March 12, 2017 · 5:25 pm

Ephesians – Redeemed and Forgiven

Peninsula Community Church

Ephesians Finding Our Identity

Choices

August 3, 2014

Ephesians 1:3-10 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of  his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

The last time we were together we began looking at the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. We saw that God chose us before the foundation of the world and that He has predestined us to be adopted as sons. Because of this, God has set in motion His plan for redemption long before we could even consider the prospects of salvation. We were reminded that the Bible is in essence God’s plan of redemption that is laid out for us. In our discussion, we also looked at the balance between the sovereignty of God and man’s free will. This is not an either/or but both. God is sovereign but He created us with free will.

This morning we will continue to look at the blessings that God has given us and what He has bestowed upon us by way of redemption and forgiveness. It is noteworthy that as we look at this portion of scripture that there are a couple of notable things. First, there is a Godly design in all of this. He chose to create and form man with the ability to choose right from wrong. Just because God created man with the ability to choose right from wrong does not mean that God created sin. This is because it is beyond His ability to do so. A holy God could not and would provide the mechanism of sin. God cannot sin, not because He lacks the free will to do so, but because it would be inconsistent with His character and His Divine nature.

Then why do we sin? To understand this we must realize that a large part of sin is the rejection of all that is holy and good in God. It is the opposite of God’s intent. It is like light and darkness. The absence of light is darkness and so the absence of good is evil. God created man with free moral agency with a desire that he would choose right from wrong. God wanted a people who would freely choose Him for their own and not be forced to accept His will. That is grace and mercy. God is not a control freak because He in fact allows you to make the mistakes you make because of free will. As everything created by God, free will was pure but once man sinned free will was distorted and convoluted at best.

The second aspect of this is that in God’s ability to foreknow all things, he also knew that man would reject His plan and would fall into sin and disobedience. This concept of the foreknowledge of God is one of those Biblical principles that can blow our minds as we try to wrap our minds and intellect around the fact that God has no beginning or end. Because of this truth, God does not view time as we do. He has no watch to measure time as there is no need for a timeline. The fact is, God is in the ever-present moment of time. David understood this when he stated that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

We see this concept as well when Moses asked God about who Moses was to say was sending him to the Israelites. God’s reply was that he was to say that “I AM” has sent you. In that “I am” statement is this concept of an ever-present existence of God. Norman Geisler, Theologian and apologist, has said that since God created time, He sees all events in time equally vividly. Think about the implications of that for a moment. God who is all knowing, sees all things, and knows everything about you. He knows the beginning of your life, He knows the end of your life, and He knows everything that is in between. He knows what is best for us even though we may choose other avenues.

This brings us to a third point here. Too often we blame the wrong person for our sin and our faults. Too often, we blame God for our choices. It is true that God guides us and He speaks to our hearts about the issues of our life but in the end it is the choices we make that cause us to sin. Secondly, we can blame the devil and his demons for our faults and wrongs. A number of years ago Flip Wilson’s character Geraldine popularized the saying “The Devil Made Me Do It.” When Geraldine would do anything wrong she would blame the devil and would proclaim “The devil made me do it.” Now certainly the enemy of our souls can tempt us, distort truth, discourage, and distract us but he cannot force us to sin, that is our choice.

We are to blame for our decisions and thus we come to the second set of blessings; redemption and forgiveness. Listen again to what Paul said in this passage. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of  his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Let’s define these words.The first word here is the word “redemption.” The word redemption is one of those words that must be interpreted in light of its usage in the original Greek language. In particular, the term was used of the setting free of slaves after a payment was made. The literal meaning of the word is “to release on the payment of a ransom.” It carries a two-fold sense of “payment’ and “freedom.” Notice in this verse we see how the payment was transacted for those who follow Christ. It was transacted through the blood of Christ. By way of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross the payment for our slavery to sin was made. In so doing we were set free.

The second blessing established here is that we have forgiveness. Forgiveness is the result of redemption. It is the immediate response to accepting the payment of sin upon the cross. Forgiveness comes by way of the payment for sin being made. Forgiveness is a legal term which means one is released from a legal charge or one is released from prison. The word for sin here is the word “misstep” or “a failure to rich a goal.” It is the term “trespass.” It is the idea of crossing over a boundary established by God.

