February 19, 2017 · 4:12 pm

Rebuilding Faith and Hope

Peninsula Community Church 

February 19, 2017

Rebuilding Faith and Hope

Nehemiah 1:1-11 – The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cupbearer to the king.

This is a long passage but it is one that informs our perspective about confronting the issues we face. In this passage, we find there are at least five steps that Nehemiah takes that helps him process the news he received and aides him in overcoming the difficulties he faced.

To begin with we, find that Nehemiah was sincerely and genuinely concerned about the problem (Nehemiah 1:1-4) he faced and the issues confronting Jerusalem. Notice that Nehemiah inquired about the situation in his homeland. He asked questions. He got information. He did not want to assume what the problem was or how problematic things might be. The report from Jerusalem was that those who remained in Jerusalem during the captivity and had survived were in great trouble and they were filled with shame at the disrepair of their city. The city itself was broken down and the gates were destroyed. The walls had been destroyed and there was great discouragement in the city. It seemed that it was a impossible task to return to the homeland and even if they returned could the land be rebuilt and restored?

The question for us today is are you facing issues that seem to have your spirit broken and your heart devastated. Does the issue you face seem impossible to resolve? Does the mountain in front of you seem too large? Does the rubble and junk around you seem to be too much to overcome? You might answer yes to all of these but that is where Nehemiah found himself. While the problems we face may seem overwhelming and may seem too big to overcome, I wonder sometimes if this is exactly where God wants us to be because it forces us to turn to him.

So what did Nehemiah do? As we have already stated Nehemiah had an honest appraisal of the situation. Two things happen here that I think are very positive in the story. First of all, Nehemiah does not deny the problems in Jerusalem. At the same time, he does not over exaggerate the problems.

You see we can deny the problem that exists but in denying the problem we are never moved to make a difference or bring change. You see I am very familiar with this mode of operation. When I was growing up, my family was good at denying the problems that existed. It is not that we necessarily denied them, the fact is we just did not talk about them. The unspoken reality for us was that if we did not talk about the problem then the problem would go away or it would cease to exist. While this seemed helpful in the moment, because we refused to talk about problems we faced, they in fact affected and impacted all of our relationships. The truth of the matter is that we must be honest and acknowledge the problem in realistic terms. We must not and cannot deny the problems we face. We cannot be an ostrich with our heads in the sand.

On the other hand, we cannot nor should we exaggerate the problems we face. We can make mountains out of a mole hill but in so doing we can talk ourselves into doubt and hopelessness. Once again we need to be honest about the issues we face. We do not deny the problem but at the same time we must not exaggerate the problem either. Nehemiah had a real sense of the problems and he brought those things to God in prayer. That was the wisdom of God being exhibited through Nehemiah’s life.

The second thing we find here is that Nehemiah had a strong conviction about God’s Character. In Nehemiah 1:5 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. 

Notice what Nehemiah did. He did not run to a whole lot of people to tell them the story but he got on his face before God in prayer and fasting. These are two critical keys to victory in our life. First, we need to know that prayer helps us align our will with God’s will and secondly, fasting invites God to feed our soul and our spirit with His nourishment and His food.

In the process, Nehemiah proclaims the greatness and awesomeness of God. He reminds himself that God is faithful and that He will keep His covenant and that no matter what comes God does not ever stops loving us. His conviction is that God will save him and the city of Jerusalem and that God will keep His word. So let me ask you, are you convicted or at least convinced that God is faithful and that He will keep His word. That was the heart of Nehemiah. He had an assurance of God’s faithfulness and that God would come through in a big way. May we too understand the power of God and know that He is awesome and that He is faithful to fulfill His word in us. May we never lose sight of that, no matter what comes our way.

The third act of Nehemiah is that he confessed his sin (Nehemiah 1:6-7). Notice that he did not blame others nor did he excuse his sin but he admitted that he needed to confess his sin. He took responsibility for his part of the problem while acknowledging that others were also responsible. Here is the deal. We must be honest with God about our role and our part in the situations we face. The problem too often is that we fail to personally address the issues that should be addressed. Perhaps our actions or our words have added to the depth of the problem so we need to take on our part of the problem. Israel had been disobedient and therefore had their land taken from them. That was the reality of the time. Disobedience and rebellion on Israel’s part had caused them to lose what had been promised to them.

I must admit that there are times where we are innocent in the issues we face but the reality is too often we have things in our life that need to be repented of. Notice that Nehemiah stood in the gap for his family, his nation, and he repented not only of their sin but also his sin. This has always been a major part of the restoration in our life. We recognize the problem, we honor God, and then we repent of those things we know where we have come up short and where we have sinned. This is critical so that we do not repeat the issues again. We repent and change our ways so as not to exasperate the problem.

Fourth, Nehemiah had a confidence in God’s promises (Nehemiah 1:8-10). God had promised that if they repent and change their ways, He would restore and heal their land. Not only did Nehemiah praise God for who He was but He also placed his confidence in God’s ability to keep His promises. God had promised He would keep Israel and that He would restore them if they repented. And as we read the rest of the story, we find that is exactly what God did.

And finally, Nehemiah made a commitment to get involved (Nehemiah 1:11). We find that not only had Nehemiah been getting news about the condition of Jerusalem, not only had he been praying and fasting but he also took steps to bring change. He decided to approach the King which took a lot for him to do this because the king had the power to destroy Nehemiah if he so desired. But Nehemiah was not going to sit back and allow things to continue the way they were.

You see, Nehemiah was the cupbearer for the king. For those who may not understand this job let me explain. Nehemiah was tasked with tasting the wine that was to be served at any of the meals that were served to the King. Now for some of us might want a job like that. It would be like going to a wine tasting every day. But here was the problem. The wine taster’s job was to test the wine to be sure it was suitable for consumption but also that no one had placed any poison in the wine. So he had built a trust with the king. Using this trust he went before the king to seek permission to go to Jerusalem to begin the rebuilding process. This was a real step of faith because that meant that the king would have to select a new cupbearer but as we learn later the king relented and allowed Him to go.

He took action knowing that God would protect Him and would bring about His will for the day and the time. Sometimes when we face issues in life we can fail to play our part and accept our responsibility for the task. We can easily make excuses and put off doing our part but we must step up to the plate. We must be in the game and be engaged in the process. You see Nehemiah could have stayed in his home and wept and cried but never engage. In so doing, he would never feel the impact of being a part of the solution or the process of healing. It is possible that Jerusalem would not have been restored which would have delayed the return of the children of Israel to their homeland.

Please note that Nehemiah did not force anyone else to be apart of his plan. He offered and people stepped up to the plate. Too often we try to force God’s hand or the hand of others. It is noteworthy that there was almost a four month period between the time Nehemiah received word from Jerusalem to the time he encountered the king. He was patient. He did not rush into the situation. He took one step at a time. In the end, he chose action and faithfulness over denial and fear. That is our choice and that is the action we must take.

God was in all of this. Not only did the king give permission but its is noteworthy that as you read this passage you will find that Nehemiah was careful to note that the queen was beside the king. This is critical because it has been suggested that this queen was none other than Queen Esther. God was orchestrating the return back to Jerusalem. Years before Esther had taken a step of faith to be obedient to God’s call to step up to the plate and let God use her. I encourage you to read three books together. Read Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah as they portray the faithfulness of God and the way He moves to bring about His will and purposes. Esther stepped up to the plate and so did Nehemiah and God used their faithfulness to bring about His will and purpose.

Here is the promise. God is at work even when we don’t see Him. God will move people, He will move mountains, He will change hearts but He will move. Things may be in motion when we don’t even realize it. That is God and that is the way we should be moving forward. That is why we can praise Him in the storm no matter what comes.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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February 13, 2017 · 11:30 am

Focusing on God in the Midst of Change

Peninsula Community Church

February 12, 2017

Focusing on God in the Midst of Change 

Daniel 6:16-24 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel…The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

As we often do, I believe that it is important for us to look at the back story for this passage in order to understand the details of the story of Daniel. Several things had transpired and changed from the time of the story of the three Hebrew children to the time of this story in Daniel 6. For one, several years had passed and two significant things had occurred. There was a new king in town and Daniel had grown from the teenager that was brought to Babylon to now being a full grown man in his 80’s or 90’s. In this story, we see there are four elements to this story that need our comment. These serve to teach us and guide us as we grow older and seek to do His will.

