Page 248 was a Sunday and being the first Sunday of the month I had the privilege of preaching at the North Wayne Mennonite Church this morning.  Before I could get there though, the day began with Susan having a night of recurring seizures.  While I’m sure these are the hardest on her, it doesn’t do her parents any good to combine a lack of sleep with having to keep her from hurting herself as the seizures come and go.  We all made it through the night and had dozed off one last time before it was time to get up.  As has usually been the case with these, Susan got up happy and ready to go while MJ and I were doing good to drag ourselves out of bed and get ready for the day.

As always, it was a good gathering at North Wayne and I shared a message titled, “WORK that Lasts”.  I was looking for something that would fit with the Labor Day Weekend holiday and the idea of work, so I built the sermon around the teaching of Jesus, as He addressed the crowds that were looking for bread, that we should work for food that lasts.  He went on to say that the work that God desires from us is to believe on the One He has sent.  With that in mind, I used the word “work” as my outline and we began by addressing the need for Worship that lasts.  When Jesus was questioned by a Samaritan women about worship, and who was doing it right, Jesus responded that the time had come when true worshipers would worship in spirit and in truth.  When we worship God at all times in spirit and in truth, we begin to experience worship that lasts not just for this life, but into eternity.

The second part of having work that lasts that we looked at was the need to have Obedience that lasts.  It’s one thing to obey God when we feel like it or when it is convenient, but to have obedience that lasts means that we do what God wants at all times.  There may be times when we don’t feel like obeying and there may even be times when we tell God we won’t obey, but more important than our words is a life that “comes to our senses” and obeys even when it goes against what we want and desire.  It is having this obedience that lasts which puts us in a position where we will be found faithful to the end.  When Jesus returns and finds us faithful, we can be assured that our obedience will last throughout eternity as the temptations of this world come to an end.

The “R” in our WORK outline was for a Repentance that lasts.  There seems to be two levels of forgiveness that the Bible teaches about.  On one level, Jesus teaches that we forgive in order to put ourselves in position to be forgiven by Him.  This type of forgiveness on our part has more to do with freeing our self from the hold that the wrong of another person has on us.  This level of forgiveness needs to be given whether a person seeks it from us or not.  There appears to be another level of forgiveness that I call a restorative forgiveness.  Jesus teaches that if a brother should sin (against us), we should rebuke or correct them with the intent that they would repent.  In this context, Jesus says that if they sin against us seven times in a day and they come back each time and repent, we must forgive them.  While many of us may question the sincerity of someone who comes to us and repents seven times in one day, we first better look at how many times in a day we repent, or ought to repent, when it comes to matters of our sin against God.  When we view repentance as a change of heart, mind, attitude and direction of life, it is easy to see why we need to have repentance that lasts.

The final point of the message was about having a Knowledge that lasts.  We live in a culture that is saturated with information but often seems to have very little knowledge.  When we seek to grow in knowledge, at least from God’s perspective, we are growing in an intimate relationship with Him.  The knowledge that lasts will only be found through intimacy with God through the power of His Spirit as we’re cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  While there will come a time that the pursuit of knowledge will end, knowledge itself will last because at that time “we will know fully just as we are fully known.”  As I closed out the message, I believe each one of us needs to examine the work we do.  Our we involved in WORK that Lasts, or is our work being done in vain?

I pray that you and I would worship God in spirit and in truth from now through eternity.  I pray that we would grow in our obedience to God so that we would obey Him now just as He is obeyed in heaven.  I pray that we would always see the need to repent whenever we stray from what God would desire.  I pray that we would grow in knowledge as we grow in our relationship with Jesus.

Page 185 is going out with a bang as I sit down to write.  While the fireworks are plentiful as the nation celebrates Independence Day and the freedoms we love, a greater celebration of freedom was held this morning as I gathered with fellow believers in celebrating the freedom we have in Christ.  I greatly value the privilege I have in preaching at the North Wayne Mennonite Church, typically on the first Sunday of each month.  This morning I shared a message from Galatians 5:13-26 with verse 13 being the core of what God had me teach.  Paul writes about the freedom we have in Christ, but warns that we are not to use that freedom to satisfy our sinful, selfish desires.  Rather we are to use the freedom we  have in Christ in order to serve others.

This core thought of serving others formed the title and outline of my message, “Freedom to SERVE”.  As I unwrapped how we ought to be using our freedom, we found that in Christ I have a freedom to Share, a freedom to Equip, a freedom to Rebuke/Repent, a freedom to Visit, and a freedom to Encourage.  God gives us a variety of gifts — in fact, every good and perfect gift comes from God.  Most of the time the purpose of those gifts are not just to meet our needs, but so that we have something to share with others.  While it can be easy to use our freedoms to accumulate things for ourselves, God wants us to experience a freedom that allows us to freely share. 

In a world where we often make every attempt possible to get ahead and find any advantage we can over our “competitors”, God wants us to use our freedom in a way that equips others for the good work He created them to do.  When we crucify our selfish desires, we find the freedom to help other improve and get ahead in life — sometimes even ahead of us, at least by the world’s standards.  Our freedom in Christ reminds us that each person has a unique life that God has called them to live and as long as we remain faithful to our calling in Christ, we have the freedom to help equip them for their task.

Our freedom to serve also includes a freedom to Rebuke and Repent.  If you’re like most people, just reading that previous sentence makes you at least a little uneasy.  Not many of us are too thrilled with either of those words, let alone with the actions they imply.  Yet part of serving one another includes a freedom to lovingly rebuke a brother or sister who sins against us.  The flip side of this part of serving means that we need to fully repent when a brother or sister rebukes us in regard to our sin.  When we are in Christ and commit to doing everything in love, rebuking and repenting can be beautiful expressions of our freedom to serve.

One of the important ways we can serve others is often overlooked because it sounds so easy.  In our freedom to serve, we have the freedom to visit and are for those who are in need.  In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, God makes it clear that He has an expectation that we will spend time with people as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, and comfort the hurting.  Jesus said that whatever we do, or don’t do, for the least of our brethren, we do, or don’t do, for Him.  When we decide not to use our freedoms to serve ourselves, we discover we have the freedom to visit those in need.

The final point we looked at in considering our freedom to serve was the freedom we have to encourage.  If you haven’t noticed, life can be very discouraging — especially when we become distracted by the turmoil and evil present in the world.  When life isn’t all about us, we have the freedom to encourage those who are down.  Jesus warned that life in this world would not be easy and that it would become increasingly difficult as the day of His return approached.  His solution for us to overcome the temptations of discouragement was for us to meet together for the purpose of encouraging one another — and to do so all the more as we see the day of His return approaching.

I pray that you and I would value our freedom in Christ in a greater way than we value any personal or national freedom.  I pray that we would not use our freedoms to satisfy our selfish desires, but would instead live with a freedom to serve.  I pray that we would serve others as we share, equip, repent & rebuke, visit, and encourage.

Page 157 was a Sunday and I was privileged to preach at the North Wayne Mennonite Church this morning.  I generally preach there on the first Sunday of each month and today I finished a 4-sermon series through the book of Philippians .  Today’s message covered the fourth chapter of Philippians and the sermon title was, “A NOTE of Joy”.  Nearly all of my sermons for the past few years have used a word of the title as an acrostic outline, but this series was unique in that the series itself also had an acrostic outline.  The series title ended up being “A PLAN of Joy” with the individual messages being, “A PRAYER of Joy”, “A LIFE of Joy”, “An ACT of Joy”, and “A NOTE of Joy”.  

Today’s message as we looked at Paul’s note of joy to the Philippians began by addressing a Need for joy.  Paul not only named names in urging two women in the church to get along, he also asked those in the church to help them overcome whatever their conflict was.  Conflict will always rob us of joy so it is imperative that we not only recognize when conflict exists, but that we join in the task of being peacemakers.  I believe one of the most overlooked tools in resolving conflict is prayer.  Not only does praying for one another tend to soften our attitudes about each other, but our communication with God is the only place we will find the wisdom necessary to mediate long-term conflict.

