Author: TechCommittee
Stewardship Corner November 2019
St. Paul wrote to the Church of Christ in Corinth: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). God loves a cheerful giver. But who is a cheerful giver?
Abel was. By faith, Abel gave the firstborn of his flock, and it was acceptable in God’s sight. Abraham was. By faith, Abraham prepared cakes and a tender choice calf for God and entertained angels unaware. So also were David and Solomon. By faith, David would not make a sacrifice to God that cost him nothing, so he paid Araunah his due. By faith, Solomon built a house for God, where his name would dwell and thereby where He would dwell to be Israel’s God and they His people.
What more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of all those who gave not simply for the joy of giving but for the joy of knowing the One to whom they gave.
So also our Lord, who for the joy set before Him, gave everything, yes, even His life, enduring the cross and scorning its shame. He gave to the shedding of His blood, willingly and resolutely setting His face toward Jerusalem to die for the life of the world. Though He was rich in every way, He became poor, so that by His poverty we might be rich beyond measure.
So then, let us – like Abel and Abraham, like David and Solomon, and even like our Lord Jesus Christ – give cheerfully to God for the work of His kingdom in our midst. Like them, let us decide in our heart – for the joy set before us – the joy of knowing the One to whom we give is the One who gives us all good things.
Celebrating November 2019
Birthdays
| Karen Dale | 11/1 |
| Caleb Evans | 11/2 |
| Pete Hanner | 11/2 |
| Ryan Kleiboeker | 11/2 |
| Sheri Piper | 11/4 |
| Shirley Potter | 11/4 |
| Patricia Hanner | 11/6 |
| Jeanette McNeely | 11/6 |
| Phoenix Kleiboeker | 11/7 |
| Denyce Berg | 11/8 |
| Holden Luech | 11/9 |
| Cannon Kleiboeker | 11/17 |
| Theron Noth | 11/19 |
| Joshua Parry | 11/23 |
| Gordon Schroeder | 11/24 |
Baptismal Birthdays
| Jackie Semelka | 11/1 |
| Janet Evans | 11/7 |
| Bob Love | 11/14 |
| Cheryl Reichert | 11/14 |
| Ryan Kleiboeker | 11/19 |
| Thomas Anderson | 11/20 |
| Yvonne Hoop | 11/25 |
| Penny Culp | 11/26 |
| Holden Lueck | 11/28 |
| Joshua Parry | 11/28 |
Pastor’s Notes November 2019
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Do you know what binge-watching is? It is the act (though you hardly move) of watching episodes of a TV show one right after another after another. Recent research is showing that 50% of viewers in their 20’s binge-watch weekly. More in-depth research on this subject also shows that binge-watching is correlated to depression, loneliness, obesity, and loss of self-control.
What is the escape? What is the fascination? What is missing in people’s lives that they need to make television and/or show their best friend? What need is being fulfilled?
There is another place to look for drama (Cain and Abel, Moses and the Exodus, Noah and the Flood, the Crucifixion/Resurrection narrative, the story of Stephen, the Life of Paul and Abraham and Isaac.) You can also find comedy (Peter is always good for a laugh, we can find humor in the other disciples, Jonah’s story, the Tower of Babel, Sarah.) What about irony? (The Book of Proverbs, what seems good is bad, what seems bad is good, you want to call Who into ministry?)
Binge-read, binge-listen (there are audio tapes of the Holy Scriptures), binge-watch the greatest script ever produced. The ultimate director, the biggest stars, breath-taking locations and oh the stories. It’s historical and provocative. It’s timeless and contemporary. Do you ever stop to think how much of life revolves around the Bible? Major holidays, 1/7 of our days set aside for worship, commerce, rules of law, sayings and words we use in everyday conversation, prayer and devotional life, family, and salvation.
Written years ago but we read it and we are inspired. We say things like, “That is just what I needed.” “Those words of hope gave me the strength to go on.” “Where would I be without my faith?”
Fill your life with the Lord and His Words. They were written just for you.
In Christ,
Pastor
Sermon Text 10.27.2019 — The Heat Is On
October 27, 2019 – Reformation Text: Daniel 3:17
Dear Friends in Christ,
Have you ever been hot? I mean beyond the usual summer temperature, the raging fire or the hot flashes. You are sticky and suffocating and sweat is all over your body. It’s as hot as hell and you can’t find any relief. All because . . .
“THE HEAT IS ON!”
Just ask Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah. Maybe you know their VeggieTales names: Shack, Rack, and Benny. In Daniel 3 they are called by their Babylonian names – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
It’s 6th century BC and these three Hebrews stand on a plain in Babylon in the midst of 300,000. They had better blend in, bow down and sell out. King Nebuchadnezzar has made a golden statue standing 125 feet high. He then declares that everybody better bow down or the heat will be on.
Surely these three will assimilate. Peer pressure. What’s wrong with doing it once? You know, fellas, I am not a big fan of fire.
We know, don’t we? We stand in a culture with millions telling us to conform to the present evil age. We are called to confess the Son of Man before men and we shrink like a little rag doll. We think it would be better to be comfortable and compromising then face the heat.
When faced with putting the best construction on things, when faced with moral compromise or get along to graduate or get promoted, we fudge a little with God’s Word. Who is going to be hurt if I do it just this once? I don’t want to be roasted like a s’more on the campfire of life.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, are ready to take the heat. “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us.” Nebuchadnezzar gets so mad that he orders the furnace to be set seven times hotter. It is so hot that the men who take them up to dump them in the furnace die from the heat just by being in the vicinity.
What happens when three stand against 300,000? What happens when the baptized take a stand? What happens when believers say that “enough is enough and I will not bow down to political correctness and amoral standards of behavior.” Nebuchadnezzar can answer that in Daniel 3:25: “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth one looks like a Son of God.” There is always a fourth man in the furnace. Always!
He is the same Son of God, Son of Man, who has been given authority, glory, power and the one who all the nations worship. He writes our names in His book and He delivers us on the last day from the eternal fire so that we have the fullness of everlasting life.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego make a bold stand and the result is hair that is not singed, clothing that isn’t burnt and they don’t even smell like smoke. Try not smelling like smoke the next you are around a campfire! Only the Son of God’s protection can save these men from not smelling like a bowling alley.
This same Son of God enters a furnace once again. This time He is against the world. The heat is on. It is sweltering and sticky and suffocating. The Palestinian sun is out and the sweat is rolling down His bleeding body. It is as hot as hell, because that is what He is up against, because of your sin and mine. He has cracked lips and a parched throat. “I thirst!”
Three days later He comes out of this fire alive and unbound. He makes this promise from His heart to yours: “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze; for I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:2-3)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made a bold confession. In 1517 there was another bold confessor and then many bold confessors. They refused to bow down, or blend in, or sell out. Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John the Constant were just some of the names. In 1530, they presented the Augsburg Confession that begins with Psalm 119:46: “I will speak of your decrees before kings, and I will not be ashamed.”
It all started when Luther read the Book of Romans. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” “Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.” “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were great confessors of their faith. They said in Daniel, “But even if God does not save us now, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship your image of gold.” God is empowering us to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that there is new life in Him. To confess that the three solas of the Reformation are the true and correct exposition of the Word of God – grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone – and that they all point to free salvation in Christ crucified alone.
In the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, we refuse to blend in, bow down or sell out to any person, ideology, movement or government that would rob us of the Gospel. When the heat is on, we will take our stand. God help us!