A Letter: A First Read

A Letter's First Read

Intro. Mail is part of the 21st century.

1. Maybe you saw the movie “Letters To God” last year – they even came out with a Bible with some of the notes that were in the Bible discussed in the movie.
2. And here is a pile of my mail from this past week.
3. Maybe one of you would like to pay my phone bill.
4. If you lived in the 1st century AD, you may have been handed a letter. You would have been told it was from John the Apostle.
5. It started this way:

Read: I John 1:1-4 Pray

Trans:What would you do if you were alone on an island?

1. All your food was provided
2. Great views of Mediterranean
3. People around all the time
4. So what do you do?
5. John wrote letters – three letters. We call them I, II, and III John
6. Over the next several weeks we will spend time in I John.
7. We will will look at what makes I John unique
8. And what John wanted to the church to know as he waited out his final years.

T.S. As we look at I John 1:1-4, we will discover more about the author, more about the message, and more about his purpose for writing.

1. The Author

1. It is late in the first century – and a letter begins to be circulated among the church. But in that letter, no where does John claim to be the author.
2. But that has been the church's claim from early in its history.

(Ill.) John was unique – he was the last of the disciples to die. Rather than being killed – he had been exiled to Patmos. Patmos was traditionally a Greek Island, but by the time of Jesus, had become essentially a Roman site to exile its prisoners – that is why we find John there.

3. John was not only speaking for himself. Notice that uses the word “we” - the letter was not just his. He is speaking not only for himself, he was the final voice of the original twelve apostles. He is the last of the men that had spent three years living, watching, listening to Jesus. He was there when Jesus died. And, perhaps most importantly, John was there when Jesus rose from the grave and ascended to return home to His father.
4. Thus John's voice was his own and that of all the twelve. But as he wrote, John also spoke for someone else – he spoke for God.
5. What John wrote came from his heart, it represented the teachings of the twelve disciples, but it also reflected the work of God in his heart.

(Appl.) I am a firm believer in the “inerrancy” of scripture. Inerrancy is the conviction that God has so prepared the writers of scripture, that when they write, that what is put onto paper is what God intended to write. It is true for Genesis, it true of the Gospel writers, it is true of John as he writes his last letter. Inerrancy means that we can trust the scriptures. They give us what God wanted us to have. And from them we are lead to live lives modeled after his plan for His world.

2. The Message

1. I am not going to discuss everything that John discusses in the five chapters of I John.
2. But in these four verses before us this morning, there is very important point to remember.
3. Here it is – John is not here to teach us theology, but he is here to help us understand what he has experience of Jesus Christ.
4. In these four verses, John tells us that what follows comes from what he has seen, from what he has touched, and what from he has heard.
5. This is no fiction book. It comes from his life.

(Appl.) I have to admit that sometimes it is hard to talk about the lives we have lived. Privacy is something that the modern American strive to maintain. We all carry a load that can hurt to share – But there are two times when sharing our past can be of help:

1. The first is when we share with God. I mean he already knows our past – and only as we let him take that load that we carry can we begin to experience the healing that he offers. There is no hiding from Jesus – but when we are honest with Him, we begin to let go of that baggage, we begin to let go of that load that we have been carrying. And the second reason for sharing our past makes no sense till the first has occurred.
2. The second takes a bit of courage and great deal of sensitivity. When God has dealt with our past, when we have experienced God's healing, when we have lived with the freedom that God has given us, sometimes our past can be of help to another. We don't tell our story to tell it – but we might choose to tell it when it will let another know that same freedom.

6. So, John opens up his life in this letter – sharing what he has seen, heard, and touched, what he has experienced, as he has walked with God.
7. Though the book will introduce us to some theology, it was not written to be a theology book.
8. The message of I John is rooted in the life of John the apostle. As we study and read over the next few weeks, I hope that we never forget this.

3. The Purpose

1. So we have John, writing from his own heart as well as from that of the other apostles and from God's heart. He writes about the things that he has seen, touched, and heard. But we have said nothing, yet, about why he is writing.
2. John suggests three answers:
3. The first we have already hinted at – he is writing to introduce us to Jesus – what he has seen, heard, and touched. Sometimes, I think, there are those who use the phrase “meet Jesus” too loosely, but John really wants you to know the Jesus he knows. Nothing hid, no surprises – just the Jesus he spent three wonderful years with. The Jesus who he will spend eternity with – John wants you to know him.
4. But there is another purpose – look at verse 3, “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” John is writing so that you can join the family – the family of God.
5. Or, if you are already a member of God's family, so that you can be more faithful member of that family. He wants to prepare us to live as believers in a world that does not believe in God.
6. Finally, he writes in verse 4 that he writes because he wants his own joy to be “complete.”
7. When we serve another, when we help another, it is satifying – it is joyful. What more joy could there be but in helping lead others to eternity in Christ's presence.

