As we transition into the remainder of the letter to the church at Ephesus we encounter a concept of Holiness. In order to continue we have to procure a working concept of what holiness is. In this presentation I attempt to help my church understand that holiness is not something we can breeze through and say we have arrived. It is having your life turned upside down.

I also introduce three areas in which holiness in made manifest.

God gives gifts to the church. He does it in order to fulfill His purpose and agenda for His Kingdom. Among the gifts that God gives to the church are five specific gift that He has purposed to, "Perfect the Saints for the work of ministry and growing the body of Christ." Because many of us don't like being perfected these five gifts are often despised.

The need for unity in the body of Christ is not so much a luxury that is nice if you can attain it. It is actually commanded by God as an evidence of His church and once it is attained; it is to be protected.

After a few weeks I am finally settled in our new home in Brunswick. I have a few sermons to catch up on and some other projects on this site.

The sermon here is taken from Ephesians 3:8-21 and deals with why the church exists.

The grace of God is so amazingly, infinitely, and exceedingly abundant it is hard to explain the parameters of it. In fact Paul declares it to be, "Unsearchable". May you be blessed as you listen.

Leading up to Ephesians 3 there are a couple concepts I wanted to take the time to touch on. The fact that churches have been struggling to get along for hundreds of years and the true enemy of us all does not have flesh and blood. In these thoughts we can take comfort knowing this struggle has been going on for years and that we can grow and mature becoming like Jesus.

After the technical difficulties and attempting to recover. After the time was taken I can now get back on track and bring up to date posting again.

The sermon I am posting now is a follow up to "Remember You". Although you were not able to view the actual sermon and hear the references I made most are in the notes.

"On Marble Structures and Messiah"

Due to a technical problem the sermon "Remember You" was not recorded correctly. A video was taken but when the DVD was produced it had no sound. In light of this difficulty I will post the manuscript for the sermon so that you may know what was said.

Remember You

Ephesians 2:11-13

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

            As a short review of Ephesians chapter two we have had these principles expressed by Paul to the church at Ephesus. You have been chosen and quickened together with Jesus Christ. You were empowered to die to yourself in order that you could be born again. We discovered that God has saved you and has placed you on display as evidence of His great love, His great kindness, and His great mercy. And we are lights in this darkened world helping people to see that God is a great redeemer.

            But what do you suppose would happen if somehow we forget that once we were in need for God’s great forgiveness? What do you suppose could happen if we should fail to remember where God found us, snatched us out of the fire, and redeemed us? What sort of persons might we become?

            At the church in Ephesus it is apparent that such a thing occurred requiring Paul to address the issue. Look at Ephesians 2:11-13

11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

            Paul writes to the church at Ephesus and tells them to remember. Remember what? Remember you and where you came from. Remember you and where God found you. Remember you and that you were once a sorry sinner in desperate need of a savior.

            What benefit is there in remembering where God found us?

            There is a statement by Ellen White that says, “We have nothing to fear for the future except we forget how God has led in the past.” We often think about that in a corporate sense and apply it to the process of leading the church. We say that God has established this church, we can mark prophetically where we have come from, and God has always blessed this church and He won’t let it fall. Thinking this is not incorrect but let’s not forget that the church is not buildings, institutions, creeds, or conferences. The church is individuals that started when God found them. Church is you. So when we talk about having nothing to fear for the future except we forget how God has led in the past, what we are saying is the only thing we have to fear is if we ever forget where God found us and how He has led us.

            So exactly how does remembering help?

            There is a parable that Jesus told about Lazarus and Abraham’s bosom. You will find it in Luke 16:19-31. This parable was actually taught as a lesson to the children of Israel by the religious leaders. In their story the rich man was in the bosom of Abraham and Lazarus was the one in fire looking to get a drop of water to quench his thirst. Jesus turns the tale on them and switches the results of the parable He grew up hearing in the temple. Why?

            If someone was in fact delivered to Abraham’s bosom that is to say they had a heart like Abraham. Now if you turn in your bibles to discover what the heart of Abraham was like you would have to turn to Genesis 18:23-25

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

            So here we have Abraham discussing with the Lord as to why everyone should die. Abraham is acting as an advocate for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He bargains lives with the Lord until He gets the Lord to agree that He will not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there can be found ten righteous men in the city. As the story goes the Lord does not find ten righteous men and Abraham and Lot with their families are the only ones that are saved. Why? Because Abraham and Lot are considered righteous. After all the Lord would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. Now the big question what wicked thing did the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah do that warranted destruction with fire by the Lord? What great sin had they committed? Look at Ezekiel 16:49-50

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

            The great sin of Sodom was that her people were rich, full of bread, and had abundance of leisure. They lived in luxury. In spite of all their wealth and time Sodom did not do anything to help the poor or needy. They were proud of what they had accomplished. They did abominable things before the Lord and for that the Lord destroyed them. In a nutshell the great sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was their lack of hospitality. So when Jesus tells the parable of the Rich Man eating at his abundantly provided table and Lazarus is under the table eating the crumbs. There is no way that an inhospitable man who does not strengthen the hand of poor Lazarus nor support Lazarus’ needs could possibly be one who has the heart of Abraham. So like Sodom and Gomorrah we see the rich man in the parable of Jesus amongst the flames and brimstone.

            Now stick with me we are working back.

            In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, if the rich man had remembered where He came from, and where the Lord led him, the end of the story might have been different. After all the rich man was a Jew, and as a Jew his family was once enslaved in Egypt, but God delivered the Jews from Egypt with a mighty hand. They were despised in Egypt and I wouldn’t be surprised if at times meals were eaten by the servants having been gathered from underneath Egyptian tables. Hence why I believe that is one of the reasons God continually evokes their memory by stating, “I am the Lord God who delivered you out of captivity.”

