiation for our sins. The beginning of Romans 5 tells us we can, in no way, be worthy of that sacrifice, but God’s great love provided it anyway. What does it take to save our souls? It takes the ultimate sacrifice of one spotless and pure from sin.

The Value of One

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in a row, each illustrating the value God places in saving one soul. Likewise, do we value the souls of those we know and love? Are we making sure we are providing for their eternal needs while we strive to provide for the physical? Are we teaching what is truly valuable to God?

Isaiah 52, one of the four servant psalms written by this prophet, records God calling on His people to come out of sin, looking to that suffering servant for guidance and salvation. Rather than looking to ourselves, our relationships, our health, and our possessions in measuring our fulfillment in this life, we should be looking to the needs of our souls. Only in God can we find provision for our eternal needs and rely on Him to save our souls where we cannot.

lesson by Tim Smelser

God's Vineyard

Jesus, in Mark 12, uses the picture of a vineyard, possibly indirectly referencing Isaiah 5. He tells of a man who prepares and protects a vineyard before putting it into someone else’s care. Those who work the vineyard harm and kill those the master sends to collect his due from the vineyards – even to the point of murdering the master’s own son. Jesus explains that those listening should be careful of rejecting that which the Lord has provided for them, even God’s own Son.

In Isaiah 5:1-7, God shares a song about a vineyard, carefully prepared, protected and tended. Instead of producing good grapes, however, only wild fruit and weeds come forth. Therefore, the Lord says He will remove the protections from the vineyard and tend to it no more. God proceeds to explain that this vineyard is a parallel to His people, the way He cares for and protect them, but He withdraws from them when they fail to respond to His care as they should.

The Work of a Vineyard

Tending to vineyards, raising up olive and fig trees – the people in Jesus’ and Isaiah’s audiences would have been familiar with the things they spoke of in these illustrations. They would know of the diligent preparation and care it would take to keep a vineyard healthy and safe. They would know the difference between cultivated fruit and wild fruit. In this context, God asks, “What more could I have done?” in Isaiah 5. He has provided care and blessing beyond measure, but the people were still not what they should have been.

In verses 8-10 of Isaiah 5, God condemns those who live greedily, those who exploit their resources to the point of destroying their environment. In verses 11-12, God proclaims woe upon those who pursue vices from dawn to dusk, giving no regard to spiritual matters. Verses 18-19, He speaks of those who drag sin through their lives while claiming to care about God’s work. In verse 20, He warns those who replace good for evil and vice versa. Finally, verse 21 condemns those who hold their own wisdom above God’s.

God tended to His vineyard and had expectations for it, but the fruit of His people were worthless. Because they dwelt in sin, because they promoted evil, because they elevated themselves above God, God promised, in verses 24-25, that His anger would be kindled against them, and that He would level His vineyard. They were His vineyard, but they took themselves away from Him.

God’s Spiritual Vineyard

We are God’s vineyard today. What fruits do we produce for Him? Hebrews 6:7-8 speaks of ground tilled and tended to by God that will either produce herbs or thistles. I Corinthians 10:13 illustrates how God tends to us – in that He keeps a hedge around us, protecting us from temptations we will be unable to handle. Like the vineyard of Isaiah 5, God has tended to us, has protected us, and has showered us with blessings. I John 4:4 reminds us that God is greater than anything in this world. His blessings, His care, His protection – these things are more substantial than anything this world can throw at us.

What are we doing with God’s care and protection? He has done for us as He had done for the children of Israel in Isaiah 5. We are His fertile ground. We are His vineyard. Do we, like those of the past, take those blessings for granted? Are we producing bitter fruits because of our greed, our pride, because of our love for evil? What would God do with the fruits we produce in His vineyard?

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus warns us against placing our treasures in this world, being motivated by materialism. II Timothy 2:22 tells us to flee the lusts of this world and their temporary attractions. Returning to Hebrews 6, the author of that book speaks of those who pile sin upon sin, in verse 6, and then crucify the Son of God all over again. We are tempted to call evil good and good evil, and Romans 1:22 reminds us that we can be foolish in God’s eyes while wise in our own.

Conclusion

We may recognize God’s role in our lives. We may honor His Son with our words, but what fruits are we producing? In John 15:1, Jesus calls Himself our vine, and we are branches from Him. We either bear much fruit, or Jesus warns that His Father may prune us. Ten times in that chapter, Jesus reminds us to abide in Him, to base everything in our lives around Him, to hinge every word and decision on the basis of His word. If we truly abide in Him, allowing His word to dwell in us, then we will not put God’s efforts to shame. We can be a vineyard producing fruits unto righteousness.

lesson by Tim Smelser

God My Rock

We live in an unstable world. Economy, disease, politics – these factors and more create unsettling circumstances around us. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. Jesus says, in John 16:33, that we will have trouble as long as we are part of this world. Where then do we turn in a life of uncertainty and troubles? Where do we take refuge when the storms of this life assault us?

God has promised us that He will be our refuge. He is our sheltering rock in the time of storms. He is our fortress against the battles of this life. Nahum 1:7, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 94:22, Deuteronomy 32:30, Isaiah 44:8 – these passages and many more call God our shelter, our rock, our refuge. He is the certainty we can have in a world of uncertainty.

Our Trust in God

We can trust in God even when friends and family fail us. The imagery of God as our refuge comes largely from the writings of David, one whose best friend’s father wanted him dead, whose wife and son turned against him on more than one occasion. David knew what it was to have friends and family turn on him. In Psalm 41:9 and Psalm 55:12-14 speaks of friends abandoning him. Likewise, Job saw his wife and friends turn on him in his strife, but, in Job 42:2, he turns his trust to God, expressing confidence in God’s deliverance. We will have friends and family fail us in this life, but we can be assured our God will never forsake us.