(Ill.) Joy does not come from what we do – it comes from living close to Jesus. Here is John, exiled to an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, but he finds joy. If you find yourself lacking joy, ask yourself where God is? What role is He playing in your life right at that point in time?

Conclusion:

Pray

Hope In A Future

     Hope In A Future     

Introduction: As we read and think about great Christmas passages of the Bible, one of the things we need to do is to resist the influence of our culture to trivialize Christmas and its powerful meaning for our lives.

1. One of the true message of Christmas is about hope.
2. At Bethlehem, for today, and for tomorrow.
3. Hope is one of the greatest messages of the Christmas story. Incredibly, it is one of the greatest needs of the human heart.
4. Sometimes in English the word “hope” describes a wish.
5. But in the Bible hope is a kind of confidence.

Read: Luke 1:39-55 Pray Tran: Edward Mote was born into poverty on January 21, 1797, in London. His parents, innkeepers, wouldn’t allow a Bible in their house, but somehow Edward heard the gospel as a teenager and came to Christ.

He eventually became a skilled carpenter and the owner of his own cabinet shop.

“One morning,” he recalled, “it came into my mind as I went to labor to write a hymn on the ‘Gracious Experience of a Christian.’ As I went up to Holborn I had the chorus: On Christ the solid Rock I stand / All other ground is sinking sand. During the day I had four first verses complete, and wrote them off.”

In 1852, Edward, fifty-five, gave up his carpentry to pastor the Baptist Church in Horsham, Sussex, where he ministered twenty-one years.

He resigned in 1873, in failing health, saying, “I think I am going to heaven; yes, I am nearing port. The truths I have been preaching, I am now living upon and they’ll do very well to die upon.” Today his hymn, “The Solid Rock,” is still popular with Christians around the world: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

T.S. Let’s look together at the lessons about hope that Christmas brings:

1. Hope is the conviction that God will fulfill his promises (1:45).
1. When Mary the mother of Jesus meets her cousin Elizabeth, she says: “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:4)
2. That’s the language of hope.
3. Hope is knowing that what the Lord has said to you will be accomplished even though we have little direct evidence that it will happen.

(Appl.) Have you ever been disappointed about something you really hoped for? Was it a gift at Christmas? A person that you had hoped to spend the rest of your life with?

4. We need the confident expectation that God can be relied on to fulfill the hopes He has awakened in our hearts through the promises of His Word.
5. And that leads us to our second point this afternoon:

2. Hope trusts in God in spite of problems (2:25).
1. The whole Christmas story takes place against the backdrop of all kinds of serious problems.
2. Yet its entire message is filled, not only with deep happiness in the midst of great darkness, but also profound hope in the face of perplexing problems.
3. For example, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25).
1. Simeon was waiting and believing.
2. That’s hope.
3. Simeon’s hope was not based on a denial of the problems of the day but rather on a decision to trust in God despite the problems of the day.

3. Hope Trusts God to Transcend Understanding and Expectations (Luke 1–2).
1. Mary, Joseph, Simeon, the shepherds, and all the others in the Christmas story are not given full explanations that describe in detail how God will fulfill His promises.
2. Mary and Joseph don’t understand the spiritual and biological details of the miracle of the virgin birth.
3. Simeon doesn’t know precisely how this little baby will be a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel.
4. But Mary, Joseph, and Simeon do not allow the limitations of human understanding to determine the height of their hope in God.

(Ill.) Have you watched a candle? If I were to light it right here, it would not appear very bright – in fact you wonder what good is that candle? But if we were to wait till the sun goes down, we might say that the candle adds “atmosphere” to the room. And if we waited till it was really dark, we might find that the candle actually gives us enough light to read by.

