Life on the edge

Peninsula Community Church

Getting Connected – The Rewards of Living in Community

September 9, 2012

Today and for the next four weeks I want to speak to you about the initiation of Connect Groups which will be our Small group ministry here at PCC. This message series will in essence be a vision casting series so that we can all be on the same page and understand where we are headed with small groups as a ministry of the church.

 Today we will look at the reasoning and the blessing of small groups within the church. Let us read together Acts 2:44-47 as one of many scriptures that focus our attention on Connect Groups.

 Act 2:44-47 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Life is to be lived out in community – Notice some particulars in this passage. First of all they believed together and they had all things in common. The first point I would like to make is that church happens in community. We are a community of believers and therefore we are called to meet together, fellowship together, pray together, grow together and do ministry together. That has always been God’s plan.

If you read the creation story you will note that from the beginning God made it clear that it was not good for man to dwell alone. Mankind needed to be in a relationship with others. Not much has changed since that time as mankind continues to have a need to be in relationship. It is not by chance that the church is represented by the marriage relationship in Ephesians 5.

Solomon recognized the value of relationship and community when he state “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him–a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

In community we have the opportunity to meet the needs of others – The second thought expressed in our verse today is that it is in community that we understand the needs of those around us. It is in community that we can begin to find ways to meet those needs physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Note that in the New Testament church, they had all things in common. They were a sharing group of people. If they saw a need they found ways to meet those needs. Most often it was through the power of prayer, counsel and the Word that the needs were met.

In community fellowship occurs and relationships are built – The third thought expressed in this passage is that while they met in the temple which is important, they also focused on meeting together in their homes where they broke bread together and fellowshipped together. The problem with meeting in the temple is that we usually spend no more than one and one-half hours together. It is difficult to build relationships in that time because of the format of the Sunday service. But in smaller groups you get to know one another and you will learn who they are by name.

In community people celebrate the life of God’s blessings – The fourth thought in this passage is that had a positive response. They received their food with glad and generous hearts. They were praising God and they were finding favor with the people around them. One of the key elements of a Connect Group ministry is that people will be given the opportunity to share their answered prayers and the things they are learning on a personal level.

Through community the church grows – The final thought is that they saw the Lord adding to the church by way of them meeting together both in the Temple and in small groups. Because we will seek to grow the groups we will see the church grow and the needs of the church being met as we grow.

Peninsula Community Church

Displaying the Life Of Christ – Are You Living It?

September 2, 2012

1 John 5:16-21 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

For the last couple of months we have been taking a journey through the book of 1 John. We have unpacked much through this journey but today the rubber meets the road so to speak. The question we must ask is “will we be hearers only or will we put into action what we have learned?” This action is critical to the process of learning to display the life of Christ in our life. And yet, this is one of the greatest struggles of our life.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been taking some golf lessons. The instructor is very capable and is revamping everything I do from changing my grip, to changing the way I swing and how I approach the ball. All of these is awesome but if I don’t implement what I have learned I will never improve my game and never will enjoy the game. It takes practice and it also means there are times I may fail but it is in the failure that I learn how to improve my game.

As passionate followers of Christ we may know what we need to do but doing it sometimes is the most difficult thing we will try. But, we have a secret weapon or two in our arsenal that will help us. First of all, we have the power of prayer that will help us. Secondly, the entire Godhead is on our side and is fighting for us, if we will yield ourselves to God’s will, God’s purpose and His plan for our life. And most of all we have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. It is His assignment to teach us what we need, to convict us when we go astray and to guide us to the truth of the gospel. With that said by way of remembrance let me highlight a couple of issues.

First of all in 1 John as passionate followers of Christ we realize that we are not independent but interdependent upon each other and God. God calls us to love Him and He calls us to love one another because it is through this love that we exhibit our commitment to Christ. We can raise our hands and be completely faithful to church attendance and outwardly we can do everything right but treat others with contempt and disgust. But through the book of 1 John we learn that if we truly want to be passionate followers of Christ we will love others because we have an understanding that God loved us before we could love Him and that He gave Himself for us in spite of what we were or what we did.

This idea of love is exhibited in our passage this morning in the fact that when we see our brother sinning we will pray for them so that they will return to truth and be healed. The fact is we need each other. We need to encourage one another toward hope and a full life. We need to pray for one another. We need to challenge one another in love to grow and become better than they are.

Secondly, a passionate follower of Christ does not keep on sinning because he is obedient to God’s commands in our walk with Christ. To use my golf analogy if I continue in my bad habits I will not see the improvements needed and my game will suffer. This is accomplished by abiding in the Word and abiding in Him. In others words, we saturate ourselves with the Word of God so that we will not keep on sinning. This does not mean that we will never sin, it simply means that because we are in the Word and we are in Him that we will be easily convicted and that conviction will lead to confession and to repentance. When we are in the Word and we are abiding in Him, it will become increasingly harder to intentionally sin without the heart rate increasing and the blood pressure rising. There will be the penetrating sound of that still small voice in our ears and in our hearts.