We can also trust in our God when the things in this life fail us, when we see the unfairness, crime, and injustice in this world. We ourselves have been victims of these things, and we cannot find shelter in the things of this world as long as injustice and unfairness continue. In the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, Moses contrasts the injustice of man versus the fairness of God, and Isaiah 26:4-7 calls God an eternal rock, the upright one who directs the path of the just. He alone is just and fair, and we can place our trust in the fact that His ways are right. He plays no favorites. We are all equal in His eyes, and we can trust Him to deal fairly with us in a way the world never could.

Finally, we can trust God to ultimately save us. Psalm 44:6 records the sons of Korah saying they would trust in nothing but God to save them. A strong military, a strong government, a strong stock market, our right to bear arms, strong foreign policy – these things will not save us in this life or the one to come. Jeremiah 11:12 criticizes the people of Judah for trusting their idols; we make idols of our investments, of our military, of our favorite politicians, of our savings. These are where we so often place our greatest trust and efforts, but they cannot save us. Only God can shelter our souls.

The Lord of Our Strength

Psalm 18, one of David’s later writings, proclaims God as our strength, fortress, deliverer. He is the horn of our salvation, our stronghold, worthy of praises. He is the living rock, the God of our salvation. Psalm 62:5-7 expresses confidence that God can be our only source of strength and salvation. This is the confidence we can have in our God.

We can look to Him for comfort, shelter, and strength. This comfort and security is open to all who would know Him and come to Him in humility and obedience. David, in Psalm 18, expressed a very personal relationship with his God, and David knows, in Psalm 18:20-26, that he is blameless before God, and he knows the relationship they have together. When we draw toward God, He draws toward us. We can have that same relationship, that same hope, that same security, even in the face of friends, family, and the securities of this world failing us.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Dependable Faith

In I Timothy 6:11, Paul encourages the young preacher to feel carnality and worldliness, encouraging him to seek after things like meekness, patience, and faith. Then, in II Timothy 2:22, Paul calls on Timothy to flee youthful lusts but to rather pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Then, in Galatians 5 draws a contrast between the fruits of the world and the fruits of the spirit, and verse 22 describes these good fruits as peace, love, and faithfulness. Having faith and being faithful repeatedly appear as necessary elements to our godly walk.

The Necessity of Faith

We understand the importance of faith from passages like Hebrews 11:6 that tell us we cannot please God without having faith in Him and being faithful to Him. I Timothy 4:12 records Paul calling on Timothy to be an example of faith. James 2 draws a contrast between the shallow faith of demons and the active faith of true believers. John 12:42 tells of those who believed in Jesus but would not profess their faith. In Matthew 6, during the sermon on the mount, Jesus speaks to our basic trust in God leading up to verse 30. Our faith defines our lives, motivates our actions, and informs every decision we make. This is complete faith.

How do we grow this faith?

• Romans 10:17 reminds us that faith comes from our exposure to God’s word, by teaching and by study.
• Returning to James 2, verse 23 exemplifies Abraham as one who practiced his faith, whose experiences served to strengthen the faith he put into action.
• In Matthew 9:24, a man seeking Jesus’ intervention cries out to Him to, “Help my unbelief.” Prayer is another avenue for developing faith. Wisdom comes from asking.

We should be doing more reading and studying. We should be living our faith more actively. We should be asking for God to strengthen our faith.

A Dependable Faith

Where having faith is a living testimony of our belief in God, being faithful as God is faithful implies reliability and dependability. I Thessalonians 5:23-24, II Thessalonians 3:3, Hebrews 10:23, Hebrews 11:11 – these passages and more emphasize God’s faithfulness. We can rely on Him. We can depend on Him. If we are living to emulate the qualities we see in His nature, He should likewise be able to depend upon us.

The ultimate sign of God’s faithfulness is in the resurrection of Christ. In Psalm 16:10, the psalmist prophecies that God’s holy one will not see corruption. There is a difference between Jesus, being alive and well, raising others from the dead and Jesus going Himself to death, trusting in the Father to raise Him up on the third day. How then do we commit ourselves better to our faith?

• Our duty as Christians. II Timothy 2:21 describes us as set apart and useful to God’s work, and I Thessalonians 1:2-3 speaks to our endurance, our steadfastness, and our love in doing God’s work.
• The spread of the gospel. I Peter 3:15 calls us to be prepared to speak about our faith, and II Timothy 2:15 calls on us to be diligent in our preparation to share God’s word.
• Being Good Stewards. The parable of the wedding feats, the parable of the talents – these illustrate the faithfulness and reliability we should have with our resources and opportunities in this life.

Conclusion

Not only should God be able to rely on us, but our fellow Christians should see us as equally dependable. Hebrews 11:39-40 admonishes us that all those who came before us depend on us to continue the work they have started. When we are unfaithful in our service, we invalidate the efforts of our predecessors. When we are faithful, however, we create an unbroken chain between those assembled on the Day of Pentecost and those we pass God’s work to who will come after us.

Can God count on us? Can the saints count on us? We should be working daily to develop our faith in God and our faithfulness to God. We trust in Him so much. We depend on Him to fulfill us, to redeem us, to save us. The question to us is simple: Can He depend on us?

lesson by Tim Smelser

Fulfilling the Whole

Many Christians are familiar with the general outline of Ecclesiastes. The first couple chapters follow the author – very likely Solomon – searching for fulfillment in the accomplishments and possessions of this life, and none of these bring satisfaction. He then turns to various states of emotion, of intelligence, of sorrow, and ignorance. Throughout this, we see glimpses of the conclusion he comes to at the end of his book:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Why should we fear God and keep His commandments? Why should we honor and revere Him, and what does it mean to be the “whole of man?”

