Sermon Notes for Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Our Lay Member to Annual Conference, Mr. Tim Lancaster, delivered the following message when the pastor attended a UMYF event with our Youth Groups in Greensboro:

The Blessings for Those that Keep His Commandments

Deuteronomy 7:9 (King James Version)
9Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

Ruth 1:16 (King James Version)
16And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God

Matthew 1:5 (New King James Version)
5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,

Revelation 22:14 (King James Version)
14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

“Thanks be unto God”


The Message:

Let’s ponder on some of the God fearing people of the Bible, and consider how their relationship with God blessed them and has blessed many generations. First let’s take a look at Abraham.

Genesis 22:17-18 (King James Version)
17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Then, let’s think of Isaac,
Genesis 25:21

Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

Then, let’s consider Jacob,

Genesis 28:1 (King James Version)
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.


Genesis 31:3 (New International Version)
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you."


Now, let’s think of Joseph,

Genesis 39:2 (New International Version)
1. 2 The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

Let us Consider Moses,

Exodus 2:11 (King James Version)
11And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.


Let’s move on to Joshua,

Deuteronomy 31:23 (New International Version)
23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."

Let’s think of Rahab, even though she was a Gentile she protected the people of God, and later married a Man of God’s people.

James 2:25 (New International Version)

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

Let’s consider Ruth, a Moabite a non Jewish woman that worshiped other gods but chose Israel’s God, think about how God blessed Ruth and many generations after her choice to serve the Living God.

Ruth 2:2 (New International Version)
2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."
Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter


Let’s consider Boaz of Bethlehem, and how he saw within Ruth her love for her Mother-in-Law, and how she had forsaken her gods to serve Israel’s God.

Ruth 2:11 (New International Version)
1. 11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.

When we think of King David, the grandson of Ruth and Boaz, we begin to get the picture of how choices of choosing Israel’s God blesses many generations. David made his choice to serve the Living God of Israel, and our Jesus Christ is from the generations of David.

1 Samuel 17:26 (King James Version)
26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

The Blessed Virgin Mary, again one of the generations of King David, made a choice to accept the Word of God, and conceived our precious Savior in her womb. “Many generation will called me blessed.”

Luke 1:38 (King James Version)
1. 38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.



The Son of God, the Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ,

Jesus Christ the incarnation of God is our door to the Heavenly Father, the maker of Heaven and Earth. When God mingled Himself with flesh, He provided not only the Supreme Sacrifice for our Sins on Calvary, He also provided a way He could live within Man by the Holy Spirit. As we grow more in Him with our relationship, we will understand what St. Paul mentioned, “it’s no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me”. “I can do all things in Christ, who strengthens me” We’ll understand too,


Philippians 2:15 (King James Version)
15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Our relationship with God and putting Him first in our life, will bless others, let’s think about how we started our relationship with Christ. Someone had to tell us about Him, and obviously the person telling us had a relationship with Him. The light we saw in them attracted us to Him, we accepted Him as our Savior which qualified us to be an Ambassador of light to a dark world. How more could we love God than to be a light shining for Him in this dark world. Yes, there is a blessing in serving Him, and as we look back through the Scriptures we see many that put God first in their life were blessed during their journey in this life. We see too, that they still met challenges in this life, but they had a source of strength within them that sustained them. We understand more why Jesus said, “they are in this world but not of this world”.

John 16:33 (King James Version) `
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Let’s make the choice today as the people of God made in the Scriptures to choose Him to be their first love, and in that choice we will be blessed and so will the ones around us. The ultimate blessing is we bless the God of Heaven and Earth when we choose Him, and by doing that He will reward us for our choice, and also our choice will influence many generations after us. Let’s choose to be a “Blessing” to God, ourselves, and others!

Sermon Notes for Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Matthew 28:16-20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go now, and teach every nation, baptizing all believers in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teach all believers to observe every single thing I have commanded you, and know that I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ Amen.

The Great Commission was issued, and the disciples were told to spread the Gospel all over the world…to “every nation.”

To enable them, and all believers, to do this, when he ascended to Heaven, he graced humanity with special tools – spiritual gifts – he fully expects the Saints of God to utilize, even to this day…

Ephesians 4:8, 11-13 When Jesus ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto humanity… he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

These gifts were not for a select and privileged few, but for the church as a whole, for the edification of the entire body of Christ

The concept that the preaching of the gospel was only for the elite somehow crept into the church and, by the Middle Ages, only priests were allowed to preach the Word, and only priests and the very wealthy were allowed to learn to read. This stood in total opposition of Christ’s intentions

In the Sixteenth century, Martin Luther – a Catholic layman who become a clergyman after being nearly struck by lightning (“Saint Anne, help me! I will become a monk!”) – noticed the following passages in the Bible, and they made him do some serious thinking…

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Martin Luther’s paraphrase: “There is neither priest nor layman, there is neither rich nor poor, for it is not a question of this or that status, degree, or order.”

