The good news of Christ
Wisdom beckons each new day,
The rising sun enlightens;
If only knowledge held its sway
For when the darkness threatens.
Each morning calls to shine anew,
With fresh and vibrant colors,
To ponder life in changing hue,
And all of God’s vast wonders.
Creator God, with power alive,
Shine on us with your mercy;
May we in light of blessing thrive
And praise your Name right early.
The struggles of this year have certainly tested Christians! Like tea bags diffusing into the water around them, are we influencing the world for the gospel? Or are we like sponges instead, soaking up the culture we’re immersed in?
I. Matthew 5:13-16. In this world, Christians are called to be salt and light. Both reach outward into the world around them to change the experience for the person eating or interacting in the world. So we must flavor, preserve, and shine. If we don’t, if we hide the truth with which we’ve been entrusted, we are good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled. If Christians took this charge to influence the world around us for Christ seriously, then others would see and give God glory.
II. Luke 16:1-13. Christians must make friends for ourselves by the means of unrighteous wealth. What? This parable troubles many because the subject is a dishonest manager who doesn’t change or face judgment for his dishonesty. Rather, he is commended. But what is he commended for? It is for being shrewd in using the things or ways of this world for his advantage. The key comes in the last few verses when Jesus tells his followers that they can be wise about using their generation’s things for the Kingdom. Do we do this? Are we known as some weird folks sequestered within the walls of our church buildings? Or are we a peculiar people using the technology and campuses–even our time and connectedness–to take to gospel to a lost world?
III. 1 Corinthians 15:17-34. What separates the saved from the lost is the hope we have in the resurrection. It is because of this hope that Christians make eternal choices unlike the world that makes temporal choices. With the unceasing bombardment we get from the world, it is too easy for Christians to want to live like the lost around us Monday through Saturday and then attend church on Sunday–all the while believing that God accepts us in this compromised state. We must wake up from our slumber, church, and look for the tea we’re diffusing. Because if we can’t easily see Christ influencing the culture around us, then we are more likely sponges soaking up the world.
Our Father in Heaven, by whom a single word
Brings light and worlds to exist, and souls to life,
We thank you for our steps toward righteousness,
A daily journey, from grace to greater grace.
To us it seems a distance toward your presence,
But you remind us you are always near,
And close to all your sons and daughters of faith,
Directing, guiding, guarding all the way.
To you we sing: Holy, holy, holy!
And thank you for your love and patient mercy.
O Savior! Give us patience with ourselves,
And none with sin, in our walk with you.
David is described as a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22), but that doesn’t mean that he was perfect. That’s good news for us! Because, as we strive to also chase after God’s heart, we can become disheartened when we sin. By exploring how David handled his return to God, we can better travel this narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14) ourselves.
I. 2 Samuel 12:1-15. The man after God’s heart admits he has sinned. David didn’t seem to see his sin with Bathsheba or her husband Uriah, and so God dispatched the the prophet Nathan with a parallel story. The king saw the wrong and pronounced judgment on the wrongdoer. That’s when Nathan was able to confront David with his sin. Rather than ignore, justify, or pass blame for his sin as Adam and Eve did (Genesis 3:12-13), the man after God’s heart admitted to his sin.
II. Psalm 51:1-17. The man after God’s heart repents of his sin. Though it may not be part of scripture, most scholars agree that the titles attached to the Psalms are very old. The title attached to Psalm 51 indicates that this is David’s attitude after he had sinned. It’s an attitude of repentance. In this psalm, David takes ownership of his sin and acknowledges that only God can cleanse him from it. More than that, he appeals for renewal of a right spirit within him, a restoration to the joy of his salvation, and to be upheld by God. Only then can he teach sinners how to return to God.
III. Ezekiel 18:21-23. Admitting and repenting define a man after God’s heart. Only if we live according to the Spirit and not the flesh can we avoid the eternal consequences of death and live (Romans 8:12-13)! This means that like David we must admit and repent of our sins as we all must one day give an account to God (Hebrews 4:11-13). There’s a process for repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10-11). His kindness is meant to lead us to it (Romans 2:4-5), and He desires it (2 Peter 3:9-10). Those after God’s heart will do it, and Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross will pay the consequence for their sins if they are in Christ (Romans 3:21-26).
Those who don’t admit, repent, and remain outside of Christ will have to pay the consequences of their sins on Judgment Day. Are you ready for that day to come?
Thinking of Deuteronomy 27
Before the hill of Calvary, Amen
I say to all the covenant, and when
Declared the Twelve Curses with shout and voice
On those who fail to keep your words by choice.
For we have crossed the river’s rushing current,
Have raised the whitened stones with words transparent;
We’ve now become your people among the nations,
Who are blessed with solid hope and firm foundations.
We hear, O Lord, the curse on those who change
The gospel word, who offer doctrines strange
And dark, to add the works of man, remove
The all-sufficient Cross, your sign of love.
Amen, we say, as to ourselves a warning,
Remembered washing in the early morning,
Of word and water, sins you carried away —
We pledge that in your saving grace we’ll stay.
Whatever gifts I may have received from your generous hand,
Let me seek the good of others, to encourage and uplift.
Father, I do not know if I have the gift of encouragement,
But Barnabas seems to be a wonderful example for me to follow.
Let me consider how others hear the words I say,
And let me say the words that build others up.
Make me a positive spirit to see what others may become,
And paint for them a powerful picture of a shining future.
Above all, let me draw attention always to your love and power,
To inspire in others the hope of better things.
Beyond the trials of today, help me speak about eternity,
And Jesus’ coming, and living in heaven with you.
Remind us all of sin’s seductions and of Satan’s wiles,
The powers of the world and the destruction of the flesh.
And more, draw us to yourself into your finest gifts:
The Word, the church, and prayer, and life in the beloved Son.
O God who gives beyond our needs:
What time and cost we spend on non-essentials!
With bread and drink let us be content,
With simple clothes to cover us.
Keep us from worry over the vanities of life,
Over things beyond our control.
I strive, O Lord, not to occupy myself
With things that are beyond my ken,
Nor do I have great aspirations.
Keep me from pride and arrogance,
O God who is exalted above all.
I humble myself before your throne;
The Kingdom and the power and the glory
Belong to you, and in your hand
Are the fortunes and destinies of all man.
In your care I am content.
To attain the marvelous goal of faith —
Salvation for my soul — and to help
Another reach it as well, by example
And teaching, is the greatest work of all.
Protect me, O Father, to reach your glory.
Dear God in heaven,
You give us many joys
There’s much to enjoy on earth.
For this we give you thanks.
We also work under stress,
routines day in, day out.
Life is hard so often.
We suffer from our sins,
and others’ wrong choices.
Sickness drags us down.
Old age comes quickly upon us,
and death is never far.
It causes pain and fear.
So Christ is peace and love.
In him we find our all.
No one can take him from us.
Eternal hope is ours.
All glory alone is yours.
We pray in Christ, Amen!
Give me grace, O Lord,
to bear the burden of the day.
Give me peace, O King,
to pass to sufferers in the way.
Give me light, O God,
to see the path that I must tread.
Give me life, O Father,
from him who’s risen from the dead.
Give me love, O Sovereign,
such as on earth I’ve never known.
Give me hope, O Lamb,
of righteous fruit that I have sown.
Give me faith, O Faithful,
that wavers not when I am tried.
Give me word, O Lord,
that you with me will ever abide.