The first element is that Daniel adapted to unavoidable change. I do not know about you but I do not always like change because I tend to be a creature of habit and I like order but I have learned that change does come. I also know that we do not always expect change to happen. Change often catches us by surprise and can cause us to become unsettled. As we read this story, we find that during the time between the three Hebrew Children and Daniel there was a major change in the landscape of the kingdom in that the Babylonians were defeated by the Medes and Persians. The Medes and Persians were now in control. The positive was that it appeared that the Medes and Persians were more open to God as a whole than the Babylonians.

These changes teach us that change is inevitable and will occur. The problem is that most of us do not welcome change as it usually impacts us negatively and we often have to deal with the unknown that comes with change. We all face change and change effects us in many different ways but the constant is that we are all impacted by the changes we face. The best way to handle change is for us to recognize that no matter what comes our way God is still with us and He is still in control.

The second element was that Daniel did not allow his age to deter him from accomplishing God’s will. Daniel was now in his 80’s or 90’s. The issue here is not so much his age as it was more about the fact that Daniel did not rest on his laurels. He was continuing to invest his life into the ministry of others and he was ready to serve wherever God would lead him. Too often, we can begin to believe that once we reach a certain age or that we have accomplished certain goals that our life is over and done and there is no need to continue to give of ourselves.

Historically, there are more than enough examples of those did not begin to find their destiny until their elderly years. Michelangelo was still painting at 89. John Wesley preached with almost undiminished eloquence at 88. Thomas Edison was still inventing at 90 years old. Frank Lloyd Wright was developing some of his greatest designs at 90. Bernard Shaw was writing plays at 90. J.C. Penny was working strenuously at his desk at 95.

The point being made is that we can never discount our ability or our effectiveness just because we are getting older. We all have something to give and if we seek God we will find what that task will be. Here is the point to be made. Age can never be a prerequisite nor a deterrent to achievement. How do we prevent age from being a deterrent? We stay young in our spirit. We focus on what is needed and not what has been done. I was reminded of what a friend of ours in their early 80’s once said. They did not like senior citizen’s groups because he stated that every in the group was old. He was a young 80’s as he continued to play tennis and ride bikes. He kept his mind stimulated by always learning and developing his life. I can remember one of the things he did was to publish a book in his 70’s.

The third key element is that Daniel maintained his integrity which kept him grounded in God. In the opening verses of Daniel 6 we find that Darius was establishing his cabinet so to speak and one of those he chose was Daniel. The Scripture tells us that Daniel was distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps because he had an excellent spirit. In fact, he was so admired that Darius wanted to set him up over all of his kingdom. Listen to the words of Daniel 6:1-5. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

As often happens those around Daniel were jealous of this choice and so they started a campaign to prevent him from taking the role to which he was appointed. But as we see in the passage that we read the other leaders could not find anything to use against Daniel because he was faithful and no error or fault could be found in him. The only chink in his armor was the fact that he faithfully served God. It was on this point that they developed a scheme to destroy Daniel and his life. They basically set a trap for him because they knew that he would not compromise his life or his beliefs.

Once they realized this, they set their plan in motion. They went to King Darius to get him to sign a decree that would be legally binding. The decree would send anyone to the Lion’s Den if they made a petition to any god or man for thirty days except the king himself. There is no hint of a reason why Darius signed the decree, but he did. Let me just say here that when someone or a group comes to disparage another that may be a warning to their motivation. I remember when I was in Bible School there was an issue that needed to be addressed. A large group of people got together to bring the issue to the president of the school and I was voted to be the spokesperson for the group. The problem is that when we went before the President everyone else backed away and I was left on my own. That taught me a lesson. Be careful of the mob mentality when a group of people begin to complain or want to get us.

Once signed and enacted Daniel made a purposeful decision. He was well aware of the decree and the penalty that would be exacted if he were to pray to God but that did not stop him or deter him from doing just that. Notice what he did. He went to his chamber and opened his window to heaven and he prayed. His daily act of connection with God was not going to be deterred by a decree from man.

They now had him and they brought the news to Darius who was forced by his own decree to cast him into the lion’s den which brings us to the third element to this story. Daniel had an unshakable trust in God which delivered him the lion’s den. Daniel had an incredible faith and trust in God’s power to deliver him from the lions that were destined to devour him once he was in the den. As we see in the story we find that Daniel was cast into the lions den but listen to Darius’ own words. “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” I heard a saying this week that intrigued me. The statement was this, the aggressor has the advantage and the power. It is a military statement. The idea is that the aggressor is the one who starts the battle and with the act of surprise overcome the victim or the one that they battling. So we need to be the aggressor as we take on the enemy’s schemes. We know the enemy’s tactics and his ways so that we battle against him. God is always the aggressor for us. He knows what we need when we need it. He will come to aide and He will protect us.

So I ask you this morning how are you doing with change in your life. Has change overwhelmed you to the degree that you are depressed and stressed as a result. How is your integrity? Is your integrity being attacked? Are you being fought against? Are you facing great turmoil to the point that you feel broken and weary. There is hope. Daniel had the solution. He kept his eyes on God who he knew would deliver him. As a result he was delivered from the lions.

Listen to this song by Natalie Grant and meditate on the words. May it be your prayer.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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February 6, 2017 · 4:35 pm

Focusing on God in the Midst of the Struggle

Peninsula Community Church

February 5, 2017

Focusing on God in the Midst of the Struggle 

Daniel 3:24-25; 28 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods”… Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Last week we looked at the promise given to the Children of Israel as it related to their captivity in Babylon. This week we will look at one of the stories that occurred during the captivity and how the promise of God was fulfilled even in the midst of the captivity. As always, we must look at the back story so we can understand the story before us even better. When the Babylonians carried the Children of Israel into captivity they desired to indoctrinate the young people in the ways of Babylon. They envisioned winning the people of Israel by winning the hearts and minds of the children.

While this was their desire they had not figured on the number of youth whose faith in God would always trump anything that the Babylonians would try to do to them. We will see that in this story and in the story of Daniel that the Babylonians tried to change their perspective but that would not work as they had fully committed their way to the Lord. The fact is, the Hebrew children were not willing to give themselves to the ways of Babylon. Rather than live by a way of life that would leave them empty and longing for more they did not compromise their beliefs or their way of life.

In this story, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, built a statue that was to worshipped by the people of Babylon and the Hebrew captors. This was motivated by his pride and his arrogance as he believed that he was a god. As we see in the story, while everyone else bowed their knee to worship the statue the three Hebrew children did not. In fact, they refused to bow down which led them to be judged and subsequently they received a judgement against them.

As we review this story, we find that there were at least three tools used against them. The first tool used was the tool of false accusation. The Chaldeans came to destroy the three Hebrew children’s integrity and their standing in Babylon. In Daniel 3:8, we see they maliciously accused the Jews. The problem was that the Chaldeans were jealous of what the King had done for the Jews in that he had elevated the Israelites to positions of power often at the expense of the Chaldeans and men of Babylon. Their goal was to remove them from power by falsely accusing them. You see they did not just accuse them but they did so with an intent to get rid of them and to neutralize their effectiveness.

As we discussed last week, there is never a lack of people to try and tear us down. There will always be accusers in our life. We are accused by the enemy. We are accused by others. Sadly, we are also accused by ourselves. Have you ever noticed for example that when you are sad or down there will be those who think you are too sad and others who think you are not sad enough. You cannot please others and that often results in accusation most often founded in false truth. It is interesting that when trouble comes there is always someone around to accuse us and try to convince us there is no hope and that we should just submit to whatever issue we face. These accusers were no different. They wanted to create an atmosphere to discourage and defeat the faith of the Hebrews but they failed big time. They could not deter their faith nor could they defeat the Hebrew children.

The second tool used against the Hebrews was compromise! You see if the Hebrews only bowed their knee and followed the commands of the King everything would have been good. They would not have had to suffer the judgment that was to come but they chose to suffer death rather than compromise what they believed. Most often you can know that you face an attack of the enemy when there is a push to compromise the truth of the gospel and what you believe.

The fact is the enemy always wants us to compromise what we believe and what we stand for but in this story faith and trust in God prevailed. Rather than compromising they stood strong in their faith. The goal of compromise is to get us to diminish our faith and to begin to trust in everything but God. They refused to compromise because they had an unmovable faith in God. This is witnessed in the statement they made before being thrown into the fiery furnace. “God is able to deliver us. He will deliver us. And if He doesn’t we will not worship your gods.” That is the faith we need. We know God can deliver us but even if he doesn’t we will not stop serving him or believing in him. That is true faith.

The words of the Hebrew children are reminiscent of Paul’s words in Corinthians when he made the following observation. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).

