Changes!

Intro: There are times I am really am amazed at life around me.

1. This week I looked out our kitchen window and I saw brightest red cardinal that I had ever seen.

2. Another time I was driving down 204 – a short freeway spur that runs between 490 and Chili Avenue. There in a small field just off the freeway were a mother and two fawns. If I had not been on the freeway, I would have been tempted to stop and admire the scene for a few minutes.

3. This week as my wife and I left work, I looked to the East. As I looked at the clouds in the eastern sky, I could almost swear that I saw mountains on the horizon. Amazing, truly amazing.

4. Today's passage is one of those kind of times. If I had seen it, I would have wanted to pull over and admire the event for just a few minutes. I expect that it would be true for you as well.

Read Mark 9:2-10

Pray

T.S. The transfiguration was a remarkable event.

I. The transfiguration was for ordinary people.

1. I have not reason to think that this day was any different than any other.

2. Jesus selected three of His disciples to join Him in prayer.

(Ill.) This wasn't the first time he had asked his disciples to pray with Him it had happened on the day that Peter had uttered those insightful words, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” – and it would also happen again on the night when Jesus was betrayed. On that night Jesus asked his disciples to pray with Him, but for whatever reason it was a difficult request, and they could only sleep.

3. So Jesus chooses Peter, James, and John to accompany him up a high mountain. Twenty miles north of the Sea of Galilee are the head waters of the Jordan River which lie along the foothills of Mount Hermon. It was this mountain, which raises 9200 feet above the Mediterranean, that Jesus climbed with Peter, James, and John that morning.

(Appl.) Jesus knew that His ministry took more than just Him. He chose twelve, today he asks three of those twelve to accompany Him. Ministry is never to be done in isolation – it is a team effort. It was a team effort for Jesus – it is still a team effort.

(Ill.) I am not much of a sports fan – but I have occasionally watched a hockey game. Hockey handles penalties in a strange way. When there is a foul, the player who committed the foul is placed into the penalty box for a period of time to be determined by the referee. During the time that the player is in the penalty box, the team is short handed. They are playing with four players, while the team not committing the foul plays with five players. It is at that point that they realize that hockey is a team sport. And so is the church and we cannot afford to play with a missing player. We cannot afford to play without you.

4. And so Jesus and His three disciples arrive on that high mountain. It is going to be a peaceful, quiet time of prayer. Jesus and the three of them – they are alone.

2. The transfiguration was about one extraordinary person.

   1. But two things take place that guarantee that this will never again be remembered as an ordinary day.

   2. First, Mark tells us, Jesus was “Transfigured”

(Ill.) The Greek work is “Metamorphis” - his face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white. Have you ever seen those commercials for Tide or Cheer. Do you remember that last scene in those commercials where the white sheets are flapping in the wind and there is this little sparkle in the corner. In real life, regardless of how much we wash our clothes, they never get that sparkle. But that day, that time, Jesus and his clothes had that sparkle. Now Jesus' transfiguration is more than clean clothes, but that is the picture I get in my head.

(Appl.) Actually, Jesus' transfiguration was just a precursor of future events. Romans 12:2 uses the same word for the changes that are to be part of our lives - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. But our transformation does not end there. The time will come our transfiguration will be complete. I Corinthians 15:51-52 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. As believers we are in the midst of our own transformation.

3. But something else happens – two more men appear on the scene – Moses and Elijah.

(Ill.) When I get to heaven there are a lot of questions I want to ask God. And there are several that were raised by this passage as I studied this week: Questions like Why Moses and Elijah? Why not Noah or Abraham or David? Why were they there? They didn't say anything. How did Peter, James, and John recognize them? Moses had lived 1400 years before. Elijah died 850 years earlier. How could Peter, James, and John recognize them? I have questions.

4. Now here is where it gets a bit out of hand. Peter is excited. He wants to build three booths or tents to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

5. But from someplace comes a voice, “This is my son, the Beloved, listen to Him.”

(Ill.) When I was in college, I took one course that had absolutely nothing to do with my degree in chemistry or my plans to go to seminary. I took a course in “Theatrical Lighting”. I can imagin the lighting that might be used on this scene. It is the middle of the day. The sun is shining. But as Jesus begins to glow like the sun and his clothes begin to dazzle – the light shifts. It begins to narrow – the focus is now on three men – Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

And then Peter begins to get excited. And after he makes his request known, God begins to speak. And the light refocuses again – this time it is clear that the focus, the spot light, is on Jesus.

6. Peter had a lesson to learn. The gospel is about Jesus. It was not about him, it was not about Moses or Elija. It was about Jesus.

