April 11, 2016 · 11:49 am

Strongholds – The Mind

Peninsula Community Church

Strongholds – The Mind

April 10, 2016

Romans 12:1-2 – I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Last week, toward the end of the service I made a statement that I want to restate today. Too often we seek forgiveness as a means to deal with guilt but salvation is so much more than guilt management. We must renew the mind and develop our minds to follow after Christ. The goal is to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) and grow to be Christlike. In having the mind of Christ we are empowered to overcome the power of evil and thoughts which do not honor God. You see God never intended for us to be just forgiven, but He wanted us to live in freedom (Galatians 5:1). He desires that we have an abundant life not just a mediocre one (John 10:10). Jesus envisions a life for us that is filled with freedom and victory.

To grasp freedom and victorious living we must recognize that the mind is a reservoir of every thought, idea, or imagination we have ever had. It is also filled with everything we have ever learned. Now some of you might argue that point because like me I am sure that you feel that you have forgotten more than you have ever learned. But the fact is it is in there. That is why we suddenly recall a memory or a fact that we thought had been long forgotten. This happens to us when we seek to live a full free life. We think we have won a victory and suddenly out of the recesses of our minds a thought comes. It is our mind reminding us where we have been, what we have done, and what has been done to us rather than what God is doing and can do in us.

You see he mind is a filtering system where every thought, idea, or imagination is processed. This can include both conscious and unconscious processes which effect and impact what we do and how we do them. It is through these processes that we begin either reject or accept the truth. Most often the truth we receive is filtered through our past experiences and the things that have had happened to us. Once filtered and accepted these thoughts, ideas, and imaginations begin to form and shape who we are and how we respond to life and they begin to define who we are.

Strongholds are established when we begin to believe the lies or begin to follow after the thoughts, ideas, and imaginations which we have allowed into our minds. For example, because of past experiences we often adapt certain views about life in order to function. Let me illustrate this. When you were growing up, you may have lived in a home where abuse was very evident. The result is that you begin to tell yourself that this is the way people are. The result is you find it difficult to trust people because you begin to believe that every relationship you have will end in abuse. At times we reject others not because they have done anything but because we believe that they might hurt us. We therefore live in fear and rejection. It is a vicious cycle of defeat. But God wants to deliver us and free us from these cycles of failure and defeat.

A stronghold can also be established in the mind by way of our personal attitudes. For example, we can be filled with anger or worry which binds us and creates in us a stronghold. Rather than being controlled by God’s peace we are controlled by worry and fear. Our fail safe for dealing with issues we confront is to fall back on worry and fear rather than on God’s peace. The problem is that we attempt to control our fear and worry instead of being set free and established in Christ.

The story is told of the man who bought passage on a passenger ship. He had worked hard to save his money for this trip. The day finally came and he boarded the ship to head to America. Along with his luggage he brought a bag of food and crackers to have in his room. Just as they were about to dock in New York the captain of the ship saw the man standing by the rail. The captain approached the man and stated that he had been missed at the captains dinner. The man explained that he did not have the money to eat at the captains dinner so he had been eating in his room. The captain hung his head with sadness as he spoke to the man. He then revealed that the meals had been included in his ticket price. You see for us we have had salvation purchased for us but we are not taking advantage of the everything salvation has to offer. We have been forgiven, yes, but we have also been given a full and free life. Let’s live like it.

Because the mind is the reservoir of thoughts, ideas, imaginations, and intellect we can be negatively impacted by the stimulus around us. So how do we live in freedom as designed by God. To do so we must fulfill the command of Romans 12 to renew our minds. And how do we renew our minds? We do so by being transformed through the renewal process. The Greek word for transformation is the word metamorphosis. It is the idea of being changed from one thing to another. The classic example of this is the caterpillar which is turned into a butterfly.

With that in mind there is a caution we must also consider. Transformation is not a matter of switching from one list of things to do in the flesh to a list of things to do in the law. When Paul replaces the list of the works of the flesh he replaces it with the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). You see the Christian alternative to immoral behaviors is not a new list of moral behaviors. It is the triumphant transformation of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. It is a new way of living that is not managed by a list of do’s and don’ts, but rather it is a new way of living. Rather than a list of new activities, it is way of being.

When it comes to the mind I propose four steps to overcome and break the strongholds that impact us. First we need to test every thought. To renew the mind we must control the thoughts we allow into our mind. That is way Paul stated in Corinthians that we should take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). In essence, we have to cut off the power of the stronghold at its source. So what are you thinking? The fact is what we think we become. The thoughts we allow in effects what we become and what will eventually define us.

To bring something into captivity means to control, to conquer, or to bring into submission. We take every thought captive. We make our thoughts submit to the obedience of Christ. We make our thoughts to submit to the word of God. The problem however is that my mind does not always mind. My mind wants to do its own thing. That is why we have to make our thoughts obedient to Christ and to His ways. You see the battle for sin always begins in the mind and it has to end in the mind as well. To control our minds and thoughts is to know Christ and His ways. That is the template we must use.

A second thing we need to do is to guard against garbage. The New Living Translation has an interesting interpretation of Proverbs 15:14. It says “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.” Nutritionist will tell you that there are three types of food. There is brain food which makes you smarter. There is junk food which is simple calories. Its not poison but it is empty calories. Then there are toxic foods which are filled with toxins that destroy the body. The same comes to the thoughts that we let in. We want the thoughts that are going to make us smarter and stronger.

Paul in Philippians 4:8-9 gives us a secret to control our thoughts and to control against the garbage that comes in. Listen to what Paul says. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Let me ask you. Do you sit around and listen to gossip and negative comments? What do you watch on TV? What do you read? What do you allow into your mind that impacts and effects who you are and what you are about? When we put in garbage we get garbage out. The opposite is true as well. When we put truth in then we will get truth out. So we must begin to fill our minds with truth and what is pure. When you fill your mind with truth, the truth will set you free (John 10).

The third thing we can do to battle false mindsets is to feed on God’s Word and learn as much as you can. Be a student of God. This is not learning for the simple goal of learning but our learning must be focused on knowing God and understanding His ways and His wisdom. We do not study to get more knowledge; we study to become more Christlike. We must become life long learners of God’s grace. For example here at PCC we have a number of opportunities for you to learn. We have Sunday School. We have small groups. We have ladies study on Thursday. We have the men’s gathering at McDonalds. We have Sunday worship. We have opportunities for fellowship and to get together. We do this so you have an opportunity to grow and learn.

I am also reminded that Rick Warren has said that truth is never invented, it is discovered. We must discover the truth of the Gospel. We read! We listen! We study! We ask questions! That is how we learn and how we keep on learning. We feed our minds with the word of God because it renews and strengthens us. We feed our minds with the word of God because it begins to change us and begins to transform our thinking.

And finally, let God stretch your imagination. So many of us live under the power of strongholds because we do not know how to live otherwise. To overcome the strongholds in our life, we must believe there is a better way to live. We must believe that God has a plan for your life that does not contain the mindsets and strongholds that have been established against us. When we believe that God has a different plan for us, we really really believe it, and we begin to act that out we will live differently and we will act differently. By allowing God to stretch your imagination of what could be we can then move from a state of forgiveness to living victorious. That is the power of overcoming the strongholds in our life.

So how are you doing? Are you ready to live free?

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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April 4, 2016 · 6:10 pm

Strongholds – Boundaries

Peninsula Community Church 

Strongholds – Boundaries

April 3, 2016

James 4:1-10 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double- minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

As we continue our study on the strongholds that pursue us and enslave us I want to look at a specific area of truth this morning and it is what I will call a boundary mentality. A boundary is a line that marks the limits of an area. It is a diving line. It is also a limit of a subject or sphere of activity. Therefore boundaries are established to aide in understanding one’s limitations in terms of what they do, how they do it, and where. In the Old Testament, particularly, we find that God established boundaries so the Children of Israel would know their limitations and what they could or could not do. These things were established for their benefit and not their harm. As a parent we set boundaries for our children so that they would be protected and would be kept safe. One of the boundaries we set was that they could not play in the street. Why was this boundary set up? It was because we knew that playing in the street was dangerous. We also knew that crossing that boundary could result in negative consequences.

The fact is boundaries are necessary in our lives and we all have them in some shape or form. Boundaries are necessary because they give us guidance and they establish limits so that we know when we are crossing the line into sin, unhealthy relationships, making poor decisions, and so on. The law of God and the Commandments of God are boundaries that have been established to give us the ground rules. They were established not to bind us or take away our fun. They have been established to give us life and liberty.