The third tool used by the enemy is intimidation! The King did two things to create an atmosphere of intimidation. First of all, he had his men turn the heat up seven times the normal heat. Have you ever noticed how the heat is turned up when you are walking through difficult times? There is great pressure and the heat of the problems you face cause you to take a step back. Secondly, the king ordered his mighty men to bind them before they were thrown into the furnace. The point of the intimidation was to cause them to give up and surrender their belief. Think about this. We have three young teenage boys being obedient to God and He sends them some of the biggest and most powerful men in his army to bind them. It seems like overkill but that is what the enemy does. He tends to do overkill in every aspect of our life to force us to become depressed or discouraged.

As we read the story while we see the tools used by the enemy we also see God’s intervention. The three Hebrew children I am sure would have desired that God would have intervened and kept them from the furnace but instead God allows the Babylonians to throw them into the fiery furnace. Being thrown into the furnace was not the end of the story because even in the furnace God chose to deliver them in a big way! We see at the end of this that God had a greater plan. The plan was to reach those in Babylon.

As we review the story we see that God did so much more than just intervene. Notice what the King and his men witnessed what they returned to the furnace the next day. They saw four men who were unbound and they were walking around in the fire. The miracle was that they were not hurt in anyway. In fact, they saw a fourth person in the furnace that looked a whole lot like God. In fact, we know now that it was the Son of God. He had intervened and made a way of enduring the fiery furnace at all cost. I can promise you today that God will intervene and make a way of escape for you. Sometimes it means that we are able to endure the trouble we face. You see the three Hebrew children were not delivered from the furnace but they were delivered in the furnace. How powerful that is and how encouraging it is when we face all kinds of difficulty in our life that God will deliver us?

Here is what we know. God was present with them. God’s presence in the furnace made all of the difference in the world. He was with them and He protected them. He guarded them. His presence brought comfort, protection, and deliverance in the midst of their greatest difficulty. It is noteworthy that God did not keep them from the furnace but He certainly met them in the furnace. That is God’s mode of operation. He either delivers us from the furnace or He meets us in the furnace. We will not know His plan until we encounter the events of our life that require an intervention. As promised in Joshua, God will never leave us or forsake us. God is always there.

We also know that God delivered them from the effects of the fiery furnace. They were in the furnace but they were not effected by the fiery furnace. Look at this, the fire had no power over them. Their hair was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and there was no smell of smoke on them. God had delivered them from the effects of the furnace and He wants to deliver us from the effects of the accusations and intimidation offered to us by the enemy of our souls. How many of us are effected by past events that have shaped and formed who we are today. Notice that physically they were not negatively effected. The lesson is the issues we face do not have to define us. We can navigate the issues of our lives without being harmed by the power of the test. As Paul stated in Romans “If God is for us who or what can be against us.”

Finally and most important, God brings redemption. In this story, we see the redemption of the King. Through this amazing story Nebuchadnezzar honors God and acknowledges God as God. In fact Nebuchadnezzar is so moved by this event, he declares that God is the one God and that He is worthy of praise. The purpose of trials is for us to honor God and then to assist others in honoring God. It is noteworthy that Nebuchadnezzar is not changed immediately, but God uses this and other opportunities to reveal Himself. I am so glad for the redemption that comes from God and how He uses the trials of our lives to touch others and to bring them to a point where they recognize the power of God. If God can turn the heart of a wicked King He can touch every person around us for His glory.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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January 30, 2017 · 2:30 pm

Living Like Christ – What’s In Your Future

Peninsula Community Church

Living Like Christ – What’s In Your Future

January 29, 2017

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

As I was considering the message for today I was moved by a number of ideas and thoughts. As I continued to pray, I was moved by the fact that it seems that so many people today are discouraged, depressed, and are feeling disenfranchised spiritually. The truth of the matter is that the enemy of our soul loves to get us into this stupor of depression and lost hope. It is a place where hope and faith are darkened and any forward movement in Christ is stifled. While this is true, the fact is this was never God’s intent. His intent was that we would live free and hopeful lives dedicated to serve God with all of our hearts.

We must remember that the enemy is no slouch when it comes to discouragement. He knows better than anyone the well timed opportunities he can use to discourage and cause us to feel desperate and depressed. Not only is the enemy at work but we are guilty of filling our minds and hearts with information that tends to pull us down rather than building us up. While we might feel discouraged and desperate for change, it is this desperation that drives us or at least should drive us to God. God uses the issues of life to get us to refocus on Him who is our hope.

As we look around us, there is so much to discourage us today. Financial issues, physical issues, emotional issues, relational issues, spiritual issues, political issues, and health issues all  seem to contribute to lost hope and depression. While these things are a reality it does not mean that is where He wants us to stay or live. The truth is, we can move beyond the issues and hold onto the One who makes us whole and complete. In the Old Testament, God responded to the despair of Israel by proclaiming that He had given them a hope and a future.  Because we know that all of Scripture is used to teach us the truth of God’s ways, we know that this promise is extended to us as well.

In the passage before us, there is so much that speaks to us today. First of all, notice that Jeremiah records that God proclaims that When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. What is being said here is there will be an end to the Babylonian captivity. The children of Israel had been dealing with this burden for seventy years and there seemed to be no hope for an end to the captivity but God promised that an end was to come.

The point being made is that we will have seasons of difficulty. We will have seasons where there seems to be no hope or no promise of a future. Our future is darkened by the events and the circumstances in our life. For Israel, God was offering this promise and yet they were still in their captivity and would be for seventy years. Notice they were in the middle of the captivity when this proclamation and promise was made on their behalf. The truth for us is that whatever issue we are facing most of them will only last for a season. The fact is we are not immune from the difficulties of life but God provides a way of escape. Sometimes this is a physical deliverance and sometimes it is an emotional deliverance. Either way we are delivered. In the end, it does not matter if we will face issues but it is how we handle them that defines who we are.

In addition to this, we find that not only will they make it through the captivity but God makes s series of promises to them about their future and the hope they have. Look at what is promised to the Children of Israel. The first of these promises is that God will keep His promise. The point here is that God is faithful and He keeps His word. God will keep them and will bring them back to their rightful position and place in the economy of God. One thing we can be sure of is that God keeps His promises to us. You can take that to the bank. He never fails us and He never gives up on us.

There are a couple of things that are noteworthy in this. First, the captivity is not the total story. It is certainly a part of the story but it is not the story itself. The issue you are walking in is a part of the story of your life but it does not have to be the story. The fact is their story does not end in captivity but it ends with promised victory and the promised welfare of the people. And as we know through history they were delivered and restored. I am sure there were moments when the Children of Israel thought their life was over and there was no hope beyond that single moment in time but God in His wisdom knew there were better days ahead. I am sure they thought the promise of being the chosen nation through which the Messiah would come was over but God never forgot and He did not give up on them.

Secondly, God promises them that He has a plan for them. The promise here is that what they are going through will not be for nothing. You see this is a promise but it is also a reminder that God has a plan for them. They were chosen as a nation through which Messiah would come. There is a plan in all of this. In the sovereignty of God there is a plan for them to be better and to achieve more for God than if they had not gone through the captivity. God has chosen us to also reveal the Messiah to all we encounter. In captivity, we can forget that God has a plan for us as we become discouraged and the light of the gospel is diminished in our heart.

Thirdly, God’s plan is to prosper them and He has plans for their welfare. He has plans not for evil but for the betterment of their life. As we look at this, we should make one observation about the word for welfare or prosperity. The word used here in the Hebrew is the word “shalom” which means peace. This is an important interpretation of this word as God’s plan is not just richness or a lot of money but his desire is to bring peace. You see there is so much more to prosperity than money or riches, peace is the focal point of what God is doing.

Fourthly, God has a plan for a future and hope. You see when we walk in peace, we don’t need riches per se. Peace will steer us to a proper perspective on our hope and future. The fact is without God’s peace there is no hope or a future. There are a couple of passages in the Bible in regard to understanding this peace.

Psalms 4:6-8 – There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Isaiah 26:3-4 – You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

At the end of the Jeremiah passage we find there is a balance between God’s sovereignty and our free will. God will restore us and give us a future but we have our part to play. Here is what Jeremiah defines as our part. First of all, we are to call upon the Lord and we are to come and pray to Him. Prayer is always the greatest option at our disposal. Prayer is a matter of refocusing our attention from the issues to focusing on the One we know is able to take care of the problems we face. It places us in a mindset where we draw upon the grace of God and the power of God. Praying moves God but it also moves us into the place of understanding God’s will and purpose for us. By focusing in prayer, we shift our attention from the problems we face to the One who can resolve all issues of life.