In the passage for this morning, we see that the one born of God will be protected from the evil one. This happens in two ways. First, God will block the work of the enemy from advancing against us and at other times He will allow things to come so that we learn to make the right decision and stand our ground upon biblical truth and righteousness but He will not allow us to be destroyed. He is our protector. 

God becomes that little alarm in our hearts that says something is wrong. Over the last few weeks we have been getting an alarm here at the church. I was getting calls from the alarm company at all hours of the day and night. You see there was no fire but there was a problem with the system. We could not see the problem but there was a problem. We had to have a tech come in and run diagnostics to determine the source of the problem. The Holy Spirit is that alarm system in our lives that points to a problem and the word of God becomes the diagnostic guideline to determine what is wrong. You see the fact that the alarm going off was not the problem, the problem was that the Mother board of the alarm panel was broken and needed to be replaced.

Too often, we believe that the alarm is the problem and we try to fix the alarm but the alarm only points out that there is a problem. I could turn the alarm off but the problem still exists. Too often we look at the symptoms of sin in our life without dealing with the sin itself or the issue that is causing the problem. We cannot manage sin we must get rid of it.

And lastly, a passionate follower of Christ must keep themselves from idols. We don’t use this word very much anymore but an idol is anything that will distract from our worship of God. Remember we said a couple of weeks ago that worship means to ascribe worth to something. It is to place a value on an item, person, place or thing. An idol is anything that we value more than we value God and obedience to His ways. Our friends can be an idol as we choose to please them more than we please God. Our failures and diminished capacities to be healed can be an idol as we value being unhealthy more than we do being whole in Christ and in essence we prevent God’s work and will from being accomplished in us.

One of the problems that existed with Israel is that their worship became an idol. They were good at offering sacrifices and doing the religious things but God’s indictment for them was that their hearts were far from God although outwardly they were doing everything right and by the book. God looks at the heart and not the outward.

To avoid idols we must have a love for God that runs deep. I am reminded of a story told by Gordon MacDonald in his book “The Life God Blesses: Weathering the Storms of Life that Threaten the Soul.” A boat builder wanted to build a boat that everyone would talk about. He outfitted his boat with colorful sails, complex rigging, and comfortable appointments and conveniences in its cabin. The decks were made of beautiful teakwood and all of the fittings were polished brass. As he built the boat, he fantasized about the admiration and praise he would receive from the members of the yacht and boat club where he would be launching his boat. This made him spend even more time on the appearance of the boat. He paid little attention to what was hidden or out of sight. On the day he launched his boat, he received the accolades of the crowd. The people praised him and proclaimed that this was the grandest boat they had ever seen.

With the crack of the champagne bottle on the bow the boat set sail. He stood at the helm with great pride racing through his veins. All was well until a small storm arose. This was not a hurricane or a storm of any significance but just a small squall. Suddenly the boat capsized. And what would have normally caused the ship to right itself was not there for you see there was no weight in the hull. He had spent so much time on the outward appearance of what could be seen but he never attended to the keel of the boat and that part of the boat not seen by anyone.

The lesson here and the lesson of 1 John is to make sure that the parts of our life that are unseen receive just as much attention as the ones that are seen. And in that, we will display the life of Christ with grandeur. The storms may come but because we have the right priorities and the right mindsets we will be righted even in the greatest of all storms. We will display the life of Christ in us and people will see Him through what we do and how we live.

So how is your hidden life? How’s your life when no one is looking? Are you trying to turn the alarm of heart off without dealing with the issues causing the alarm?

Peninsula Community Church

Displaying the Life Of Christ – Prayers that Get Results Part 2

August 26, 2012

In last week’s message, we dealt with the subject of “Prayers That Get Results.” We noted that God longs and desires for us to pray and that when we are obedient to God, we know His word and desire to honor Him we will see our prayers answered. We also noted that God is not looking for perfect people but people who are perfectable by being humble and teachable. We were also reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. He does things at times that defy human logic and reasoning. And finally, we stated that when our prayers are not answered it does not mean that He loves us less nor does it mean that He loves us more when He does answer.

Let’s read our text again.

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.

When we pray there are times where it appears that one’s prayers are not answered in the way or the in the time we think. Today we will look at the reasons our prayers might not be answered.

The first reason our prayers might not be answered is that we praying for things that are outside of God’s will. This can include two things. For one our prayers may not being answered because we are not praying at all. It is God’s will for us to pray. James 4:2 – You do not have because you do not ask. We must never reach a point where we believe that our prayers are not important or vital to the cause of the Kingdom. So, we must pray over the small things and the large things. I have heard people say that this is such a simple thing why would I pray but through prayer our faith is built. If you are not praying, or asking for answers how can your prayers be answered.

At other times we pray for things that counter God’s word, His character or His ways. I think of two things to illustrate this concept. The first is when Michelle and I were looking to purchase a house on Long Island. We had one lady tell us that we should find the house we wanted and every day go and stand outside that house and ask God to give it to us. The problem that I had with that was how was God going to answer our prayer when someone lived in the house. Instead, we asked God to direct us to the house we were to have and He did and it was more than we needed or wanted.