As we look at this, we must understand three aspects of forgiveness. There is a past, present, and future to forgiveness. In the past by way of the cross, we have been given forgiveness. The provision of forgiveness has already been accomplished. We are already forgiven because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We do not have to debate or discuss the work of the cross. We are forgiven.

There is also a future sense to the work of forgiveness. There will be a day that all sin will be dealt with and we will no longer battle with the sin nature or sin any more. The sin nature will be forever destroyed once and for all. We will be set free eternally.

But then we reside in this world where the sin nature has not been eradicated. The flesh is real and therefore we need to understand present forgiveness. There is the initial act of forgiveness obtained through repentance upon accepting Christ. And then there is the daily act of forgiveness as we are aware of the sin or sins we may commit. This is in keeping with Christ’s model prayer where He stated that we should request that God forgive our debts as we forgive the debts of others. It is also in keeping with I John 1:9, when John by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit stated that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

It is critical to note how these blessings come to us. Our redemption is a legal work that is taken care of by His blood. His blood, his death has brought our redemption. On the other hand our forgiveness comes as a work of grace. This grace is the unmerited and undeserved favor of God. Notice Paul does not just say grace but we have forgiveness because of the riches of His grace. The idea here is that there is no end to his riches therefore there is no end to His grace. The visual here is that his wealth is full or filled to overflowing. What Paul is saying is that it took the wealth of God’s grace to pay for the sin of humankind. He did so gladly. He did so freely. The good thing is there is no end to the riches he has to pay the debt of sin.

One of my favorite movies is one called “the Ultimate Gift”. It is a story of a rich tycoon who died and wanted to leave his money and assets to his grandson who had been spoiled by the riches of his family. His was angry at the world and at both his dad and his grandfather. After preserving through several tests of character and endurance he met one last time with the grandfathers lawyer who announced that he just inherited the grandfathers estate worth over 2billion. The idea here is that his wealth was limitless. So it is with God, his grace is available to all without fear of running out.

If these are the blessings of God, then we must live as one that is redeemed and one that is forgiven. Life is too short to hold onto personal unconfessed sin and unresolved issues with people. To refuse to do so is to reject the work of God fulfilled on our behalf. These blessings are freely given and they are to be freely received. The purpose is to unite us as one body to accomplish the work of the kingdom. As we get deeper into Ephesians, we will find that God’s desire is for us to walk in unity. This act and lifestyle cannot be accomplished without God’s act of redemption and forgiveness.

So as we close have you accepted his payment of redemption. Do you live as one redeemed or one still under slavery? How about forgiveness? Are walking in the forgiveness given to us by Christ? Notice something here. The grace that provided forgiveness is still available for today. Every sin committed is covered but we must walk in forgiveness.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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March 12, 2017 · 5:21 pm

What Motivates You?

Peninsula Community Church

What Motivates You?

March 12, 2017

Nehemiah 2:9-12 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

This week I shared a story with someone about our son who was known for sleeping to the very last minute. Not only would he sleep to the last minute but he would also sleep so soundly that it would take a bulldozer to get him out of bed. This was an ongoing battle with him. But one Saturday morning I heard a rustling noise downstairs, so I got up and when I got downstairs I was surprised to find my son sitting at the kitchen table, dressed, and eating a bowl of cereal. Now mind you this was at 5:30 in the morning. I stood in front of him with my mouth and jaw on the ground because I could not believe that this was my son.

Why was he up this early? Why was he dressed and eating breakfast? He was motivated to do so. You see he was headed to an amusement park with his girlfriend and her family. Because he was motivated, he did not require much in the way of persuasion to get up and get dressed. It was easy for him. The motivation of his heart drove him to do what was necessary to get ready on time.

The truth of the matter is that we are all motivated by something or someone. The things that  motivate us aid in formulating our reaction to God’s will and His purpose in our life. In our story today, we see the comparison of two motivations. The motivation of Sanballat and Tobiah stand juxtaposed against the motivation of Nehemiah. As we look at Sanballat, we find that his motivation was based in selfishness, jealously, and fear. On the other hand, we find that Nehemiah’s motivation was based in an unshakable faith in God and the trust that God was in control of everything.

As you remember in our previous messages, Nehemiah had returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He was in the center of God’s will and yet he encountered resistance from those who had been in the city and who were its rulers. He could have given up hope but because he was motivated by a higher calling and a deeper commitment to God, he did not give up nor did he give in to the pressures of life even though he would have been justified in doing so. Because of his faith, he was able to endure the testing of his heart.