            And now back to the church at Ephesus. Why is it important for us to remember where God found us and how He has led us in the past? Ephesians 2:13

13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

            When you remember where you have been you can appreciate more where you are. In addition you can empathize with those who are yet lost and will be quick to recognize how much they need Jesus. Why? Because you have been there. You were once in captivity just as they are and you know that it was Jesus that set you free.

            So the closing question I want to leave in your minds is this… if we have such a great treasure as Jesus Christ and we see others who are just as lost as we were without Jesus does that say anything about us when we do not give them the bread of life and eternal water?

            Brothers and sisters… remember you and where you were found and set free.

As we continue our study in Ephesians we start to realize that the emphasis of Paul begins to turn toward unity of the body. He leads in by giving them the principle that they are on display.

I preached the sermon posted here on December 19, 2009. My plan was to rip it, edit it, post it and then go to Indiana and enjoy the holidays. However I experienced technical difficulties and was unable to rip it from the dvd. I figured I would fix it when I got back home from Indiana. So the vacation has come and gone and when attempting to fix the error I assumed it was a bad dvd. Later I found out my dvd player was not recognizing the presence of a dvd. Needless to say I have fixed the issue and here is the Christmas sermon from Freeport 2009.

Starting in Ephesians 2:1-6 I have to admit I struggled with putting a sermon together that would convey the meaning within 40 minutes or less.

Paul tells us plainly that before Jesus we were running the course of this world. After Jesus, we are quickened together with Him, and essentially, should be, running the course of Heaven.

However there is a difficulty and I believe the difficulty lies in the concept of being quickened. Quickened doesn't mean just made alive. It means we must die in order to be made alive. We must die to ourselves and to the course of this world. We must be born again.

I don't often publicly declare my opinion but I have come to a moment in my experience that I feel it is right and necessary to do so.

As this day wore on I was immensely aggravated at the process by which I came to an understanding of God's Words and was able to put it into words that were suitable to preaching. Not that I had waited until the last minute to prepare but that this was such a difficult sermon. The sermon was simply a continuation of the teaching in Ephesians. We have arrived at chapter two verses one through six. By a simple reading of this text one would get that the author was elaborating on the power of God and His desire to save us by or through His power and not of ourselves. But then there is that word, quickened, and quickened changes things.

The Greek word is the word sunezOopoiEsen. In the King James Version this word is translated as quickened. It means to be joined together in order to live. It raises images of the yoke that binds two oxen together in order that a plow can be pulled. It reminds of the vine and how we need to get connected and grafted in. It makes me think of how if Jesus truly means for us to take up our cross and follow, if he means for us to take up His yoke, and if He truly means to disciple us then we would be less like ourselves and more like Him every passing day. Except we should choose to not follow.

Point is the more I study the Word the more I see what Christians should be and the less I see something that defines the modern church. As an example here in Maine there was a great outcry for the reversal of gay marriage laws. According to the extent of the movement and the urgency of the cry gay marriage is of an apparent greater concern for Christians in our area than say homelessness or hunger. I saw placards, door hangers, lawn signs, television ads, and mailers all attempting to unite Christians against the gay marriage law and hoping to gain an appeal. After 2.6 million dollars and a grand campaign Christians have "won" a political battle.

This is where my opinion comes in: 2.6 million dollars would have gone a long way to reduce the burden on our elderly for rising fuel oil and heat costs. 2.6 million dollars would have been an amazingly beneficial relief to many families who have lost their jobs and are in danger of losing their homes. 2.6 million dollars would have gone a long way in feeding the hungry, clothing the destitute, and providing for the homeless this winter in Maine. But passion, organization, and execution of this current Christian agenda has delivered this message, "It is more important to politically satisfy our point of view on lifestyle choices than to be hospitable to our neighbors."

The seriously perverted thing in all this is not the homosexual lifestyle but rather the Christian church perceiving that lesbianism and homosexuality is a far greater sin in the scriptures than not showing hospitality. In fact many Christians readily proclaim that Sodom was destroyed for it's stance to condone homosexuality. The truth is God was sending angels to destroy Sodom and Gemorrah for their lack of hospitality. Because they would not aid their poor or care for their needy.

Ezekiel 16:49-50

49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

If great tragedy falls upon our state and upon our nation it will not be because we have had compassion upon the lesbian or homosexual. It will be because we turned a deaf ear and a haughty gaze away from the needs of the poor and needy in this state of Maine and around this great nation of ours.

May God forgive us of our inhospitable ways and send revival in our midst.

This weekend we had a youth rally at the Freeport church. I have posted the worship service in its entirety. The sound isn't that great during the praise service but you can get an idea of what took place and how good it was.

Sometimes it is easy for us to think about the power of God in such a way to diminish it. Not that we do not believe God exists but rather our challenges might be beyond His talent to work with. I came to a realization that I, and perhaps you may as well, consider things of the world more powerful than God. Not because we see God as weak but because we do not actively consider God's power and its extent. I use the examples of an atomic bomb, a tidal wave, and the sun to help consider the power of God and how we truly do not and can not wrap our minds around it.

God is great, He is good, He is loving and He is full of mercy, and forgiveness. At least until He has to respond or deal with a sinner like me. That is usually the way we approach the goodness of God and His blessings. We sometimes feel unqualified, undeserving, or unworthy. However regardless of how we feel there is an inheritance of God. It is a legal concept with legal terms that God has chosen to draft or decree. In light of this what say do you have in this as a recipient? None whatsoever because it is His to give and do with as He desires.

On Marble Structures and Messiah