(Appl.) It is also a lesson we all need to learn. The gospel is not about us. It is not about our church. It is not about its pastor. Rather, the gospel is about Jesus Christ. And we need to listen to God's voice. We may not have a quiet hill, we may not see Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah standing before us. But we do need to hear the voice of the Father, “This is my son, the Beloved, listen to Him.”

3. The transfiguration had extra-ordinary results

   1. And then suddenly, there is quiet. Jesus and the disciples are left alone on that hill.

   2. And they had to return to the other disciples. They were commanded to say nothing till after Jesus had risen from the grave.

   3. Yet these three men were even now beginning their own transformation. They could never be the same.

   4. And when we meet Jesus – we will never be the same.

Conclusion: Let me conclude by asking a question:

1. Do you need a transformation?

2. Do you need God to begin the process of completing a transfiguration in your life?

But another question is also appropriate here.

1. God may have meant something more to you in the past.

2. But it has been awhile since you have made sensed that he was an important part of your life.

Whichever set of questions you need to answer, it would seem that this lenten season might be a good time to find that relationship with God that you desire.

Join me in singing “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”. If you need to feel free to approach the altar.

Two-Faced

Intro: I want to try an experiment. I want you all to close your eyes. Close them tight.

1. While your eyes were closed, did you see the light?
2. Here it is – bright, clear, distinct.
3. Yet when your eyes were closed you did not see it.
4. I would like to suggest that this is a helpful illustration of what our lives were like before we let Jesus Christ take control.
5. God was there, light was present. Through His church, through His people, He made himself known.
6. But we had our eyes shut – we refused to see what He was doing.
7. Just because we did not see Him, did not mean He was not there.
8. But, as Christians, your eyes are open. You see God in so many ways – you see Him in nature, you see him in the people around you, you have developed a sense of His presence wherever you may be.
9. And something else happens, as you become more aware of God's presence, you also become more aware of His expectations of you. You have a growing understanding of how your behavior impacts your spiritual life.
10. Paul had a similar experience. Turn with me to Romans 7:14-25 to see how he responded his own growing knowledge of God's expectations.

Read Romans 7:14-25

Pray

Tran. This passages presents us with two approaches toward our growing understanding of God's expectations.

I. Man's delimma
II. Man's solution

1. Man's Dilemma

1. I don't think Paul was much different from you and me.

2. At times he hurt, at times he was passionate. I expect that he could enjoy a good joke as well as the next person (a fact that Russ will surely appreciate). And at times he found his behavior and thought out of line with his faith.

3. For Paul, this would have been particularly difficult. He had a wonderful sense of God's holiness. Here was a God who perfectly loves His creation, a God who knew us better than we know ourselves.

(Ill.) Thomas A. Edison once said, “We do not know one-millionth part of one percent about anything. We do not know what water is. We don’t know what light is. We do not know what electricity is. We do not know what gravity is. We don’t know anything about magnetism. We have a lot of hypotheses, but that is all.” I think Thomas Edison had it right – we only know one millionth part – but he missed the other side of it. What we don't know, God does know. We barely understand ourselves – but God does.

4. Paul may not know it all, but he does understand that a holy God can have nothing to do with a unholy man.

5. And then he looks at himself - “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

(Appl.) Paul is not unique. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why did I yell at my wife?”, “Why did I watch that movie – it wasn't very helpful in my Christian life?”, “Why can't I trust God more?” And I bet you can think of other questions that seem to haunt you as you seek to live out your Christian life.

1. Paul was in conflict. He knew what God expected, he knew what God wanted from him. But there were times in his life when he did just the opposite.

   1. Imagine the emotional turmoil that he felt

   2. He knew the holy God

   3. He knew his life fell short

2. There are times in each or our lives that we feel very distant from God. That our lives seems out of sync with what God wants. This was what Paul was experiencing.

2. Man's Solution

   1. It might be pretty sore state of affairs if we stopped there. St. John of the Cross called this state a “Dark Night of the Soul.”

(Ill.) Augustine Baker describes that time as “The soul sees nothing but clouds and darkness. She seeks God, and cannot find the least marks or footsteps of His Presence.”

2. But Paul ends the chapter with a different tone - “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

3. Even as he lived in the middle of conflict Paul found hope in Jesus.

4. There will be times when we find ourselves living contrary to how we know we out to be living. But we too can trust that Jesus Christ will see us through the tough times.