An Unfulfilling Relationship with God

Some might serve out of a base fear of punishment. It is less an act of reverence than an act of self-preservation, much like a child might follow certain rules – not because they understand the rules or respect the authority behind them, but because the fear consequences. Others may serve God because they inherited it from their parents, blindly following a tradition passed from generation from generation. Finally, we may follow God for selfish reasons, for the benefits and blessings we believe we have in Him. None of this, however, is what Solomon speaks of in his book, and none of these attitudes will satisfy our relationship with God.

Nothing in this life completes us the way our God completes us. Until we recognize that, until we stop superficially serving while seeking other answers, we will never achieve true contentment and peace in this life.

Finding Fulfillment in God

Our Emotional Needs

God fulfills our emotional needs. All of the feelings given to us by God, those emotional needs and responses given by Him, are fulfilled by His presence in our lives. Take Noah, in Genesis 6:9, who is described as man who “walked with God,” implying that God also walked with Him. Job, like Noah, is pictured as a perfect man. Abraham and God, chapter after chapter, have a close relationship in the book of Genesis, and David, the man “after God’s own heart,” shares a mutual love with God. To these individuals, God is not pictured as a distant being. They commune closely with their God.

John 3:16 begins with “God so loved the world,” and when we read that, we should see ourselves in that. God so loved me that He gave His only son. Romans 5:6 describes the mercy with which God looks down upon us and His willingness to love us even when we are unloving. Where it is easy to love those who reciprocate our love, God continually loves us even when we do not love.

We love because He first loved us.

- John 1:19

Our Intellectual Needs

Mankind is an inquisitive and curious species. We are always trying to do more, discover more, accomplish more. Genesis 1:26-27 records God placing Adam and Eve in the garden, He affirms that all He has made is for the fulfillment of His Creation. There is so much to enjoy in this world; there is so much to pursue and try to understand; so much to create and discover; but none of these things can ultimately fulfill us.

Hebrews 1:1 reminds us that God has always spoken to man, and II Peter 1:2-3 encourages us to grow intellectually, learning more of His word, understanding all things pertaining to life through Him. It is a knowledge of God that leads to a deeper understanding of who He is and who we are. No other wisdom can satisfy our minds like God can.

Our Spiritual Needs

Returning to Genesis 1:27, we see ourselves created in God’s image. This is not a reference to God’s physical appearance. Instead, as reinforced in Genesis 2:7, it is a reference to our living souls. Our spiritual nature reflects God’s spiritual nature, and that eternal spirit longs for a fulfillment that this world is unable to provide. Every human being has eternity in their hearts.

Romans 6:23 tells us God’s gift to us is eternity for our souls. Luke 10:25 and Luke 18:18 both demonstrate individuals who are contemplating the fates of their individual eternal souls. Romans 1:19-20 even reminds us of the eternal nature testified by the world we see around us. Our souls long for something we cannot find in this world.

Conclusion

God’s sacrificial love for us should elicit a response from us. He fulfills us as spiritual, intellectual, and emotional creatures in a way nothing physical can. We can return His love; we can know His plan and intentions for us; We can accept His gift of eternity. In Him, we find the only true answer for the deepest needs of our souls. His word, His love, His gift – these complete mankind. He is, as Ecclesiastes states, the whole of man.

lesson by Tim Smelser

We Don't Lie to Google

Earlier in November, writer Ben Casnocha wrote this on his blog:

Someone once told me that there is nowhere we are more honest than the search box. We don't lie to Google. Period. We type in what we're thinking -- good, bad, and ugly. There's probably no piece of information that would better show what's on someone's mind than their stream of searches.

We don’t lie to Google. Nowhere is this more evident than in a handy feature Google uses in its search box called auto-complete. You start typing, and Google begins making suggestions on how to complete your search. If you’re like me, maybe you ignore these suggestions, but paying attention to them yields some interesting results.

We Dont Lie To Google

View more presentations from Robert Smelser.

Google simply makes suggestions based on the most popular search terms to follow the words you or I enter. Sometimes, the feature is useful, but, other times, we get a peek into the collective minds of others using Google. We see the brazen bluntness with which we search. Sometimes we see the ridiculous questions on our collective minds. Other times, we’re left scratching our heads, asking, “Wait, those are the most popular search terms for those words?”

Why Do We Trust Google More Than God?
We are always honest with Google. It may be the anonymity. It may be the literal nature of search engines. Regardless the reason, we are more forthright with a search engine than we often are with others, with ourselves, and with God. However much we try, though, while we may be able to fool others and ourselves, we cannot fool God. Let’s look at a couple examples of people doing this in the Bible.

• Adam & Eve. In Genesis 3, God doesn’t give Adam and Even the answer they want regarding the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, so Eve allows herself to be persuaded by the serpent. Adam allows himself to be persuaded by Eve, and, in the end, they seek to blame God for their own error by verses 11-13.
• King David. In II Samuel 11, David commits adultery with Bathsheba, but that’s just a couple verses of the story. The rest of chapter 11 deals with David trying to cover his tracks, to the point, in verses 16-17, of conspiring to murder Bathsheba’s husband Uriah. He sinks deeper into sin to avoid others learning of his initial sin.
• Ananias & Sapphira. In Acts 5, this pair seek to look as impressive as the Christians in Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-37 who give up much, if not all, to share with the brethren. Ananias and Sapphira try to make themselves look more generous than they really are, but their lies find them out.