Secondly, we must seek God. We don’t just seek after what God can do but who God is. The promise is that if we seek Him we will find Him. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:7-11 Jesus says the following. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” We are to ask, seek, and knock, and then we will receive, we will find, and when we knock we will have doors opened. This speaks of a persistent faith that never gives up and never gives out. That is our part of the plan.

The promise from God is that we will find Him and what we feel we have lost will be restored. That is the blessing that God gives. He gives us wholeness and completeness in what we do. So what are we saying today? We are saying that we will face issues in life. These issues  will feel much like captivity and desperation. It is interesting that when we are caught in the battle, it is hard to look to the future. We view everything through the eyes of the moment and the longer we deal with these battles, the harder it becomes to look to the future. We can be deceived into believing that this is the only world we will know and we can begin to give up on God and people. That is the defining mark of the enemy’s tactics in our life. He blinds us to the truth and prevents us from moving ahead to a better day.

In the end, God wants to deliver us from the captivity we face by giving us peace. It is a love and peace that passes all understanding. It is a peace that comes from God. It is a gift that we receive when we seek Him and pray to Him.

John 14:27-29 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

So here is the deal this morning. We are facing and we will face great difficulty but in the midst of the difficulty God’s peace can overflow us and fill our hearts with peace. Peace may not change the circumstances but it certainly changes our outlook and our focus. Sometimes our lives feel like they are out of order and confused. It seems that nothing makes sense but when the great conductor of our lives steps to the podium life makes sense again. Watch this video if you will and then we will close in prayer.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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January 23, 2017 · 4:49 pm

Living Like Christ – What is Love?

Peninsula Community Church

Living Like Christ

January 22, 2017

Matthew 22:36-40“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

For some time I have been working through this question of what does it mean to be Christlike. As I have navigated this thought process I have discovered and rediscovered some principles that I would like to share with you so that together we can grow and be more like Christ in all we do.

Before we look at the meaning of this passage perhaps it would help us to understand the context of the passage. In Jesus’ day it was not uncommon for the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the religious leaders to debate and argue the meaning of the law and which law or laws had more relevance to their life. In fact, the religious leaders of that day would often be divided and segregated around the laws they elevated as important. We might look at these religious leaders with disdain but we do the same thing so often. We try to elevate one law or commandment above another to show our spiritual superiority to others. We can also elevate one law that is our pet peeve and devalue other laws that do not seem to apply to us. I can remember growing up in the church as a teenager that it seemed that my spirituality was measured more by my outward appearance than the quality of  my heart.

In our story today, we find that a young lawyer asking Jesus just such a question about the law.  The lawyer’s basis for the question to see which law Jesus valued and which law he would place above the other laws. When Jesus gave His answer He surprised the religious leaders. Rather than selecting one law to be raised against all of the other laws, He summed up the whole law in just two statements. He stated that the law was simply defined as loving God and loving others as we would love ourself. He did not elevate one law above another but in essence He was saying that all of the law is important and what is most important is the attitude and mindset of keeping the law.

To understand this approach to the law, we must have a proper understanding of the meaning of love. To begin with love is not defined by selfishness and self-motivation. True love is a concept that is foreign to us in many ways because the word love has been abused and misused. Too often it is a ploy of guilt and dishonesty. How often have you heard someone say, “if you loved me you would do X”? A young man in the backseat of his car with a young girl might say “if you really loved me you would have sex with me.” That is bribery and guilt and that has no place in the scheme of love. Love and guilt never cohabit together. They are mutually exclusive and they are no way cut from the same cloth. Another negative response to love is the fact that a false love can become very self-centered rather than God-focused or others focused.

As we study the Scripture we find that the root of Christlikeness is love thus everything about Christ exudes love including His mission, His calling, His actions, and His thoughts. He committed to give Himself for us was so that we would not have to die. His gave us forgiveness. His gave us grace. All of life was centered and focused in a love that is so amazing that we cannot truly understand the truth of love with our finite minds. It is unfortunate that with our faulty view of love we cannot comprehend the full majestic love that He extends to us. His love is Agape love which is the highest form of love there is. Agape love is a self-sacrificing love. It is the love that is expressed in the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. It is the love that is expressed when Paul commanded husbands to love their wives as Christ so loved the church (Ephesians 5:25-29). It is a selfless kind of love. It is the kind of love that Paul uses to challenge believers to put others before themselves (Philippians 2:3). Once again all of this is evidenced through the sacrificial giving of Jesus’ life on the cross. Listen to the words of 1 John 4:13-21. In so many ways this passage sums up the gift of love given to us by God.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

I do not believe that it is coincidence that Jesus used the term agape love to underscore His summation of what the greatest law would be. You see a right perspective of God’s love allows us to keep His law in a way that would not be possible apart from His love. You see love is the motivating factor of our obedience. Love motivates us to keep God’s law because we love Him, we love others, but we also love ourselves. In fact, we are a conduit for God’s love. People will not know God’s love apart from His believers exhibiting love to those around them.

In this passage, Jesus suggests that the law of God is summarized by loving God. Notice that He defines love as an investment of our heart, our soul, and our mind to loving God. We do not hold anything back from loving God completely and in total. It is a full commitment to love God with all that we are. Think about it if you will. We love God with our heart, the seat of our emotions. We love God with our mind, the seat of our intellect and our thoughts. We love God with our soul which is our identity and what we have been called by God to be. Notice something in this passage. We love God with all of our hearts and our minds. Love is not just seated in our emotions. It is also seated in our minds. True love does not divide the heart and the mind. Too often we think that love is solely an emotional response but that is so far from the truth. True love is based in the knowledge of God.

Secondly, we are to love others. The problem that exists is that we can say we love God but if we do not love people one could question one’s commitment and love for Christ. Without love we cannot actually live like Christ. Before we can love others we must have a genuine love for God. The fact is when we love people more can be done through love than through any other means. Love draws believers and non believers alike to Him. As representatives of Christ, we are to lead people toward reconciliation with Him. To do so love must be our most powerful vehicle. If they see in us the same attitude and lifestyle as Christ, they will be drawn to us, and we then point them to Him.

To accomplish this, let us consider some of the ways Christ showed His amazing love in the New Testament. First of all, He forgave the woman who had been accused of adultery and He confronted her accusers with their sin. This was a great act of love and grace. He could have been legalistic in his approach but the law of love manifested itself and she was won to Him. Through His love a multitude of sin was covered but note He did not deny the sin nor did He compromise with the sin. He, however, was willing to forgive and cover the sin and win the soul.

The woman at the well is another example of Christ’s love. He told His disciples that He had to go through Samaria. This was unheard of for the Jews as they did everything in their power to avoid this one city. There was no love loss between the Jews and the Samaritans. To put it mildly they hated each other. During the Assyrian captivity some of the Jews stayed in Israel and in so doing they ended up intermarrying with the Assyrians who had invaded their land. They were considered to be half-Jews and a half-Jew is no Jew at all. Once in the village, Jesus encountered a woman who came to draw water from the well. There was all kinds of reasons for Jesus to reject this woman. First, no man was to talk with a woman directly. Specifically they were not to speak to Samaritan women under any circumstance. By His love, He spoke to her and offered her a drink of water that would satisfy her thirst forever.

Of course the greatest act of love was Christ’s willingness to go to the cross where He died for everyone’s sin. That is the highest love possible. The innocent one who had no sin was willing to take on all of mankind’s sin so that He could offer them forgiveness and eternal life. That is love. That is complete love. That is the love that God wants us to exhibit. He wants and desires that we exhibit that kind of love. He wants us to love ourselves not in a narcissistic way but in who we are in Christ so that we can be a conduit of His love to others. You might say that it is impossible to do so but with Christ all things are possible. As we love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind we find it is easier to love the unlovable. Embracing God’s love helps us to give grace to the unlovable.

But we have a problem. Too often we are not motivated by love but rather from selfishness and self-centeredness. The problem too often is that we do things for personal praise and success rather than to extend true love to those around us. The problem is exasperated by those we encounter who seem to be unlovable but when we recognize the love of God and we exhibit His love things begin to change.