But even in the best of circumstances what has been designed for our good can become a trap for us. So there can be a problem associated with boundaries, if we are not careful. You see the problem at times is that we allow the boundaries we establish to begin to define us. The result is that too often we are defined more by what we cannot do rather than what we can do. The fact us our boundaries must never define us. We must be defined by relationship with Christ.

One problem with setting boundaries is that too often we use boundaries to management our sin rather than allowing God to change our heart. I have often said that it has been easier for us to establish a law or in this case a boundary than it it is to deal with the real issues of the heart. We can have as many rules and regulations we want but we will still struggle because the heart has not changed. God is after a heart change and not boundaries. When we try to manage our sins, the tendency is that we become more legalistic than we should be. The tendency is that we focus more on the boundaries and what is right or wrong rather than focusing on God. While trying to live for God, we in essence live with a fear of sinning so that we can never be free to be what God has called us to do. I have shared before that I grow up in a legalistic environment. Rules were established to control us and prevent us from sinning. There was no bowling, no skating, no movies, no cards, no dancing, and so on and so on. What a relief later in life to know that I was not going to be condemned for watching a movie or playing cards.

The root of the problem is that boundaries, like the law of the Old Testament, point us toward what sin is and it defines sin but the law does not and cannot save us from our sin. Deception and bondage come when we believe that if we tow the line and do everything right then we will accepted by God. Jesus warns us about this kind of mindset. He reminded us that there would be many who will stand before God that will be able to describe their list of accolades and abilities. Even though they have an impressive resume of successes, the sad commentary was that they did not have a personal relationship with the very one they were trying to get approval and acceptance from. Jesus reminded them that many will cry Lord Lord and yet God will deny them entrance into heaven because they were not true passionate followers of Christ (Matthew 7:21). With that said I want to be clear that God does want us to obey His commands but we must never do so apart from a relationship with God.

A second problem with setting boundaries is that too often it too easy to move and change the boundaries. This is especially true when we no longer like a particular boundary or rule. The result is that we no longer have a fixed focus on truth in our lives. If we believe the boundary is no longer appropriate or it no longer serves its purpose we simply move, remove, or redefine the boundary. When we are with Michelle’s family one of the things we love to do is play games. But we always have a problem. There are those around the table that at some point during the game who decide to change the rules. They change the rules because they do not like the rule or they feel the rule is not benefitting them.

We see this being played out in our society in a big way today. Drugs are now being legalized. All forms of sexual sin are being normalized. Rebellion and anarchism are being praised as a way to overcome those we do not agree with. Our boundaries and our moral footing have moved and have been changed. Think about this if you will. It is very similar to dieting. I am sure that none of you have done this but I have. You say I will have an extra donut now and then tonight I will eat less but that never seems to happen. The problem is that once we have moved the boundary of what is acceptable we have the tendency to allow other things in as well.

This also reminds me of a story I heard a number of years ago. A group of boys in Philadelphia went into a local store and switched as many price tags as they could. They never stole anything but they simply switched the price tags on as many items as they could. When morning came, the store opened as usual but something was different. Both the customers and the store owners were shocked to find that the prices had been changed and the price tags had been switched. That happens to us. The price tags have been switched and the boundaries that once stood firm have been moved. The enemy of our souls loves to switch the price tags so we no longer value what God values and in so doing we move the boundaries.

The third problem with setting boundaries is that too often we live as close to the boundary as we can. By living on the edge we can be easily pushed into sin or into a wrong pattern of thinking. The closer we live to the boundary, the greater the temptation is to be sucked into a lifestyle or a sin that is knocking at our door. The other problem is that when we live at the edge of the boundary the lines of right and wrong begin to blur. It is here that we fall prey to the lies, the accusations, and the doubts of the enemy. It is way too easy for the lies, accusations, and doubts to become a part of who we are. In essence, we flirt with sin and we flirt with stepping over the line. All it takes is a slight nudge by the enemy to cause us to step over the edge.

And finally, the greatest problem with setting boundaries is that when we live near the edge of the boundaries we set there is a tendency to live further from God. The tendency is to focus more on the boundaries and what we can do and what we cannot do rather than trying to live close to God. In other words, rather than living close to the edge, lets find out what God is saying and do that. Remember our verse this morning that says“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double- minded.

Let me ask you today, do you have a security in the lines you have drawn. Or, do you rest in the power of Christ to accomplish His will in your life. Please note, I am not asking or even suggesting that you remove the boundaries you have set. I am simply saying that your trust must be in God and not in the boundaries we set. What if we changed our focus? What if we focused on Christ who offered us the cross and the resurrection. Let me say this and I hope you hear this. The walk of a Christian is not sin avoidance. It is Christlikeness.

Rather than boundaries we should ask what would honor God? What would cause His glory to be manifested in and through my life. You see setting boundaries focuses on forgiveness and that is so important but Christ died for more than our forgiveness. Too often we want the removal of guilt and not the work of Christ in us. Know this Christ died for more than the removal of guilt; he has called us to live a vibrant abundant life filled with joy, peace, and love. We are more than forgiven, we are called to Christlikeness. It means that I allow God into every area of my life. I receive victory because I am forgiven but I live in victory because I seek to be Christ like. You see the gospel has to be more than guilt removal it has to be a way of life. It is “life abundantly lived.” So are you living abundantly or are you living close to the boundaries?

So what do we do with this? First, what boundaries have you set in your life? Do you focus more on the boundaries that have been set than on Christ who died and gave Himself for us? Second, I suggest that you refocus your life to move closer to Christ than living on the edge. You will find that the temptation toward sin will be diminished. I am not saying that it will be annihilated but the temptation to be pushed over the edge is diminished. And finally, if we want to know how to live closer to God we must know the word. We read it. We memorize it. We live it. That way we can be victorious in all we do.

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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March 28, 2016 · 7:31 am

Easter the Power to Overcome – Do Overs

Peninsula Community Church

March 28, 2016

Easter the Power to Overcome – Do Overs

John 21:15-17 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

We are in the midst of a series on the strongholds and the mindsets that prevent us from being all that we have been called to or created to be. We started the series by briefly looking at some of the strongholds that are evident in our lives. Last week we were reminded that the debt of our sin has been nailed to the cross. We were reminded that the enemy of our souls loves to throw accusation, lies, and half-truths at us in hopes that we will take the bait and fall victim to his ways. But the cross reminds us that the debt of sin charged against us has been paid and the cross is the receipt of that debt.

Today, we will look at a second aspect of our life in Christ. As I noted last week it is important for us to establish an understanding of who God is before we move on to deal with the issue of strongholds and mindsets more specifically. That is why we looked at the cross last week and today we look at the results of the resurrection. While the cross reminds us that our debt has been forgiven, the resurrection reminds us that we have the power to begin again. The resurrection gives us the power to start over regardless of our past sin or our past failures. In essence we get a do over.

When I moved to New York, in 1979, I began to “try” to play the game of golf. When I first began to play, I played with some people who did not make the game very much fun. They continually corrected me. They criticized my swing, the way I was standing, the way I approached the ball, how I hit the ball, and on and on. They were so critical and such perfectionists that I wanted to give up the game which I did do for some time. But a number of years later I was asked to play again. After some persistence on their part and reluctance on my part, I agreed to play. I was surprised when there was a totally different environment this time. They gave instruction but it was done in a way that was not harsh or belittling. In fact, as we played I hit my normal bad shot. When I did that they said something that revolutionized my life in relationship to golf. One of the guys asked me if I wanted to take a mulligan. Of course I had never heard of that before because the people I had originally played with did not give mulligans. They were serious if not legalistic about their golf and they did not believe in such a thing. For those that may not know what a mulligan is, it is a second chance. It is a do over. You hit a bad shot and you have an opportunity to hit the shot again.

My message this morning is a message of do overs. It focuses on those around Jesus who failed and failed big time. You see when we talk about mindsets and strongholds in our life there is no greater place for this to occur than in the area of failure and blown opportunities. We feel life is over and there is nothing left to do. This comes as well when we have committed that sin or that thing that we believe has derailed us for life. The result is that we feel that our life has come to an end and there is no hope for a better future. You see this is much like the friends that took me golfing earlier in my life. Each failure was overly emphasized and I was reminded how horrible a golfer I really was. Instead of hope, I experienced disappointment and wanted to give up. But the resurrection is a reminder that we have a chance to start over. Because He lives, we have hope and we have a chance for a do over.