We can turn to the anonymity of Google to find justification or vindication for almost anything we want. Anything we want to believe, justify, or desire – there’s a site for it. We may be afraid that God won’t give us the answer we want to hear. We may feel like others will judge us if they know about our struggles or sins. We may try to feel better about ourselves by making ourselves look better to others. We wear these façades and shroud ourselves in subtle deceptions to make ourselves more tolerable to ourselves and to others. In the end, though, the only ones we end up fooling are ourselves.

Honesty with Ourselves, Others, and God
This is not a lesson about the dangers of the Internet or the evils of Google. Google is a collection of algorithms, and the Internet is composed of writings, images, and other media created by people. They are what they are. Rather, this is a lesson about trust. It’s about being honest with ourselves and the challenges we face, relying on our brothers and sisters to carry us through difficult times, and ultimately trusting in God to deliver us from temptation and forgive us for our transgressions.

• King David. Psalms 3, 6, 11, 12, 19, 23, 25, 39, 51 – these and many more illustrates David’s complete trust in God’s word, His protection, and His forgiveness. Psalms 19 celebrates God’s word. Psalm 51 is a prayer for forgiveness after that sin with Bathsheba, and he demonstrates total submission and vulnerability before God. For this trust, God calls David a man after His own heart.
• Job. Throughout his book, Job is very honest with God and with himself. Job stays true to himself regardless of his wife’s or friend’s opinions. They judge him, but he knows his heart, and Job 31 stands as an example of self-accountability. He knows his heart. He knows how he treats others. Therefore, he can stand before God unspotted.
• Jesus. Where Adam and Eve reject God’s answer, Jesus submits in Matthew 26:36-42 when He says, “not as I will, but as You will.” His life of service culminates in an ultimate act of trust in God in His willing sacrifice on the cross. He knows God will deliver Him from death.

I Peter 5:6-7 exhorts us to humble ourselves and open up to our God. He cares for us more than any search engine ever can. Hebrews 4:15-16 assures us that our Lord relates to our challenges and shortcomings, and He is willing to lift us up if we only come to Him. Furthermore, Romans 15:1 encourages us to bear each other’s burdens. Galatians 6:1-2 reiterates this and tells us to be gentle with one another during these trials. We have a God willing to help us. We have brothers and sisters willing to help us, but we have to be honest with them and ourselves before we can heal.

Conclusion
God’s word will not always have the answers we want. We can find those answers all around us. It does, however, give us the answers we need. We all have faults. We all have challenges. We need to be honest with ourselves about those shortcomings so we can be honest with our brothers and sisters about them. We may fear judgmental attitudes. We may fear harsh treatment, but, if we love each other the way our God loves us, then we will bear each other up in patience and kindness. We should feel as open with each other and with God as we do with Google. Only then, can we truly begin to build the type of spiritual relationships we should have with one another.

lesson by Robert Smelser

Is God Real To You?

Is God real to you? This might seem like an easy question to anyone who pursues Biblical knowledge or who come together to worship Him every week. The question, however, is not one of belief in existence. Rather, is God real to you? There is a difference between acknowledgement of theoretical existence and application of reality. We are a culture of the virtual – things that look real but are not. Has God been reduced to a theoretical exercise among those who would claim to be His followers?

Why and How God Becomes Theoretical

Why does God become less real to us? Why has He become virtually real instead of actually real? In everyday life, we learn to rely on ourselves, and, ultimately, we feel accountable to ourselves and ourselves alone. Our money goes to our priorities, and our actions have no consequences beyond the immediate ones we can see. We wrestle with these realities of our life that make God seem less and less real to us – reducing Him to the theoretical.

• Selfishness. In Romans 1, Paul makes the argument that all need God and the gospel. He claims, in verse 21, that all knew God at one time, but their own selfishness drives them away from God. Verse 28 sums up that they refused God, so God gave them up. He will not force us to follow His will, and our self-centeredness can lead us away from His reality. We can look to what we have accomplished, relying on our own selves rather than on God.
• Worldly Interests. I John 2:15-17 reminds us of the dangers involved in loving the things of this world. God ceases to be real to us when we begin believing that our happiness and our fulfillment come from this life. Things in this world can indeed make us happy for a while, but those joys are fleeting. They are replaced when new things come along. We wear ourselves out pursuing the temporary while neglecting the eternal.
• Priorities & Time. We grow too busy for God, pushing Him further and further down our list of priorities, and we spend less and less time looking for Him and praying to Him. When is the last time you or I honestly and sincerely prayed? When was the time before that.

Making God Real Again 

Philippians 4:19 records Paul calling God his own. He refers to “my God.” In redeeming us from our sins, God has made us His, and He is ours. Paul, in Romans 5, appeals to God’s love for that close relationship, understanding in verses 6-10 that God’s love for him is gracious and unmerited by him. God was neither virtual or theoretical to Paul. God knew Paul, and Paul knew God. God knows us as well, and we should strive to be as close to Him as Paul. God loves each one of us without reservation. In Galatians 2:20, Paul knows the love of God through the sacrifice of Christ, a sacrifice through which he gives himself up in love.

 

In Philippians, Paul says “my God will supply.” He demonstrates a belief that God is active and interested in his life. Philippians 4:5 records Paul writing that the Lord is at hand, and we often apply this to the Second Coming, but the context points instead to a nearness of God, a readiness to help. Romans 8:28, Colossians 1:16-17 – these show a confidence by Paul in God’s interest in his life. God has a direction for my life, and He is an active God. When we say, “If the Lord wills,” we sometimes treat it as a concession. When Paul speaks of God’s will, He expresses confidence in God’s providential control.