In 1520, Martin Luther also stated, “Christ has made it possible for us, provided we believe in him, to be not only his brethren, co-heirs, and fellow-kings, but also his fellow-priests. Therefore, we may boldly come into the presence of God in the spirit of faith...

Hebrews 10:19-22 tells us our hearts cry out ‘Abba, Father,’ and directs us to pray for one another, and do all things which we [have] see[n] done and foreshadowed in the outer and visible works of priests.”

Luther added, “Injustice is done those words ‘priest,’ ‘cleric,’ ‘spiritual,’ ‘ecclesiastic,’ [and “’clergy’] when they are transferred from all Christians to those few who are now by a mischievous usage called ‘ecclesiastics.’ “

Clarifying the Scriptural message of the Priesthood of the Believer was a passion for Martin Luther. Even toward the end of his life, in 1544, Luther preached the following four points:

1.

Before God all Christians have the same standing, a priesthood in which we enter by baptism and through faith.

2. As a comrade and brother [or sister] of Christ, each Christian is a priest, and needs no mediator between themselves and God, other than Christ. They are entitled to free access to the Word.

3. Each Christian is a priest, and has an office of sacrifice, not the Mass, but the dedication of themselves to the praise and obedience of God, and to bearing the cross.

4. Each Christian has a duty to hand on the Gospel, which they have received.

Somehow, in the modern world, the Great Commission has become misunderstood once again – and the expectation seems to be, again, that it is entirely up to Clergy to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world. This line of thinking is wrong.

For many reasons there is a distrust of clergy amongst the unchurched. This is primarily due to the fact that it is not clergy that the unchurched interact with in their daily lives. Because they reject organized religion as a whole, and because they don’t circulate, socially, with what they deem the “religious crowd,” they see – for the most part – only laity. And, too often, they see the bad side of the laity and they, naturally, deem all Christians “hypocrites” and “phonies” - and that’s unfair, but that’s the way it is. It’s up to us to change their minds, and this cannot be done by trying to force the Gospel on them, but by living as Christ would have us live, abiding by the Word of God in all respects. People are watching us, to see if we practice what we preach…

In accordance with the Great Commission, Christians have a Spiritual mandate to spread the Gospel – not force the Gospel on others – to spread the Gospel with love, prayer, and holy lives. The Word tells us how we should live…

Romans 12:1 says we are to consider our lives, even our very bodies, to be “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.” Have we responded to the Word, or are we wriggling wildly on God’s altar, clamoring to escape the discomfort that comes with the sacrifice?

Sermon Notes for Sunday, July 12th, 2009

While the pastor and his family were away for summer vacation, our Lay Member to Annual Conference, Mr. Tim Lancaster, delivered the following message to the congregation:

The Greatest Commandment

The reading of the Word of God.

“This is the Word of God for the people of God.”

Leviticus 19:18

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Matthew 22:36-40 36

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

“Thanks be unto God.”

(The Message)

This morning, let’s ponder what Luke told us about the “Greatest Commandment.”

Luke Chapter 10: 25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Samaria was a region of central Palestine that was once the capital of Israel. In 721 B.C. it was captured by the Assysrians who deported much of the population and replaced them with foreign colonists (2 Kings 17:24-33). The colonists were pagans who eventually intermarried with the remaining Jews. They adopted the religion of Israel, but they also continued to worship their pagan idols. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be religious heretics of a foreign nationality and inferior race. The Samaritans offered to help rebuild the Jewish temple, but their offer was rudely rebuffed (Ezra 4:1-3). Finally the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mt. Gerizim and proclaimed it, rather than the Jewish temple, to be the true house of God. By the time of Jesus, the Jews and Samaritans had hated each other for hundreds of years.

With that background, it is easy to understand that there was no one the Jewish expert in the law would have considered to be less of a "neighbor" than a Samaritan. If a Samaritan man could be a "neighbor" to the Jewish man who was robbed and beaten, then the definition of "neighbor" would have to include all people, regardless of race, religion, nationality or any other artificial distinction.

The Samaritan man gave freely of both his time and his money to help a Jewish man who was not only a stranger, but also was of a different religion, a foreigner and an enemy of his people. In His Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus challenges us to "Go and do likewise." We do not have to agree with other people's beliefs and opinions or condone their actions, but Jesus calls us to overcome our prejudices and show our kindness to all people of the world and consider them our "neighbors."