A second illustration is found in two people who came to me that had fallen in love. The problem was that they were married to other people and not to one another. They asked me if it were alright for them to pray that God would work it out so that they could marry each other which would mean they would have to divorce their spouses or have some other issue occur in order for them to be married. This was certainly outside God’s will and beyond scriptural authority.

• John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
• 1 John 3:21-22 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

The second reason that our prayers may not be answered is that our motivation in praying is based in lustful and prideful desires. You see God knows our hearts and motivation better than we do ourselves. He judges our hearts and He knows when we are asking for things out of a selfish motivation or a lust for things that we cannot have. God is looking for humble hearts and teachable spirits to use and move through. Remember this word lust is more than sexual desire it also represents desires and passions that are out of control and when we desire things that are beyond our grasp.

• James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The third reason our prayers might not be answered is that we show no diligence to do our part to assist God in answering the prayer. We are praying for a new job but we have not looked for a job. We want God to heal our marriage but we are not willing to do our part in making our marriage better. We want a better job but we are not willing to take the classes and gain the knowledge that we need to make this happen. Doing these things can be just as much of a step of faith than anything else we do as you can step out in faith and God will do the rest.

• 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

The fourth reason we might not have answered prayer is that we have secret, unconfessed, habitual sin in our hearts. When we are being rebellious toward God and we have failed to walk in forgiveness our prayers may not be answered. These does not mean that God will not hear their prayer but He can use the unanswered prayer as means to get their heart.

• Psalm 66:18 – If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
• 1 Peter 3:11-12 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

The fifth reason we might not have answered prayer is that we are putting God in a box by not allowing God to be God. There have been times in my life where I know that God has called on me to be very specific in my prayers and there are times where my prayers have been so specific that even God could not answer them. You see God’s expanse is greater than any that we know or comprehend. I know of one young guy that had a list of 100 things he wanted in his mate and he said that He was praying or her to come his way but the problem was that every time he dated a girl if she did not meet all 100 requirements he would break up with her and move on to someone else.

• Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
• Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
  

The sixth reason why our prayers are not being answered is that there is discord at home and in our relationships.

• Mark 11:24-25 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
• 1 Peter 3:7 ikewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Let me illustrate this in this way. If you are having an affair, it is not wise to pray for your marriage to be strengthened if you are not willing to break off the affair and confess your son. If you are addicted to pornography and you pray for purity you must be willing to confess and set up parameters that will help prevent turning to such issues.

Peninsula Community Church

Displaying the Life Of Christ – Prayers that Get Results

August 19, 2012

In the final moments of John’s writings, we see that John takes a moment to focus on the subject of answered prayer. John Piper, pastor and author, says that “it is amazing to know that the sovereign God of the universe and of all creation has ordained that prayer causes things to happen that would not happen if you did not pray. It is a staggering thought to know that we can affect the course of events and issues of life when we pray.” In fact John Piper continues by saying that “if we do not avail ourselves of prayer and therefore bring about change through our prayers we are foolish.”

Let us read our text together:

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.

The first fact about prayer is that God desires and longs to answer our prayers. God has been referred to as the Father figure. A loving dad does not want to mistreat his children or withhold from them the things they need. Neither does God, the Father. He desires to answer our requests for prayer. This is borne out throughout scripture.

• 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!
  
• Matthew 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
  
•  Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
• Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.    
  

 The second fact is that the one who is obedient to God, knows God’s word and desires that His will is done will see answered prayer. If we are rebellious and disregard God’s word and His will God is not obligated to answer our prayers. Too often, we can be guilty of having an entitlement mentality which says that no matter how I act or live I will demand this or that and expect God to give it even though I have not been obedient to him or His word. But God’s answered prayer comes to those whose heart is after God and desires to fulfill His plan. Throughout scripture there is what has been commonly called the “If” and “Then” principle. It simply means that if we obey God’s word then we will receive the reward promised by that word. Now let me issue a word of caution here. The problem with this teaching is that it can lead to legalism and guilt. Legalism is that we do things so that God will do things for us or we do things to put on front or façade when our hearts are far from God. Or we can live in guilt when there is no known sin or shortcoming and yet God chooses to delay the answered prayer. When we love God and we know God’s word these principles should be a supernatural/natural part of our live.

• John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
•  1John 3:21-22 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 
• James 5:16B The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The third fact about prayer is that God is not looking for perfect people but people who are perfectable in prayer. David is one such illustration of this concept. He had blown it big time and yet he was able to offer one of the greatest prayers in the Bible as found in Psalm 51. What God is looking for is humble and teachable hearts where He can do great things.

• Psalm 51:16-17 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
• James 4:6-10 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.
   