5. Hope trusts God to fulfill His promises in ways that transcend our understanding and expectations.

4. Hope waits for God to accomplish His will in His way (2:28–30).
1. One of the most revealing things about this man, Simeon is the way he describes his own relationship to God: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace” (v. 29).
2. The word “Lord” is “despota”. It is the word from which we get the English word despot.
1. It is not the common word for Lord that is found throughout the Bible.
2. Though a despot is thought of as cruel or mean, that was not its original meaning. It does mean that Simeon has an absolute master who has complete rule over the lives of those under him.
3. To hope in God for Simeon is not to come to God with his agenda and ask God to bless it and “hope” that He will do it.
4. It is to come to and ask God for His agenda and ask Him to bless it.

(Appl.) In every life something rules as sovereign. What is it that rules as sovereign in your life as you prepare for Christmas? Where do you place your hope?

5. Hope does not disappoint (1:45-47).

1. The exchange between Elizabeth and Mary shows how hope does not lead to disappointment, but sees the fulfillment of God’s promises for our greater good and His greater glory:
2. Remember the words of Elizabeth“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
3. And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (vv. 45–47).
4. Mary trusted the promises for good reason.
5. They were all fulfilled in Christ as He was born that first Christmas in a manger with heavenly signs and hosts, with shepherds and wise men bowing at His feet, with kingly gifts, and so much more than Mary could have expected; not to mention His ultimate role as Savior.

Conclusion: As we move through this holiday season, I hope that you will remember that Christmas is about HOPE

1. Not for what we want
2. But for what God wants

Pray

Planned For The Future

      Planned For The Future      

Intro.: How long in advanced do you make plans in advance for a major activity?

1. For example – right after Christmas we will be traveling to the United Methodist Congress on Evangelism – like we have done the last five or six years.

2. Our planning started almost a year ago – as we left last years congress when they offered a reduced price on registration on the very last day.

3. And then we had to decide whether to attend – after all we are no longer part of a United Methodist church. Once we decided to go – then we had to make hotel reservations and we had to choose four workshops each.

4. Now we still need to make our travel plans – three days down, three days back – driving route, plans for overnights, gas, food.

5. Then, just before we leave, Sandra will take most of the responsibility for packing – for 10 or 11 days. We don't want to forget our medications – or our toiletries. And we need to make arrangements for BoDandy – his vet has great facilities for him, they allow our son to visit, the allow him to be their office dog while he is there. And one of his long time friends from here at Royal Gardens works there. But we have to make those reservations!

6. We make all those plans for a 10 or 11 day trip –

Read: Isaiah 9:6-7 Pray Trans: God made plans for his Son starting back in eternity –

1. The first reference to a coming Messiah was in Genesis 3 – right after Adam and Eve's fall

2. We start speaking of Christ with His birth

3. But God doesn't – He knew the role that Jesus would play in the life of His people before day one – and then God created all that we have.

T.S. When I think of the Messiah pictured in the Old Testament, two authors come to mind.

1. Now before I mention those two authors, I want to be careful to remind each of us – myself included – that virtually every OT book has some reference to the coming Messiah. There is no doubt that the OT authors in scripture looked for God to send his servant to show men how they ought to live.

2. But when I think of those promises, two authors come to mind – he first is not only one of my favorite OT characters, but also he has a special place in the heart of the Jews. Of course I am speaking of David – the King of Israel that brought the nation together. Rather than being a group of twelve families, it was now one country under one King. Not something God wanted, but something that the Jews wanted.

3. The other was the first of the major prophets – Isaiah. Important to remember that the “major prophets” get their name because they were more important, but because the five major prophets had more of their thoughts and teaching recorded than the twelve minor prophets. There are several of the minor prophets that I enjoy reading and studying – but none of their books are as long as those of the major prophets.

4. But when I think of the OT presentation of the coming Messiah, I find myself coming back to the Psalms (most of which was written by David) and the book of Isaiah.

T.S. In the next few minutes I want to look at the two book contributed by David and Isaiah – and give a brief glimpse of what told their people about the coming Messiah.

