Conflict

This time of year can be conflicted. It is almost time for spring and “Spring Break,” and yet the weather is anything but spring-like here in North Texas. You know it is coming, but it has not yet arrived. We have to wait a bit longer. We also find ourselves in the season of Lent, which presents a different kind of  conflict. We spend time reflecting on what it was that put Jesus on the cross—our sins—all the while knowing that His resurrection is a certainty. Our celebration of that is coming, but first we need to go through this season and remember that He died and remember why He died. Even in conflict, we rejoice in knowing that Jesus has made peace with God for us by His perfect life, His passion, suffering and death in our place.

Enemies?

I had someone get very upset with me one time because of something I said in a sermon. I spoke about some people being “enemies of God,” and this individual thought I was being uncaring and insensitive.

 First of all, the Bible clearly identifies some as being enemies of God.

 James 4:4  You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

 

Phil 3:18  For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

But the more important point, and the one I was trying to make in my message that day, is how we should treat those who are enemies of God. As members of the body of Christ, if someone is an enemy of Christ, he/she is our enemy. This is what Scripture says we should do to our enemies:

 

Romans 12:20 “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

 

Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

We are told to love and pray for our enemies. The only thing that might be considered “offensive” is when we share the Gospel with them. We were all enemies of God as one point. We want those who still are to be reconciled to God as we have been.

 

Romans 5:8-10 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

The reconciliation that God provides for all people in Jesus makes all the difference.

The Safest Place to Be

Someone recently sent me this helpful information:

 

• Avoid riding in automobiles because they are responsible for 20% of all fatal accidents.
• Do not stay home because 17% of all fatal accidents occur in the home.
• Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks because 14% of all accidents occur to pedestrians.
• Avoid traveling by air, rail, or water because 16% of all accidents involve these forms of transportation.
• Of the remaining 33%, 32% of all deaths occur in Hospitals. So above all else, avoid hospitals.

You will be pleased to learn that only. 001% of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at church!

Bible study is safe too. The percentage of deaths during Bible study is even less.

FOR SAFETY’S SAKE – Attend church and read your Bible … IT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE!

Now that we are a week into this New Year, many of our resolutions have already gone by the wayside. Don’t think that means you have to wait until next year to resolve to do better. Today is a perfect time to resolve to spend more time in worship and fellowship with other believers. It would serve us all well to spend more time in God’s Word. The message that you find there will save your life.

Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me… ” (John 5:39, ESV)

God’s Word tells us plainly that the one whose birth we celebrated came here to be more than a baby in manger, more than a smart kid in the Temple, more than a wise teacher and a prophet. He was not simply one more philosopher spouting new ideas and theories. He came to save us from our sins. That is even what His name, Jesus, means: Savior. He would accomplish this by living a life free from sin and then offering that life on the altar of the cross as the sacrifice to pay for the sins of everyone. And the promise is that anyone and everyone who believes that He did that will get the benefit of everything He did.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Take God at His Word. It’s all in there. Check it out for yourself.

A Christmas Welcome

A family was experiencing hard times one Christmas. The father was out of work and the mother had a low-paying job. But they were determined to have a happy Christmas, so that was what they did. They got out all their usual decorations and even managed to scrape together enough to purchase a few small gifts. The day after Christmas, father went job hunting, mother returned to work and the children were left to clean up the house. As one daughter was sorting the leftover wrapping paper and ribbons, she found an envelope addressed to her father. He opened it when he came home that night and found a generous check inside. Somehow it had been lost in the Christmas wrappings. Don’t let the best gift get lost in all the “wrappings” this year: A Savior has been born who is Christ the Lord!

He Came to Be Near You

Over one hundred years ago, a shipwrecked crew washed up on Rodrigues Island, a tiny speck of land in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Australia. They developed an illness called Java River fever. However, one of the officers determined that it was instead Yellow Fever, which was terribly feared in the southern seas. Upon being found, a French doctor, whose job it was to inspect all infested vessels, was sent to examine them. He entered a small boat, stayed offshore at a distance, and examined the patients through binoculars. He did not want to get too close. In terror of the possible disease, he prescribed for them from his boat, not taking that chance that coming into contact with them would cause him to be infected. (New York Times July 10, 1897)

How different that is from the way that God dealt with us.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (ESV)

In spite of our complete corruption and infestation with sin, He didn’t remain distant. He came near. He got close. He came to live among us as one of us. He did not stay away, but came and got messy. He came here in order to meet all the requirements of the law in your place and shed His blood as the sacrifice for your sin. In this way, He earned forgiveness for you and for all people. He saved you from eternal death. All you have to do to claim that forgiveness is believe that He is your Savior.

What a wonderful example He gives us. While we cannot achieve the salvation of others like He did, we can offer ourselves in service to our neighbors. We can go to them in spite of whatever “messy” situation they may be experiencing and share our care and love and concern. We do all this knowing what Jesus was willing to do, and in fact did for us. We are called to be His hands and feet and voice to our fellow man. In so doing, we will also hold out for them the Good News of our Savior.