The fourth fact is that God’s ways are always greater than our ways and at times His ways go beyond our ability to comprehend or understand. There will be times that we can do everything that we are supposed to. We can pray the right prayers. We can live rightly before God. We can be free of habitual sin. And yet God will choose to answer our prayers in ways we cannot imagine.

• John 9:1-7As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
• John 11:1-4 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 
• Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
• Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
  

In the final analysis, God’s desire is to answer our prayers. It is His desire that we pray life changing, event alternating and future transforming prayers for His glory. And at the same time, knowing that the possibility exists that God will do above and beyond what we are able to imagine or ask, for His glory.

Peninsula Community Church

Displaying the Life Of Christ – Eternal and Abundant Life Through Christ

August 12, 2012

As we take a look at this last chapter of 1 John we see that John focuses on Jesus’ work on the cross and the eternal life that comes from a personal relationship in knowing Christ. He does this so that we will have the assurance of our faith and our commitment to Christ.

1 John 5:6-11 This is he who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

John begins this passage by countering one of the prevalent false teachings of his day. There were many teachings being circulated through the church during John’s time. The Gnostic thought of the day was that Jesus could not be the Son of God because all material things were evil and spiritual things were good so the two could not exist together. A second thought was that Jesus did not become divine until His baptism and since Christ, the Son of God, could not die his divine nature departed from him before the crucifixion. Another teaching of John’s day was that Jesus was just a ghost and that he was not real. Others simply denied that Jesus was incarnated as the Christ.

As a result of this John throughout his writings countered these teachings. In John 1 he states that in the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word became flesh. This is a direct correlation to Christ’s birth as the son of God by way of the Virgin Mary. In 1 John 1 John states that “the life was made manifest, and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you eternal life.

There must be no doubt that Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man. He came fully as man and God to die for us so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. John clarifies this and assures that his readers understand that Christ is nothing less than the Son of God born of the Virgin Mary.

In this passage, John states that the Spirit, the water and the blood all serve as a testimony to who Jesus is: In a matter of law a defendants witnesses and the evidence for and against him is critical. In a court of law even on credible witness is enough to effect the trial positively or negatively. In Jewish custom the law required that there be at least two witnesses to bring a case to trial.

The Water – The witness to who Christ says he is in the water which represents the fact that Jesus was born as the Son of God through the Virgin Mary. The water here also points to the initiation of Christ’s ministry at his baptism. In both of these cases the water testifies to the fact that Jesus is the anointed one who came to redeem all of mankind.

The Blood – The second witness is the blood of Christ which was shed for us so that we might have eternal life. Without the blood there is no salvation for there needed to be sacrifice for all of mankind’s sin. Christ as man and as God took on our sins and nailed them to the cross so that we would not have to carry the penalty of sin upon our shoulder.

The Spirit – The witness to Christ as Savior is the testimony of the Holy Spirit whose s role is to point to Christ and to glorify Christ.

Christ’s main purpose was to give us eternal life and an abundant life. The salvation which is in Christ includes deliverance from numerous, varied, immense, unending evils. It is deliverance from “perishing.” It includes also restoration to numerous, varied, immense, unending blessings. It is the enjoyment of “eternal life.” (John MacArthur, The Love of God: He Will Whatever It Takes to Make Us Holy).

John Piper had this to say about this passage. “John sums it all up in the word LIFE. He who has the Son has life! Eternal life is not just the extension of all the frustrations and half-joys of this life. When Jesus finishes doing his thing, every frustration will be gone and every half-joy will be full. As he said in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.” If you HAVE the Son, it means that anything that infinite love and infinite power and infinite wisdom can do for your good will in fact be done for you.”

Closing – Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a large pipe organ installed. The organ was incomplete, so Mrs. Knapp, using the piano, played a new melody she had just composed. “What do you think the tune says?” asked Knapp. “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine”, answered Fanny Crosby.

The hymn appeared in the July 1873 issue of Palmer’s Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany, a magazine printed by Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Palmer of 14 Bible House, New York City. It appeared on page 36 (the last page) with complete text and piano score, and indicated it had been copyrighted by Crosby that year. It is not certain that this was the first printing of the hymn, but it certainly helped to popularize what became one of the most beloved hymns of all time. Although she was blind she knew the fullness that came from experiencing eternal life: life given freely and fully by the Father.

Blessed Assuranc

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.


This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.


 Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.


Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

 

Peninsula Community Church

Displaying the Life of Christ – The Love and Obedience Connection

August 5, 2012

 1John 5:1-5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

As we review this passage this morning there are a couple of truths that bear our discussion.

The key principle in John’s writing is that those who have been born of God will love each other. It is interesting to note that as we read this passage that we see that our love for God is expressed in our love for others and our love for others is expressed in our love for God. This love is a natural/supernatural outworking of the work of God in us and through us. The fact is we are family and even though we may not always agree or see eye to eye we will love each other because the Father calls us to. For some, that is a hard truth to follow because you may not have experienced real authentic love in your family. Perhaps, there has been hurt and pain rather than peace and love but God’s ideal of family is one where family members genuinely love each other.

