Sermon August 15, 2010

Philippians 4:6-7

Main slide used in sermon is below. Many asked for it so here you go! Keep in mind that I don’t believe this to be a total picture of anxiety in our lives but I do believe this to be an accurate top level overview.

Sermon August 8, 2010

Philippians 3:12-16

Full text of sermon below…
I want to start by telling you a story about one of the greatest running races in history.

Back in the spring of 1954 the fastest anyone had run the mile was in 4:01. The four minute barrier stood for nearly a decade and some wondered if it was even possible to break it. You see slowly but surely the world record in the mile went down but no one seemed to be able to crack the four minute mark.

That is until May of 1954, Roger Bannister of England ran the mile in 3:59 breaking the wall of four minutes. Only seven weeks later, John Landy of Australia broke Bannister’s record and set the new world mark at 3:58 and became the second person to go under four minutes in the mile.

This set them up for a race together later in the summer in Vancouver at the Commonwealth Games. This was a huge event because the only two men to run under the four minute mark were going to finally face off.

Some estimates I read said that more than 100 million people listened on the radio or watched it on TV. This was a massive sporting event and later was called “The Miracle Mile.” Everyone knew that one of these two men would win the race. The other competitors were competing for third place.

Landy was known for his very fast early and steady pace and Bannister was known for excellent speed in the final part of the race. True to expectations, Landy built a large lead of as much as 10 yards by the third of four laps. But then in the fourth lap Bannister began to close the gap with his great finishing kick. And in the final turn something happened that was the defining moment of this race. Landy, who was leading through the final turn, looked back over his left shoulder . . . but at that very moment Bannister was passing Landy on the right.

Here is a photo that captured Landy starting to look back as Bannister is passing him on the outside.

Landy, for just that moment, lost his rhythm which allowed Bannister to go on and win the race. Many say that if Landy had not looked and had remained focused on the finish line he would have had a greater chance at holding off Bannister and winning the race.

Not long after this great race a statue of this famous look was created and is in Vancouver.

After Landy first saw the statue he said this,
 “While Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back.”

This great race between the world’s best milers at the time will always be remembered for this look back. The look that quite possibly lost Landy the most highly anticipated race of his time.

You see what Landy did was take his eyes off the finish line. Instead of all of his body straining forward, he looked back and lost the race.

That is the picture that Paul gives us in our text today in Philippians 3:12-16. Paul tells us the one thing that he does: He forgets what is behind and he strains forward to what is ahead.

Verses 13 and 14 say: “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

And that is what we are going to be looking at this morning, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. How do we do this? What does this look like in our life? What are some of the things that we need to forget? How do strain forward and press on toward the goal?

Let’s pray…

Again, our text for this morning is Philippians 3:12-16. Let’s read it:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

So starting off in verse 12 Paul says to the Philippian church: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

What is Paul talking about here when he says “this”? “Not that I have already obtained this.”

Also in verse 13 Paul reiterates it again, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.”

What has he not yet obtained?

He’s talking about his relationship with Christ.

To fill in the details we need to go back and look at the context. What is Paul saying that he hasn’t obtained or isn’t perfect at?

Verses 10 and 11 tell us: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Knowing and being like Christ is where he is headed but he isn’t there yet, so what does he do? What does he do to stay focused on the finish line?

Paul gives the answer in the latter part of verse 13 and verse 14: “ But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

That’s the heart of verses 12-16 and hopefully this message.

But before we get into those details and the core of this text, I want to pause for a second on verses 12 and 13 and make some quick observations.

First, Salvation is something that God is working in our life over time. He promises to finish it but it isn’t instant and is a progression. The theological word for this is Sanctification. Sanctification is the process of through Christ becoming more holy over time and eventually like-Christ in holiness. Paul hadn’t yet arrived or obtained it yet, just like you and I.

It is something God has promised to complete. Look back to verse 6 of chapter 1: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

He started it, he’ll finish it. He was the initiator in our relationship with him and he will complete the work he started.

We can have confidence in what God will do in the future because of what he’s done in the past. He initiated our relationship with him through his act of love on the cross and he’ll complete our transformation in the end.

