The Gospel Sword & Battle Prayer

CLICK HERE to download my latest sermon

"The Gospel Sword and Battle Prayer"
Part 6 of 6 - The Armor of God
Ephesians 6:17-20
September 9th, 2012
South Suburban Christian Church

Reflections on Waiting

Today is a day of waiting. I don’t like waiting.

In fact, I don’t think any of us like waiting very much. Just look around next time you are in line at the supermarket and observe how uncomfortable people are with waiting… incessantly checking their smart phones, fidgeting with items in their cart, glancing at pointless magazines.

Right now I am in a season of waiting. I finished seminary in May and enjoyed a nice summer of relaxing and visiting friends and family. Now I am waiting for the right opportunity to serve in pastoral ministry. It is certainly not an idle waiting, but waiting nonetheless. Did I mention I don’t like waiting? There are certainly more job boards to check, contacts to be made, emails to be sent, and lines of the resume and cover letter that could be tweaked. But today I pause for a moment to reflect on waiting.

Sometimes I wonder why it seems that we have to wait on God so much. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful and present everywhere, then it seems that He should be busy all the time and we should never feel bored because we are constantly trying to keep up with Him. Deep down I know that he is always acting redemptively in the world, and that he never slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 121:4), but even in that he sometimes calls his people to a time of waiting. I think of the Israelites wondering in the wilderness for an entire generation, waiting for God to act on their behalf. I think of Israel waiting for hundreds of years of (relative) prophetic silence for the arrival of Messiah. I think of the disciples waiting for three long days, wondering what went wrong.

Throughout the Scriptures, the people of God have been called to seasons of waiting. I take comfort in the fact that many of them engaged that calling as poorly as I am. They wavered in their trust in God. They acted impulsively because they tried to take matters into their own hands. They struggled to find joy and were restless and discontent. I am like those people; I am one of those people.

The good news is that God is faithful even when his people are not. God has demonstrated his faithfulness time and time again. He is at work in the world and he is at work in my life. Again I resonate with a line from Scripture, “Lord I believe, but help my unbelief!” (Mk. 9:24)

Change is Hard!

Let's just be honest: change is hard! I am increasingly more aware of this reality as graduation approaches and the unknown future looms beyond. We all like our routines...we like it when things go as expected...we like the familiar...and we like to be right. We don't like to admit that we are wrong...that we have a deficiency...a flaw in our character...a need for change. Even those of us who like change have to admit that there is a limit to how much change we can take at once and the kind of change we enjoy. If we like change, it is usually for the sake of novelty and not the difficult and lasting kind of change we really need. We like to mix it up at Starbucks, or rearrange the living room, but our affinity or aversion to this kind of change is often related to personality and temperament. That is not the kind of change I am talking about.  The truth is that God is not done with you yet (no matter the length or depth of your Christian maturity) and that is a good thing.

In one sense, we might say that change defines the essence of life in Christ. You and I were made for change, we were made for spiritual transformation. Here a few examples from Scripture:

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Rom. 8:29, NIV). "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Rom. 12:1-2, NIV). "And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Cor. 3:18, NIV).

I think one of the greatest hindrances to experiencing the fullness of life in Christ is our resistance to change. Let us be clear about one thing: this is not a message about doing more and trying harder. We cannot change ourselves through hard work and extra effort. Sanctification is completely a work of God based upon his holiness (1 Thess. 5:23; Eph. 4:22-24). Yet Scripture consistently exhorts us to abide in Christ (John 15), renew our mind (Rom. 12:1-2), resist the flesh and put on the new self  (Col. 3:5-11). We do not engage this process to become "better" Christians, but so that we can experience the fullness of life in Christ. This is what it means to enter or receive the kingdom of God and live under the reign of the lordship of Christ. Sometimes this spiritual transformation occurs in dramatic fashion over short periods of time, but often it looks more like A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (book by Eugene Peterson). Change is hard, but it is what we were made for. 

Forgiveness Fuels Forgiveness

This sermon was delivered on March 20, 2011, at South Suburban Christian Church (Littleton, CO).

CLICK HERE to download the audio file

CLICK HERE to download the PowerPoint

Extreme Makeover: Human Edition

This sermon was delivered on July 31st at South Suburban Christian Church (Littleton, CO).

CLICK HERE to download the audio file

CLICK HERE to download the PowerPoint slides and follow the notes.

Giving up on the church...but not on God?

It is becoming increasingly popular among Christians today to officially announce that they have, "Given up on the church, but not on God." In other words, they still consider themselves to be Christians, but they are no longer participating in a formal Christian community. Is this a problem? The short answer is yes.