I felt what many of us experienced at Chick-Fil-a on Wednesday was a sign of how we live that kind of love out in our lives. No one was standing up to condemn gay-marriage or homosexuality. No one was preaching. The consensus for me is that believers were taking a stand for freedom of speech and for righteousness by supporting Dan Cathy and Chick-Fil-A. Those who attended all commented that there was a sense of peace and safety in the building.

The test of who we are in Christ and whether or not we are a passionate follower of Christ is how do we past the test of loving God and loving others which is evidenced by obedience to His commands. Once again we are reminded that when Jesus was about asked about what the greatest commandment would be (Matthew 22:34-40), He stated that all of the law and the prophets can be summed up in two concepts: Love God and Love others. This does not emphasis one above the other but they are of equal importance. Notice that the Ten Commandments are divided into two sets. One set is focused on our relation to God and the second set is focused on our relationship with others.

When we are passionate followers of Christ, we hold in high regard our love for God and for those around us. As we look at this challenge to love others we are confronted with the truth that to truly love others we must have a personal relationship with God. Otherwise our love for others is thwarted and becomes based on selfish attraction and not God’s plan for love at all.

The commands of God are not burdensome because the focus is on God’s love as a motivator. Think about it for a moment. Look at the things that come so much easier for you than other things. There are things in the ministry that I love and there are things in the ministry that I do not love. What I have found is that when I love to do something I jump right to it and get the task done. When I love what I do I accomplish the task with ease.

When my son was a teen, I remember him always being late for school, for church and for almost everything that we did together as a family. It was a fight to get him out of bed and into the shower. But I also remember one Saturday that he was going to an amusement park with his girlfriend’s family. At 5AM I hear a noise downstairs. I went down to find my son showered, dressed and eating breakfast which he made on his own. I looked around to make sure that this was not someone else sitting at our table that morning. Why did this occur, he was in love….

When we love God, we love others and obey God’s commands we set ourselves up to become overcomers in Christ. And how does that work. We overcome because of faith and trust in God’s plan for our lives. We trust that his plan of love in action and obedience to his commands brings about a freedom and joy that is remarkable. This does not mean that we do not have problems in our lives. It does not mean that our circumstances will change. But it means that spiritually, emotionally and mentally we will not walk in a defeatist attitude but one that gives glory to God and one that expresses our love for God. Look at what John and Paul have to say about being overcomers.

John 16:33 – I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

1John 2:13-14 – I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

1John 4:4 – Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1John 5:4-5 – For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Romans 8:35-39 – Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Peninsula Community Church

July 29, 2012

Displaying the Life of Christ – What Do We Do with God’s Love?

Last week, we looked at love from the standpoint of what God has accomplished for us and in us. This week, we will look at how we can personalize that love so that God’s love for us is not some ethereal truth that never becomes a reality in our lives but that His love becomes a present reality in our lives. As we study 1 John, we are given the opportunity to understand God’s love in greater ways so that we can comprehend God’s love for us but we can understand that God’s love should be personalized as well. Let us look at what John says about this in our text today.

1 John 4:13-21 – By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

One of the first truths that shine through this passage is that we can know God’s love. John says that “we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.” Notice that we not only can know God’s love but we can also believe and trust God’s love. “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). The fact is we can have information about certain things but not believe.

How can we know and believe in God’s love? I suggest to you that the first way is through His Word. On more than one occasion the Bible speaks of God’s love for us and what He did by sending His son to the cross. His action of sending His son demonstrates to us the magnitude and the depth of His love for us. As John states, “We love because He first loved us.” We can understand this love only by accepting His word. These words are more than just words on a page but they define the character of God and the work of God in our lives. What an awesome moment when Christ forgives our sin and we realize in an instant that His love has come to forgive us of all our sin and has set us free from the bondage of past evil.

Secondly, we know God’s love by experience. As we accept Christ and we join with the family of God, we come to the place where we experience love in all of its magnitude. Experiencing the love of God, not just thinking about it, is something we should desire with all our hearts. Is this experience of the love of God the same for all believers? No; not at all nor in the same degree. If all believers had the same experience of the love of God, Paul would not have prayed for the Ephesians that they “be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19). He prayed this because some were deficient in their experience of this love of God in Christ.

Thirdly, through sharing the Word and our testimonies we are reminded how awesome and real God’s love is to us. As we share our testimonies we are able to express God’s love to others and at the same time we are reminded of God’s love for us.

The second thing to be noted in this passage is that we can be secure in God’s love because perfect love casts out fear. The problem with so many earthly relationships is that they are based in fear. There is a fear of rejection, a fear of abuse, and a fear of the future. But God’s perfect love transcends all of these things because His perfect love casts all fear. The scripture tells us that He will keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3).

The fact is, human love will disappoint us and let us down. Human love will be motivated by self, pride, fear, anger and other negative emotions. How many relationships have you known that were founded in fear? Too many of us have leaved through rejection from those we thought loved us. But God will never reject us. He receives us just as we are and encourages us to grow in Him.