The second observation is very important. The last part of verse 12 says: “but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

You see we work and do our part BECAUSE Jesus did his work, past tense. We do our present and future work because Christ finished his work in the past.

The verse does not read like this: “I press on to make it my own so that Christ Jesus will make me his own.”

We press on not just to please God and hope that he’ll accept us, but because God IS pleased with us and HAS accepted us through the finished work of Christ.

We do good things in life because of what Jesus did for us and a desire to be ever closer to him, not in order to be accepted by God. Jesus did the work, not us.

Ok, so back to the heart of this message, So if you aren’t perfect, you haven’t arrived at the goal, you still sin and make mistakes in life, how do you stay focused on the finish line? Since perfection in this lifetime is not achievable, what can we do?

Again Paul gives us the answer in verses 13 and 14:  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul says there is “one thing I do” , “one thing I do” …

That one thing is to not look back and press forward to the goal. Think about John Landy who looked back and lost to Roger Bannister.

Have you ever watched the Charlie Rose show? When I read Paul saying a phrase like “the one thing I do” it makes me think of the Charlie Rose show because the interviews are so long and the questions are so long and the answers are so long.

I can imagine Charlie Rose interviewing the apostle Paul and asking him some really long question about what advice Paul would give to the average Christian out there.

“What five or six points of advice would you give him or her, Paul? Give us several ways that they should imitate you?”

Paul would say “I only have one thing. There is only one thing that they should do: Forget where you have been and strive forward with all your being toward the prize, the goal of Christ Jesus.”

Paul isn’t distracted by a bunch of different things. He has no distractions, “just one thing I do.”
The one thing Paul does is keeps his full gaze and attention on the goal and prize of God in Christ Jesus.
Just like with the example of John Landy, you can’t be putting all your body into straining forward if you are looking back. If you look back, you slow down or turn or stop.

You can’t look forward toward Christ while looking back at the past.

Jesus said it this way in Luke: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

What Jesus is saying here is how can you follow me if you are looking back? The farmer who doesn’t look forward at his target he will veer off course and his rows will be crooked.

Now there are two parts to Paul’s “one thing I do.” Forgetting what is behind and pressing on toward the goal.

The first part of this “one thing” is to forget what is behind. Now this doesn’t mean that we erase our memories, what this means is to no longer be influenced by or affected by the past.

You see, if something from the past impacts you so much that you can’t go fully toward Christ then you are looking back. Again, you can’t look forward in this race if you are looking back.

So what should we forget? [slide: what should we forget?] Let me run through four particular things that we need to forget in order to press forward on to Christ.

First of all, Grudges and Bitterness toward others.

Scripture tells us that bitterness is something that grows and impacts your whole being. It also spreads virally within the church.

It starts as resentment and then leads to bitterness and hatred. It remembers details. It hangs on to them and rehearses them in your head.

If you remember the details of offenses against you from long ago you are probably bitter.

If you are bitter, take it to Christ and ask for forgiveness because it is sinful to be bitter. Bitterness is a sin.
If our focus is on the finish line of Christ, our response to wrongs or even just imagined wrongs against us will be love and forgiveness.

The second thing to forget is Personal accomplishments. This would be a righteousness of my own as Paul puts it.

When Paul looks back on his life he can brag about a lot of personal accomplishments that make him a very important person. But that isn’t where Paul’s confidence lies. He is confident in only Christ so he’s focused on the finish line of Christ.

Don’t forget that Paul calls all things other than Christ dung. They don’t pad your resume or add value on top of Christ. They aren’t neutral. They actually are negative. Christ is the only place where we can put our confidence.

And remember that as Christians we have already decided that those old things are now of no value to us. We’ve realized that we can’t earn our salvation or work our way into heaven. We’ve finally realized that it is only through Christ.

So if we go back to those things we are looking back to the old way.

If our focus is on the finish line of Christ, our personal value and importance and our confidence will come from knowing Christ, not our accomplishments in life.

The third thing we need to forget is Personal regrets. This is where we think back to what might have been. It’s like Uncle Rico from the movie Napoleon Dynamite: “Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.”

Or if I had only chosen that other school, or finished school. Or taken that other job. Or maybe married someone else. This isn’t pressing forward.

What possibly could change in your life that would be better than knowing Christ? None of that stuff matters next to knowing him and the prize ahead.