In addition to a Need for joy that will only be met when we deal with conflict in a godly manner, Paul also made the Philippians aware of an Opportunity for joy.  For not only does conflict steal our joy, so does a negative attitude.  Our opportunity for joy increases as we set our mind on the things of God rather than fixing our thoughts on the things of the world.  When we take Paul’s advice and think about things that are pure, that are noble, that are admirable, that are trustworthy, things that are right and just, we set ourselves up for a greater opportunity to experience the joy that God’s Spirit should be producing in our life.  When our thought life is filled with the things that honor Christ then our actions will be such that we can echo the words of Paul as he tells the Philippians to put into practice anything they have seen or heard from him.

Not only did Paul share a Need for joy and an Opportunity for joy, but he also shared a Teaching of joy.  As Paul thanked the Philippians for their joyful giving, it would be easy to think that the teaching I refer to is about giving with joy.  While we do need to practice that, I believe that just as joy is a by-product of giving with the right attitude, giving is also a by-product of living a life filled with godly joy!  I believe the teaching of joy that Paul shares in this fourth chapter of Philippians has more to do with learning contentment than anything else.  When we learn the secret of being content in any and all circumstances, then we will learn how to keep discontentment from stealing our joy.  While most people are reluctant to admit they have “plenty” and believe they would be content if they did have “plenty”, the truth is that the elusive “plenty” is usually more difficult for people to have contentment with than to be in need.  It seems that the more we have, the less we rely on God to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory.  Paul’s secret to contentment was a recognition that He was God’s child and that there was nothing impossible for God regardless of his circumstances.  If you want a more joyful life, start by learning a contentment that says, “If I have God, I have enough.”

Finally, this NOTE of joy not only included a Need of joy, an Opportunity of joy, and a Teaching of Joy, it includes an Expression of joy.  As is the case with most of Paul’s letters, he ends this one with some greetings of his own and some greetings that he passes along from those who are with him.  He does so with great joy and often makes sure that he expresses the joy that he as for them.  But he also want to encourage the Philippians in their joy that the joyful giving that they have done in meeting Paul’s needs was not in vain.  Paul’s focus in making his way to Rome, even if it meant doing so in chains, was to be able to present Christ to everyone he would meet — even to the household of Caesar and Caesar himself.  As Paul closes this letter, he passes along greetings from the saints that are with him, including those who are of the household of Caesar!  This expression of joy seems to be saying to the Philippians that their partnership was not in vain.  Their support of Paul was bearing lasting fruit for the kingdom.  It is important as we consider the joy that God fills us with, to be faithful in expressing that joy to the people around us.  Our lives ought to express a joy and gratitude toward those who have helped plant the seeds of faith in our life and to those who have walked the path of faith with us to make sure the seeds were watered and growing into maturity.  

Our NOTE of Joy that we share with the world ought to be evident in everything we do.  Jesus said that if He were lifted up, He would draw all men to Himself.  His immediate reference was to Him being lifted up on a cross, but I believe it also applies to the work we do, or don’t do, to lift up Christ on a daily basis wherever we are.  One way that we can add effectiveness to our efforts in lifting up Christ is to live life with a greater understanding and practice of joy.  

After the church service, we came home and eventually made it to the riverwalk for an evening stroll.  During our walk, we stopped in the middle of one of the footbridges and as we stood there, a great number of geese that were out on the river began to deliberately swim our way.  While I am fairly certain they have been trained to do this by people feeding them from off the bridge, our presence was enough to draw them to us.  As we live for Christ, the joy of His presence in us ought to be enough for people to be drawn to Him as we lift Him up with a joy-filled life.

I pray that you and I would realize the need for joy to be present in our lives and in the life of the church.  I pray that we would understand the great need for God’s wisdom in dealing with conflict that robs us of joy.  I pray that we would keep our thoughts pure with a deliberate plan to think on the things of God.  I pray that we would be satisfied with God’s presence in our life, knowing that He is enough.  I pray that we would express our joy to those who have been influential in guiding us on the path of righteousness.  I pray that we would lift up Christ, and Him alone, as we desire all people to come to know Him.