A SERIOUS QUESTION . . .

. . . the following question is one which should not be
avoided. [My problem sometimes is that people think I am exaggerating
when I'm serious, or think I'm serious when I am having fun and
exaggerating. I want absolutely no confusion here: I am as serious as
I know how to be!]

The question is: HOW REAL IS JESUS CHRIST TO YOU? If you, as
parent, role model, leader, have a "get-by" or "mediocre" friendship
with Jesus, and your prayer life is not an increasing push into the
adventure of the mystery of knowing God in Jesus Christ, then it is
likely that those watching you will not be excited about the faith
that you may well hold dear.

We need to talk with Jesus. We need to walk with Jesus, and tell
Him constantly how we are, what we are thinking. And then we need to
put at the top of our intercessory prayer list the people we do not
want to be separated from for all eternity!

The WORD of God ..the Word of God..where God's WORD lives

Colossians 3:16
The WORD of God . . . the Word of God . . . where God's Word Lives . . .

"It has become a family story..."
Ben went to the doctor who lifted his shirt and listened to his heart
with a stethoscope.
"What are you doing?" asked little Ben.
"I'm listening to your heart," was the reply.
"Jesus is in there, " said Ben, matter-of-factly.
"I think I hear Him," said the doctor with a smile.

My young grandson Ben's statement to the doctor: "God is in
there!" comes close to summing up what genuine Christian faith can be:
God in US! … incarnational faith!
Paul says in Colosians: Let the word dwell in you richly!

WHAT IS THE WORD OF GOD ??
The Bible? The Bible is God's WRITTEN Word. It is probably the first thing
that comes to mind, especially for those of us brought up in the
Christian church. We believe that the Bible is God's revealed Word on
salvation. It is a great and good thing to have the words of the
Bible hidden in our hearts. But the Bible is the written Word that tells us of the WORD.

JESUS CHRIST is God's WORD. He is the LIVING Word. John in the
Prologue to his Gospel says, "In the beginning was the WORD!" The
text says "Let the WORD dwell in you!" To have the WORD in us is more
than Bible memorization: the living WORD can come and live within us!
In Ephesians 3:17, a similar passage, instead of saying "Let the Word
dwell in you.." Paul says "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith.."

But with Jesus Christ LIVING-- ALIVE in you and in me... WE the CHURCH-- become THE WORD INCARNATE!
Three great miracles of INCARNATION
-- the Bible, which exists to testify of
the WORD,
and the Church (made up of born-again believers)-- speak to a world that
is hungry for God.

It is our task to abide in Jesus, the WORD, and to let His WORDS
abide in us-- and then we can share in His mission to let the world
come to know God:
We are called to be HOLY; not simply so that we can bask in our
goodness, but so that Christ can indwell us, and speak of His love and
righteousness and grace to a world that wants to know God!
We are given what is necessary for us to live this CHOSEN life:
God's peace; His Word; and His great name-- the name of Jesus!
Into the Privilege of Christ’s Presence in the Sacrament of Communion
As we Invite the Living WORD to abide in us!

Listening . . .

. . . Sometimes it seems the hardest thing to do to be quiet enough to hear God speak. And it is a mystery how He gets through to us when He answers our prayers. Hebrews 11:6 promises us that God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
. . . The faith to believe God IS is itself a gift. The insight that God is GOOD is also a gift, because the way we look at things often tries to "see God" where WE expect and how WE "know" He should act. That is His business. But the diligence . . . the persistence . . . the listening, that is my part! I'm willing. And if I somehow am not in synch, or not really willing, by an act of will I say
"I am willing to be made willing!"
". . .No holds barred, no qualification-- Lord, I'm listening! I love YOU!
"Yes!"

Romans 7 & 8 "Too simple??"