As we think about the resurrection and do overs we cannot help but think of the disciples who were negatively impacted by the events of Christ’s death. Think about it, the disciples who were by Jesus’ side for three years were nowhere to be found during His trial or the crucifixion. All of the disciples except for John ran and hid. Thomas doubted Jesus. Peter, as prophesied, denied his relationship with Jesus. We find the disciples are confused and when they received a report that Jesus is alive they reluctantly went to the grave site. This was in part because they struggled to believe the story that He had risen but also because they were afraid they might be arrested by the Roman guards.

Let me ask you this morning do you ever feel confused? Do you feel that you have been betrayed? After all Jesus said He would never leave them? Do you ever feel you have failed so big that there is no chance of forgiveness or opportunity to start over and make things right? Do you feel there are too many pieces to the puzzle of your life that are not fitting together? The fact is there are so many questions and so much brokenness around us. But we must hear the rest of the story to understand the day of new beginnings.

While all of this was happening we must be reminded that actions of the disciples did not prevent Jesus from being raised from the dead. That is the power of who Jesus is. Our lack of belief in Jesus or our sinful condition, no matter how bad it is, does not change who Christ is nor does it change what He has done on our behalf. We find in the story of Jesus that He rose again. Though He was dead, He now lives. But here is the amazing part of the story for me. As soon as possible, Jesus purposely goes to see the disciples. This band of believers who had failed to stay strong when it mattered most were in hiding but Jesus knew where they were. And most importantly, He knew the condition of their heart.

If you are familiar with the resurrection story you know that Jesus sought out the disciples. Jesus knew their pain. He knew the hurt, confusion, and rejection they were feeling. They should have known better but they still acted in a way that betrayed who they were. They failed to follow Jesus’ words and yet Jesus wanted to see them. It is noteworthy that while over 500 people saw that Jesus was alive, the scripture hones in on his visits to the disciples.

First, Jesus encountered Thomas who was a doubter. He doubted everything. How many have doubts today about your future and the hope you have? Doubt is such a robber of faith and it can cause us to be frozen in the past and in only what can be seen in the present. Notice that Jesus did not discredit Thomas’s doubt but gave him a chance for a do over. He allowed Thomas to touch His side and His hands and in so doing Thomas found a spirit of faith arise in him. He had a do over.

Then Jesus went to see Peter. He knew Peter’s rejection and denial. While Peter had failed, Jesus saw beyond his failure and saw his heart. If you remember, Peter was a passionate person. He was quick to speak out. Peter defiantly had promised Jesus that he would not forsake or leave His side. In that moment there was no doubt that Peter meant and believed what he said. He had ever intention of fulfilling his word but as we know from the crucifixion story, it was not long before Peter denied his relationship with Jesus, and he did so not once but three times. Can you imagine the heart of Peter in the moment when the rooster crowed? Can you imagine the guilt and the rejection he felt? What did Peter do, he ran and hid. Rather than heading to the cross, he headed to a back room in Jerusalem.

But here is the amazing part of the story. While Peter was confronted by Jesus and was questioned about his love of Jesus there is a greater story here. Notice that each time Jesus asked about Peter’s love for Him, Jesus commanded Peter to feed the sheep. That speaks to the fact that Jesus still trusted Peter to fulfill His mission. Peter was given a second chance. He was given a do over.

So what do we learn from this? First of all we see through the story of the resurrection that Jesus is always concerned about us and He is ready too give us a second chance. There is nothing that you can do to cause Him to stop loving you. Some of you who are here may feel that you have blown it and that there is no way that God could love you or forgive you. But here is the good news. He is seeking you out today. He wants you to know that He loves you and He desires that you come close to Him.

So how do we do that. We surrender your fears, your doubts, and your failures to Him today. In so doing, we must remember that our failures and shortcomings are not the end. They are a chance at new beginnings. There is hope and there is an opportunity to start over. Jesus is calling and He is coming to you today. He wants you to know that no matter what you might have done, life is not over. He loves you and He is extending His hand to you today.

Secondly, we must be aware that we need a do over. The problem too often is that we do not accept the fact that we need a do over when we have failed. We can be deceived into thinking that everything is ok, when it is not. It is also possible that no one has ever shared with you that you have the opportunity for a do over. Here is the fact we need to understand. Jesus has extended a hand of forgiveness. To go back to my golf analogy, there have been times where I have refused to take the mulligan and it cost me each time. Instead of being on the green in three or four I ended up with 7 or 8 strokes before landing on the green. The result was that my confusion and frustration was magnified. It did not have to be that way but I allowed it. So then the key is to recognize our need for Christ in our life and accept his do over.

And thirdly, confession is always a necessary process in this discussion. John was clear about this when he stated that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Paul also stated 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 3:22a-25). Here is a fact we can live with. We all need forgiveness. We all need restoration. Because we have all blown it at one time or the other. But thank God for do overs.

So as we close do you need a do over? If so, Jesus is here and He is extending His hand to you. Will you take His hand and hear His heart? He is saying I am ready to give you a do over. It comes by way of confessing the issue that is at the core of your heart. And it requires you to make whatever change is necessary to never go back there again. Are you ready? Let’s pray.

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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March 21, 2016 · 6:56 am

How Easter Gives Hope to Overcome

Peninsula Community Church

How Easter Gives Hope to Overcome

March 20, 2016

Colossians 2:8-15 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

The week we continue our look at the strongholds that impact our life. If you remember last week we defined a stronghold as a mindset or a thought process that controls our lives. Last week we looked at the fact that we walk in the flesh but we do not use the armaments of the flesh to fight our battles. This week we want to look at the victory that has been won on our behalf. Because of Christ’s death on the cross we have been positioned for complete and total victory. Now before we get into the details of strongholds and mindsets I want to set the stage by talking about the power of God and work of God on our behalf. That is our focus today.

The passage we have before us today issues us a warning but it also gives us a solution for winning the battle for our minds. Paul begins where we left off last week. He states See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. He offers us a warning to watch out for philosophies and empty words that control our way of thinking. In essence, Paul is saying that the ideas presented by a worldview which is not secured in Christ will be found empty and useless.

Paul continues by stating that the full authority of God is found in Christ. Paul states that in Christ the whole fullness of Deity dwells bodily. In other words, Christ is the manifestation of God here on earth because He is God. While that is pretty awesome, Paul goes on to say that we have been filled in Him. What is Paul saying? While it is true that all of the power of God is in Jesus, it is also true that we have Jesus in us. Therefore, we have the fullness of who God is in us. Remember last week we stated that greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Paul explains why here. Jesus who is full of everything God, and who lives in us, has all authority and rulership over the kingdoms of our lives. That makes Him greater than any force that can come against us. So why would we not choose to follow Him and obey His commands.

At the end of this passage, Paul makes an incredible powerful life changing statement. He says look not only was Christ raised from the dead but you were too. Listen to Paul’s words. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

There are a couple of things in this that bears comment. We have been made alive in Him. We who were dead in our trespasses and in the works of our flesh have been made alive in Christ. In so doing, we have been forgiven and the sin debt we had was cancelled. So the shame, regret, and desire to control has been dealt with on the cross and we are free today as a result.

But there is a problem in that the enemy of our souls loves to bring accusation, lies, and half-truths against us (Revelation 12:10). His very nature is to be deceitful and to distort the truth we need (John 8:44). When this occurs we have a choice to make. Will we allow false accusation to rule us and therefore walk in the lie of misinformation; or will we reject the lies and live in the truth that is ours through Christ. What truth is that? It is the truth of forgiveness and the fact that our debts have been paid. The debt we owed has been cancelled and it is been discarded as if it never existed.

A few months ago I received a bill from a doctor who was looking for a payment on some medical work that Michelle had done back in 2006. They had attached a note that read if I did not pay the bill I could be taken to court and I would be reported to the credit bureau. Their note was an attempt to intimidate and pressure us to pay a debt that had already been resolved. But heres the deal. Yes! There was a time that I owed that bill but the debt had been paid and it had been paid in full. Fortunately, for us I had all of my receipts and I was able to go back and locate the bill and the check that that had been written to pay off the debt. I contacted the company and sent them a copy of the check and the paid invoice as well as the monthly statement that showed we were paid in full. There was nothing they could do.

You see in our life the enemy of our souls loves to bring up past due bills that have in reality already been paid. He loves to remind us where we have been and what we have done. He loves to remind us how many times we have been rejected and how many times we have done things that have brought us guilt and shame. He is so good at reminding us of our past but when He does that we can go to the file cabinet of our heart and pull out the paid in full receipt that we were given when we came to know Christ and have confessed our sin. Christ paid the debt. What receipt do we have? Spiritually, we have the cross because it was there that our debt was nailed to the cross. Therefore the cross serves as a reminder that the debt has been paid and it has been paid in full. The debt no longer exists.