God’s love is not founded on the fear of abuse either. You see I grew up with the idea that if I did not toe the line that God would pull out his holy baseball bat of discipline and beat me into submission. But God does not abuse his children. He disciplines them yes, but he does not abuse us.

When we experience the love of God we do not need to fear the future. Fear of the future depresses us and causes us to either act in ways that are not pleasing to God or we hide in order to escape the consequences of the future. But when God’s love is evident in our lives, we do not have to fear judgment day because when we love God we will deal with the issues of our life. We will repent of sin immediately and we will make restitution as soon as is necessary.

The third thing that is to be noted in this passage is that we must share this love with others as a testimony of God’s love working in us. How do we do that? I believe that Paul enlightens our hearts on this subject in 1 Corinthians 13. This passage has become known as the great love chapter. As I read this passage listen to how Paul determines that we should life out this love and to show love to others:

What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others. What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing, unless I loved others. Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails! Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will no longer be spoken. All that we know will be forgotten. We don’t know everything, and our prophecies are not complete. But what is perfect will someday appear, and what isn’t perfect will then disappear. When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways. Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don’t know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us. For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love (I Corinthians 13 CEV).

Peninsula Community Church

July 22, 2012

Displaying the Life of Christ – Does Anyone Know What Love Is?

In 1984 the British rock band Foreigner had a number one hit with their song “I Wanna know What Love Is.” In the song Lou Gramm, the lead singer, popularized the concept of wanting to know “what love is?” Listen to a couple of the lines of the song:

 I gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I’m older
Aaaah woah-ah-aah

Now this mountain I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders
And through the clouds I see love shine
It keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me
Aaaah woah-oh-ooh

Do you hear the resounding need for understanding what real and genuine love is? In this song Foreigner was referring to physical and intimate love but none-the-less there was a passionate plea to understand the depth of real love. Today, we are living in world where people seek to know and understand real and authentic love.

For us this morning, as we turn to the book of first John we see that John gives us a definition of love and what love truly and honestly can be for us. Let’s read together: 1 John 4:7-12 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

If you will allow me to, let us unpack the truth that is contained in this passage so that our insight into what real, genuine love is can be enhanced and properly motivated.
 

To begin with John states that God is love. Notice that this passage is similar to the passage John writes in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God’s very nature and who He is can be only understood through the fact that “God is love.”

What John is prescribing to is that everything that God does is from a perspective of love and grace. Every action that He performs is mitigated by one absolute value and that is His love for His creation. It is important to note that He doesn’t just love but He is love. In other words, if you want to understand what true love is you must look to God who exemplifies the very nature of what love is. Love pervades and influences all of his attributes. Just as much as He is holy, righteous and just He is also love.

Secondly, the greatest manifestation of this love is seen through sending His son to earth to become the sacrificial Lamb of God. This was a mission established by God and freely and willingly accepted by Christ. He chose to die for us. This is the ultimate sign of love. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words: For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die– but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:7-8).

Notice the key in this passage. There might be one or two of us that would consider dying for a righteous person or for one of our loved ones but I would dare say that none of us would even consider dying for someone as evil as Hitler or Osama Bin Ladin. He even died for James Holmes the shooter at the theater in Colorado. But Christ did. He died for them although they have rejected that gift and blessing. And, He died for us even before we committed our first sin.

It is interesting to note that there have been many stories that have come out of the tragedy in Colorado where people put themselves in harm’s way by placing their bodies over their friends and relatives. Some of these were wounded as a result. One story told of one girl who placed her hand over the wound of her friend even though she was in the line of fire.

A second key is that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross deals with a dilemma forced upon Him by His very nature. How does a just and righteous God deal with sin? How does one that cannot overlook or trivialize sin deal with the gravity of sin and the depth of the depravity of mankind? He deals with sin by sending His son to die and to take on our sin upon the cross so that every sin past, present and future will be forever dealt with as we bend our knee in humble repentance and Godly sorrow for the sin we have committed.

Thirdly John insists that we are to love one another because of God’s love expressed toward us and the fact that He sent His son to die for us upon the cross. This kind of love is characterized by unselfishness by way of considering others above ourselves and by humility and consideration of others. In fact, our love for God will be directly proportionate to our love for others. What is stated here is that we cannot carry hatred in our hearts and claim to love God with all of our hearts. This does not mean that we will not carry disappointment and concern in our heart but true love comes from God and is worked out in the way we love others.

Let me take this one step further. Because it is impossible to see God because of His glory, God devised a plan where we would be the carriers of His love. As we accept Christ as our personal Savior and we are filled with His great love, we should begin to exude love in all that we do. The fact is, we may become the only Jesus that some will see. By our actions, our words and our very lives we present Jesus to those who do not know Him.

Peninsula Community Church

July 15, 2012

Displaying the Life of Christ – Don’t Believe Everything You Hear

In the passage before us today John instructs the passionate follower of Christ to examine and test the attitudes and the messengers presenting the Gospel. Let’s read together:

1 John 4:1-6 –Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

John’s call to the passionate follower of Christ here is to test the spirits, the attitude and the message, to see if what is being spoken is from God and whether or not the message is founded in truth or falsehood.