5. Let me suggest four lessons that Paul give us here

   1. Sin exists – there are right and wrong behaviors
   2. Sin is never to be a desired life style
   3. None the less, as Christians, we will sin
   4. When we do sin, there is forgiveness

(Ill.) Francis Marian was one of the founders of this country. His grandfather came to the America's for religious freedom in 1690. Francis Marian also served in the North Carolina legislature before and after the formation of our country. And he was a believer. Though he wrote 230 years ago, Francis Marian's words still ring true today. “Who can doubt that God created us to be happy, and thereto made us to love one another? It is plainly written as the Gospel. The heart is sometimes so embittered that nothing but Divine love can sweeten it, so enraged that devotion can only becalm it, and so broken down that it takes all the forces of heavenly hope to raise it. In short, the religion of Jesus Christ is the only sure and controlling power over sin.”

Sin - No Way

Intro: There is a underlying rule in parenting that says, “If we don't give children the attention they need, they will find a way to get it.”

1. By his or her behavior

2. By acting out

3. Through disobedience

Our scripture this morning suggests a similar problem in our spiritual lives.

Read Romans 6:1-18

Pray

T.S. Paul has told us why we need a savior – we are sinners Paul has told us who that savior is – Jesus Christ Paul has told us how to be saved – by grace

And that presents a problem. It goes something like this – if God is going demonstrate his grace because of my sin. Then the more I sin, the more of God's grace I will need to experience.

And this is a good thing?

Paul's initial answer is “No, let it not be.” μὴ γένοιτο But then he goes on to give two clear reasons for walking away from sin:

1. We are alive, and no longer dead

2. We are free and no longer slaves.

1. We are alive – not dead.

1. There is a parallel between our lives before we came to Christ and our lives now and Christ's death and resurrection.

(Ill.) 21X Paul uses the words life or death in these eleven verses. Sometimes referring to Christ's death and sometimes to our state without Christ in our life.

2. Christ died – in a few weeks we will be celebrating that death on Good Friday.

3. We too were dead – Paul tells us that “The wages of sin is death.”

4. When we live our lives separated from Jesus – there is something missing.

(Ill.) In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” Without Jesus, life is does have something missing.

5. But just as Christ is no longer dead after the resurrection on Easter Sunday morning, so we have experienced the resurrection in our own lives when we received Christ.

(Ill.) In the Methodist church we allow each person who chooses to be baptized to also chose the mode of baptism. The most common mode in the Methodist church is sprinkling – that is why we have a baptismal font in the front of the church. But the church also allows a candidate immersion – where the pastor and the candidate are in a shallow body of water and the candidate is completely immersed during the ceremony. When we consider this passage, immersion makes sense. In immersion, the candidate is buried and raised. Immersion may illustrate it best; but regardless of the mode of baptism, the parallel remains -

6. But the miracle of being raised with Christ, is not some miracle that happens at baptism. It is a miracle that happens when we place our faith in Christ.

(Appl.) So what does all this mean. It means that as Christians, we do not need to continuing living our lives as if we are still dead in our sins. God has given us our life – we have a new life. Paul, here, calls it a resurrection. But whatever we call it, it means that our hearts, our view of life, our choices will be different. In Christ we are not the same person we were. And we will live our lives differently as well.

2. We are free – not slaves.

1. But there is another contrast here that Paul uses to answer the question of sin in the Christian – We are no longer slave, but we are free.

(Ill.) Freedom House, a respected organization has for many years been gathering data about the personal freedom people experience around the world. Using their definitions, 66% of the world has no experience of personal freedom in 2005. Two of those countries are in North America – Cuba and Haiti. I expect that you, like me, might say, “Whew, I am glad I don't live there.” Yet, as long as we live a life separated from Jesus Christ, we do not have freedom. Paul says we are “slaves to sin.”

3. You see, until we are willing to place ourselves at the feet of the savior and determine to learn from him, we are slaves to sin.

4. So how do we place ourselves at the feet of Jesus. Let me suggest five steps for living at the feet of Jesus:

   1. Ask Jesus to speak to you. A simple prayer - “Let me hear your voice.”

   2. Spend time in his word each day – three minutes a day in the word of God is sufficient time to allow God to transform you. And more time is even better.

   3. Spend time speaking to God. There are times when we have heavy hearts. We have concerns about our lives, or concerns about our loved ones. A relationship requires two way conversation – we will allow God to speak to us, we also need to speak to him.

   4. Spend time with believers each week. This is time over and beyond our hour or so on Sunday morning. It might be our midweek Bible Study, it might be one-on-one time with a Christian believer that will leave you stronger.

   5. Talk about your faith. We talk about what is important to us – and as you spend time at the feet of Jesus, He will become important to you and you will want to talk about Him.