OBEYING THE HIGHER LAW Romans 7,8Lesson: Romans 7: (12) so then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. ... (14) For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. ... (16) ...I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. (21) I find then a principle (law) that evil is present with me- the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the Law of God in the inner man, (23) but I see A DIFFERENT LAW in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. (25) With my mind (I am) serving the law of God, but ... with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 8:2 ..the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.The Story of Naaman and Elisha It was all going very well indeed. The career was ahead ofschedule- there had been victory after victory, and promotion afterpromotion, and now Naaman had been made Chief of Staff and General ofGenerals. He was on top of his world! Then-- he noticed a few strange sensations in his hands; he sawsome white spots on his wrist. After a few days he went to see thedoctor. He was shocked by the report! The report was: "You are aleper!" This statement, this diagnosis changed all of Naaman's life.It was a death sentence! Sooner or later it would become commonknowledge, and he would be shunned, outcast, and the result wascertain deformity and death! The Bible says, "Naaman was a greatman-- BUT he was a leper!" But what makes this story worth telling is that even though thispagan general had a sure sentence of death, and by all the laws ofnature was doomed to die, HE HEARD A WORD OF HOPE, A MESSAGE ABOUT AHIGHER LAW. This word of HOPE came from the most unlikely place! It camefrom a little slave girl-- a little girl from Israel that had beencaptured in one of Naaman's conquests. The little girl evidentlycared about Naaman, and she said to her mistress-- "I WISH NAAMAN COULD GO TO ISRAEL-- THERE IS A MAN THERE WHOKNOWS GOD-- AND WHO COULD CURE HIM OF HIS LEPROSY!" It wasn't much-- but when you are desperate you don't need muchto send you looking. The little girl told her mistress and themistress told Naaman and Naaman told the King of Aram-- and the kingsaid, "GO FOR IT!" So Naaman, the conqueror of nations, the general of generals,takes a small caravan of valuables and heads for Samaria and the Kingof Israel. When Naaman arrived in Samaria, the capital city of the NorthernKingdom, he wasted no time. He went right to the top! When he gotthrough stating his reason for coming, King Jehoram (wicked Ahab'swicked son) was absolutely beside himself. "I'VE COME TO ISRAEL BECAUSE I'VE HEARD YOU HAVE A CURE FORLEPROSY!" Everyone knew that there is no cure for leprosy, but here stoodthe general of one of Israel's traditional enemies, making animpossible request. Naaman was a fearsome sight to all the neighborsof Aram, and Israel in particular. "AM I GOD?" asked the king to his subjects. "WHO DOES THISRAVING MANIAC LEPER FROM SYRIA THINK I AM? HE IS SIMPLY PICKING AFIGHT WITH US! HE INTENDS TO DESTROY ISRAEL!" Naaman, for his part, was in no mood to fight or argue. Hedidn't think there was much hope, anyway. He simply gave the word andthe caravan wheeled about and turned to go back toward the north andeast. Just about that time a man came running through the crowd. Hisname was Gehazi, and he was the servant of Elisha the Tishbite, aprophet of God. [ Now Elisha was not exactly well-accepted at court. His styleof worship was obsolete, and his idea of direct contact with God wasnot too sophisticated. And Elisha was not always civil to KingJehoram! But somehow Elisha had got word of the king's problem, andso he had sent his servant with a message to the king. ] "SEND THE GENERAL OVER TO ME!" It took the king about ten seconds to decide that sendingGeneral Naaman to the prophet would be a good idea. He didn't knowwhere the prophet lived, but Gehazi was willing to guide him. So theentourage turned and left the palace. When they arrived at the home of the prophet Gehazi went in andfound Elisha. I think Elisha was in the back garden. [Elijah was a rugged man, an outdoorsman, fond of camel skincoats and honey and locusts. But Elisha was a city person, smooth andcivilized, and yet not one bit less fearless or straightforward thanhis illustrious teacher had been. He was not over-awed by the power ofAram's armed might outside his doorway. He did not need to satisfyany personal curiosity.] Elisha sent word by the servant, and never himself spoke a wordto Naaman: "GO AND WASH IN THE JORDAN SEVEN TIMES AND YOUR FLESH SHALL BERESTORED TO YOU AND YOU SHALL BE CLEAN." "There it is! Take it or leave it! You are offered healing- - atthe price of obedience and faith in God! At the price of doing as youare bidden, not as you think you ought to do!" The Bible says, But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. (5:11-12)"IT'S TOO SIMPLE! IT'S TOO HUMBLING!" The message of finding the higher law is not unique to thisstory. That message is that WHEN WE COME TO THE END OF HUMANRESOURCES, IF WE WILL ACCEPT HIM ON HIS TERMS THERE IS GOD! We may think that we have life pretty much under control-- andyet we discover that we are sinners! Like Naaman, we are undersentence of death! The wages of willful sin is death! We seek help for the symptoms of our sinfulness- the damage itdoes to our lives. We go to church-- we ask for help in many acceptedchannels and we hear things like: (1) Sin is an outdated concept. There really isn't any sin anymore-- it is a combination of our environment and our inheritance. Wehave received a bad deal from our parents. Whatever feels good is allright to do. But somehow we KNOW that we are on a collision course with a justand holy God-- and that we are not prepared. or... (2) We are offered various human therapies which are helpful asfar as they go, but which can not reach to the depths of the real needof our lives, which is freedom from the power and guilt andcondemnation of sin. We are not just people who sin-- we are SINNERS! And THEN-- we hear the simple Gospel message: The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, shed on the Cross ofCalvary, cleanses from all sin! Christ died for the sinner! Or thispassage in Romans 10: (8-11) "the Word is near you, in your mouth andin your heart that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, andif you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead,you will be saved!" And our "sophisticated" reaction is like the ancient Arameangeneral, the leper named Naaman. "IT IS TOO SIMPLE!" NAAMAN'S STORYDOESN'T END WITH HIM GOING OFF IN A RAGE: His servants prevail on him with common sense: "What can youlose?" He goes to the banks of Jordan-- maybe to the same place Jesuswas baptized, who knows? He looks up on the banks and sees the natives watching. Heknows he will look stupid! But he wades in-- and dips under the water. Nothing! He dips again-- and again Nothing! But seven times down and the seventh time up helooks-- and . . . the white spots are gone! He comes up out of the muddy water and heads, dripping, for hischariot. "Go back to that prophet's house!" he orders the driver.The caravan wheels around again and heads back for Samara. And this time Elisha the Tishbite comes out. Maybe there is evena little smile on his face. "Here is a million dollars!" says the general, Naaman. "I won't take one red cent!" says the prophet. (Evidently he ison salary, like Billy Graham; or else, he hasn't learned how to make abig prophet like the TV prophets.) The general rides away a man who is convinced of the power ofJehovah God!Summary and Application: I suppose that I have read this portion of Romans -speakingabout being bound by lower laws-- and then finding freedom in higherlaws-- a hundred times or more. It is NOT a simple, easy passage. Wethink as we read, "Why do you make it so difficult? Why don't yousimply spell it out in language that we can easily understand?" Two or three things come to mind when I think of 'easilyunderstanding' the Word of God. One is-- that the way of salvation is easily entered, simple tograsp, requiring only the obedience of faith to say, "Jesus is LORD!" But another is-- that we think that because eternal life is afree gift, then it does not require study and application and effort,like any other wonderful truth. We think in arrogance that we knowall that is to be known simply by our native intelligence. And thatsimply is NOT so! Paul speaks of the deep things which the CorinthiansOUGHT to have been grappling with, but they simply were going over andover the same elementary truths of arithmetic, not realizing thedepths of algebra and calculus and wonder that God had for them tounderstand and practice. And finally, along with this lack of willingness to study: Wethink that God should always bend to our way of thinking; we thinkthat we are the measure of understanding. But we must be willing toendeavor to follow God's teaching, and enter into His lessons. This, then, is a difficult passage. It expresses the deepest joyof freedom and life in God found anywhere in the Bible. But itdemands our full attention. We will not plumb its depths in thissermon together, and I hope that you will not solve its meaning thisafternoon and come back with all the answers tonight. But you canbegin, or you can continue-- as I am sure that we all are in somemeasure engaged in this "heart-of-Romans truth." Have you submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Are you evenNOW confessing with your mouth, and by God's grace, believing in yourheart? It is profoundly simple, and simply profound-- but the freedomand power of Romans 8 is for us all! We can obey God's HOLY law, andbe FREE from the "law of sin and death" as we submit to the "law ofthe Spirit of life in Christ Jesus!" Elisha said to Naaman, "Go, wash and be clean!" The Spirit says to you and to me: "Confess, believe, and be freefrom sin and condemnation!"PrayerHymn No. 465 Trust and Obey———————————————————————————————————
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene. Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit. You can access more of Dr. Metcalfe's sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives web site. Now with MP3 audio sermons and audio bonus material.
http://russellmetcalfesermons.nazarene.nl/sermons.html
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A Modest Proposal