 

II Corinthians 9:10, Acts 14:17, Matthew 7:26 – these verses and more express God’s interest in His creation. Philippians 4:6 reminds us to take everything to God, and I Peter 5:6-7 tells us to humble ourselves before God, casting all of our anxiety upon our caring God. Look at the life of Christ – what did He do that was not for the benefit of others? He prays for others’ needs; He heals others; He relieves others’ burdens. Each time Jesus intercedes for others, His intervention is specific and necessary. We can hope for as much from a God that is real to us and active in our lives.

 

lesson by Tim Smelser

Issumagijoujungnainermik

Matthew 18:21 is a passage we often turn to when considering forgiveness. Despite Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness, however, we want to add our own conditions. “I’ll forgive if they ask for it.” “I’ll forgive up to a certain point.” “I’ll forgive if I feel like it.” This lesson, we’re going to look at some scriptures that govern forgiveness, and these scriptures will require us to adjust our attitudes and actions regarding forgiveness.

Gaining a Brother
In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks how often he should forgive if a brother sins against him. He uses an expression that infers a serious violation or trespass, and he places the burden of forgiveness on himself. In response, and he tells a parable of a servant in terrible debt to his master. This servant seeks forgiveness while is unwilling to forgive another in debt to him. Jesus makes a point that we are to be forgiving as we want our Father to be forgiving.

The goal, in Matthew 18:15, is to gain a brother. Prior to Peter’s question, Jesus is encouraging His followers to entreat one another when wronged. This is not regarding a disagreement or hurt feelings. This is nothing minor. This is a serious trespass, and Jesus does not instruct us to be passive. There is no waiting for our brother or sister to come to us. We approach him or her, and we engage in forgiveness.

Forgiving as God Forgives
Matthew 18:33 cites mercy as the basis of our forgiveness. We are merciful because we have been shown mercy. Verse 35 warns that God will not forgive those unwilling to forgive. Matthew 6:12 echoes this sentiment when Jesus models prayer for His disciples. Luke 6:35-37 says God is kind and merciful toward the undeserving, and Jesus encourages us to demonstrate mercy. The strict conditions we put on forgiveness will be put upon us by God. Finally, Mark 11:25 warns us to forgive others in our prayers before asking for our own forgiveness. We need to forgive so we may be forgiven.

What attitude do we hold in forgiveness? How do we act? Are we like children who are forced to apologize by our parents? Jesus is forgiving. He is compassionate. He is merciful. God granted us mercy forgiveness before we asked for it and while we are undeserving. If we are to be holy as God is holy, if we are to be sons of our Father. Think of Esau forgiving Jacob and Joseph forgiving his brothers. Think of David forgiving Saul. Are we as compassionate and merciful?

Issumagijoujungnainermik
Leviticus 19:18 is cited by Jesus as one of the great commandments, and the first part of this verse warns God’s people against grudges or seeking vengeance. Grudges come all too easy, and God takes pains to turn His people from this habit. In Mark 6:19, Herod has John beheaded because of a grudge Herodias bore. Grudges wrap us up and consume us. It takes time, work, and energy to maintain these harsh feelings, and this is time, work, and energy we should be giving to the Lord instead. We need to be able to let our grudges go and move on. They causes us to hurt, to grow angry, to grow bitter. They draw us away from God.

Issumagijoujungnainermik is a compound Eskimo word that roughly means “unable to think about it anymore.” It is a word missionaries used to describe God’s forgiveness to the Eskimos, and it is a fitting description of how we should forgive. Our forgiveness should be compassionate and merciful. Love should take the place of grudges, allowing us to be in a right relationship with our fellow Christians and with our God.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Facing Suffering As God's Child [Part 1]

We live in a word filled with tragedies and sorrow. We see innocents suffer unjustly. Our possessions, families, or lives may be taken by factors beyond our control. You can't make it through a daily news report without hearing of a new shooting, abduction, natural disaster, or fatal accident. From these events comes an understandable question: why does God allow suffering in this world? It is a question theologians have wrested with for centuries, and the answers tend to boil into one of two theories.

• If God is inherently all-loving, He would stop suffering if He could. Therefore, He is not powerful enough to end suffering.
• If God is all-powerful, then He must not love us enough to end suffering.

Rabbi Kushner, in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, comes to the first conclusion. God is all-loving but not all-powerful. Job, on the other hand, faces a God that is clearly all-powerful, so does this infer God is unloving?

The Origin of Suffering
To understand suffering, we have to return to its roots. God demonstrates both power and love in the creation of all things and the paradise He provides for His creation. However, there is one provision to this paradise, and this provision is broken in chapter 3 when His love is questioned in that He forbade something from Adam and Eve. From that one sin, suffering entered the world. If God was unloving and merely wanting to just catch Adam and Eve off guard, He would have left it a secret – just waiting to be discovered. God clearly set the boundaries. He did not keep His provision a secret. Then, with the onset of sin, God sets a plan in motion to redeem His creation, but the consequences in this world remain.

The Case of Job
Job is a case study in suffering. He is a righteous man who loses everything. Satan seeks to find his price, and Job comes close to blaming God for his troubles in passages like Job 9:20. He feels he has been wrongly judged. In Job 19:5-7, 22; chapter 31, Job continues this idea. He even lists out evidence of his righteousness. He is a faithful person. Why would this suffering come upon him? If, like his friends argue, bad things only befall the unrighteous, Job is being unfairly judged.

God responds to Job in chapter 40. God asks if there is any who can argue with God. He asks if Job is capable of setting the universe in motion, if He is capable of balancing justice and reviewing God's judgments? Earlier, in Job 33:13, Elihu asks Job why he strives against God. We are accountable to God – it is not the other way around. This is a hard lesson to swallow, and it is natural to want to know why. However, it is not our place to condemn or try to correct God. Job receives no reason for his suffering, and we may never understand our own.