Let me give you another illustration. A number of years ago I received a call from a collection agency demanding the payment of a debt we did not owe. Even though I provided evidence that I was not the person they were looking for, they continued to call. Each time they demanded payment of a debt that we did not owe. In fact it was a debt that was never ours. Each time they called they agreed they had the wrong person and said they would not call again. Then one night they called and got Michelle on the phone and started pressuring her with scare tactics and manipulation. It upset her. About the time I got home they called again and I had enough. I asked for a supervisor and after some hesitation they finally had a supervisor come to the phone. Because I had journaled all of the dates and the times they called when the “supervisor” finally came to the phone, I let them have. I told them that I was tired of the accusation and the phone calls. I began to list the dates of the calls and who I had spoken to each time they called. I demanded in that moment that the calls stop or else the next person they would be speaking to would be my lawyer. I must have gotten to them because we never got another call again. Here is the point. The pressure to pay the debt was not removed until I threatened to bring in an advocate to handle my case. You see Jesus is that advocate and he is ready to stand in the gap on our behalf. But we must be willing to stand our ground and make the call for Him to do His work. That is why we pray Your kingdom come, Your will be done. We invite God into our world and into the issues we face.

The scripture here today says that Jesus has disarmed the rulers and authorities. This word disarm literally means to strip or to deny power to. In others Jesus by way of the cross has stripped the enemy of his power to effectively accuse us or use any false accusation against us. Listen to me this morning the debt of your sin and past mistakes have been paid for on the cross. Yes in some cases we suffer the consequences of what we did but the guilt, the shame, and the power of the enemy to hold that over you has been dealt with at the cross and you are free today as a result. The power of that sin has been disarmed and the accuser of the brethren has been shamed and defeated. You have been forgiven so forgive yourself. You must walk in the righteousness you have been given. When the debt of guilt comes knocking, let God open the door. When the debt of past failures comes knocking, let God open the door. When the debt of past sin comes knocking, let God open the door. He has come and we are free because of Him.

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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March 14, 2016 · 7:36 am

How Easter Gives Hope

Peninsula Community  Church

How Easter Gives Hope

March 13, 2016

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

This morning I am excited about this new series. Over the next few weeks we will look at how we can overcome strongholds and mindsets that hold us back from being what we need to be in Christ. This series is a natural outflow of the prayer series we just completed. You see through the movie “War Room” we were challenged to pray. Through small groups we have been challenged to understand the grace of God and the power of forgiveness.

Two weeks ago, we looked at the Lord’s Prayer to gain a greater understanding of how to pray effectively. As you remember, one of the key parts of the Lord’s prayer is praying that God’s kingdom would come and that His will would be done in us and in our circumstances. By praying this pray we are literally asking that God’s Kingdom and His will would invade everything about us. We pray He would invade our minds, our jobs, our relationships, our health issues, and so forth. The fact we are verbalizing the desire we have for Him to rule our life.

That brings us to our study today. While we sincerely pray and desire for the kingdom of God to be established in us, the fact of the matter is there are many kingdoms vying for that position. As we have read in our text today, Paul reminds us that we walk in the flesh. We live in a world that has been subjected to the power of sin and the rebellion of mankind. Because of this, we walk in the flesh and we are subjected to the work of the flesh in our lives. But Paul is also clear that even though we walk in the flesh, as passionate followers of Christ we have a set of weapons that can destroy the schemes of the enemy and the the strongholds that have been established in us.

So what is a stronghold? If you look at the second part our passage for today, you will find that Paul defines the idea of a stronghold. He states We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. So a stronghold is a mindset or thought process that controls our lives. It can be a sin we continue to confront, a shortcoming or failure we continue to experience, a past experience we can’t let go of, or a strong emotion such as fear, jealously, or anger that keeps surfacing. Without dealing with these strongholds they hang onto us and deter us from who we should be. They become a stumbling block and serve to defeat us rather than strengthening us.

As we look into this subject let me give a warning at this stage. We must never become so focused on spiritual strongholds or demonic activity that we fail to see that Christ is victorious in us. To do so gives credit to the enemy that he does not deserve. To do so allows us to justify our sin, our actions, and our negative thoughts. It is more effective to focus on His victory, His word, and His power in our life. That is the message of Easter and it is our message today.

With that said, let me dive into this subject. We must understand that while we have come into a relationship with Christ, we come into that relationship with baggage from our past. This baggage can include but is not limited to various mindsets, emotions that have not been healed, sins that have not been confessed, or a misconceived theology for living. As we live life we are also impacted and affected by the experiences we have and the people we encounter.

To fully understand this battle our discussion must not begin at the fall of mankind or focus on the post fall condition of man. We must begin our story earlier in the narrative. The fact is we must begin with the intent and desire of God in the creation. Therefore it is necessary to  begin with the creation and not the fall. That is why it is not a mistake that the Biblical story begins in Genesis 1:1. The first chapters of the Bible teach us that God created something beautiful and wonderful. After each day of creation, God proclaimed His work “good.”

But why start here? We do so because we need to be reminded that in creation we were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). We were not only created out of the dirt of the earth, but we were created in the image of God. That should mean something to us. Because we are created in the image of God, we have value and we have a purpose. This also means that every life has value no matter who the person is. He made an amazing creation created in His image and filled with His breathe.

But as we know, by way of the historical perspective of the Bible, there was a problem. Because of the fall of mankind, what God created was contaminated by sin. If you will for a moment think about life in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Man walked with God and He had an acceptance with God and with each other. That was priceless. They walked in an innocence that was pure and perfect. In the Garden, man was called to have dominion over the earth and the animals of the earth. So, we find that in the Garden of Eden mankind had acceptance, he walked in innocence, and he had dominion over God’s creation.

But, as we know, that all changed on the day Adam and Eve sinned. All of life was pushed out of kilter. From that day forward what was once so easy for mankind had now become a battle. What God had given man and the essence of creation has been defamed and destroyed. With that said let me make sure that we know that while the situation has changed we are still valuable in the sight of God. We are still a creation of God. That is why the process of redemption is to restore mankind to His original purpose. Redemption provides us with acceptance. We are given  forgiveness which is restored innocence. And dominion over all of creation has been restored.

As we consider this in relationship to the theme of strongholds, we begin to realize that humankind’s attributes before the fall become glaring needs after the fall. First of all in the Garden mankind walked in acceptance. But after the fall acceptance by God and subsequently by others was replaced by rejection. The result was a need to belong and because of sin it became more difficult to feel accepted. The problem is exasperated when we are rejected over and over again. The result is that we begin to feel rejected as a person and we begin to think that rejection is a way of life for us. Because of the feeling of rejection we strive more and more to be accepted and loved. In our effort to be more accepted and loved we succumb to peer pressure to be liked and loved. If we are not careful we will do whatever it takes to be accepted by our peers, our coworkers and our family. We end up in a vicious cycle of wanting acceptance but we experience rejection. The result is that we allow a stronghold of rejection to establish a false kingdom in our heart. When this happens we filter our decisions and the actions of others through the filter of rejection. Because we feel rejected, we lose the will to try.

Secondly, because of the fall of mankind innocence was replaced by guilt and shame. The result is that too many people have a poor sense of self-worth therefore they strive to find their worth and value in people and things rather than in Christ. The advertisement world plays on the need for self worth. If you buy this car, shop at this store, wear this brand of clothes you will have worth and you will be accepted by your peers. Striving for a sense of worth can cause a stronghold to be established as we will do anything to feel worthy, even if it is a false worth. You see we strive for self-worth by doing things we believe will fill that void in our life. We work harder and do more and yet we feel more shame and guilt. To make things worse we begin to filter the activity of our through shame and guilt which inevitable brings more shame and guilt.

The third aspect here is that dominion was replaced by weakness and helplessness therefore we have a need for strength and self-control. People attempt to meet this need by disciplining themselves or by trying to control others. Trying to control others is in reality a symptom of insecurity and a lack of self worth. In essence, we try to satisfy the need for dominion by trying to control others. Control is a stronghold that is sin’s answer for lost dominion. On the other hand while we try to control others we also try to control ourselves. We do so through strict and extreme efforts to discipline one’s self and one’s actions. We try to manage sin rather than dealing with sin. The result is that we are led to a spirit of legalism, perfectionism, and self-destruction. Additionally, when we try to control ourselves and control others we are never satisfied so we try and control more. Thus the stronghold only gets stronger.

As we bring this to a close today, I read this week that as believers we are not trying to become saints we are saints who are becoming like Christ. That is so true. That is why we do everything we can to bring every thought into captivity to the glory of God. We filter everything not through the hurt or stronghold but through the filter of God’s word, His redemption, and His power. In our HVAC systems we have filters that take out contaminates and dust out of the air. If that filter becomes clogged it will not allow the air flow through the filter and then there are problems. The same goes for our mind as well. We need a new filtering system. That is what we will be talking about over the next few weeks.