On the other hand, we have two men who were antagonistic toward the rebuilding of the city. The reason for this was that they had a vested interest in the failure of the city. They did not want the city to succeed. It is noteworthy that Sanballat’s name means “bramble brush – enemy in secret.” It is also important to note, in his day, his name was most often used for a girl’s name. So you can imagine the life he had. He lived with a girl’s name which meant enemy in hiding. How many close friends do you think he had? Tobiah on the other hand had a very spiritual name. His name meant “God is good.” Here is the problem though. Rather than believe in the destiny that had been given him, his life was lived in opposition to what he had been called to. The problem was that he allowed people like Sanballat to distort and destroy His vision of God and of himself.

The enemy of our soul loves nothing more than to force us to live outside the destiny in which we have been called. He is good at getting us to believe the lies and the things spoken to us by others. How sad was the commentary of Tobiah’s life. Rather than living out his destiny he was falling short of and in fact was working hard to impact the work of God negatively. But why is this so? You see I believe it is because his motivation was misplaced. He lived in fear and had placed his trust in Sanballat who was being motivated more by fear rather than trust in God.

Notice the language of our text. We find three things that point to the motivation of Sanballat’s heart. We find that he was displeased with the fact that someone was taking a interest in the condition of the city and the walls around Jerusalem. Here is the clincher, he had been living there and had no concern for its condition until someone else came along to care for the city. His motivation was wrong because his heart was in the wrong place. Listen to Nehemiah’s words and how he described their heart. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king? (Nehemiah 2:19). Do you see Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s heart here?

They despised what Nehemiah and Israel was doing. He jeered at them while they were building the walls. You see to jeer is “to taunt, mock, scoff at, ridicule, sneer at, deride, insult, abuse, or heckle.” He made fun of Nehemiah and the work to be done. They were also using false accusation. He accused them of wanting to rebel against the king which was far from the truth. In fact, Nehemiah had sought the king’s blessing before he arrived so his desire was far from  rebellion. You see when someone’s heart is wrong or their motivation is misplaced they will resort to tactics that wound and hurt rather than build up. They will seek to destroy others in their path so that they feel better about themselves. So you see the motivation of their heart was disconnected from the truth.

Before we close we must also look at Nehemiah whose motivation and heart was in the right place. He trusted God and we find this in his words. Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem” (Nehemiah 2:20). The motivation of Nehemiah’s heart was his trust in God. He knew that God would cause them to be successful. His motivation was founded in the fact that God was faithful and that He would keep his promises. Remember Jeremiah 29:11 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. It was at this moment that the reality of this promise was about to be fulfilled. God was going to keep His word and that is what motivated Nehemiah’s heart. Nehemiah also believed that God would empower them to fulfill His purposes. God did not lead them to this point in time without seeing the work all of the way through. Nehemiah was motivated by the promise and hope of God.

So what motivates you today? When our heart is not on God we will focus on the wrong things. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:21 that where our treasure is there our heart will be. Will we focus on that which is eternal or will we focus on that which is disposable and will be destroyed in the end? The things in this world will be destroyed but that which is eternal will last forever.

The fact is there is much emotion that can serve to motivate us. First of all, we can be motivated by anger. Anger is a poor motivator as anger is often based in hurts and disappointments that come from failed circumstances, broken promises, and wounded spirits. When we are motivated by anger the tendency is that we externalize the anger which results in treating the world and others as our enemy. In our anger, we often become self-righteous and blind to the truth.

We can also be motivated by fear. When we are motivated by fear we tend to lose our ability to think for ourselves. Fear unfortunately begins to drive our decisions and actions. Sometimes fear comes because we have tried and failed before and thus there is a fear in us that prevents us from trying anything again. Someone has said that we are born with two fears. One is the fear of falling and the other is a fear of loud noises. All other fears are learned or developed which means they can be unlearned. Uncontrolled fear binds us and keeps us from ever moving forward in the things of God. Paul reminded Timothy that we have not been given a spirit of fear but love power and a sound mind. Hear his words. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:6-9).

We can also be motivated by passion and lust. The problem with passion and lust is that we desire what we cannot have.We want to consume things for ourselves. James reminds us that the reason there is so much turmoil in life is that the passions within us are at war (James 4:1). We want and cannot have so we murder and fight and quarrel. The result is division and more hurt and pain.