Conclusion: I was reminded this week of that well known story, “Footsteps in the sand.” I am sure that you have heard it ...

1. God wants to walk with us

2. Will you allow him to come close.

Problems and Solutions

Read Romans 5:12-21

Pray

Intro: Some sermons are easier to write than others.

1. My hope is that my preaching reflects the purpose of the scripture we are examining that day.

2. I really do not want to go off on some tangent that reflects my biases rather than God's.

3. I expect, in spite of my intentions, that I sometimes do this. I apologize if I have ever missed the point – God holds me responsible for accurately reflecting His thoughts and His ways.

4. But there are times where it would be hard to miss the point of a passage.

5. I suspect when I mention that today's sermon is about two men, your response is going to be that all to common teen response - “Duh^” And you will immediately know that those two men will be Adam and Jesus.

6. In Romans 5 – Paul is not merely using Adam and Jesus to illustrate his points; rather, Paul is giving us some basic theology that help us to understand the nature of man and his need for redemption.

Tran. I want to spend the next few minutes looking at what Paul is wanting his readers to know about Adam and Jesus. The lessons are important, for they provide a basic understanding of how God perceives man. And, because we want to see our world as God sees it, it also provides considerable guidance as to how we need to see those around us and how we need to see ourselves.

1. Lessons from Adam

1. As I read through this morning's passage, it is very clear that Paul understands sin as having a common source – and that source is Adam.

   1. You may or may not believe in a literal interpretation of the first book of Genesis – I do.

   2. Regardless, it is very clear that that the underlying lesson here is that sin has a common origin.

   3. Theologically – it is said that Adam was the representative for us all. When he sinned, we all sinned.

(Ill.) The best illustration that I have heard is this – After the US Senate agrees to a treaty with a foreign power, it still is not valid until the President signs the treaty. When the President finally signs the treaty he is not signing it for himself – he is signing it for all of us. As a country, as a citizen of this country, once the President has signed a treaty, we are committed to it provisions.

2. But Paul has something else for us here – Every one has sinned.

   1. Nothing new – Paul has already said it in Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

   2. You see you might want to say, “But Pastor Floyd, I'm a pretty good person.” And it may be true – but you still are a person who sins. Like everyone else in this room, you don't live up to your own expectations for yourself. And if you don't live up to your own expectations, how can you expect to live up to God's expectations for you. You can't!

3. And because you sin, you can't blame anyone else.

   1. It would be easy to blame my parents for my sin. After all I grew up in dysfunctional home where my father was a compulsive gambler and probably an alcoholic. Counseling has helped me understand why I am broken – but it does not relieve me of being responsible for my own sin.

   2. It might be easy to blame Adam for my sin. I mean if he had never sinned, sin would have never entered the human race and I would never have sinned. I suppose I could do that – but it didn't work for Adam – he couldn't blame Eve. And it didn't work for Eve – she couldn't blame the serpent.

   3. Here is the key application – I am responsible for my own behavior, I cannot blame anyone else.

4. And here is the final lesson from Adam – there are consequences for sin

   1. Paul is preparing us for his reminder in Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   2. Death is ultimately a separation from God – a gap has occurred between me and God. A gap has occurred between you and God

   3. Spiritual death has eternal consequences – but it also effects us today. It effects our relationships to our families, it effects our attitudes, it effects our abilities to feel and response to our feelings. Spiritual death wears us down – we may not be dead, but we may feel dead.

   4. A gap that you and I cannot cross.

2. Lessons from Christ

   1. A gap that you and I cannot cross – but Christ has.

(Ill.) A number of years ago my family started attending family camp every memorial day and every labor day. Timberlake was a wonderful place and a couple of years into our visits they added a obstacle course. At one point in the course we had to cross the creek. There was no easy way across. It was too deep. But there was a way across – a bridge made of tires. It was the only way across, and the only way to complete the rest of the course. We have this gap between God and ourselves – with no easy way to close that gap. Yet God has provided a way. John 14:6 says it better than me, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me.” Jesus knew that he filled that gap, he provide the only way, the only way, for us to know God.

2. Though Jesus is the only way for us to know God, he is the way for everyone to approach God. Everyone. The person from downtown Rochester. The person across the street from the church. The person across the street from your home. And even you. We cannot be good enough, we cannot say the right things, we cannot dress well enough – only by placing our faith in Jesus Christ can do we have the hope of spending eternity with Jesus. And eternity starts today.

3. And that is the last point – just as there is a consequence for sin, there is a consequence for placing our faith in Jesus Christ and scripture calls that consequence eternal life.