One of the key words used in this text is the word confess. It is legal term which means to bear witness of something or someone. It also means to come into alignment with. Our confession of the gospel is in essence our testimony. A testimony is a presentation of evidence whose purpose is to help a jury decide the truth of a claim. For those giving testimony there is an assumption and presumption that the testimony presented is both factual and truthful. The job of the lawyers is to provide appropriate questions that will test the validity of the truth that is being spoken. As passionate followers of Christ we are called to examine the testimonies and confession of those to determine the validity of their faith and their message. With that understanding in mind let me make a couple of observations about this passage.

The first observation is that it is possible to come from the place of one of two extremes in testing what is true or false.

The first of these extremes is that anything goes. The key words here are gullibility and naivety. Rather than test the truths that are being propagated, we would rather accept them solely on the basis of the presenter rather than on the factualness of their claims. The fact is we have become a gullible society in that most decisions are made not on intellectual prowess but rather on emotional intuition. We are in another political season. Over the next few months we will hear a number of messages on the local, state and federal level of candidates about their “truth.” Our goal is to not accept what is said at face value but to be educated voters who find the truth for themselves. Politicians and pastors can say many things but just because they say it does not make it true. Read the word and study it for yourself so that you can know the truth.
In preparing for this message I came across an article entitled “How Gullible Are We? ” The article talks about a freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho who won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to the alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project, he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical “dihydrogen monoxide.” And he had plenty of good reasons to do so, since it can: cause excessive sweating and vomiting; it is a major component in acid rain; accidental inhalation can kill you; it contributes to erosion; it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes; and it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients. He asked 150 people if they supported a ban of the chemical. One hundred forty-three said yes, six were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was……Water! The title of his prize winning project was, “How Gullible Are We?”  

Someone has said that as strange as it may seem, the danger today is greater for the fervent Christian who is on a journey to find truth. The seeker after God’s best things is eager to hear anyone who offers a way by which he can obtain them. He longs for some new experience, some elevated view of truth, some operation of the Spirit that will raise him above the dead level of religious mediocrity he sees all around him, and for this reason he is ready to give a sympathetic ear to the new and the wonderful in religion, particularly if it is presented by someone with an attractive personality and a reputation for superior godliness. But just because it is the latest religious fad does not make it true.

The second of these extremes is that we judge and criticize everything. I can testify to this as upon graduation from Bible school I found myself to be particularly judgmental of every preacher on the radio or TV. Instead of listening with an ear to receive from the message being presented I would wait for that one nugget to criticize or judge. You see this was not some local pastor on the AM radio; I am talking about men of God like Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley or Jerry Farwell. The fact is my judgment would often be a small word or the inflection of the voice or some other minor issue that I could use to discredit the entire ministry of the individual I was listening to. I reached the point where I could not sit under anyone’s ministry without being critical or extremely negative in my view of their presentation. But I had to repent and change because I was becoming miserable. In fact the change came as I began to listen to some of my own tapes and I realized how imperfect my own style and presentation was.
 

The second observation is that this text does not point out the antichrist as much as it focuses on knowing the truth of the Gospel. You see we can be so captured with finding the false that we miss the truth. God will reveal his truth to us if we search for it. God’s intent is that we learn and know the truth because it is only the truth that will set us free and restore us to right relationship with Him.

The third observation is found in this passage that there are two keys to discerning the whether or not what is being spoken is truth and if the person is receiving it. The first is key is to test what people say against what they do and how they live. We must fight hypocrisy. You see we need more than mere words to express the truth of the Gospel. We need action that is aligned with what we confess, so that our confession is acceptable.
 

Too often when we look at this subject we often look at the message carrier but the second test focuses on whether or not people will allow sincere and truthful words into their hearts. We must be teachable. Too often we concentrate on what is spoken rather than on the teachability of the person. You see we must always be in the position of learning the lessons that God desires to teach us.

The fourth and final observation is that the true test of the indwelling Spirit is realized in the fact that the Spirit causes us to love which is knowledge of others and the Spirit causes us to believe which is knowledge of God.

When the Spirit of God is in us He gives us the power to love the unlovable. He gives us the ability to interact with those we never thought possible. But the Spirit also initiates the power to believe and understand God and all that He is doing. Therefore the genuineness of our love and the genuineness of our belief about Christ are the evidence of God’s work in our lives.

Peninsula Community Church

July 8, 2012

Displaying Christ – How’s Your Heart

In order to assure that we are healthy, a doctor may monitor our health by running tests on the heart. The last time I was at the doctor, they ran an EKG, tested my blood for Cholesterol, measured my heart rate and took my blood pressure so that he would have a baseline to know how healthy my heart was and to determine if I needed treatment for any specific problems.