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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February 29, 2016 · 1:24 pm

Prayer Series – How to Pray

Peninsula Community Church

Prayer Series: How to Pray

February 28, 2016

Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Over the last few weeks we have concentrated our attention on this one verse. In doing so we have looked at the when of prayer, the where of prayer, and last week we looked at the who of prayer. This week we will conclude this series by looking at the how of prayer. If we read the text that follows this passage we find that Jesus gives specific instruction on how to pray. The beauty of this is that Christ not only tells us what to do and for that matter what not to do in prayer but He illustrates how to pray effectively.

For me, I love this because I am a hands-on kind of learner. I love reading books to learn about things but I learn best by applying what I have learned in practical ways. I think Jesus had people like me in mind when he instructed His disciples on how to pray. Listen to what Jesus tells them. Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Before we get into the meat of this passage let me make an observation in the form of a question. How many times have we quoted this passage without fully understanding what we are praying? Too often, in reciting the passage we miss the real purpose and true meaning behind the words. So today in the few moments we have let us unpack this passage to the degree we can. To begin with, we find the passage divided into two parts. The first part is focused on God, His Kingdom, and His will. The second part focuses on our needs, our forgiveness, and our deliverance. The first part reaches upward and the second part reaches both inward and outward to touch us where we are.

For now let us turn our attention to the first section of this passage which is focused on God and His greatness. In essence, what Jesus is instructing the disciples to do is to focus on God the Father. Jesus begins by recognizing God as the Father, but He is not just any father, He is Our father. It is noteworthy that Jesus does not just call God Father, but He invites us to do the same because He is also our Father. For that reason he tells us to pray “Our Father!” The word here for father is the word abba. It is a more personal form of the word as it speaks of intimacy.

With that said Jesus proceeds to instruct us on how to pray. He prays “Our Father which art Heaven, Hallowed be your Name!” The idea of hallowing God’s name is to honor, reverence, esteem, and treasure His name above everything else in this world. One’s name in Biblical times meant so much more than it does today. One’s name defined them. In terms of God’s name, when we pray we must remember what God’s name stands for and what His name represents. By hallowing His name we are focusing on the fact that God is holy, eternal, all powerful, every where present, and that He is trustworthy. In essence, by praying this prayer we focus on the grandeur and majesty of God.

Secondly, Jesus invites us to pray “Your Kingdom come.” In essence we pray that the Father of heaven will cause His sovereign rule to be manifested throughout the world. To pray this means we are praying that God’s kingdom would invade our life and our circumstances. We do not pray that His Kingdom would come into existence because it exists already but rather that His kingdom would be revealed and be made known.

Because of the fall of mankind in the Garden, the urge to establish one’s own kingdoms has been an ongoing battle. There is the kingdom of this world which is ruled by sin and wrong thinking. And there is the kingdom of our heart where we want our will to be accomplished regardless of the outcome. But then there is God’s kingdom. In praying this prayer we are saying that we recognize God’s kingdom, we trust God’s kingdom, and we desire that God’s kingdom is revealed in every circumstance of our life. So here is the deal. If I am sick, I pray that the kingdom of God is revealed in the circumstance. If I am dealing with difficult relationships, I invite God’s kingdom to invade those relationships. If I am emotionally wounded I pray for the kingdom of God to come and heal my wounds.

The idea of the kingdom also speaks to us that we do not have to fight alone. We can invite the kingdom of God into center of all that we encounter. The lie of the enemy is that we are alone and we have to fight alone but that is just a lie that continues to be propagated. We have each other but we also have the very presence of God who comes on our behalf to invade our circumstances and to make Himself known. When we invite the kingdom of God to come we have the entire arsenal of heaven at our disposal. How awesome is that!

Thirdly, we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray that God’s all-wise, all-just, all-holy will is done all over this world. We pray that God’s will happens in me. There is nothing greater than to have the will of God evidenced in our hearts and manifested in and through our lives. Therefore this reinforces the purpose of prayer which is to align our will with the heart of God. This occurs when we recognize His supremacy and His power. We invade the impossible by surrendering our will to His will.

So in the first part of this prayer we recognize the majesty of God. We pray for His kingdom to be established in us and in our circumstances. We pray that His will is manifested in all we do and in every circumstance of our life. With that said we can now move to the second part of this prayer. The second part of the Lord’s prayer focuses on our needs. You see when we recognize God’s supremacy and the closeness of His kingdom, we are in a better position to focus on our specific needs in a godly manner. By recognizing that He wants to invade our circumstances, we are more apt to pray with faith and trust in God. This weekend one of the speakers at the conference said that too often we pray to get out of a particular situation but we should pray for God to reveal what we can get out of that particular situation. In other words we ask: What is God doing in us? How is He growing us?

The first petition here is “Give us our daily bread.” This is a petition of provision. Bread is a term that is inclusive of all needs. You see in that day bread was one of the greatest concerns they had. They did not need much else but bread to sustain them. So, what is your need? Is it food? Is it healing? Is it relationships? Whatever it is God can and will answer. We pray that God who is our Father will bring the Kingdom into focus in every area of our life and that God’s will is revealed to us. We pray that according to His name, His kingdom, and His will that our needs will be met.

The second petition is “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This reminds us that we are not only forgiven but we are to be forgivers. You see in light of the grace of God and the power of God I do not have the right to live with a grudge or the guilt of unconfessed sin. You see we pray for forgiveness for ourselves but we pray also for those who hold a grudge against us. In praying this prayer we are praying for forgiveness so that His kingdom can invade that part of our life so that we are no longer held captive by the actions of others.

You see when we pray for forgiveness we are reminded of how blessed we are. We are reminded of the power of God’s grace at work in our lives. We are reminded that we have received so much we do not deserve. That is grace. We receive God’s riches at Christ expense. And we are to give grace to others. Remember in the War Room movie when Clara confronts Elizabeth about her relationship with her husband, Tony. Clara reminds Elizabeth how much God’s grace has been manifested in her life and how unwilling she was to give that same grace to Tony. Real grace is manifested best by giving grace to those who deserve it the least.

The third part states “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” In essence, Jesus is saying that we should pray that we no longer continue to sin. We pray that we do not become entangled in overpowering temptation. The prayer Jesus prays is that we are delivered from evil. We pray that God would guard our life from the attacks of satan and from his works and his ways in our life. We ask God to help us to walk in His holiness.

I do not think that it is a coincidence that Jesus ends with this part of the prayer. You see when we face circumstances that are beyond our control and that seem bigger than us, we can be in bondage to unanswered prayer. In the end, we pray that the kingdom of God is revealed through us. To have that occur we cannot be entangled with the ways of the enemy. To be entangled places us in a position where we are susceptible to strongholds and to bondage that must be broken. To be entangled we tend to steer away from God’s will and we are intimidated by the ways of the enemy. In essence, Jesus prays that we would not be entangled with unconfessed sin. Not only does this equate to unconfessed sin but it also refers to the past experiences of our life that can continue to effect us and impact us to the degree that we can’t move forward as we need to.

So when we pray, we pray in the secret place to receive answered prayers from an all wise and all powerful God who loves us. In prayer, we recognize and pray from the standpoint of making Him King and Lord. In so doing God’s grace will be revealed.

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

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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February 22, 2016 · 11:00 am

Prayer Series – Who You Pray To

Peninsula Community Church

Prayer Series: Who You Pray To

February 21, 2016

Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

As we continue our study this morning I would like to focus our attention on the who of our prayer. The bottom line is the who of prayer is more critical than the actual  prayer we pray. Without an understanding and a knowledge of who we pray to we will find that our prayers are not as effective as they should be. Additionally without knowing God our faith can be misplaced. When we pray we must understand that we are praying to someone. We are not just reciting words or ideas but we are actually communicating with God Himself. When we realize this the way we pray will change. With that in mind, I would like to share three things about God which are critical to our understanding of who He is and why prayer to Him is important. With that said let me offer a caveat here. In the time we have today, there is no way for me to completely give you everything there is to know about God. Therefore, we will only hit the highlights. As a result, I encourage you to do some self-study to learn more about who God is.

The first consideration for us this morning is that He is the sovereign God. He is in the secret place. He hears our prayers. He knows our needs. He knows the answer to our prayer. As the Sovereign God He is all knowing, so He knows your need before you ask. God is everywhere present, and so He knows what is going on all around you. He is all powerful, and thus He can do whatever He needs to do to bring about His purposes. He is eternal. Think about it. He has seen it all. And because He is eternal He knows the beginning from the end. Therefore, He knows how every circumstance in your life will work out. He knows exactly what He needs to do to bring about His purposes in your life.