So how do we work this out? Where we have failed to love others we must repent and change our ways. Remember we do not have to compromise our beliefs but we must show love. The problem we have is a false view of love in that we believe that loving a person in sin is accepting that person’s sin. We can love the person but hate the sin. You will never run out of opportunities to love by faith. Agape kind of love is an act of the will, not just an emotion. You love by faith. By faith, you can claim God’s favor and exercise the act of love. In daily life, your love will be warmed by joy, watered by tears, and spread by the winds of circumstances.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

 

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January 3, 2017 · 10:18 am

Our Focus for a New Year

Peninsula Community Church

January 1, 2017 

Our Focus for a New Year

Philippians 3:12-16 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

It is hard to believe that we are entering a new year. It is so amazing that it seems like it was just yesterday that we were entering 2016 with all of its promises and the unknown of a new year. As the year unfolded so many of us have experienced deep emotions and events that have rocked our world. For some health news has changed the course of our life. Others have experienced the death of a loved one. Our hearts were broken and still suffer the pain of death within us. Still others have seen relationships fall apart and they are trying desperately to restore or at least get over the broken relationship. For some, we have battled the fears and disappointments of life and many issues that have discouraged and disheartened us. On the flip side many of us have encountered new friendships and many of us have overcome past issues that have brought pain and heartache. I have also spoken to some of you that have experienced incredible spiritual growth perhaps for the first time in your life this past year.

Today, as we stand on the threshold of a new day and a new year we look back at 2016 and we all have our memories: good and bad. We all have had those things that have impacted us in a way that we will never be the same again. As we look to the new year, the fact is we don’t know what 2017 will hold for us but we know that He, God, will hold us as we begin this journey. As we pause here at the start of a new year may we realize that we have a clean page and a new chapter to be written. The past is behind us and the future is ahead of us.

The passage we just read is one of the most popular verses used at this time of year. I must confess that I have used it a number of times myself. In fact, in looking over my notes from the past, I used this passage last year at this time. I struggled a bit with using it again but felt that this was the word that God wanted to speak to our hearts today. The reason is that this passage is one that speaks of new beginnings. It is one that calls us to recognize the goals we have and the vision that drives the motivation of our heart and our actions.

As a reminder, we see in this passage that Paul continues to press on as he does not settle for the current status in his life. He continues to press forward. He presses into Christ and grows in his relationship with Christ.  Paul states that a part of his success has been that is able to forget what lies behind and he continually strains forward to what lies ahead. To be honest he did not actually forget what is behind him, he simply did not allow the things in his past to dictate his future. Instead of looking back, he presses toward the vision and hope of a new day. And finally, Paul does not just press forward, he presses toward the goal of fulfilling the calling of Christ which is Christlikeness.

So with that in mind let’s unpack this passage together this morning. The first thing we notice here is that Paul is still working toward perfection. Paul unveils the fact that he has not reached perfection yet but he is continuing to live a life of being perfected. What we must understand in this regard is that our perfection is not so much in what we do or not do but it is about what we are becoming. Paul’s ultimate goal was to become more like Christ in everything.

The word’s of Paul in Philippians 3:8-11 give us some insight into Paul’s mindset. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 

Paul’s greatest desire was to be more like Christ and that is what we need today. That is the goal of our Christian existence. It is to exemplify Christ in all we do. The old adage “What would Jesus do?” is still apropos except that it should be more of what does Christ exemplify? Who He is more important than what He does! It is noteworthy that Paul wants to make this perfection his own and not someone else’s. It is a personal perfection. He can press toward perfection because he is in Christ. It is noteworthy that this is the same Paul who persecuted Christian believers for their faith. Paul is making the point that the same zeal that pushed him to pursue Christians he now uses to pursue Christ.

If you read just a few verses prior to the one we read today, you will see that Paul suggests that he is willing to give up everything that gives him any kind of religious or social status. His degrees, his genealogy, his education, his religious affiliation, and his successes did not define him. It was not an issue of whether or not these things were important or whether they had value but he wanted to define his life by his relationship with Christ. In essence, he did not want these things to get in the way of him getting to know Christ as that was his primary goal.

His greatest desire was to be more like Christ in every way. For that reason Paul stated that he was willing to forget what was behind him and he desired to strain toward what lies ahead. If we are honest, the fact is it is impossible to forget what has happened to us in the past. That is not so much what Paul is referring to. For example, for many of us we can focus so much on the past that we are hindered in our future growth. We are negatively impacted by an overdose of past regret, sin, and hangups. The enemy of our soul is so good at reminding us of our failures, our fears, and fruitlessness that we become powerless to secure a future hope. The enemy of our souls is so good at getting us to focus on our failures because he knows that we will not move ahead with any kind of faith. Fear can control us to the point that we never make any changes that will help us.

It is for that reason that Paul says that he strains toward the goal of maturity in Christ and Christlikeness. The idea of straining carries the idea of not giving up; that is there is a constant and consistent focus on moving forward in our relationship with Christ. Paul’s use of the word strain is not a mistake as we must press forward so that we are not bogged down by the past issues of life.

The problem too often is that we can give up before we cross the line to victory. This happens when we are overly focused on the past and not the future that is before us. A couple of stories illustrate this for me. For those that are a bit older you will remember that the big thing to do in the early to mid-70’s was streaking. There were a few of our high school friends who decided to do this at one of the grocery store parking lots. It was a parking lot that you could begin running on one end run all the way through to the other end to the car awaiting them. The problem of course is that one of the guys became so consumed with the cheering crowd around him that he did not see the grocery cart corral in the middle of the parking lot. Needless to say he ran into the upright bar full speed and he knocked himself out. He ended up on the asphalt without a stitch of clothing on. He became side tracked rather than pressing toward the goal. As second illustration is the story of Desean Jackson who received a pass and had a clear shot to the goal line. But at the 2 yard line he did the unthinkable. He dropped the ball as he began his celebration too early. He did not score the touchdown and in fact he lost the ball to Dallas who recovered what was considered to be a fumble.

The idea presented by these two illustrations is that we must stay focused and we must press onward to the goal of becoming more like Christ. With that in mind, what do we need to focus on individually and corporately? First, we must focus as Paul did on becoming more like Christ. The first action to be taken in this new year is to become more like Christ so that we exemplify His life in all we do. You see it is about becoming and not so much about doing as a focus. Secondly, we need to be about the business of lifting up Jesus in all we do. We lift Him up by our testimony, our actions, and our concern for others. Thirdly, we become more like Christ by reading His word so we understand who He is and what He exemplifies.

Fourth, the greatest focus we can have in 2017 is knowing Him and making Him known. I posted in the last e-blast that I would love to see the church double our attendance by the mid part of this year. The best way to make that happen is to make Jesus known. We make Him known in our lives, in our services, and in all that we do we must make Him known. After all, Jesus said it best when He stated that if He is lifted up then He will draw all people unto Himself. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” We can not and must not lift the church up as much as we lift up Christ the Lord of the church. We can not lift up ourselves as much as we do Christ. He must be the focus and the one that we are lifting up. We have the promise that if we lift Him up that He will draw men to Him.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2017 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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December 26, 2016 · 12:14 pm

The Simplicity of Christmas

Peninsula Community Church 

The Simplicity of Christmas 

December 22, 2016 

Luke 2:8-20 – And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Wow! It is hard to believe that Christmas is just a couple of days away. Hopefully by now all of your gifts have been purchased, they have been wrapped, and are now under the tree. I also trust that the busyness of the season has not yet tired you out and that you still have some strength left to actually enjoy Christmas.

As we read the Christmas story we find that it is a complex story with a simple message. While the message is simple, the story does present some complex issues.  The virgin birth still rocks our imagination and ability to comprehend how such an act could occur and yet the virgin birth is the lynch pen in the story of God coming to earth. Not only do we have to get are minds around the virgin birth but then we have to deal with the fact that the Son of God came to earth in the form of human flesh to save us from our sin. We have a virgin who was sexually pure and yet she was impregnated by the Spirit of God as the conduit for Him to come to earth. These are not exactly simplistic issues. Like Mary we ask “How can this be?” We are amazed at these events and the theological implications they present. These and other truths of Christmas are complex issues which theologians have spent their entire lives trying to understand and explain. They debate, discuss, and argue the nuances of the various ideas and thoughts associated with these complex theological issues.

While there are certainly things in the Christmas story that are very complex, there is so much of the Christmas story that is filled with amazing simplicity. Think about the story if you will. We have a simple girl who is Mary. She lived in a simple time. Life was not very complicated for her.  She lived in the simple town of Nazareth. She made a simple pledge to marry a simple man named Joseph. They had committed to live a simple life together forever. They were not socialites. They were not wealthy. They were not people who held a high social status. They were not complicated people but they were not stupid either. While they did not have social status of any kind they were chosen by God and that is all that mattered. They understood and accepted their calling to be the mother and father of the King of the world.

When Jesus was born it was a simple birth. There was nothing unusual about the birth itself. A seemingly simple boy was born in a the simplest of places, a manger.  In fact, His birth was so simple and unassuming that most people of that day never realized what happened. Jesus was not born in a hotel room surrounded by the modern comforts of His day, He was born in a manger where cattle lived. There were no media involved. The Bethlehem Gazette was no where to be found and there were no paparazzi around the stall where He was born. There were no trumpeters or pages to announce the birth of Jesus. The people of His day missed the most amazing event of their day because they were busy paying their taxes and prepping for the feasts. Most people continued to live their life as if nothing had happened and nothing had changed. And yet that is exactly what happened. His coming to earth was so complex and yet at the same time it was so simple. It was and still is the great paradox of the day. The complex met the simple.

How simple and yet how sublime is God’s means of salvation! Who would have thought that Messiah would be born as a baby, and in such humble circumstances! Many would have and still stumble over the angel’s directions (2:12): “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger” which was a feeding trough! It smelled like a barn. It is most likely that the place was filled with noise and contrary to the Christmas carol I am guessing that the baby Jesus did cry as He was just as human as any one of us. Think about what you would have done if you were God. I know if I had been in control I would have sent the Savior to the earth as a full grown man, a mighty warrior riding on a white stallion. Or, He would have been born in the finest palace and not in a barn. He would have been wrapped in the finest purple garments and would be laying in an ivory and gold cradle. He would not be in a barn surrounded by smelly sheep and the noise. He would have been attended by servants and the newspapers of the day would have heralded His birth as the greatest news of all time. But that was not the choice of God. He chose the simple so that everyone person could receive the gift of the Savior.

To understand the simplicity of His birth, we must consider who was first invited to come and celebrate the event. The first guest to see Baby Jesus symbolized the simpleness of the message. It is noteworthy that one of the first groups to be called to the scene of the manger were the shepherds, a simple people with a simple way of life. We should note that this does not mean they were dumb or stupid, it simply means they were a group of people who did not put on airs.

In terms of occupation the shepherd’s main objective in life was to guard the sheep. They were to keep the sheep safe from wild animals and from hurting themselves. They were simple people with simple goals. In many commentaries it has been suggested that it is very probable that the very sheep these men were tending in the fields were being prepared for slaughter at Passover in Jerusalem a few months later. If that is true then how symbolic is that the shepherds who were watching the Passover lambs would be invited to Bethlehem to view the Passover Lamb of God, provided for the salvation of the world.

As we look at the Christmas story, we find that the message of Christmas really is a simple message. When we remove the mystic of the virgin birth, the questions of how God could come to earth, and we simply accept the fact that He did, we find that the message is not as complicated as we make it and it is certainly more simple than we make it. The simple message is that God brought salvation to humankind by taking on human flesh Himself and He did so without sin. He bore our sin to satisfy the call of punishment for the sin we have committed. While on one hand the story is complicated and complex but the message is simple.

How simple of a message does God bring to us today? Let me share fours ideas presented by the message of the birth of Jesus. First, God loves us and has a plan for our life. God loved us enough that He sent His most valuable possession to us to redeem us and to change our lives. The problem too often is that we believe that God could not love us because of what we may have done or not done. There is no doubt that God loves us. We find this in one of the most popular scriptures in the Bible. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).

Man is sinful and is separated from God. The second part of this message is that everyone of us have sinned. No one is righteous. None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,

not even one (Romans 3:10-12). For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Romans 3:22-25).The one who says he does not sin is a liar according to the scripture (John 1:8). This sin has separated us from God so that our fellowship with Him has been broken.

God sent His son to die for our sins. But God had a solution. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us ( Romans 5:6-8). His solution was to send His son to earth as the great redeemer to save men from His sin and for that matter save mankind from himself. No matter who you are or what you have done He died for you and there is nothing you have done that will change that.

God wants us to receive the gift of forgiveness. The simplicity of the message of Christmas is that we can receive the gift of salvation given to us by God. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved (Romans 10:9-10).  While our lives our so very complex the acceptance of salvation does not have to be. We confess to Him our sin, short comings and failures. We repent which means we agree to not do those things again. And we begin to live a life changed and different from what we have known before. That is why the greatest gift you can give and the greatest gift you can receive is the forgiveness of God on our behalf and then choosing to live a life that honors God and represents who He is.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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December 19, 2016 · 9:12 am

What Do You Give Jesus for Christmas?

Peninsula Community Church 

What Do You Give Jesus for Christmas? 

December 18, 2016

Matthew 2:9-11 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Our story today picks up where we left off last week. The wise men moved from their encounter with Herod to find the Christ child. We do not know how long the trip was from the visit with Herod to actually encountering the Christ child but we know that it took some time. They were looking for the one sign that would lead them to the Messiah. When they saw the star that was pointing the way to Christ they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Their reaction to the star showed the intensity of their expectation and their desire to see this child. The passage here states that their joy was exceedingly great. Their joy overwhelmed them and they expressed their joy in their worship.

As they entered the stable where the Christ child lay, they presented Him with gifts. Each gift presented showed the value and honor they were giving the Christ child. They presented Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. For most of us, at a first read this does not mean much but each of these gifts in the economy of the day had great value. The gift of gold was given to the Christ child as a way to honor Him as the King of this world. They recognized what many did not see in their day. He was the king of the world and they chose to honor Him as such. The second gift they brought was the gift of frankincense. Frankincense was given to Him in recognition of his position as the high priest. Frankincense was used by the priest when he went into the temple to present the people before God. It was in essence one of the symbols and tools for worship. They gave Him myrrh because myrrh was used as an embalming oil. They recognized that He was to die for the world. Their gift was a prophetic statement of what was to come. The wise men had a vision for this child more than the scholars or the religious leaders of their day. They gave gifts that spoke to His royalty as King, His priesthood as the intercessor for the people, and the one who would die for our sins.

When we give gifts, especially here at the Christmas season, we try to give gifts based on who the person is and how much we love them and know about them. But what do you do when you have to buy a gift for the person who has everything and can buy what they want when they want it? As I was preparing for this message, I was thinking about this Christmas season and what gift could I give to Christ. This was a difficult thought process because certainly Christ has everything He needs and what He does not have He could create as He has the power to do so. After some thought, I realized the answer was already given to us. The greatest gift we can give to Christ is ourselves. 

The greatest gift we can give to God is to say, “Lord, I give You my life. I give You my talents. I give You my abilities. I give You my dreams. I give You my future. I give You my weaknesses. I offer myself, all of myself, to You.” Our posture should be one of outstretched hands and open palms to give Him our life and all that we are. Any other approach communicates that we are approaching God with clinched fists or clinched teeth which speaks of resistance and rejection.

Too often we hold back from God just in case. We hold back from God because the last time we fully trusted someone they wounded us, the betrayed us, and they failed to live up to their promises. So we approach God the same way. We approach Him with fear and the apprehension that He will fail us, let us down, and in the end we will be left wounded and destroyed. But I can assure you that God will never fail you or let you down.

Paul in Romans 12:1-2 perhaps defines the giving of one’s self as a gift to God better than anyone else. Paul states I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What is the gift Paul is referring to here? It is the gift of ourselves as a living sacrifice. Our gift to God is a resistance to being conformed to this world but rather a focus on being transformed by the renewing of our minds. Rather than settling for the status quo, we begin to adjust our lives in order to follow the ways of God. Each day we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. The result is that our way of thinking, the way we act, the way we perform our duties in life begin to be transformed so that we are much more like God in what we do. Can you imagine what life would be like if we truly committed ourselves to God and refused to be conformed to the world’s image of ourselves?

Let me sum this up by saying the best gift we could give God is to live the life He has designed for us to live. It means that we walk in forgiveness and healing so that we are free to be all that He desires. I know what you are thinking because I have thought it myself. It is too hard and it is impossible for me, there is just too much to overcome. But when we give ourselves to Him, He will begin the work of healing and restoration in us. That is His plan and it is has been His plan from the beginning of time. But how do we do this?

First of all the passage before us says that we should offer ourselves to God because of His mercy. Paul presents God’s mercy as the strongest argument for giving ourselves to God. When we fully recognize all that God has done for us the only response worthy of Him is to give Him our whole being, our whole mind, soul, and spirit. We were all sinners and sin had deadly consequences but while we were yet sinners He died for us. His mercy moved Him to give Himself so that we would be forgiven of our sins in total: those we committed, those we are committing, and those we have yet to commit. It was His mercy that saved us, redeemed us, and began a process of restoration. It was His mercy that will sustain us.

Secondly, we must offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. What an oxymoron. We are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. Most sacrifices of the Old Testament were slaughtered before they were sacrificed. Paul, however, is calling for us to present ourselves as living sacrifices not as dead lifeless ones. The expression of a living sacrifice is used as the backdrop to the Old Testament sacrificial system where an animal would be sacrificed for the forgiveness of one’s sin. You see in the Old Testament man offered an animal but in the New Testament man was to offer himself. We are to be the sacrifice God receives. Because we are living sacrifices, we are to be a living sacrifice wherever we go. This means at the office, at school, in our homes, and wherever we go we should live as as a sacrifice to God.

Thirdly we must offer ourselves to God through transformation and renewal. We best demonstrate our commitment to God by refusing to conform to the world by being transformed through renewed minds. When we give ourselves to God it is reflected in how we live. Worshipping people are changed people and that is reflected in their walk, their talk, and their personality. When we give ourselves to God we live as transformed people who live Christ-centered lives and not self-centered lives.

Finally, we offer ourselves to God all of the time. Living implies life. Offering ourselves cannot be contained in a one-hour service on Sunday. A living sacrifice implies a sacrifice that is alive and continuous in action. It moves from one activity on Sunday to all of our activities: each relationship, each task, each opportunity, each problem, each success, and each failure. Even the most common of deeds become an act of worship. Real worship is the offering of our everyday life to God.

In the final analysis, the best gift we can give to the one who has it all is ourselves. It is a choice we make but that is what He desires and that is what best reflects our love for Him. Today, as we gather around the Lord’s Table we are reminded that He loved us enough that He gave Himself completely to save us and redeem us from our sin.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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December 11, 2016 · 6:08 pm

Stealing Christmas

Peninsula Community Church

Stealing Christmas 

December 11, 2016

Matthew 2:1-4, 7-8, 16 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born… Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him… Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

I have shared before about how much I love the Christmas season. I love the festivities, the food, the surprises, the decorations, and in particular I love Christmas movies. There are so many great movies in this season. There are some that are really fun. There are some that have more serious but so many have themes that speak to the true meaning of Christmas. I love “Its a Wonderful Life” and how it portrays how our lives impact others. I love the “Christmas Carol” as it speaks to the redemptive power of forgiveness and that no one is ever so far gone that their life cannot be impacted positively by the message of Christmas. Another favorite of mine is “The Grinch that Stole Christmas.” I particularly love the one that stars Jim Carrey. The reality is Dr. Seuss had it right. No matter what you do, the Christmas Spirit cannot be stolen or killed.

Most of us are familiar with the storyline of the “Grinch that Stole Christmas.” According to the Jim Carrey version, the grinch had been an outcast of Who-ville. Because this happened at Christmas time, he despised Christmas and the people of the town. Because of his disgust, he planned and connived a way to steal Christmas in order to kill the Christmas spirit. One night he swoops into town and steals all of the presents, the ornaments, the food, and everything related to Christmas. A miraculous thing happens however, instead of weeping and crying, the people of Who-ville begin to sing. The music traveled to the mountain top where the Grinch lived and his heart begins to grow and beat with life again. While Dr. Seuss’ Grinch is a wonderful story, it is not the first story of someone trying to steal or kill the Christmas spirit. In our reading today, we find that Herod was guilty of just such an action.

In our story, the wise men are on their way to visit the new born king who was born almost two years earlier. On their journey, they stopped to ask for directions and Herod caught the ear of the wise men. He connived to have the wisemen find the baby Jesus and then return to report to Herod where this baby was, because he wanted to take Him out. The wise men were unaware of this scheme until the angel spoke to them. You see Herod’s goal was to eradicate the baby Jesus who was now a threat to his kingship.

In this story, we find the remarkable contrast between one who exalts himself as king and the true King of the universe. How desperate and diluted do you have to be to want to kill a baby because you are afraid of him? How diluted can you be to be jealous of a little child? But that was the condition of Herod’s heart and his mind. He was afraid because Jesus was the King of the Jews. Herod was the ruler. He was the king and he wanted everyone to know that. Herod was aware of the prophetic words that had been spoken about the one that was to come to save the world and he knew if he did not do something his kingship would be threatened.

The wise men refused to cooperate with Herod as they had been directed by God to travel home a different way to avoid another encounter with him. The result was that Herod was angry and he decided that all of the male children born at approximate time Jesus was born would be slaughtered so as to wipe out any hope of a new king being established. Mary and Joseph received a word from God that this was going to happen and they moved to Egypt where they were to stay until it was safe to return home. He could not kill Christmas!

It is noteworthy here that we seldom see this side of the Christmas story around the manger. This is the dark side of the story and it is a reminder there are things at work to destroy and kill the Christmas spirit in our hearts and in our lives but that is not how it has to be. In the end, we find there were two kings but there was only one winner. As we know now Herod died but Jesus lived. Herod exerted his physical power but God exerted His godly power to overcome the works of darkness. Herod could not fight against the king of the world.

The story of Herod took place some 2000 years ago but the fact is there is still a move to steal and kill the Christmas Spirit. Every year there is a Herod or a Grinch that tries to steal or kill the spirit of Christmas. The bottom line, however, is that no matter what people say or do they cannot remove Christ from Christmas. This is because He resides in our hearts and not in the decorations, the gifts, or the trappings of Christmas. There are so many things that come at us to steal the Christmas spirit. The Grinch thought that by stealing the gifts, the ornaments, the decorations, and the food that somehow he could steal their joy and expression of hope. Herod thought that by killing Jesus, Christmas would be over and done with. In the story of the Grinch, instead of losing heart we find the residents of Who-ville standing with their hands clasped and singing the songs of Christmas. The point is, you can take the decorations, destroy the gifts, and smash the ornaments but you cannot take the spirit of Christmas from our hearts.

No matter what happens Jesus is still the King and the Lord over all of heaven and over all of the kingdoms of this world. Later in the story of Jesus’ life, we find that the leaders of the Roman government and the Jewish leaders of His day all tried to destroy the message of Christ but you can kill the body but you can not destroy the message. That is what Herod thought he could do but the king of Heaven will always be victorious. He will always come out on top.

The idea of trying to kill or steal Christmas is not something new and it certainly has not gone away over the years. It is still an issue we face today. There are Christmas killers all around us. The first one is materialism. Materialism is an unhealthy focus on things and money rather than on the Christ of Christmas. When we become more focused on the trappings of Christmas than the Christ of Christmas, we have a big problem. Materialism will destroy the Christmas spirit before we know it. Materialism out of control presents itself as a ungrateful heart and an unsatisfied heart. It is a binding force because we can never do enough or have enough stuff.

The second Christmas killer is misplaced emotions. The Christmas season has the power to illicit so many emotions. There are happy and joyful emotions but there also the emotions of sadness, anger, jealously, and other such emotions that can kill the spirit of Christmas. Many of these emotions are real and they are justified because of the experiences we have faced. However, when we get sucked into the negative emotions we encounter, the Christmas spirit can be killed. Herod was sucked into an emotional issue that effected his ability to think clearly and process information appropriately. We make hard core statements and decisions such as I will never go their house again. I am not going to talk with them again and on and on it goes. The result of these decisions too often is a lost Christmas spirit. We isolate in an unhealthy way thinking that this will teach them a lesson when we are the ones that are most often hurt in the process.

The third Christmas killer is stress. Stress is a killer in more ways than one and stress can rob us of the joy that is a part of this festive season of joy, peace, and love. So many of us understand how this works. There are gifts to buy, food to prepare, cards to write, people to invite, and on and on it goes. Finances are tight and we have to buy Uncle Johnny that gift or he will never forgive us. We become stressed out before we get to enjoy the beauty of the season.

The third Christmas killer I will call busyness. This is a time of the year where we get so busy with the activities and events of Christmas that we miss the guest of honor at our activities and events. We can be so busy celebrating the season that we fail to recognize Jesus as the King of this world. After all He is the reason we celebrate. He is the King of the world. Jesus referred to this as the cares of this world. It is where we have been planted in the right soil but the activities of life begin to control the outcome of our life and we fall short of His glory. Our motives are good but the fruit is wrong. Rather than focusing on the Savior, we focus on the celebration to the point that we miss the Savior.

So what do we do? First, we must choose to worship the King. Rather than having a heart of Herod, we must have the heart of the wise men who came to worship the King. The wise men chose to worship God as the King of Kings. We too must make a choice to worship Christ, the King of this world. We must release our busyness, our anxiety, our materialistic attitude to God and focus our attention on the Savior. We must also recognize that Christmas is not the wrappings, decorations, cookies, gifts, or food; it is the birth of Christ. Nothing can destroy the spirit of Christmas if we choose to worship Him.

I love the closing to the “Grinch that Stole Christmas.” At the end of Dr Seuss’ book he makes this revolutionary statement about the people of Who-ville. And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! “It came without packages, boxes or bags!” And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. “Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!” And what happened then…? Well…in Who-ville they say That the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day! And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight, He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he… …HE HIMSELF…! The Grinch carved the roast beast! (Source, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Dr. Seuss, 1957)

As we close this message today I realize that for many of us we will experience Christmas in a different way. For some, the spirit of Christmas has been stolen because we have lost sight of the meaning of Christmas. For others, we can become too focused on the trappings, the gifts, the meals, and all the other things related to Christmas that we have missed the spirit and reason for the season. For others, we become consumed with the busyness of the season that we don’t have time to really celebrate. For others, the emotions we have experienced rob the Christmas spirit from our heart. We are afraid. We feel a loss. We are angry with life.

But at the end of it all there is nothing that can rob Christmas from our hearts when we focus on Him who is the King of the World. Herod is dead but Christ is alive. Too often we try to take things out of the hands of the true king and try to deal with them in our own way, but we must never forget that He is still the King. He is the reason for the season!

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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December 5, 2016 · 4:12 pm

The Surprise of Christmas

Peninsula Community Church

The Surprise of Christmas

December 4, 2016

Luke 1:26-38 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. 

I do not know about you but I love Christmas and the mystic about the holiday. There are presents under the tree that have been carefully chosen and wrapped to maximize the surprise as the gift is opened. I am sure, like me, there have been times when you opened a gift thinking that it would be one thing only to find it was something totally different. What a surprise when you open the one gift that you have been longing for and you have no clue about the gift.

The story before us today is a story of surprise. In the story there is an event that takes a young woman in Nazareth totally by surprise. Mary, this young virgin teen, was engaged to Joseph. She was going about her daily tasks and was living life as she always had. She was preparing for her wedding day and helping around her home, just as she would have any other day. When she arose that morning she never would have guessed that she would receive a message that would shake her world and change her for the rest of her life.

Before we look at some of the specific details of the story, let me review some of the background to the story. Mary and Joseph had been engaged which was the first step in the marriage ritual for the Jewish people. There was a commitment to stay pure in terms of their sexuality. There was a commitment to begin to plan and put their household in order for their wedding day. In essence, according to Jewish law being engaged or betrothed meant they were already married but there was a process they had to follow in order to consummate the marriage on their wedding night. According to Scripture both Joseph and Mary had been faithful to their vows.

Mary was a young girl in the town of Nazareth. There was nothing special about Mary that would have given any indication that she would have been chosen by God for this amazing task. I don’t know why but God often chooses to use some of the most unknown and unrecognizable people to bring about His will. She lived in Nazareth a small town with no notoriety. Nazareth was not the kind of town that people expected to have a miracle take place. In John 1:45-46 Nathanael asked the probing question “Can anything good come out of Nazareth.” There was not much respect for the small town of Nazareth.

Can you imagine the moment this event occurred? She was minding her own business and suddenly an angel was greeting her. Gabriel met her with an amazing greeting that was about to rock her world. Speak of a surprise! How surprised do you think Mary was? The angel’s message was simply “You are favored and the Lord is with you.” The Greek word kecharitomene is an amazing word. It is made up of three parts. The root of the word is the word “grace.” We know that grace is the unmerited favor of God that is supernaturally endowed upon us. The suffix of the word is mene which indicates that Mary is the one being acted upon. Mary was not the one who brought herself into this state of grace but it was an action of God. The prefix ke indicates that the action has been completed in the past with its results continuing in full effect in the present. In other words, the work of grace has already been given and had been worked out on her behalf.

She was the recipient of great grace. In other words, she was having this encounter not because she somehow deserved it or had somehow merited the visitation. She was having this interaction for only one reason. She had been chosen by God. God saw her not as a young virgin girl but as a chosen vessel He could use to bring about His will. She was not perfect, but as we know from Scripture no one is righteous in themselves (Romans 3:11) because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). She was no exception as she was chosen not because of her works but because of the work of God.

As you might imagine she was troubled by the announcement of the angel. It is noteworthy that she was not troubled by the angel or fearful of the angel but her fear and trouble was in the announcement itself. How would you have reacted to such news? She was to be the mother of Jesus. She was chosen to be the vessel through which Jesus, the Messiah, would be born and would change the world. Spiritually, God desires to do that through us today. He has chosen us as a vessel through which He can be manifested and His name can be known. He came to live in us so we would be like Him and the world would experience Him through us. We have His favor!

The angel responded to her fear by saying to her “Do not be afraid.” That is an amazing statement when you think about it. Here is Mary being approached an angel and Mary’s response was “How can this be?” In essence, what she was saying in the modern language is “Are you kidding me? Are you serious?”  The reality is that Mary was awestruck by the calling she was given. What was she going to do? She was perplexed by the news which speaks of her humility and honesty. Then again, it’s not every day that one gets a cold call from a divine messenger.

We do get this from time to time. It can be a moment in a sermon or in a conversation. It can be during a quiet walk in the woods or in prayer that God taps you on the shoulder and says, “Hey you. Yes, you the favored one!” It forces us to question ”Me? Favored? By God? You must have mistaken me for someone else.” No matter how many times or in what form we hear, “yes it is you and you are the favored one,” we have the hardest time believing we are the ones being addressed. For some, it is because their relationship with God is grounded in fear. For others, it is because their faith is overshadowed by the problems of life and the largeness of the calling.

Mary had so many questions and concerns. After all she was a virgin and how could she become pregnant without breaking her marriage vows? What would Joseph think? What would Joseph do? It was in his power to legally divorce her. If this happened, the community could reject her and in fact they could stone her if they chose. But once again, Gabriel responds with an amazing statement. He stated that the Holy Spirit will come upon her.

Here is what Gabriel is saying. While you are fearful and concerned, the Holy Spirit will come and fill you. Yes this is an amazing task for you to accomplish. It is an amazing calling but the Holy Spirit will be there to guide you and help you all along the way. When you falter He will be there to assist you and help you. The angel states that the Lord will be with her and that the Holy Spirit will come upon her. The angel is saying He is there and she is covered. She will be protected. When you think about this we see the Trinity at work. Jesus will be in her. The Holy spirit will be upon her, and God will be along side of her. How amazing and wonderful is that.

As Mary is pondering the question of how can this be, the angel makes another amazing statement. “Nothing will be impossible.” Then he announces that her aunt Elizabeth is pregnant. She had been deemed too old to have children but with God nothing is impossible. What Gabriel was saying is, if God can take a worn out, old, barren woman who is past her prime and give her a child, a miracle can be done in you as well. There is nothing too hard for God. If God can touch Elizabeth, then He can surely pregnant a young healthy virgin. In this story there are two great miracles: the birth of Jesus and the birth of John the Baptist.

In the final part of this verse we find Mary’s response and what an awesome response it is. She says: “Let it be according to your word.” She relents and accepts God’s calling and purpose for her life. What she his saying is God I don’t understand it and I don’t know how to put all of this in perspective but I trust you and I receive your word and your calling. I accept your grace and power to see me through this.

Notice the connection between the call of Mary and the presence of God in this story. We are reminded that His name would be called Emmanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). From the beginning of His life He is with us. The entirety of the Godhead is available to us for guidance, protection, and being guarded. When God calls you He does not make a mistake. He knows you and He knows where you live. He does not come and go; He is is with us always.

So what do we do with this story? We make it our own. We see that God can do the impossible in us. Are you expecting? Do you know that God can surprise us and call us to a miraculous walk with Him? The grace of God is seeking you today to let you know that He is in you, upon you and along side of you to reveal Himself to you. It may in the mundane that He comes but He is there.

Know this, you are highly favored because you have been called by God. He chose you because He had a plan and He knows you. His grace comes to us not because we are worthy but because of God. In every circumstance and stage of life, His grace comes. The enemy of our soul would rather you think that you are a failure and that there is not hope. But that is a lie. The enemy wants us to believe that there is no hope, that we have failed, and we are not worthy but that is not God’s calling or purpose for us.

Here is a second idea that we need to know about the grace of God. He knows where we are and He knows us, knows our problems, and He knows the depth of the pain and heartache you are experiencing. He knows your fears. He knows your doubts. He wants to come to you today and give you His grace. He wants to touch your heart. In the video we watched early in the service it is so easy to neglect and walk right by the gift of grace that God has given us. But don’t do that today. Open your heart to God’s grace. Mary did!

If you need or want the grace of God today I ask that you open your heart and do what Mary did. Her final reply was “Let it be according to your Word!” Whatever you need to do today “Lord I am asking you to do that. Give me grace to endure. Give me grace to speak truth in love.” His grace is a great grace and it is all we need today.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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