Illusions Hypocrisy

In our services this Sunday we take on the issue of hypocrisy in the church.   The text is Luke 13.1-20  I won't be able to read the whole text, but I encourage you to do so.  As you do notice the flow of the text from a call to repentance to the reason why repentance is needed (no fruit) to a picture of those who have no fruit (the hypocritical Synagogue Ruler and those who agree with his stand) and those who do have fruit (the woman and those like her who glorify God) and finally to a picture of an expanding kingdom where a sown seed becomes a tree (think fruit).   

The service starts with a wonderful group of pictures that are not what the appear to be or are made up.   Enjoy the fun couple of minutes of seeing how creative people have gotten with photography.    We move next into greeting each other and then the joy of being greeted by God to this time of honoring him in worship.  Our opening song is "Arise" which asks God to change our hearts as we worship this day.  After the opening song there is a confession of faith that defines what it means to have a truly changed heart.  It is from the Heidelberg Catechism, a 16th century confession of faith which is one of the confessions that defines EverGreen's understanding of the Scriptures.  The words of this part of the confession are

Lord's Day 33
Q & A 88
Q. What is involved
in genuine repentance or conversion?
A. Two things:
the dying-away of the old self,
and the coming-to-life of the new.^1
^1 Rom. 6:1-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:5-10

Q & A 89
Q. What is the dying-away of the old self?
A. It is to be genuinely sorry for sin,
to hate it more and more,
and to run away from it.^1
^1 Ps. 51:3-4, 17; Joel 2:12-13; Rom. 8:12-13; 2 Cor. 7:10

Q & A 90
Q. What is the coming-to-life of the new self?
A. It is wholehearted joy in God through Christ^1
and a delight to do every kind of good
as God wants us to.^2
^1 Ps. 51:8, 12; Isa.57:15; Rom. 5:1; 14:17
^2 Rom. 6:10-11; Gal. 2:20

After the confession we will sing, "Blessed be the Name".  It is a call and commitment to be people who live our new life in Christ no matter what is going on in our lives.  Finally we sing "Indescribable".   

Our offering and announcements come next, followed by a prayer for the needs of the world and then the message entitled "Illusions:  Who Needs to Clean Up?

Our closing song is "Everyday" followed by God's blessing for our week ahead.

Just a reminder that at 4.45 we have our "just walk across the room" teaching that's getting us ready to invite folks to Easter or to begin a relationship with someone that hopefully will lead them one day to Christ.

The Text and the Last Words of Martin Luther and being humble

I was doing some reading on how to best interpret Scripture and came across this quote from Martin Luther.  It was found on his desk shortly after his death,

"No one can understand the Bucolica of Vergil, unless he has been a shepherd for five years.  No one can understand Vergil's Georgica unless he's been working the land for five years.  No one is able to really understand Cicero in his epistles, unless he's been active in politics of a great state for 25 years.  And nobody should think he has sufficiently grasped the Holy Scriptures, unless he has governed the churches for a hundred years with prophets like Elijah and Elisha, with John the Baptist, with Christ and the apostles.  We are beggars. This is true."

Fun

I've rewound in my Scripture reading. Having finished reading the Old Testament I'm starting over at the beginning.   As I've been reading Genesis one of the things I've enjoyed is the subtle humor of the book.  So often we think that God and his followers have little in the way of a good laugh, but if we pay attention we find that the Bible is often humorous.  So here's a bit of humor from Genesis.  In Genesis 19 in the midst of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (not funny) Lot asks if rather than escaping to the hills if he can go to a city that is nearby, a little city (see Genesis 19.20).  We're told that the name of the city is called Zoar.  If you look in the notes of your Bible you find out that Zoar means "little".  So here's the fun/funny part.  In Genesis 14 we are introduced to the king of Bela.  In parenthesis it says "that is, Zoar" (Genesis 14.2,8).   In other words we are introduced to the "king of little".    Here's a guy who probably is all full of himself because he's a king.  God says here's a little truth for you, you are a king, the king of little.  Imagine going around known as "The King of Little" or going a a great ball and being introduced as "The King of Little".  It's a funny.  But it also reminds me of Psalm 2
2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
3 “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”
4    The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

Health, Wealth and other matters

One of the most popular preachers in America is Joel Osteen.  His books have sold 10's of thousands of copies.   Since at EverGreen we are seeking to be people of the Text/Scripture who are passionate followers of Jesus  I thought it would be helpful to look at how this popular preacher looks at the Text and understands what a passionate follower of Jesus is all about.  The clip is of Mark Driscoll a pastor from Seattle, WA. critiquing Mr. Osteen's understanding.    If you'd like to read a review of Joel Olsteen's book Becoming a Better You check out what Michael Horton has to say.  You can also link to a page with more reflections on Joel Osteen and his teaching. 

Revolution Ad

Just in case you don't watch the news at 10 here's EverGreen's  15 second revolution ad for Easter

Illusions

We are starting a new series called "Illusions" this Sunday.  We are joining with 12 or so other area churches in dealing with the idea that only perfect people are allowed at church.   As we participate in this series we are looking at the illusions that are in our culture.  The first illusion that people have is that Christians don't care about the world at large, live cloistered lives and so have nothing worth contributing to the conversations.  

To get into that conversation we are looking closely at Jesus teaching in Matthew 7.24-29 and see how it calls us to a life that brings us into a conversation that touches the whole of creation.

The service starts with a fun "whose voice do you hear" quiz.   We then move into an intro to the series and praising God in song.   After the offering we will spend time in prayer for the needs of the world and for our need to hear and do the word.   Our service will end with a song and God's blessing as we go out to take up our part in God's story.