A Loving, Powerful God
Returning to the question of the reasons behind suffering, can we blame God? Do we serve a Lord either unable or unwilling to end suffering due to lack of power or love?

What hope can we have if God is not all-powerful? How do we know He will defeat the grave? How can we know that he will defeat Satan? How can we have any faith if we cannot have faith in His power? Psalm 139 records David writing of the all-powerful nature of God, able to overcome all and having power over all. Nothing is hidden from Jehovah. In John 16:33, Jesus states that he has overcome. He will suffer terrible things very soon, but His faith was in God’s power. He knows God will deliver Him from the hands of death.

If God is all-powerful, why does He not stop calamities? Does He not love His creation? We see God's love in passages like John 3:16 where God has shared His very nature and image with us to be killed in our stead. Abraham had confidence in God’s love when he prepared to offer Isaac. In Isaiah 55:6-9, God invites His people to forgiveness. Judah was extremely wicked at this time, but under even these circumstances, He would take back His people if only they turn back to Him. His love allows for infinite forgiveness and mercy.

What would we want God's role to be? When do we want God to intervene? Should He constantly be altering the forces of nature , continually disrupting the cycles that have been put in motion? Do we want God to take away our own free wills so we can neither harm ourselves or others? Do we want others to suffer consequences so we do not? What stipulations can we put on God’s actions? If God fails us in any way, we automatically will begin to question Him again.

God may intervene in ways we do not see or recognize. We do know, however, that He has a place prepared for us that is absent of all suffering. We can trust His power to be able to take us to this place, and we can trust that His love will allow sinners like us to enter into it (Romans 5:8). Our hope is not in this life but in the next.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Taste & See That the Lord is Good

In the first part of Psalm 34, the psalmist calls upon us to taste and see that the Lord is good in verse 8, an odd expression to us. This is while David is fleeing from Saul for his life, and he ends up among the Philistines in I Samuel 21:10-12. He goes from one bad situation to another, and he realizes that he must turn to God if he is to survive to be king. During this time, he writes Psalm 34.

David calls for deliverance in the first four verses, and the later part of the chapter is focused on those who would come to his aid. David calls himself a poor man when the Lord helps him, and this verse leads into verse 8. In this analogy, how does our relationship with God relate to our tastes?

The Taste of God’s Goodness.

• Often, when we want food, we want it soon. I John 4:13-17 encourages that God wants us to lean on Him, to rely on Him. He is there any time we need Him.
• Additionally, we desire fresh food when we hunger. I Corinthians 4:16-18 gives us a refreshing message of the hope in God. Eternity waits for us in Him.
• We want food that fills us. John 6:35 records Jesus calling Himself the bread of life, giving a message of spiritual and eternal fulfillment, a quenching of our hunger and thirst.
• We sometimes fear trying something new. We have to give up some control when we submit ourselves to a new experience, Proverbs 3:1-12 encourages us to give spiritual control to God. It can be scary, but He assures that He provides for us.
• The best meals in life are often free. Romans 6:20-23 calls us free from sin, receiving fruits of sanctification. His gift to us is free if we but submit to Him and give Him control.

Sometimes we like to smell our food before taking a bite. It may guard us from risking something we don’t like, but Psalm 34:8 blesses the one who simply trusts in God. He praises the man who partakes of God’s goodness freely and without hesitation.


Confidence in God
Consider Psalm 18, which Paul writes later in his life. Can we call God our refuge or our rock? Can we face death and destruction with God at our sides? Do we call to Him in our distress? God hears us. He knows when our hearts need Him the most. In this chapter, David trusts the strength of the Lord, the forgiveness of the Lord, and the security of the Lord. Can we express this same confidence? David says he will praise God before the nations for the salvation he gains in Him.

How are we experiencing God’s goodness? Are we just smelling, just sampling, or are we completely giving ourselves over to that hope? God invites us to experience all He has to offer, but, in doing so, we must completely give ourselves over to Him.

lesson by Donn Koonce

Prevailing In Defeat

What if we had to flee our own country for our own safety? What if we had to return home, knowing that circumstances may not yet be safe? Imagine if, upon returning home, you knew an army was standing in your way. These are the circumstances upon which Jacob returns home after his time working for Laban. Jacob knows that Esau had vowed to murder him after the death of their fathers. He doesn’t know what to expect upon return.

In Genesis 32, Jacob sends messengers to meet Esau, and they tell Jacob that his brother is coming out to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob divides his house and prepares to die. He seems to expect Esau to fulfill the threat he made some twenty years prior. He prays to God, and someone appears to him and wrestles with him in verse 24. Hosea 12:3-4, the prophet identifies this man as an angel of God. As dawn breaks, the two are at a draw. The angel somehow dislocates Jacob’s hip, and he renames Jacob as Israel. In this, God is teaching Jacob a lesson, and He is teaching us through him.

Relating to God Through Jacob
When, in His word, we hear of God confronting man, that man represents you and me. This struggle demonstrates how a relationship with God is difficult. Up to this point, Jacob has been on a journey, and his views have turned more spiritual the longer he has been away. At this point, he has resigned himself to death. He has given up self, and the result is true blessings. Jacob once was a manipulator and a schemer. Now he is in God’s hands, and it’s in God that blessings will come.

This conflict ultimately results in a change in Jacob, and our relationship with God should change us. Jacob changed from usurper to Israel, prince of God. Likewise, we shed our old identity when we enter into our relationship with God. We displace the man of sin and become a nation of priests, heirs of God’s promise.