As you celebrate His birth again this year, may you rejoice in the knowledge that He did not stay far removed. He was willing to give up the glory of heaven, laying aside His power and authority, so that He could go to the manger and to the cross. He came to get close, to be near you.

The third stanza of “Away in a Manger” summarizes what should be the desire of our hearts:

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay

Close by me forever and love me I pray.

Bless all the dear children in your tender care,

And take us to heaven to live with you there.

A Note From Pastor Mattil

The Holidays. The way they are being extended, it won’t be too long before July 4 becomes the beginning of the “Holiday Season.” It is part of the bigger, newer, better, faster, flashier everything mentality that has overtaken our society. During this time known as “The Holidays,” we invite you to take some time for quiet reflection on the gift God sent to you wrapped in swaddling clothes in a Bethlehem stable. We will be doing that in our worship here at Grace, and would love for you to join us.

What a Ride!

What a Ride!

I heard about a 4-year-old at a wedding ceremony. He was fussin’ and fidgetin’ and just about to explode. A family member thought perhaps she could calm him down if she gave him something to play with. She reached in her purse and handed him the first thing she could find – her rosary. It was the kind that had a crucifix attached to it. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but almost as quickly as he had it in his hands, he stood up on the front pew and swung it over his head like a lasso and shouted, “Hang on Jesus! You’re going for a ride.”   Hang on – you’re going for a ride.

You’ve probably heard those words before. They are spoken  in situations where the circumstances can be thrilling: on a roller coaster, on the back of a horse or a motorcycle, maybe in a Jeep going up a mountain trail. But have you ever heard them applied to Jesus? Maybe that little four-year-old was on to something. “Hang on Jesus! You’re going for a ride.”

From the glory of heaven into the womb of a virgin named Mary…down the dirt road from Nazareth to Bethlehem in utero…down the birth canal and into a stable, into the arms of Mary and Joseph, to be laid in a cattle trough…down the road to Egypt to escape being murdered by a jealous King Herod. Hang on Jesus, you’re going for a ride!

Back to Bethlehem and Nazareth to be raised…going all around the Sea of Galilee, healing and teaching and loving and serving…up a Mount of Transfiguration where His glory would be seen by Peter, James and John…on to Jerusalem on a donkey, hearing the hosannas of the crowd…to the Upper Room, celebrating Passover with his disciples, one of whom would betray Him…instituting a meal of remembrance and promise…in prayer in a Garden, sweat like drops of blood…and then a kiss of betrayal. Hang on Jesus, you’re going for a ride!

Led to the Jewish courts, where Peter would deny even knowing him…led before Pilate to be mocked and whipped and ridiculed…led before Herod for more of the same…taken before Pilate again and hearing the shouts “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” and then beaten some more…His disciples all abandoned him. The Savior whose birth had been announced by angels now stands all alone. Hang on Jesus, you’re going for a ride!

To Calvary, carrying His cross yet bearing my sin, and yours and the sins of all people…on a cross, outside Jerusalem, raised up for all to see…My God, My God, why have you forsaken me! Hang on Jesus! Don’t come down from the cross. Hang on, pay my debt. Hang on for me!

And then it was finished…lifeless, taken down from the cross…carried by his friends and placed in a tomb that was sealed up for good. But wait…the ride wasn’t over. On that third day, what a ride! Bursting out of the tomb, alive, shining with His glory as God, showing Himself to His disciples…down the road to Emmaus creating burning hearts…through closed doors, to frightened and doubting disciples. He says, “Peace be to you!”

After forty days of showing Himself, He goes up the Mount of Ascension, through the clouds to the right hand of the Father. What a Ride! And the disciples were told, “Don’t stand there looking up into the sky. He’ll be back. He’s coming again.” What a ride!

Our ride through this life can be pretty intense. Sometimes it is exhilarating, the next moment terrifying and devastating. Often times the things that get us into the most trouble and that hurt us the most are things that we have done to ourselves by our own choosing. We make bad decisions, going where we should not go and doing what we should not do. Your ride through this life can be very rough. At times, you may feel as though you cannot hold on. Critics will pound on you. Enemies seem to surround and overwhelm you. Life can be brutal. That is when you need to hang on. Hang on to Jesus. Hang on to God’s promises. Hang on to the one who hung onto that cross for you. Jesus has done everything you need to be forgiven and have the confidence of God being on your side, loving you, saving you, and wanting the best for you now and for all eternity.   Hang on to Jesus.

As you hold onto Him, remember that He holds on to you. It is not your own determination that will keep you safe. It is Jesus hanging on to you. He said that to His disciples in John 10:27-30 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Jesus will hang on to you.

He went on quite a ride to earn your forgiveness. All the way from “For Unto You is born this day a Savior” to “He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!” and beyond that to “He is coming again!” This one is the one who wants to go with you on your ride through this life.   “Hang on – You’re going for a ride.” Jesus wants you to know that He went through that ride for you. He will hang on to you and be with you every step of the way in your ride through this life. And what a ride it will be!