We are also motivated by guilt. Guilt is not nor has it been a good motivator for our actions. Guilt and fear are cousins. When we are motivated by guilt we do not know how to say no. We will do things not because we believe the are the right things to do but because we do not want to upset someone and or we fear rejection. We are fearful of failure so out of guilt we do the things that we do.

Finally, Paul reminds us that the love should compel us to obedience. We should be motivated by love. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). The motivation of our heart will determine our success. When we are motivated by God and His truth nothing can stop us and nothing can hold us back.

The problem with being motivated by love is that we forget or we can struggle to believe that God loves us regardless of what we have done or for that matter not done. We can believe that because we have committed a particular sin that we are no longer loved or accepted by God. You see when we are motivated by fear, guilt, passion, lust, or anger it is hard to have a right perspective of God’s love and therefore it is hard to believe that God loves us. I am reminded of one of the stories that Kyle Idleman shared in his book “Not a Fan.” Let me read the story from the book. Some of you today may be asking that same question of God. Do you still love me? You ask that question because you believe that the stain of your life is too great and can’d be cleaned but if you listen you will hear the emphatic cry of God’s heart. He loves us, Oh how He loves us.

As we focus our attention upon power of Christ to forgive and on the power of His love to redeem us watch this video which features Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village in Texas and John Piper, pastor emeritus of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the song Oh How He loves Me by the Crowder band. Use this as a time for spiritual inspection. Ask God to show you today what is your key motivating factor in living life. Is it guilt, fear, passion, or anger. Or do you truly love God and desire His love to be manifested in  your life.

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 27, 2017 · 4:24 pm

Engaging in God’s Purpose

February 26, 2017

Pastor Bob Odom

Engaging in God’s Purpose

Nehemiah 2:1-5 – In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.”

Here is the question for us today. When you face difficulties in your life how do you react or respond? This is a critical question because how we respond or react to the trials and problems we face make a big difference. The fact is we all tend to respond in different ways at different times. Sometimes the events and circumstances we face will determine our response. Sometimes the people we are with will determine how we respond. Sometimes we continue to respond in certain ways based on our past experiences and how we have been conditioned or raised to respond.

We will return to this in a moment but before we do that lets peer into this passage so that we can begin to understand what God will teach us and accomplish through us. In Nehemiah 2, we find that Nehemiah had been a patient man and had waited almost four months before finally presenting his case to the king. We also find that in the meantime that Nehemiah had been faithful to carry out the tasks of being the cupbearer. He did not give up on the tasks he had to accomplish. Although the news he had received was dreadful and painful, he did not allow the news to cause him to curl up in a ball and shut out life. He continued live and press forward.

Finally and in the right moment, when the time was right, and it seemed that God had orchestrated everything in Nehemiah’s life it was time to present himself to the king. Life was more than he could bear and it was time to make a move. He could no longer hide his pain or his disappointment. In the moment that the king recognized there was a problem with Nehemiah, the  king responded to Nehemiah’s pain. In that moment Nehemiah had a decision to make in terms of how he would respond. When we were in the hospital this week Michelle read me a portion of a book she was reading. I thought what she read fit so perfectly with this message. The author of the book noted three ways we tend to respond to the events of our lives. We can endure the trial, we can escape the trial, or we can engage the trial.

Let us look at these for a moment. First of all, we can try to endure our trials but in doing so the tendency is that our trials can begin to master us, thus they begin to control us. The result is that we become hard and bitter. The problem with simply enduring the trial is that the trial or the problem we face tends to take charge and begins to rule our life. Left to its own devices the trial can become bigger than life. The result is that our complete attention can be focused on the trial and nothing else. While this is a natural outcome, we must be faithful to move beyond this.

The second way to to deal with the trials in our life is to attempt to escape the trials. The problem with using the escape mechanism is that when we try to escape the problem we often miss what God is doing and what He wants to achieve in our life. We run from the pain and in so doing we miss God’s blessing but we also postpone the difficulty until a later time in our life.

There is a third way and it is the best way to deal with difficulty. How do we do this? We enlist the difficulty or we engage it. When we enlist or engage our trails they begin to work on our behalf and thus they do not master us. We can overcome them and begin to see the benefits of the trial we face. This is critical as every trial we face serves a purpose in the economy of God. It pushes us closer to God, it can reveal sin in us, and it provides a deeper look into our heart.