1. The Messiah will be both God and Man

   1. If there is anything to be gained from Isaiah's description in Isaiah 9:6-7 it is this.

   2. Of course this is a basic truth of our faith – Jesus was totally God and totally man.

   3. But this is not the only lesson that we might get from Isaiah – Listen to the some what we learn from Isaiah:

      1. Isaiah 7 reminds us that Jesus will be born of a virgin

      2. Isaiah 40 foretells the role that John the Baptist will have in introducing Jesus' ministry to his world.

      3. Isaiah 50 will foretell some of the persecution Jesus will experience during his life.

(Appl.) At times it may seem like discussions such as these are purely academic – not of much interest to the average believer. But it was during one of the darkest times of my life passages like the ones mentioned here kept me hanging onto my faith. I could not ignore the fact that in passages written 750 years before Christ proclaimed a great deal about his life. Passages over which he could have no control, still gave details about events would take place nearly 800 years after they were written.

1. I don't know how Isaiah could have known these things – He was not there to know Jesus. But my understanding of inspiration is that God so prepared the hearts, minds, and souls of the scriptures that what they wrote was what God intended. Did Isaiah understand it all – I do not know. Brian Edwards put it this way, “The inspiration of Scripture is a harmony of the active mind of the writer and the sovereign direction of the Holy Spirit to produce God’s inerrant and infallible Word to mankind.”

2. David also knew a great deal about God coming Messiah

   1. I am glad I am not God.

   2. You see, if I used a normal human standard for determining who I would use to communicate a picture of the Messiah, I would not use David. Why?

      1. Here was a man who was so afraid and had so little trust in God, he had to hid in caves for a great deal of his life. He knew That Saul was out to get him – and though his best friend was the kings son, he knew that would not save him. I probably could forgive him for this – I would hide too, but when combined with his other sins, no way would I choose him to tell my world about my Messiah.

      2. He was a murderer – oh, he would not admit it at first, but when one of God's prophets confronted him, he knew it was true. Uriah had not chance given the assignment that David gave him – he would surely die.

      3. And to top it off, David was an adulterer.

   3. We set our standards so high – really no one could really serve God, by our standards.

   4. It isn't that God's standards are less than ours – no not less than our, but they are different.

   5. You see, to paraphrase Lee Venden, God accepts you just the way you are, but he loves you way too much to leave you the way you are.ⁱⁱ

   6. David found this out – even as Elisha confronted him about his sin, he confessed his sin. The same book that points us toward the Messiah contains David's personal confession of sin. Listen to David's confession – Psalm 51:1-12

      1. It takes a man of real faith to get to that point. Recognizing our sin is tough. Oh, we know it is there, but to confess it and acknowledge it before God is hard – but it is what God asks of us.

      2. And when we do, God can give us great responsibility. He gave David the privilege of telling the world about the coming Messiah.

Conclusion: God's plan had its roots in eternity Pray

iWater, M. (2000). The new encyclopedia of Christian quotations (921). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.

iiWater, Mark. The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations. Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000.

Road To Joy

Road to Joy

Intro.: Nisswa, Minnesota, is known for its turtle races. Every Wednesday afternoon in the summer, the people of Nisswa and the surrounding communities gather at a designated parking lot for the races.

Vendors rent turtles; others sell “turtle products.” And the fans gather early, placing their chairs and blankets in the best viewing sites. In a recent contest, 435 turtles raced in fifteen heats over a six-foot course.

The announcer calls the turtle holders to the mark and gives them the “Go!”—and the crowd goes wild as the handlers release the turtles and scream at them, jump up and down, wave furiously, and throw water, trying to urge the racers to the finish line. The winners of those heats then race their turtles in the championship race.

The winning handler receives $5—along with a turtle necklace. It’s an uncharacteristic frenzy of emotion for the normally reserved folks of northern Minnesota. And to think that some people get upset when Christians are too expressive in church on a Sunday morning.

—Per Nilsen, Burnsville, MNⁱ

Read: Philippians 2:14-16

Pray

T.S.

1. Paul's Expectations

   1. Easy to state – do all things without grumbling or arguing.

   2. At first glance, it sounds as if Paul is asking two things of us

   3. But it seems to me that these two requests are really two sides of the same coin -

      1. grumbling is a very personal activity. It allows me to sit at home and complain – not to anybody in particular, but to myself.

         1. It is individual,

         2. I can grumble in my home, in my car, or while doing my odd jobs.

         3. And grumbling is best done when I am by myself – with no one around to talk me out of it.

      2. arguing is quite the opposite.

         1. It normally takes two to argue – making it a much more public activity

         2. If I find myself arguing with myself, it means I have not made up my mind. But if I am arguing with another person, I have most likely made up my mind!

   4. Paul is not concerned about where we find our discomfort – he is concerned about our attitude. He is concerned how we face the difficulties, the discomforts, the unfair situations that will surely come our way.

   5. Paul makes this clear with how he begins the paragraph – “Do all things ...” or, in some translations, “In everything ...”. It makes sense to me that does not leave many options for me. I cannot say, okay, “I won't grumble about anything except my wife.” Or, boy, am I glad, that Paul allows me to grumble about the price of food this week. Paul does not give us an out .. “Do all things without grumbling or arguing.”

(Ill.) Benjamin Franklin once said, “The sentence which has most influenced my life is, ‘Some persons grumble because God placed thorns among roses. Why not thank God because He placed roses among thorns?’ I first read it when but a mere lad. Since that day it has occupied a front room in my life and has given it an optimistic trend.”ⁱⁱ

6. May we, like Franklin did and like Paul admonishes us to do, see the roses among the thorns, rather than the thorns among the roses.

2. … without blemish

   1. To Paul, when believers start to grumble or start to argue it becomes a blemish – not just to the church, but on them individually.

(Ill.) This week, as we said earlier, Sandra had her catheterization. The procedure started in her arm, but almost all of the work was done in her heart. But when it was all through she was left with two marks on her arms – blemishes. She says they have embarrassed her a bit and she has worn long sleeve sweaters or blouses to cover it up.

2. Just as those bruises on her arm are blemishes, so our grumbling and arguing become blemishes in our lives.

3. Some thoughts -

   1. Blemishes are embarrassing. We would rather not have them, we want to cover them up.

   2. We take care to not get them – we keep our faces washed, we are careful about where we walk,

   3. When we get them, and other see them, we feel like we have to explain them.

4. Our spiritual lives can also be bruised – and Paul is telling us to use the same care with our spiritual lives as we do with our physical lives

5. Paul describes what a spiritual life that is blemish free will look like – it will be blameless and innocent. This is the second time Paul has used almost this this phrase – in Chapter 1 of Philippians he prayed that the Philippians' love would grow. Why? So that their love would be “blameless and pure” in the day of Christ's return.

(Ill.) Let me ask you a question – how long has it been since you have stood outdoors and looked up at the sky.

1. I feel so small when I do

2. I want to see every star – but know that I cannot.

3. But I also realize something else, there is far more black space than there are stars.

4. That is what Paul says we are to be - “lights in the world”, or like “stars in the universe”.

6. We live in a crooked and twisted generation – and we in the midst of that world, we are to like “stars in the universe.”

7. Should not be surprised that so few attend church – whether it be here or your local church. The blackness of the universe is far greater than stars – and, except that they shine, they would be lost in the darkness.

8. My prayer for you, I hope your prayer for yourself is that you become a star in your universe. Not a TV star, but a star that shines with the grace of God in your own life.

3. … so we can all rejoice

(Ill.) If we go south just bit from our house there is a county park – Black Creek Park it is called. At the far end of the entrance road is a shelter for picnics. If the shelter has not been reserved by some group, we like to use it for our family picnics – either put together a quick meal, or pack hamburgers or hot dogs to grill, or buy a pizza. We have done all three. Just past the shelter is a large pond or a small lake – not sure which. It is a good walk to go around it – but one that all three of us enjoy taking. We are not the only ones that like that walk around the pond. Other take it as well with their dogs. Some of those dogs (let me make it clear I am not talking about BoDandy here), take a detour and jump into the pond. And when we do, all our attention is on the dog. But you know what, something else is happening. While that dog is enjoying a brief swim, the water around him or her is all messed up – there are splashes, sprays, and the water is agitated in ways that are not normally seen. But it does not stop there – because as the dog frolics in the water, ripples go out and out and out. In fact those ripples cover a far larger area of the pond than the dog will ever see.

1. The same is true of our Christian life – if we follow the advice Paul has given.

2. Paul illustrates this from the worship experience of his readers. They are use to going to the temple and offering an offering – a dove, a fatted calf, etc. But then the priest would offer a liquid offering on top of the offering offered to on the altar. We are the sacrifice – when we are obedient. But Paul becomes the “drink offering” that is added to the worship experience.

3. And at that point – both the reader of Paul's letter and Paul can rejoice.

4. It becomes a ripple effect – our lives, our obedience, impacts the lives of those around us.

5. … and the end result is joy.

Conclusion:

Pray

iLarson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

iiAMG Bible Illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.