Victory in Defeat
A paradox exists in this struggle. Jacob receives his blessing because he prevails. Even after Jacob’s hip is dislocated, the angel says Jacob prevailed. Hosea says Jacob prevailed. He physically lost the struggle with the angel, but he prevails because of his defeat. He becomes bold in faith when he can no longer rely on self. Up to this point, Jacob has prevailed time and again by the world’s standards through carnal methods. In losing a conflict with God, Jacob wins spiritually. He now has to rely on God for his blessings.

In a way, this struggle illustrates the power of prayer. God opposes our sinful will, and we must wholly submit ourselves to Him. Like Jacob, we prevail in God’s eyes when we completely humble ourselves. Selfishly relying on our own resources, our own resources sets us as antagonists with God. It is only when we truly empty our selves and trust in Him that we can overcome.

Back in Genesis 32:11, Jacob asks for deliverance from Esau, and he reminds God of His promises. He treats his relationship with God as a bargain, and identifies God as belonging to his forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Contrast this with Genesis 33 after his teary reunion with Esau. In verses 9-11, a the brothers debate Esau’s acceptance of Jacob’s gifts. Jacob finally demonstrates his understanding of God’s role in his blessings. He recognizes God, in verse 20, as the God of Israel. God is no longer that of his fathers, but he takes ownership of his personal relationship with God.

We cannot rely on ourselves and on God. We cannot be full of His spirit and full of ourselves. Do we view God as God of our parents or grandparents? We must humble ourselves in His sight, so He can lift us up. We must defeat ourselves, so we can prevail in Him.

lesson by Tim Smelser

The Paradox of Hell

Through our class studies of Genesis, we talked about some of God's qualities – His transcendency, His goodness, His love, His patience, and His fairness. One inescapable question, though, is this: how could a loving God send a soul to Hell? How could one so merciful and full of grace condemn a soul to eternal punishment? According to the Princeton Institute, only forty percent believe in Hell, but the Bible speaks of this place repeatedly. It is warned of fifty-five times, and Jesus speaks of this place more often than any other Bible figure.

II Peter 2:4 and Jude 13 describe it as a place of darkness. The Bible describes Hell as a fearful place. Matthew 13:42 and 25:41, Mark 9:34, and Revelation 20:10 speak of it in terms of fire and burning. These descriptors are metaphorical to help portray this place to us in physical terms. Four times in the gospels, Jesus describes Hell as a place of weeping, and Matthew 25:46 and Revelation 14:11 describe this punishment as eternal. Despite these clear teachings, millions of Christians dismiss the idea, but it comes back to our problems comprehending a compassionate God even allowing Hell to exist.

How Can Hell Exist?
God’s character demands Hell. God is all-loving and all-forgiving. I John 4:8 says God is love, but He is also all-righteous and all-holy. Evil cannot abide in the presence of God. Habbakuk 1:13 expresses God’s intolerance for wrongdoing. God’s eternal plan is to bring His creation back to His goodness. Sin separates us from Him, and His plan of salvation is a way of erasing evil. II Corinthians 5:17 describes us as new creations when we submit to His will. Verse 20 explains that Christ’s sacrifice provides that avenue of unity with God. His holy nature differentiates between good and evil.

His justice is a component of His holiness. Our God will not ignore the problem of sin, and He has never done that since the beginning of time. Psalm 5:4 explains wickedness and arrogance cannot be tolerated by God. He has offered us a solution to that problem in the form of Jesus, but if we refuse that sacrifice, that payment, then we become responsible for the debt of our sins. That debt is death and separation from God’s presence. God knows the challenges we face in resisting temptations and immorality, and His love provides us a place where we will be freed from that bombardment. His people will be free of sin and temptation, and those who dwell on that immorality will not be in Heaven to tempt His people.

Does the Penalty Fit the Crime?
In our eyes, Hell is an awfully stiff penalty for the minor error of failing to recognize God or our own sins. Our sins alienate us from God. The question is not how many sins or for how long. The question is whether or not I’ve accepted the solution to sin. God does not send us to Hell. We choose our destination. John 3:17-18 tells us that He is trying to remedy to solution to sin, and tells us that our choice to follow His Son is a choice to reject the consequences of sin. There is nothing arbitrary about our final destination. God does not makes the choice for us. he merely affirms the choice we have been making for our entire life.

Luke 16 records the parable of a rich man and Lazarus. Both die and find themselves awaiting different consequences for their lives. Abraham asks the rich man if he realizes that he chose those consequences, and he reaffirms to the rich man that his relatives have to choose their destinations for themselves – that Abraham, Lazarus, nor the rich man may interfere. Romans 1:18-22 warns us against turning away from this plain choice. When we reject God, we reject His goodness, His love, His mercy, all that He has done for us. How can we hope to stay in His presence when we have separated ourselves from Him.

Concluding Thought
Think about this. God created water, and, while we live, we can enjoy the water He provides – believer or otherwise. We can say the same about peace, joy, and love. However, our Giver will stop giving to those who have turned away when time is over. Hell deprives God’s gifts from those who have rejected Him. The good news is that we do have hope. God has given us an avenue of salvation. He has made the payment for sin. Ours is simply to accept that payment.

sermon by Ben Lanius

Cutting a Covenant

It’s interesting how clear God makes it to His people that He will do things in His way as opposed to their way. However, He often communicates His plan in ways to which we can relate. He makes promises. He creates covenants. He uses imagery and forms familiar to hose with whom He is communicating.