As we look at the subject of the sovereignty of God, there has been much debate about what this means. Entire denominations have been formed around different ideas and perspectives in regard to their understanding of this subject. Let me say this in regard to the idea of the sovereignty of God. God is big enough, wise enough, and powerful enough to do whatever He deems necessary to accomplish His will. Here is a fact, God can do whatever He pleases as confirmed by Psalm 115:3. Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. What this means is that God is not constrained by any outside force that will dictate what He should or should not do.

Therefore to say that God is Sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is Sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High and that He is working according to His will. He is working in the armies of Heaven, and He is working among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand. As we look at this, we must be aware that God only acts within the context of His character and who is. Thus, He cannot lie for there is no falsehood in Him. He cannot sin as He is the purest form of perfection and holiness. He cannot fail because He is all powerful and all knowing. And He can be trusted because He is has been proven to be trustworthy over and over again.

Because He is sovereign, our role is to pray with an attitude of faith. In Hebrews 11:6-7 we find the author saying that … without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. To be effective we must present our needs to God with a faith that trusts and believes that He is able to answer our prayer. We must believe in His sovereignty and that He has our best interest in mind when we pray. His sovereignty combined with our faith positions us for answered prayer. What is faith? It is believing and trusting in someone greater than ourselves.

Because He is sovereign and He knows best, we must pray that our will is in alignment with His will. Listen to 1 John 5:14-15 – And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. So how do we know His will. There are two ideas to be considered. First, we pray that our hearts will be aligned with His heart. And second we read the Word of God for it is in reading and understanding the Word that we gain a better understanding about what He desires. 

Additionally, we need to be aware that unconfessed sin prevents God from answering our prayers. The reason is that when we are motivated by sin we tend to ask for things that are not in alignment with His purposes or His will. David relates this to us Psalm 66:16-20 – Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.

Not only is He sovereign but He is also the God that responds. Jeremiah 33:2-3 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it— the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Here is a promise you can take to the bank. God hears us and He responds to us. The responses may not be in the timeframe that we think or it may not be packaged the way we think, but He does answer. When we pray we are reminded that He is all knowing, all powerful, and that He is everywhere present. We know that His delay does not mean He does not care nor does it mean that He does not hear us.

In reading through the Old Testament, we find that the children of Israel had prayed for years for a deliverer. As we read the story of the Exodus, we find that God was already at work to set up a deliverer and yet there was no visual sign of movement toward the fulfillment of this and yet God was working on Israel’s behalf. Moses was born and was positioned to understand the ins and outs of Egypt’s government and the underpinnings of how things worked. And then just as we think that things are about to happen, Moses is kicked out of Egypt and he ends up in the desert for another 40 years. In Egypt Moses is being prepared in the ways of Egypt and in the wilderness God is preparing Moses to know the desert and thus He is prepared to lead the nation of Israel. Meanwhile the people are praying and crying out to God.

The third aspect is that He is the God that blesses and He knows how to give good gifts. God loves to give good gifts. Jesus described this later in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:7-11. “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. Here is one thing we can count on, God knows how to bless and give good gifts. The point of the passage we just read is that God is not going to give us anything that is going to harm us.

Listen to the words of John Piper. When you pause to consider that God is infinitely strong and can do all that he pleases, and that he is infinitely righteous so that he only does what is right, and that he is infinitely good so that everything he does is perfectly good, and that he is infinitely wise so that he always knows perfectly what is right and good, and that he is infinitely loving so that in all his strength and righteousness and goodness and wisdom he raises the eternal joy of his loved ones as high as it can be raised — when you pause to consider this, then the lavish invitations of this God to ask him for good things, with the promise that he will give them, is unimaginably wonderful.

In the human realm, have you ever received a gift that you did not know what to do with. The gift ended up in a closet somewhere never to be used again. Or you end up selling it on e-bay or a garage sale. Here is a guarantee, if God gives you a gift you can be sure that it is good and it is exactly what you need. God gives us good gifts. God does not tell us that we receive everything we ask for but God gives us what is best for us in the moment. To give us everything we ask for would make us spoiled and would God one who spoils us.

As another aspect of Him giving good gifts is that He often gives us what we do not deserve or have not merited on our own accord. So to understand who God is we best understand Him through His gift of grace. That is why there are some who do not seem to deserve God’s answered prayer and yet they receive it. As in the War Room movie there is not one of us who have been distanced from God’s grace. None of us deserve God’s grace but that is the beauty of His grace. We don’t deserve it but He freely gives it.

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

Copyright © 2015 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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February 16, 2016 · 8:51 am

Where You Pray

Peninsula Community Church

Prayer Series: Where You Pray

February 7, 2016

Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

In the movie, the War Room, we find the movie opens with Clara giving a overview of her husband’s life as a soldier. If you remember the opening scene, the commanders and strategists are in a room that is filled with maps and war plans. The idea presented by Clara is that when a nation is at war they will develop strategic plans on how to fight battles and in essence how to win at war. This is accomplished in the war room. As the movie progresses we find the focus of the movie is on having a personal “war room” where we can strategize and set in motion particular plans on how to win the battles we face each and every day.

Jesus referred to this place as the closet of prayer. Jesus stated that when we pray we are to go into our room or closet and shut the door. The idea from the heart of God is to have that place where we can be alone with Him and can pray without the hindrance of outside influences. Note that the passage states that the reason we pray in secret is that God rewards those who pray in the secret place and He does so in the open. The point is that what is done in secret will be revealed in the open.

With that said, let me make a comment or two about prayer. First, the location of our closet of prayer is not as important as just having a place to pray. You see some people might have a specific room that is set aside solely as a place to pray but the reality is that life does not always allow this to occur. The truth is that our secret place can be our den. It can be our favorite chair. It can be at our dinner or breakfast table. For some it might even be our car. The idea purposed here is that we need a designated place where we have our “prayer time,” “a quiet time,” or what ever else you might call it.

Secondly, in the movie we saw that Clara, Elizabeth, and even little Daniella had a wall where they would post their prayer requests and they post answered prayers. We too need a wall or a place where we can post our prayer requests. It might be a physical wall. It might be a journal notebook. It might be a file on your computer. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The idea is to have a place where we can list, track, and remember our prayer requests. It is also a place where we remember what God has done in us and what He has accomplished through our praying. This is important because we can easily forget what God has done.

Thirdly, while we need a location that we set aside for our prayer time we must also have an understanding that we should walk in a spirit of prayer. It is possible to believe that once we have prayed in our closet, we can check that off our list and go on about our day. The problem is that we can confuse the place of prayer with the heart of prayer. The place of prayer prepares us for the day before us and focuses our attention on the day ahead. It also focuses our attention on our need for God. The heart of prayer maintains a steadfastness in prayer throughout the day.

Finally, we meet in a designated place because we have a relationship with God. Our prayers must be founded in the relationship we have with God. The key is to never just check prayer off of our list. In our closet of prayer we must know that we are literally meeting with the King of Kings and the Creator of All Things. Today is Valentine’s Day. Other than Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest times for restaurants. Why is that? It is because we want to be together with the one we love. We determine their favorite place and we make sure we have a reservation and off we go. We do this because we love our spouse and we want to bless them. God wants to meet with us and He wants to talk with us. That happens in our closet of prayer.

But why does God call us to a place of secrecy? Let me give you three reasons. First, shutting the door shifts the focus off of others. Remember the problem with the hypocrites is that they loved to be the center of attention. In our closet of prayer we do not have to impress any one, imitate any one, or worry about being judged by someone else. In our closet of prayer we can simple focus our attention on God.

Listen to the words of Proverbs 29:25. The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Here is a fact that we can take to the bank. God is not going to judge you when you pray. He is not going to criticize you. He is going to love you and draw you closer to His heart. In our closet of prayer we can be our self. We can cry. We can laugh. We can even sit and do nothing because we are in the presence of God and in His presence we can be real and authentic.

The second reason to go into our closet of prayer is that shutting the door shifts the focus off of self. You see when we are in our closet of prayer we become less self-conscious and more God-conscious. You see in our private times of prayer God will reveal more of who we are, who He is, and how to walk in the light of His Word.

If you are like me, too many times when I enter my closet of prayer I become distracted and restless. You know how it goes. Suddenly I start to remember all of the things I need to do. I remember things that I have forgotten to do. In prayer we discover that our minds are easily divided. Even in our closet of prayer we can catch the plague of wandering thoughts. But in having a secret stillness before God we can deliberately shut the door to the distractions of life. In so doing, we shift the focus away from ourselves which brings us to the last point.

The third reason we go into our closet of prayer is that shutting the door shifts God of our thinking onto His place of priority. In our society today, we are constantly reminded that we should silence our phones so that we do not distract others. In churches, movie theaters, and while driving we are encouraged to put our phones down. I know that for Michelle and I we have had to make a conscience decision to turn off our phones, iPads, and computers at the dinner table. As a society we have an addiction to our phones and it seems we have to always have them near us because we might miss a call, text, or Facebook post. But when we want to show respect and honor we shut off our phones and pay attention to the one with whom we are with. The same applies as we enter our prayer closet. We must remove all distractions. When we go into our prayer closet we must eliminate the noise in order to focus on the face that is in front of us.

Closet praying is critical. God not only hears what is prayed in secret but the implication in this passage is that He is in the secret place with us. The secret place of prayer represents the presence of God in our life. It is the place we go to meet with God. It is true that God is present everywhere but in the secret place of prayer we find God meeting with us, personally.

Jesus who is our great example of how to pray showed us the necessity of prayer and getting alone with God. In Matthew 14:23 we find that after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Jesus the God of all creation had to take time to be alone with the Father. If he needed time to be alone with God, how much more do we need time to be alone with the Heavenly Father.

In Luke 6:12 we find that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. It is noteworthy that after he prayed all night he went out to select the disciples who would follow him throughout His ministry. You see even Jesus needed God’s direction before he made such a great decision. How much more do we need to pray and hear from God?

In Luke 5:15-16 we find that Jesus prayed after he ministered to the great crowds. But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. Even Jesus needed prayer when He was in ministry. He took time to withdraw to quiet places to pray. He focused on prayer because He needed to hear from God. He wanted to be connected to the Father and He did that by way of prayer.

In Luke 22:41-44 we find Jesus praying for the will of God to be achieved in His life. “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done. It is noteworthy that Jesus, the God of all creation, prayed for God’s will to be fulfilled in His life. How do we advance God’s will? We do so by praying for God’s will and purpose to be accomplished in us.

As we close today let me share a quote by Oswald Chambers. This was his August 23rd entry in “My Utmost for His Highest.” He stated Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.

Shutting the door and spending time alone with God is a practice we need. Shutting the distracting doors of the mind and our hearts will allow us to focus completely on God. By shutting the door of prayer we open our hearts to His will and His power. What a difference we will make. What answered prayers we will see occur.

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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February 8, 2016 · 12:10 pm

Prayer Series – When You Pray!

Peninsula Community Church

Prayer Series: When You Pray

February 7, 2016

Matthew 6:5-8 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Over the next four weeks we will unpack this passage together. As we do so we will see that the text focuses on the when, who, where, and how of prayer. As we begin this series, let me make a  couple of observations in regard to prayer. First most believers feel inadequate when it comes to their prayer life. In fact, most believers struggle with the belief that their personal prayers are effective. This anxiety about prayer comes from the fact that too often we measure our ability to pray against the abilities of others. In so doing, we believe others pray more, they pray more effectively, and they have more prayers answered. The problem here is that too many times the enemy uses this as a tactic to prevent us from praying at all. He wants us to believe that our prayers are ineffective and not working because he knows if we believe this we will not pray.

A second observation is that too many believers have developed an apathy toward prayer as a result of devaluing prayer in their life. As I have said before, we will engage in what we value. Because we have devalued prayer in our lives, we do not consider prayer an important aspect of our life. If we do pray, our prayers are quick one liners to God and then we are off to conquer our day. And, too often we only pray when we need something from God.

A third observation made is that too many people simply do not know how to pray. They have heard about prayer. They have studied about prayer. They have attended seminars about prayer but they themselves have not engaged in prayer. The problem is that they have not made an application of the truths they have learned. It is like going to Weight Watcher meetings but never implementing the life style changes needed to lose weight. Here is a fact that we need to hear and understand. The best way to learn to pray is to pray.

With that said let’s unpack this passage. To begin with, this passage invites us to pray. Notice that Jesus said “When you pray!” The assumption made is that we will pray and when we pray things happen. We see the confirmation of this in Jeremiah 29:11-14. 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.

Notice a couple of things in this passage. The Children of Israel had been in captivity for 70 years. At the end of that period of time God said that He would visit them based on the plans and goals He had for them. In essence, He tells them that when they understand that He has amazing plans for their life they will be more inclined to pray and to call upon the name of the Lord. It is important to note that it was not the captivity that would drive them to pray but a realization of God’s will and plan for them. God says call upon Him and He will hear them. Seek Him and they will find Him but they had to do so with their whole heart. Wow!!! that is amazing!

The second observation is that Matthew addresses the question “Why pray?” The answer is simple. We pray because God answers prayer. We pray because it brings healing to the nation (2 Chronicles 7:14-15) and in praying for the nation we are forced to deal with our pride and our need for forgiveness. We pray because in praying the will of God the Father is glorified in the Son. Look at the words of John 14:13. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. We pray because we know that our joy will be made complete or full. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (John 16:24). Do you want that inner joy that brings hope to the darkness around you, then pray, for in praying our joy is made complete.

We also pray because we have proof that prayer works. Through out the Bible we find that God heard the cry of His people. They prayed and He answered. In Exodus 2:23-25 God heard His people pray. They had been in captivity long enough and they were crying out for a deliverer. In 1 Samuel 1:19-20 God heard Hannah’s prayer for a child. She was childless and because she prayed, a son was born who she dedicated to the Lord. In 1 Kings 17:22 God heard Elijah’s prayer. A child had died and Elijah had stretched himself across the child where he prayed for healing and the child arose from the dead. How awesome is that?

Finally, we pray because in verbalizing our prayers our faith is built and we are encouraged by the answers that come from prayer. We pray! God answers! Our faith is made stronger! While this is true, we must consider another aspect of the purpose of prayer. God desires to have a personal relationship with us. In life, we talk with those with whom we are in relationship. The problem is that we confuse prayer with simply asking God for things but prayer is so much more. Yes prayer involves our personal requests but we also praise God, we thank God for what He is doing and what He has done. We wait to hear from Him because prayer is a two-way street. It is not one-sided.

As we unpack this passage, we see that God invites us to pray but he also warns us about our posture in prayer. Listen to the words of Jesus. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Jesus counsels us against making our prayers a show case for others to see. He is saying in essence that our prayer should be focused on God and not on others. By way of a reminder, a hypocrite has been defined as an actor on a stage. They play a part. They are not being real but are in fact putting forth a persona so that others will think differently of them. Being a hypocrite is not just a matter of being duplicitous but it carries the idea of seeking the praise and approval of people. Once they are off the stage they live their life as they always have. Nothing changed. This hypocritical mindset has no place in the movement of prayer. Jesus recognized this and he addressed this with those He spoke to during the Sermon on the Mount.

When I was a teenager I loved to watch wrestling and one of my favorite wrestlers was Cowboy Bob Kelly. He was a local wrestler in the Gulf Coast region. One of the wrestlers he would often fight against was Gorgeous George Jr.. We used to sit on Saturday nights and watch the matches live from Mobile and we had so much fun doing so. One evening we were headed to a concert at the Mobile Civic Center. After parking the car we had to walk past the rear entrance to the stage where the wrestling competition took place. Low and behold there was Cowboy Bob Kelly and Gorgeous George standing outside the rear entrance having a cigarette. They were laughing and talking with each other as if they were best friends. My heart sank because I realized in that moment wrestling was fake. They were hypocrites. They were play actors.

The problem with the hypocrites around Jesus is that they would pray in such a way that would elicit comments and reactions from those who would hear their prayers. They would pray to be acknowledged and not so that God would be honored and pleased with what He heard. You see when we pray to receive accolades then we have received our reward and we have had our prayer answered. The fact is God wants us to pray from the heart and use the words we have been given to communicate in every day life. We do not have to use big words or even Elizabethan English. God understands Southern and He understands New York. And He understands those who live in the Delmarva region. In fact, God hears us best when we are praying from a heart that is honest and true rather than the verbiage we are using.

I have witnessed people who pray with flowery words and purposeful flexion in their voice to illicit emotional responses for effect. They move people with their prayer but the reality is that while their prayers were magnificent their hearts were in fact far from God. The words they used were empty and meaningless. They wanted others to recognize their great ability to pray. But that is a hypocritical mode of prayer.