Given the on-going worship dialogues, I have a modest proposal to keep us old fogies from losing it entirely and attacking the platform with our canes and walkers . . .

The proposal has three parts . . . depending on the churchb size and situation.

For the larger church that has moved into a gymnasium-type setting with moveable seats and cheap projection screens:
After the greetings and offering, dismiss everyone with wrinkles or liver spots to "senior church" in the old auditorium, which probably still has a piano or organ in it which some old fogie can play. Have them take their hymnals with them. They can leave at the same time as the children to "junior church".

For the smaller church the pastor can ask the "senior citizens" to come forward and sit (sit) in the front pews for "pastor's time with the senior citizens". He can turn around and put on a clip-on tie and then have a senior sermon, maybe explaining what all the wires and microphones do and how they can adjust their hearing aids at different parts of the service. He can assure them that the people who stand behind those mikes and slap their thighs and wiggle are NOT Gladys Knight and the Pips, what are they thinking?

For the fortunate church that has "senior talent" a back-up group can be recruited, or a warm-up group or whatever you call it-- of seniors all dressed alike with creases in their pants and oil in what hair they have left-- like the Mille Brothers or the Four Freshmen . . . or even likeGomer Pyle and Goober. That way the older people can get back at the young ones and make them pretend they like it.

I would draw the line at body surfing.