The events of Genesis 15 is a passage that is pretty familiar to most of us. Prior to this chapter, God has made promises to Abram regarding a land, a nation, and a blessing through his descendants. This promises is repeated, but, in chapter 15, Abram asks how these promises will be fulfilled. He doesn’t see how a great nation can come from an old man and a barren woman. In response, God instructs Abram to make a sacrifice, a very unique and strange sacrifice. He cuts several animals in half and creates a path between the separated halves. Abram goes into a deep sleep filled with horrors, and God speaks to him in this sleep. Smoke and a flaming torch cross the path between the hewn animals, and God reaffirms His covenant with Abram.

The Importance of His Covenant
What happens here? God cuts a covenant with Abram in a practice familiar to Chaldeans and the nomadic tribes of the region. Tow leaders would walk together along a path between hewn animals, inferring carnage will come to those who seek to break or interfere with the covenant formed. It is the forming of a very serious relationship. Jeremiah 34:18 refers to this practice, and God says He will make His transgressing people like the sacrificed animals. He warns them of the doom involved with their breaking of the covenant they had with God. They had been unfaithful, and they would be delivered to their enemies. This is the gravity with which God views our covenant-relationship with Him.

In Matthew 26, we read of the night Judas will betray Jesus, when Jesus washes His disciples’ feet, and when Jesus institutes a memorial of His impending death. In this, He references a new covenant sealed by the dividing of His body and the spilling of His blood. Jeremiah 31, after numerous promises in the previous chapters of a coming king like David, God describes a new covenant that He will make with His people. In that upper room, Jesus is telling His disciples He is bringing that new covenant, and the Hebrew writer, in chapter 8, expounds upon how this new covenant is different from and superior to the one it replaces.

I Corinthians 11:23 again refers to Jesus’ body being broken as the bread and the cup as His blood. The Greek word translated as broken in verse 24 is often used metaphorically as shattered. It is an image of being violently torn, as if by a great force. Each record of the crucifixion in the four gospels tells of the temple’s veil being torn in half, top to bottom, when Jesus cries His last. Hebrews 10:19 compares Jesus’ flesh to that veil that was torn in half. Symbolically, Jesus is cut as the sacrifice for our covenant between us and God.

Maintaining the Covenant
Jesus lives as a spotless lamb. His blood is shed and His body broken for the institution of our new covenant. Upon His crucifixion, God cut a covenant between Himself and man, a new testament rooted in the same tradition with which He formed a covenant with Abram before the nation of Israel had even been born. In Hebrews 10:28-29, God warns us against breaking that covenant, trivializing His blood, and trampling the body broken for us. Finally, Isaiah 53:5-6 describes the wounding of God’s Servant for the sake of our transgressions. We are like straying sheep, so one spotless lamb accepts the consequences we deserve.

The events in Genesis 15 may seem strange to us now, but they illustrate a serious and committed relationship between God and Abram. It was something holy and sacred. Likewise, we today have a sacred covenant with our God. May we never break that bond lest we treat our Lord’s sacrifice as inconsequential. Instead, we should daily be renewing our commitment and our service to Him.

sermon by Tim Smelser

The Challenge of Love

To treat others how we want to be treated, to love one another – they are ideas that look easy on paper. If we take a hard look at ourselves, though, we may find we aren’t so good at these simple concepts. God sets out expectations of how we are supposed to live and treat each other. He sets an example of love, and our challenge is to follow that example, to demonstrate the love of God in our lives.

In our character, God is the pivot point. When we know how to interact and how to react to God, we learn to better interact with those around us. We learn from an early age that God made us and God loves us. We study His power, His mercy, and the many ways He loves us. We demonstrate our love for Him, in turn, when we love others. Without loving others, we do not love God.

Foundations of Love
According to Genesis 1, we are God’s Creation, and He made us in His spiritual image. We understand that authority is a part of Creation. We are His. However, man likes to live by his own authority. In Daniel, for example, both kings Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar need to be reminded of their places. In contrast, Psalm 19 describes the glory of God’s word as portrayed by nature. The psalm speaks of a power before which we must humble ourselves. It is the testimony of I AM as God calls Himself in Exodus 3:14. We are created for the purpose of good works under this authority according to Ephesians 2:10.

John 3:16 describes the love God has for us in the sacrifice He provided and made on our behalves. Paul elaborates on this point in Romans 5:6, describing how undeserving we are of such a sacrifice. He describes our relationship with God as adversarial, but the cleansing power of Christ’s blood bridges the gulf separating us from our Father. He loves us despite the fact that we are unlovable. This love is a model for the love we are to have for one another according to I John 4:19. It is unmeasurable by our standards, but it is also a love that is unconditional. THis is the foundation upon which our love is built.

God Doesn’t Want Us to Hit
Ephesians 5:1 encourages us to be imitators of God in all things, and I John 4:7 equates loving others with loving God. God is characterized by love, and demonstrating unloving qualities separates us from our God. Without love, according to John, it is impossible for us to even know Him. Verse 20 goes as far as to say that we are liars if we claim to love God while harboring animosity and resentment in our hearts. Just as we don’t want our children to hit their friends and classmates, God does not want us striking out at each other. Doing so is contrary to His nature.

God’s will is accomplished through love. Galatians 5:14 calls love the summation of God’s law. Loving one another takes care of the details. Once love is in place, all other aspects of obedience become easier to follow. Many of us are familiar with I Corinthians 13, describing the qualities of love. We often recite these verses at weddings, but Paul is describing more than the love between husband and wife with these words. He is expounding upon the type of love all Christians should have for their fellow man, and Paul even has the audacity to say that anything we achieve ultimately amounts to nothing if we do not have love.

Where then is our love for those around us? God created us. He loves us – completely and unconditionally. In turn, He wants us to demonstrate His love in our lives.

sermon by Kevin Heaton

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