The importance of Man, we have recorded in Genesis, God the Maker of Heaven and Earth made Man both male and female in His own image, and after His likeness.

We have God working through Man with Seth, then Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,

Moses, Naomi, Ruth, Samuel, David, the prophets, and then moving on to the New Testament through our Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ our Lord, his Disciples, St. Paul, and ultimately the Bride of Christ in Revelation.

When we look at these people’s lives in our Holy Bible, we see how to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we ponder in our heart some of the examples our Lord Jesus gave us, we get even more insight of these 2 Commandments.. Let’s think back how Jesus responded to Satan in the Wilderness, Satan wanted Jesus to use His Supernatural powers to turn stones into bread, then Satan took him to the pinnacle of the Temple and asked Jesus to jump off and let the angels protect Him. Satan then took Jesus to a high mountain and told him too look around and that he would give Him all these things. Jesus told Satan to get away, “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

He gave us the example when Peter didn’t want our Lord to suffer death, and how he rebuked Peter.

Jesus’s family wanted to take Jesus back to Nazareth when He was on the other side of Galilee, but He responded, my real mother is the one’s that does the will of God.

Let’s consider the “Last Super,” we know the Passover Communion was about remembering God working with Abraham’s children that left Egypt(the Jew’s still honor this tradition), we now have our Lord’s Table remembrance, reminding us of our Christ’s blood for our sins, and His body for our sacrifice.

We have the reminder of our Lord in the Garden, when He asked the Father if possible take this cup from me, and we have His words to ponder,”not my will, but Thy will be done.

We have the prayer Jesus prayed to the Father that we would be one, as He and the Father are one, (totally obedient to the Father).

We have His statements on the Cross,”Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

We read of His compassion to the thief on the cross beside Him.

We know “no greater love than a man to lay down his life down for a friend.”

We have the Blessed Virgin Mary accepting the Word of God , to receive in her womb the Son of God that would bring Salvation to all people. A woman having a child without a husband would be stoned, but she trusted in the Word of God, and God made a way.

We have the Disciples that gave their life for the Ministry of the Gospel. We have St. Paul that gave us many Holy Scriptures linking the Holy God’s relationship with Man and ultimately St. Paul giving his life for the gospel. People would we or any of America’s Ministry of the gospel be that willing? Do we or don’t we really need to come back to the greatest commandment?

We have John that gave us the final consummation of the Holy God’s relationship with Man. Is that final consummation our focus, or are we like the people Jesus dealt with during His earthly Ministry? Let’s ponder that thought in our hearts.

In conclusion, it’s when we turn our eyes upon Jesus the things of this earth will go strangely dim in the light and glory of his Grace. There are many things we don’t understand on this side, so we have to exercise our faith in the God of Heaven and Earth to carry us through. It’s when we get more like St. Paul when he mentioned “it’s no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me”. In our own strength we can’t love our neighbor as ourselves, but in Christ and we can do all things in Him that strengthen us. We must draw nigh unto Him and He will draw nigh to us, and we stand in faith on the promises of His scriptures, knowing when we delight ourselves in the Lord he will give us the desires of our heart. Lord, have mercy on us your children that we grow more and more in you so it is no longer we that live, but you live in us. We know the way Lord, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We know you prayed for us Lord Jesus, when you prayed, Father sanctify them in thy Truth, thy Word is thy Truth. May we be more like David, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart to not sin against Thee”. We pray Lord that we take the principles of your word and apply them in our daily life.

Sermon Notes for Sunday, July 5th, 2009

The Loaves

1 Samuel 21 – David flees King Saul…

¹ David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?"

² David answered Ahimelech the priest, "King Saul charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. ³ Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."

⁴ But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women."

⁵ David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men's things are holy even on missions that are not holy. [This is true even] more so today!" ⁶ So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

· Food for the journey

· Food for a mission

· Food for warfare

· Food for members of the king’s army

Mark 6:30-44 - Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand…

³⁰The Twelve apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. ³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

³⁷But he answered, "You give them something to eat."

They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

³⁸"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

³⁹Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

· Jesus consecrated the bread, which became five consecrated loaves…

· Food for the journey

· Food for a mission

· Food for spiritual warfare

· Food for members of the army of the King of Kings

Note that 5 + 2 = 7, which is the number of Creation; John 1 says Jesus is the creator of the universe, which was created by his spoken word. His spoken word, recorded in Scripture is now our bread of life – our food for our journey, our mission, for spiritual warfare, for we are members of the army of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords…