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.