John, in this passage, is suggesting a spiritual heart check up by giving us one test available to us to determine if our spiritual heart is healthy. Let’s read:

1 John 3:19-24 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;  for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment,  that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

One of the means to determine the health of our hearts is to look to see if we are walking in forgiveness or if we are walking in the condemnation of past or present sin. The answer to this question will determine the health of our spiritual heart. Just as much as we must control the bad cholesterol in our bodies, we also need to control the levels of condemnation in us.

The problem however is that far too many followers of Christ walk in self-condemnation. While we have forgiven others and even believe that we have been forgiven by God, we fail to forgive ourselves and believe it is possible to release the sin we have committed to God.

When we look at this subject, it behooves us to understand the difference between conviction and condemnation. I propose to you, in a simplistic way, that both of these acts of the heart come from the same basis of truth in that there is a problem or sin that must be dealt with but there is most often a difference in the way we respond to these. You see condemnation says “There is a problem but there is no hope; that is just the way things are and you will never change.” On the other hand, conviction administered by the Holy Spirit, speaks to a truth in our life but points us to the cross and forgiveness which speaks of hope and brings life to our spiritual being when we act upon the conviction brought.

Therefore, we have a choice to make. Will we walk in the condemnation of the past or will we allow the conviction of the Holy Spirit to set us free? To choose the former is to deny Christ’s finished work on the cross. To allow condemnation to have its way in us is to deny the power and the work of the cross in us. To hold onto past guilt and shame is to walk in condemnation of one’s self rather than the freedom that has been given. Paul stated it best in Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.  If He has created us for freedom why would we return to the bondage of self-condemnation?

When we walk condemnation free, our relationship with God and with others is affected positively. We see here in this passage that when we refuse to walk in the condemnation of self that we approach God with a greater confidence and we can then ask God and we shall receive it. But notice the caveat here. His answering our prayer is subject to keeping His commandments and walking in a lifestyle that pleases Him. Let me illustrate this in this way.

If I am a poor steward of my finances and I squander what God has blessed me with, God is not obligated to provide finances for me when I ask him…. Even though He may act out of His grace and show mercy to us, He is not obligated to allow us to continue in sin, selfishness or ignorance.

When we look at this subject of condemnation, we must realize that there are several results of this heart condition. These negative results might include but are not limited to self-punishment, avoidance of God and others, a sense of unworthiness, uncertainty about the future, distorted thinking and/or a sense of powerlessness to change or see things different.

The question then is how do we forgive our self’s. I propose there are four steps to forgiveness. To begin with we must acknowledge our sin and that self-condemnation exists. I have often stated that healing and the beginning of faith to bring change is to begin at the starting point of truth. Too often we want to ignore the truth but it is “truth that sets us free.”

Secondly, once we recognize that there is sin in our heart we must then repent. Repentance is a military term which means “about face.”  In other words we turn and we go the other way. What we once believed or how we once lived is changed.

 Thirdly, believe God and reaffirm our trust in his word.  Notice here that John says that the one who keeps His commandments is the one who will abide with Christ and they will see God abide in them.

 And finally, we must choose forgiveness. In the final analysis, we must seek forgiveness and then accept God’s forgiveness given to us through the work of Christ on the cross.

In 1986 there was a popular movie that had a scene in it that clearly illustrates this issue. In the movie “The Mission,” Jeremy Irons plays a Jesuit missionary whose mission is to evangelize the natives of a village inBrazil. Along the way he encountersMendozaplayed by Robert DeNiro.Mendozawas a mercenary who was a slave trader. He was brutal to the point that he has his own brother killed because he had slept with his wife. In the movie,Mendozacomes to know Christ and converts to Christianity. Although he has converted to Christ, he continues to carry the weight of his past sins and wrongs.

At one point in the movie,Mendozawants to do penance for his sin and chooses to carry the weight of the armor he once wore roped to his back. Mendoza and Father Gabriel were on their way up the mountain to see the very tribe thatMendozahad taken slaves. For several days we seeMendozastruggling up the mountain to carry the load. He dragged the load on his back behind him at times facing great odds.

After great struggle and after several days of climbing the mountain under incredible odds, he reaches the apex where he and his group encounter the tribe he was so violent against. In that moment one of the tribesmen grabs a knife and places it on his neck. He begins to believe that his life is over. After an interchange between Father Gabriel and the tribal leader, the tribesman does something so amazing. He cuts the rope to the armor and it falls into the river and is washed away.Mendozabreaks down in that moment into uncontrollable sobs which lead to the laughter of his freedom.

Some 2000 years ago Christ climbed a mountain under incredible odds. Instead of carrying his own sin, He carried the weight of all mankind’s sin. And in an instant he died and the whole world was free from its sin. And yet we continue to carry sin’s burden although we are forgiven.

David understood this when he penned these words in Psalm 103:10-12 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Because of Christ’s work on the cross we can be free from our past sin and failures. The question is “will you continue to hold onto your sin or will you release your sin and be forever set free today.” It’s your choice. Which one will you choose: bondage or freedom?