   1. Eternal life starts the minute we receive Jesus

   2. Now that does not mean that all your problems are over – it does not mean that life will no longer be tough

   3. It does mean that God is beginning to make you into the person he wants you to be. It is a life long journey – a journey that every Christian is on.

   4. Is he finished – no.

(Ill.) PBPGINFWMY – Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.

Conclusion: Let me conclude by asking you to do something.

1. Turn to the person on your left – do you see them? There sitting next to you is a sinner.

2. Turn to the person on your right – do you see them? There sitting next to you is a sinner.

3. Now look at the person sitting between the person on your right and the person on your left. Do you see them? That person is a sinner too.

4. Now I want you to remind that person in the middle that there is a solution to that problem called sin.

5. That solution is Jesus Christ.

Changes From The Cross

Intro: In 1833, two women who had served as missionaries to India wanted to form a womens missionary society within the Methodist church.

1. So a day was set for a large group of women to gather for the creation of the first women's group within the Methodist denomination.

2. But the weather was less than desirable – the records show that a pelting rain kept all but six women away from that founding meeting.

3. But when those six women gathered, they put together the foundation that is today known as the United Methodist Women.

4. When God is part of something – it is not numbers that are important.

5. Rather it is a willingness to be obedient to God and follow Him whatever the cost.

6. Romans 5:1-11 begins to help us understand the consequences of trusting God.

Read Romans 5:1-11

Pray

Tran. Romans 1-4 was spent describing the necessity of salvation by grace. As sinful men and women, it was only God that could deal with our sin. We could not, our parents could not, our friends could not. ONLY God could do it. And he did.

T.S. Paul has spent four chapters describing the necessity of salvation by grace. Beginning in chapter 5, Paul describes the implications of salvation by grace for the believer. Romans 5:1-11 focuses on three consequences of salvation by grace.

1. Our Relationship To God will be different.

1. The first piece of this is that we have peace with God.

2. Much more than the absence of conflict.

3. Paul has already told us in Romans 1:18 that “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness”

(Ill.) Have you ever made Italian salad dressing? It takes a bit of oil and a bit of spices mixed in vinegar. But as you see them sitting in the decanter – they don't mix. That is sort of like sin and God – they don't mix.

4. But Christ broke down that barrier that separates us from God. There is now peace between God and ourselves.

5. There is another word used here to describe that new relationship – we have access.

   1. I might, if I pulled all the right string, get access to the CEO of Kodak

   2. But the chances are very slim that I would be allowed into the offices of Bill Gates

   3. But there is no way that I might get access to the Queen of England or the President of the United States

   4. Yet – we are allowed access to God. No that is too simple. Here is the creator, here is the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever present, God. And we have access to him. Everything I know about sin and everything I know about God says I cannot approach Him. Yet because of what Christ has done, I can.

2. Our Relationship To Ourselves will be different.

   1. Look at verse 3: “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. “

   2. Suffering here is far more than pain. θλῖψις is translated in a great many ways – suffering, affliction, tribulation, distress, pressure – it refers to the problems that we all face. And Paul does not say “IF” - He assumes that these problems will be there.

(Appl.) Being a Christian never meant we would never have problems. Christ, our best model, had problems. We are broken people – and broken people have problems.

3. But the promise is that those problems will have a benefit.

4. Look at the cascade – it starts with the external, the pressures that are part of life; but as we move through each step, we see its effects moving increasingly to the core of our being. What starts as stress on the outside, will will leave us changed on the inside.

5. Resulting in love – love that was demonstrated by Jesus.

(Appl.) Let me recommend a verse for memorization – verse 8: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Say it together.

3. Our Relationship to Eternity.

   1. As sinners, something is out of whack with our relationship with God.

   2. Paul tells us that we have been reconciled through Christ's death

(Ill.) My wife's favorite job every month is reconciling her check book. Most months, it works out right. But every so often, something is out of whack. She will spend an hour or two finding the problem. And then, when she gets really desparate, she will call me. So far we have found every problem – and even they are few and far between.

3. We are out of whack – but Christ's death reconciled us to God. When we put our faith into Christ, we find that there is a balance – a balance with eternal consequences.

4. We have already noted that the consequences of sin is God's wrath. It is what we deserve from a holy God.

5. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. This of course was His resurrection.

6. I deserve to die, I deserve to experience God's wrath. But it won't happen. Why? Because I have been reconciled – because what was out of whack, is no longer out of whack.

Conclusion: When we became a Christian,

1. Our relationship to God would not be the same

2. Our relationship to myself would never be the same

3. Our relationship to eternity would never be the same