Weddings and Wine

It's always worthwhile to think and reflect on a passage of the Bible--especially when it seems like something odd is going on.  I was reading John 2.1-11 today and it just struck me as a strange thing.   Jesus' first "sign" according to John is changing water into wine at a wedding feast.   Doing this water to wine deal showed his glory and his disciples believe in him.  Why in the world do water into wine to show your glory and get your disciples to believe in you?   Why not toss out a demon, raise someone from the dead, feed the poor--do something of significance, something that we would consider world  changing--wine doesn't fall into the world changing category, especially when we read between the lines and know that the wine is going to make people even more tipsy than they already are ("...the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.  But you have kept the good wine until now.").  Not that it is an easy thing to change water into wine, but it just seems an odd choice for a first sign to show yourself the Messiah.  

As I was thinking on that my first thought was perhaps it connects with the idea of the goodness of creation and so Jesus turning the water into wine is a plug for creation.  But then I remembered something I learned back in Seminary:  this water to wine thing is all about the age of the Messiah coming.  The book of Amos talks about the dawning of the Messianic age with these words, 

Amos 9:11 “In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent.   I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be,  12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things. 13 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes.   New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.  14 I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.   They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.  

Like Jesus' inaugural address in Luke 4 which begins his ministry, this first sign declares that Jesus is the Messiah and that the messianic age has begun.  It is an age of celebration which includes wine dripping from the mountains.   Jesus brings this wine to a wedding celebration and so declares that he is the Messiah.  Pretty cool.

All of which reminds me: sometimes to get beyond the oddness of New Testament passages we need to remember the pictures of the Old Testament.

Wisdom for the proud postmodernist

Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about....

G.K. Chesterton 1874-1936

Britain's Got Talent

A whole different take on American Idol and who can win--a most unexpected and wonder-filled performance. 

The Never Ending Dance

We'll be concluding our "Dancing with the Stars" series this week.  Our focus as we study James 5.19-20 will be on passing on what we've been given.   

The opening dance this week is done by Angie Yetzke.  

Our songs focus on celebrating how God has worked in our lives, changing us, moving us forward in our walk with him.  The songs serve as a capstone to the series in which we've walked steps to help us through God's power to become new people.

Our worship will continue with the giving of our gifts.  

Pastor Tom will be preaching this week and helping us see that as God has led us through steps that bring newness so we need to make sure we don't keep this message to ourselves.

After a time of prayer, we'll sing "Come Thou Fount" which reminds us of God's grace and our need to be connected to him to continue living out his call on our lives.

Think, Think

When you read the sermon on the mount there are some things that can mess with your mind and trying to figure out how to live as a passionate follower of Jesus.   Here's two of them:  

1.  Contrast Matthew 5.16 and Matthew 6.1

--Matthew 5.16: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

--Matthew 6.1:  Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them.  If you do, you will not have a reward from your Father in heaven.

2.  Contrast Matthew 7.1 and Matthew 7.

--Matthew 7.1:  Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

--Matthew 7.6:  Do not give to dogs what is holy or cast your pearls before swine (i.e. judge others as to whether you should give them the good things of the kingdom).

We are told to let our light shine and to do things in secret.  We are told not to judge, but to know who the dogs and swine are so we don't cast our pearls before them.   So just how does this work?   

A thought:  Jesus wants us to think.   There are times when we need to let our light shine and times when we need to do things in secret.  We need to figure out which is which.  There are times when we need to not judge, to think the best of others and times when we need to know that we are just throwing our pearls before swine.   We need to know which is which.   The Scriptures call this being a person of wisdom, we call it confusing.   Jesus calls us to think, too often I just want rules to follow.

Missing the Mark

Luke 15 has the familiar story of the prodigal son.   I was reading that story again a couple of days ago and thought how little this story shocks me.   A young man wants his inheritance, his dad gives it to him, he blows it in a crazy lifestyle, his dad exercises some grace and welcomes him home.   

At our staff Christmas party Dave Stravers taught us through the eyes of culture just how shocking this passage really is.   By all rights what the son has asked and done should have brought about his death--we (at least I do) however see all of this as no big deal.

Remembering what Dave had taught I couldn't help but wonder if my lack of shock at the story reflects my overall lack of outrage at my own sin.   Like I yawn when I read of an outrageous sin against a father, so I yawn at my own sin ignoring how outrageous it is against the Father.  Maybe a good reminder from time to time of what's really going on in the story of the prodigal would be a good reminder of what's really going on when I sin.  Something to think on.

Keep Dancing

Tap Dancing is the art of rhythm and percussion. Sunday we have dancers from Calvin College joining us and doing tap. As Tap is about rhythm so our lives need to find a certain rhythm if we are going to stay healthy. That's what we'll be looking at on Sunday.

The text for the week is: James 5.13-18
We'll be seeing how steps 10&11 of AA connect with this text.

The days starts with Tap and then moves to songs that praise God and look at Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross.

We will be celebrating 16 new households joining EverGreen after our time of praise. Enjoy the DVD with pictures and a bit of the story of those joining.

We'll be starting a new Corners offering cause this week. It is Vision of Hope ministries out of Holland, MI. They provide counseling for those who are unable to afford it as wellr pregnant teens and a host of other services.

The message gets started by reminding us how important right rhythms are for our health--and that it's no secret what those rhythms are. We'll move from there to be reminded of some chains that can bind us up, the importance of community and the odd idea that we can be righteous (trust me, it all fits together and it all comes out of those few verses from James 5).

When the message is done Pastor Tom will lead us in a time of individual and corporate confession. We will then receive God's blessing and be on our way to continue to serve him.