Some might go so far as to say that it is impossible to be a Christian without being a part of a church. One of the early Church Fathers, St. Cyprian had this to say, "He cannot have God for this father, who has not the Church for his mother." St. Augustine and other church fathers were noted for teaching that outside the church there is no salvation. I would not go that far, because I believe that we are justified by faith through grace (Eph. 2:8-10). However, I think the New Testament teaches very clearly that our faith is designed to be lived out in the context of community.

Some would argue that this concept of community could come from a small group, a family unit, or some other substitute for a formal church. While it is true we can find certain aspects of community in the context of these relationships, it is unlikely all the necessary components of "church" will be fulfilled through these informal mechanisms. Churches are designed to preach the gospel, offer accountability and fellowship, teach the Scriptures, meet practical needs, and commission and empower the people of God for gospel mission. (That list is probably not exhaustive I realize.) If your "small group" is accomplishing all of these aspects, maybe you are really functioning as a type of church.

One of the major issues with substituting a small group, or in some instances a house church, for participation in a formal congregation, is the issue of false teaching and heresy. (To be clear: I am not completely opposed to the idea of house churches, but they should be done carefully, biblically and with the awareness of inherent weaknesses/problems.) There must be accountability for what is taught, and formal churches generally have structures in place to make sure the congregation doesn't "accidentally" find itself forming a cult. If churches don't have accountability, they need to get it...like, yesterday.

Furthermore, we must address the issues of why one might want to give up on the church. The issues are many and complex, so I will only attempt to address two big ones.

1.  Many people want to disassociate themselves from the church because of the mistakes Christians and churches have made in the past and the common perception that all Christians are hypocrites. To me, this is the easier issue to address. Let's make this clear: all Christians are hypocrites if we mean they are unable to consistently live out their beliefs or ideals. This is true of all people, regardless of what religion they are or what they believe. We are all hypocrites. The Bible offers a good reason for this, it is called sin. Secondly, we must ask the question of who the church is pointing to. We are not telling people to believe in us, we are pointing them to Christ. We are not perfect, but Christ is perfect. Ultimately our imperfection should not be an issue. If anything it should be expected and points all the more to the need we all have for Christ.

2. Some people give up on the church because they find it boring, irrelevant, failing to meet their needs, they don't like the music or any other number of reasons that ultimately reveal our identity as consumers of worship. When this becomes our perspective, we have made church about us. We see the church as something to make us happy, enrich our lives, improve our social status, etc. When it no longer serves one or more of these functions, naturally we give it up. It's like a hobby, sport, or club. What if church was about more than this. What if the point of church was to have an encounter with God. Who? You mean church is not about me? Well...in a way. But what if church was not so much about what God is doing for us, as it is about what he is doing in us and through us. What if it was about knowing and worshiping God more than what we can get from out of it. For to be sure, when our focus in worship is on God, we will get a lot...perhaps more than we bargained for.

Alright, this post is getting too long...more on this topic later.

Further Reading:
Ask not what the church can do for you but what you can do for the church by Craig Blomberg

What is the primary role of a Pastor?

It seems that in our churches today Pastors are asked to do way too many things. I believe that this multi-tasking, CEO mentality is destroying the biblical role of Pastor/Shepherd. What is the primary role of a pastor? If you surveyed 100 people, I would almost guarantee that a majority would say preaching. While preaching is a very important aspect of the pastoral calling, it is only a piece of a larger, more important role.

The primary role of a pastor is to teach and train disciples. This involves preparing God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:12). Many pastor's today are great at what they do, but they are not preparing others to do what they do. If the saints are not being equipped to do the work of the ministry, they do not have a true pastor. The goal of every pastor (and church) is to generate disciple-making disciples. The goal is not to grow your attendance, increase participation in programs, make the budget, preach the best sermons or anything else. We must shift our mindset away from growing churches and towards growing disciples.
  
Click on the following link to read a short blog post about Billy Graham's approach to discipleship: If Billy Graham Had Been a Pastor

If you are interested in this topic, consider reading:

The Trellis and the Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
The Master Plan of Evangelism, by Robert E. Coleman
Missional Map-Making by Alan Roxburgh

Abiding in the Christ-Vine, John 15

This past Sunday I had the privilege of bringing the message at South Suburban Christian Church (Littleton, CO) in all three morning services. Wow! I was truly exhausted, I don't know how our pastor does it every week. There are several options for taking in the Word. You can watch the video version below, view a larger version of the video at the Vimeo site, or just download the audio (mp3) file only. The video is not of me actually speaking, but it is the audio with powerpoint slides containing the main points, pictures, as well as the Biblical text and quotes from the sermon to follow along. Comments, questions, stories, and critiques are encouraged. May the Holy Spirit be our Teacher.

CLICK HERE to watch a larger version of the video at the Vimeo website
CLICK HERE to download only the audio (mp3) file

Abiding in the Christ-Vine: Sermon on John 15:1-11 from Aaron Elmore on Vimeo.