If our focus is on the finish line of Christ, there aren’t regrets because we have and are getting what matters most, relationship with Christ.

Finally, we need to forget our sin. This is a big one. Satan constantly tries to deceive us into thinking we aren’t forgiven by God.

You are in the race and focused on Christ and Satan tells you that you shouldn’t be there. There are still things to do back there. Look back and get to work on fixing those things so that you can deserve to be with Christ later. These are all lies.

Watchman Nee, the great Chinese pastor said this about this kind of lie from Satan:

Our salvation lies in looking [ahead] to the Lord Jesus and in seeing that the blood of the Lamb has met the whole situation created by our sins and has answered it. That is the sure foundation on which we stand. Never should we try to answer Satan with our good conduct but always with the blood.

Again, this gets back to the purpose of the cross. Wasn’t that a settled issue? You finally gave up trying to work for yourself and decided to just go to Christ and the cross. Why go back?

But what do we do when we sin? And we are all still going to sin in this life.

The answer is to get it right with God and others quickly by repenting. Don’t waste time. Take that sin to the cross and ask God for forgiveness.

Reclaim the gospel in your life.

When we bring up old sin from long ago or refuse to go to God for forgiveness we choose to look back and stop pressing toward the goal.

A lot of times Satan can use sin in our life to get us to focus on personal accomplishments. Satan might allow you to achieve victory over something through your own strength and then exchange that old sin for the new sin of pride.

In Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis describes it this way:

Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy’s Pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper, by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity – that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see  you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride – just as he would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer. For Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.

If our focus is on the finish line of Christ, we immediately recognize sin as something only Christ can fix.

I’m sure there are other things that can distract us and cause us to look back. But these are the ones that I think primarily distract us from running the race. And they all represent a direct challenge to Christ and his work. Remember you can’t press forward while looking back.

And then the second part of Paul’s “one thing I do” is to strain forward to what lies ahead and presses on toward the goal.

So how does Paul do this?

First, and this is the most basic and obvious, we need to change directions. What is our goal? It has to be Christ. We need the new ambition of Christ as opposed to his old ambitions in the flesh.

And that change in direction has to start with a humility that recognizes our need. Paul says, “I’m not perfect” and “I have not obtained it yet.”

Just think about how remarkable it is for a man of Paul’s spiritual stature to say something like “I’m not perfect.” This guy has an impressive spiritual resume. But he doesn’t slow down or take a break or consider himself already at the finish line.

But Paul recognized that he had not yet arrived and was not yet perfect.

So we start by changing directions and looking forward.

Second, strain forward. Every fibre in Paul’s being is pursuing this goal. He’s straining forward, he’s pressing on.

This is an athletic reference. This is raw determination. He’s giving us the picture of the athlete straining with all he has in a particular direction. Every ounce of his being is headed toward Christ.

This isn’t possible if part of us is looking back. Just like Landy who slowed down when he looked back for Bannister.

Third is God’s revelation. Verse 15 says: “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

Paul is saying here that this is how a mature Christian will live his life. But even when that isn’t always the case, God will reveal it to us.

He’ll use his word and the Holy Spirit and prayer. Get into God’s word for yourself and study it. Learn and grow in it. Make it a habit to read the Bible every day and search for what God might be revealing to you.
And read the Bible in the context of Paul’s “one thing I do.” What could God be showing you that you are looking back at? Or how can you better look forward at Christ?

And he’ll reveal these things to you through other people in our life. Most of the time this will be those that are closest to us. Maybe a spouse or sibling or parent or child.

A lot of times it might not be expressed to you in a good way, but a mature Christian is someone who isn’t afraid of self-analysis and the critiques of others.

Don’t forget that God has equipped people in his body for the purpose of equipping you. We were designed by God to have gaps and needs in our lives that can only be filled by others in the body of Christ.
I believe that if we reject the body of Christ we reject the work that God wants to do in our life.

Finally, we press on toward Christ by holding true together to what we’ve attained. Verse 16 says: “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

You’ve turned forward, you are straining forward with all your might, you are allowing God to make corrections and then finally we aren’t to look back and go the opposite direction.