I have witnessed others who at times proclaim answered prayer as if was their prayers were the reason God brought answers. There was a lady in our church in New York who would come into my office or be in a group of people and she would proclaim how she single handedly prayed that God would do such and such and He did it. Her tone and her verbiage was condescending and critical of others. Her words were filled with pride and it seemed she was self promoting her prayer life. She presented herself as if she was not praying the whole world would fall apart. She lived a hypocritical life as she would seldom profess the prayers she had prayed that went unanswered or were answered in way that was contrary to the way she had prayed. In those times she was silent because the result did not place her in the best of lights.

On the other hand, I was asked to do the funeral of an elderly lady that had attended our church for some time. This dear saint’s health precluded her from doing much physically or financially for the church. Upon her death, her family found her prayer diaries which were filled with prayer requests and notes about answered prayer. They showed me page after page where she had being praying for me, my family, and the church. The notes were scribbled on the paper and were barely legible but she had journaled her journey of pray on the pages of the diary. Why do I share this? I share this because this little lady who did not have much in the physical had more than most of us to give in the spirit. She gave what she had. She prayed. And she did so without hypocrisy as no one knew that she prayed the way she did. Most notable I compared dates of the diary to dates where I needed prayer and there was an entry for that day where she had prayed for me. How awesome!

So what do we learn here. We learn that have been invited to pray. We have an audience with God. We learn that God calls us to pray and that He answers prayer. We learn that when we pray from the heart, He gets the glory and the praise. We learn that when we pray we need to be honest and real before God. So pray and pray in such a way that opens the door for God to get all of the praise and the glory. And remember that God answers prayer when we pray according to His will and to His ways.

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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February 1, 2016 · 12:02 pm

The Value of Belonging

Peninsula Community Church

January 24, 2016

The Value of Belonging 

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

Today I would like to look at a subject that has caused much consternation and debate within the Christian church. There has been and continues to be a plethora of ideas and discussions surrounding the church, what the church is about, and how it is to function. And for sure there has been much debate about the purpose, structure, and implementation of membership in the church. So, with that said, I recognize that not everyone will agree with everything that I will say this morning and that is ok because we will most likely agree to disagree. But we will move forward and remain united in our purpose and our vision to reach this community for Christ.

As we begin our discussion, we find that in the Book of Acts coming to Christ and joining a local church was often an immediate act. For the new believer experiencing salvation without connecting and belonging to a local church was totally foreign to their way of thinking. More than once we find that Scripture shows that individuals repented, believed in Christ, they were baptized in water, and were then added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; and 16:5). With that said, let me be quick to note that joining the local church is not the same as coming to Christ. Neither is joining the local church a requirement for salvation. We must understand that there is the local church made of members of a community of believers and there is the universal church which is made up of every believer in the world whether they are a part of a local church or not.

In the Greek, the key word translated for church is the word “ecclesia” which means “called out ones.” Historically, the term ecclesia was a political term where citizens were called together by the trumpet of the herald. These assemblies were an opportunity for news and information to be disseminated to the citizens of the town or village. It was also an opportunity to engage the assembly in kingdom action. In time, the church usurped the word from secular society and began to use the word ecclesia to define their meetings. Thus they called Christians together to disseminate information and to call believers into action. Additionally, it was a place to unite believes under the banner of Christ.

In terms of our understanding of the church we need to discuss that the church is in essence two churches in one. While we have the local church and the universal church where all believers are participants we also have a visible and an invisible church. The visible church is identified by its buildings, its programs, and the people involved. The places where the church gather may run the gamut from a local coffee shop, a road side gathering, or a large edifice. The visible church is what is visible to anyone and everyone. The fact is however that all who attend physical churches or profess to be Christians are not necessarily true Christians.

On the other hand, the invisible church are those who who have accepted Christ and have committed their ways to His ways. Christianity is not comprised merely of religious patterns, attending of churches, tithing, taking communion, etc. True Christianity is made up of those who have made a conscious decision to follow Christ and have accepted Him through regeneration. These are the redeemed, true Christians. The local church is more than a place. The invisible church is the glorious gathering of the redeemed, the sanctified flock of the great Shepherd, the united household of God, and it is the beautiful body and bride of Christ. Such an exalted picture of the church seems silly as long as we’re content with superficial relationships and shallow connections. The real church is so much more than all of these things.

To be sure church membership is a formal relationship between the Church and the believers in Christ. This relationship is characterized by mutual affirmation and submission to one another. It is a matter of living out one’s discipleship in the care of the church. The question for us is how is the church to be organized. The beauty of the Bible and the wisdom of God is that Scripture does not always detail how the church should be specifically organized. With that said, the Bible does refer to the fact that the church does organize itself with elders and pastors to lead the church who give guidance to the structure and organization of the church. The founding fathers of this particular church had the foresight to develop and implement just such a means to govern this local church body.

As we look at the church within the culture of the day, we must understand that while we are not of this world, we do live in a world that is litigious by nature. Therefore, we must do all we can do to protect the church against any possible negative outcomes. In essence, we must protect the invisible church from the worst of the visible church. It is for that reason that we do many things that may not be spelled out in the Bible but we still do them. For example, insurance is not in the Bible, but we have insurance to protect the church from loss in case of an emergency or in case of a frivolous law suit. As a leadership team, we have been tasked with establishing the governmental structure within the church to help the church function in a way that is healthy and protects every member and attendee. As most of you know, we have a specific membership process that requires those who desire membership to attend an orientation class, submit their testimony to the church, and upon approval by the leadership team sign a Covenant agreement.

Some have argued against this process and I understand the issue. As a leadership team we are reminded that because we deal with both the visible and invisible church we are tasked with establishing guidelines that protect, guide and empower the church to accomplish its God-given task of evangelism, discipleship, and outreach. As we have stated before, the beauty of the body of Christ is that we have the privilege to organize and operate within the context we believe will best move us forward in terms of God’s will and purpose for our life individually and corporately.

In terms of the Covenant agreement I might remind you that in the Old Testament there were several outward signs of covenant relationship between God and man. Even in Jesus’ day it was common for contracts to be sealed by the exchanging of a shoe or livestock. At times those agreements include cutting animals in two and walking between the pieces (Genesis 15), placing a hand under a thigh (2 Samuel 24), removing and exchanging a sandal (Ruth 4), or instituting and enjoying a ceremonial dinner (Matthew 26:17-29). We do not do that today but we do require the signing of a covenant agreement. For us, we seal the covenant by asking you as members to sign the covenant of agreement. This is not a tool to be limiting or legalistic but rather it is intended to be freeing and orderly.

This brings us to the place where must ask the question “Why join the church?” To begin with, joining a local church counters the independent and go-it-along mindset of society. This culture is committed to consumerism, and if Christians are not careful, even our churches will be nothing more than a semi-sanctified microcosm of the surrounding world. We attend when we want, are accountable to the degree we want, submit to whom we want and only when we want, and give only when it is convenient. That was never the purpose of the church or God’s calling for the church.

Secondly, joining the church counters the results of an uncommitted society. We live in a day that commitment is a rare commodity. For that reason, it should not come as a surprise that church membership has a low priority to so many believers. Sadly, it is not uncommon for Christians to move from church to church, never submitting themselves to the care of elders and never committing themselves to a group of fellow believers.

Thirdly, we understand that we join because when the body of Christ is working together it is a force to be reckoned with. By working together we accomplish more together than as individuals. I am sure that you have heard the fact that two horses can pull more than two individual horses. The story goes that a single draft horse can pull a load up to 8,000 pounds. What they found is that two horses working in tandem can pull up to three times the weight of one individual horse. Together they can pull 24,000 pounds.

The passage before us today is one that shows us the value of being a part of a team. Together we can do more than we can do apart from one another or as individuals. We can pray together. We can study together, and we can grow together. We can unite around the vision of the church and the vision of God through the church. We can reach the community together. There is so much we can do together.

Living out a commitment to a local church involves many responsibilities: exemplifying a godly lifestyle in the community, exercising one’s spiritual gifts in diligent service, contributing financially to the work of the ministry, giving and receiving admonishment with meekness and in love, and faithfully participating in corporate worship. Much is expected, but much is at stake. For only when every believer is faithful to this kind of commitment is the church able to live up to her calling as Christ’s representative here on earth. To put it simply, membership matters.

But here is the deal. We should never let any of the things we have in place be a hindrance to joining. Join because you desire to. Do so because you are called. But don’t refuse to join because we are imperfect and our processes are imperfect. Join because you believe that God is in the midst of the church and you desire to be a part of what God is doing here! Join because you believe it is God’s will to join and connect to the church in a more official capacity. May God direct your steps and guide your decision as we join our hearts in prayer.

Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Robert W. Odom

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