Two passages come to mind as we consider these thoughts. The first of these is Deuteronomy 8:2-3. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Notice here that God had orchestrated this plan in order that their hearts would be revealed and the truth of who they are was seen. Notice too that in this passage that the people experiencing the difficulty were not even aware of what God was doing in them. Without going through these difficulties, they would have never achieved the lessons required for them to learn: obedience to God, dependence on God for the provision of God, and the power of the grace of God.

The second passage is Romans 8:28. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Notice this passage does not say everything will be good but rather that everything will work together for a good outcome even if that is in the eternal perspective. Life is not good but God always is. He never fails. That is the exact point being made in this passage. Too many believe that because we are Christians no bad thing will ever happen to us but that is far from the truth. As we embrace the truth and the reality of our life in God, He can use these issues to form and shape us into what He desires.

My experience this past week with being in the hospital is in fact a perfect example of this. During the day on Sunday I began to experience a severe stomach pain. Through the day the pain began to become greater and more intense. At first I tried to endure the pain and do all of the home remedies that I knew without any relief. I could have chosen to endure the pain but the outcome in my life might have been different. It was beginning to control me. I could also have tried to escape and deny the existence of the pain but it would have mastered me and the results may have had a different ending. Instead I choose to engage the pain and drive myself to the hospital where we now know there was much more going on in my body.

Nehemiah decided to engage and face his problems. He took a chance with the king who could have had him banished and worse yet killed him. Nehemiah chose to engage the problem and meet with the king directly. Remember last we week that Nehemiah had prayed and fasted. He had received as much information as he could about what was going on with his homeland. At that moment he could have tried to just endure and continue to pray and fast but not do anything.  That would have been spiritually accepted but while the spiritual and religious steps we take are important there is a time where we need to engage the problem and seek godly results.

We also find that Nehemiah could have tried to to escape the problem and pretend that was just the way things were going to be and therefore there was no hope for change. He could have run from the trial and would have been justified in doing so. He could have passed the buck and suggested it was someone else’s responsibility rather than his responsibility. So which would you prefer? Your trials mastering you, missing out on what God has to teach you, or accepting the trial and then being positioned for growth and strength. I not sure about you but I prefer the later.

Nehemiah had no idea of what would transpire in the days to come but because he accepted his trial and did not try to run from it, God used him and positioned him to accomplish His will. Nehemiah could have been “spiritual” and stayed in his room to pray and fast but he engaged. After he prayed and fasted he realized that he needed to do his part and that is just what he did and that is what we must do. We need to engage and get in the game so that we achieve God’s highest will for our lives.

So what did Nehemiah do? First of all, he did not try to hide his problem. He was honest about his situation. He did not overvalue the problem but he certainly did not underestimate the problem either. Notice that Nehemiah was willing to share his concerns directly with the king. This is critical because he took his need to the one earthly person that could do something about the problem. He did not talk with a lot people. He did not mumble and grumble. He did not use negative  self talk to get himself discouraged. Sometimes we can engage with everyone but the one person that can help us resolve the issues of life. As a result of the relationship Nehemiah had with the king, he engaged the king and thus the king realized there was a problem. Even then Nehemiah had a decision to make. How much would he share? How honest would he be?

This leads us to the second thing that Nehemiah did. Nehemiah dealt with his fear. Fear is a natural outcome when we face trials and difficulties in our life. Fear is a God given emotion that can be taken to the extreme and cause us to shut down, run, or hide. Fear can paralyze us.   But fear can also cause us to get a head of God and we can sometimes even circumvent what God is doing in us as a result. Nehemiah however faced his fears. Let me ask you two questions as we close this morning. First, what are you afraid of? And secondly, what could you accomplish if you did not have that fear any more? God never intended for fear to control us or cause us to be bound by the unknown. Nehemiah was gripped with fear but he did not allow fear to control him. He pressed through his fear and spoke truth to the king and as we know by history and the word that Nehemiah cam through in a big way and had compassion.

As we close would you take a moment focus your attention on the video we will play in second. So much of our failure comes in the form of fear. But that was never God’s intention. But we know who stands with us. He is God and He is always by our side. He overcomes our fear and the closer we get to him the more fear will subside. This video is Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin.

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 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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