You’ve come this far, don’t go back. Think of it like rungs on a ladder. Hold true to the rung you are on and press on up the ladder. Don’t go backwards. Hold on to what you’ve attained.

Slowly but surely God is transforming us and making changes in our lives to make us holy. Don’t lose what you’ve already obtained by going backwards.

So to summarize again, we press on toward the goal of Christ by first Changing Directions and turning from what is behind, second straining forward toward the goal, third listening for God’s voice of correction, and finally holding true to what we’ve attained.

In conclusion, if we think we can focus on our future while constantly looking back then like John Landy, we are going to fall behind.

Just like Paul, we aren’t perfect, we have a long way to go, but how do we focus fully on Christ and the finish line?

We take Paul’s advice and do one thing:  Forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. Press on toward the goal for the prize of God in Christ Jesus.

Sermon July 4, 2010

Philipians 3:2-11

Sermon June 27, 2010 – Rich Shipe

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon June 6, 2010

Philippians 1:27-30

Sermon May 30, 2010

Philippians 1:18-26

Michelangelo's Jonah

The book of Jonah isn’t about a man getting swallowed by a whale for going the wrong way. If it were we would only have chapters one and two. It also isn’t about Ninevah hearing the truth and repenting. If it were we would only have chapter three of the book.

If it is just a whale story and the repentance of Nineveh then what do we do with that pesky chapter four? Chapter four and the book end with this question from God asked to Jonah: “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

How do we answer that question? Do we care more about ourselves than the people in our community? Do we pursue self-preservation or self-sacrifice?

I enjoyed Tullian Tchividjian first book Unfashionable last summer. Trevin Wax provided an excerpt from his blog to Tchividjian’s latest book that really challenged me and I thought I would pass along. I encourage you to read the below excerpt from Tchividjian’s book, Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels:

We can’t escape a stark contrast in this story—the tribal mindset of Jonah versus the missional mindset of God.

These two mindsets involve fundamentally different values. The highest value of a community with a tribal mindset is self-preservation. A tribal community exists solely for itself, and those within it keep asking, “How can we protect ourselves from those who are different from us?”

A tribal mindset is marked by an unbalanced patriotism. It typically elevates personal and cultural preferences to absolute principles: If everybody were more like us, this world would be a better place.

But in a missional minded community, the highest value isn’t self-preservation but self-sacrifice. A missional community exists not primarily for itself but for others. It’s a community that’s willing to be inconvenienced and discomforted, willing to expend itself for others on God’s behalf.

A tribal mindset is antithetical to the gospel. The gospel demands that we be missional, because the gospel is the story of God sacrificing himself for his enemies.

Both these approaches are robustly present in Jonah’s story. Jonah represents the best of a tribal mindset, the absolute best. He’s like the trophy for the tribal person. And God—ever-gracious, ever-pursuing, ever-compassionate—serves as the trophy for the mission-minded.

Jonah runs from his enemies; God runs toward his enemies.

Jonah serves himself; God serves the world.

Sermon May 2, 2010

Luke 15:11-32

BRBC Men’s Ministry invites you to an evening focused on honoring God with our hearts and relationships. All men, 18 and older, are encouraged to attend this discussion on safeguarding our eyes, thoughts, and actions.

The seminar will be at the church Friday, April 30 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Some computer somewhere has record of everything we search for on the Internet. How would you feel if that became public information? Some things we search for would embarrass us but aren’t immoral while some things we search for do reveal a heart pursuing things that aren’t of God.

Tim Challies has an interesting article on the subject of what people search for on the Internet. He highlights a time where a major search engine released searches being done by individuals. They thought the information was released in such a way that the searchers would remain anonymous but it turns out that wasn’t the case. People were able to string together the searches of individuals over time that showed not only their actual searches but also gave a glimpse into what was going on in their life. Some of the searches reveal somewhat comical life circumstances, others deep sadness and hurt.

When looking at just the searches of an individual over time it makes me think about the people I see in everyday life when I’m out and about. We all see lots of put together people that seem to not have any serious problems. But what if you could see everything they searched for on the Internet over time? Wouldn’t that give a peek into their heart and mind? You’d get a glimpse past the facade and into the real person. How would that change your dealings with them?

Keep this in mind, every person has pain and hurt and need that is all caused by sin and this world which is cursed by sin. Look at Isaiah 53:4-6 which contains the truth of EVERY person’s condition along with the glorious truth of the gospel:

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

No matter how good someone looks on the outside they have griefs and sorrows. That isn’t debatable and does not depend on the person or the situation. The question is whether they are carrying them or is Christ?

Below is an excerpt from Challies’s article:

While the search engines may never forget, I am grateful that God does forget. He forgets the sins of those who turn to him and confess those sins. Psalm 103 promises that “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” In Hebrews 8:12 God promises “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” There is virtue in forgetting.

Praise God that he does “remember our sins no more” if we have have turned to Jesus Christ and confessed our sins. Follow the link and read the whole article.

Looking for a ministry to channel your money for relief work in Haiti? Consider Samaritan’s Purse. They mention that their local partner is Baptist Haiti Mission which is just up the road from the orphanage I visited a month ago. I have not heard any news yet on how that orphanage is doing but will update this post when I do.

Please pray for the people of Haiti and for God’s church in that already impoverished nation.

Update: The orphanage I visited is doing fairly well considering. They had no known damage to their building and also received their monthly delivery of food just two day before the earthquake hit. Praise God that he has provided and protected. We trust him for our provision and care and know that “all things happen together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purposes.”

Another Christian orphanage that you might consider learning more about and supporting is God’s Littlest Angels. They’ve gotten a lot of news coverage in the US.

Bill Wilcox recommended a book to me by the great Chinese pastor Watchman Nee called The Normal Christian Life. So far it is excellent! I want to share quotes from books I’m reading here and in the case of this book it is hard to narrow it down to what to share. This is becoming one of those books where there is less text that is highlighted than not highlighted. :)

Here is a short excerpt from the first page:

God makes it quite clear in His Word that He has only one answer to every human need: His Son, Jesus Christ. In all His dealings with us, He works by taking us out of the way and substituting Christ in our place. The Son of God died instead for us for our forgiveness; He lives instead of us for our deliverance. So we can speak of two substitutions: a Substitute on the cross who secures our forgiveness and a Substitute within who secures our victory. It will help us greatly, and save us from much confusion, if we keep constantly before us this fact: God will answer all our questions in one way and one way only, namely, by showing us more of His Son.

And isn’t that truth confirmed through the experience of the mature Christian? We are constantly struggling with simply telling God, “I know that Christ and his work on the cross is the answer, but I don’t like that answer, God.” “I know that Christ is sufficient for me, but that isn’t what I want.”

Nee’s point is also made by Paul in a different way in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

And this also echos what Jack said in his sermon last Sunday. We aren’t content in what we have because we don’t want what God is offering. We want something else. And isn’t that the height of foolishness? The all powerful God wants to give us all of himself and we say “no thanks, I’d rather have this measly temporal thing.”

But are we truly content with our “weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities”?

I was recently inspired by an article I read by a well-known pastor and his wife on parenting and the Sunday morning church service. In the article, they shared a vision for making the Sunday morning service meaningful for children rather than just an experience to be endured. They gave many practical tips to help parents mentor their children into a richer understanding of the service.

One of the ideas they shared was for parents to encourage their children  to  take notes during  the sermon.  My  first  thought was how hard  this would be  for my kids  (who are ages seven, nine, and ten) because it’s hard enough for me! But I decided to give it a  try.  I  gave  them  some basic  instructions  and  encouragement and we tried it out.

The first Sunday of note taking was a little rough. I had to remind them a few times to keep it up during the sermon, and they had trouble knowing what to write. Like I said, note‐taking isn’t easy. But one thing I did notice was that for the most part, they were paying attention during the whole sermon.  It felt like a small but significant step forward.

The  next  thing  I  did  that  really  helped was  create  a  one-page, note-taking form for them to use. The form  includes boxes that hopefully get them thinking about what to look for in the sermon. The boxes give  them  special places  to write down the main verse, other verses, big  idea or main point, what I should do, words I don’t know, and extra lines for additional notes.

As an  Easter gift  to  our  kids, Christy made them each a decorated three-ring binder in which they can keep their sermon notes. They loved the binders and are excited about writing down things on the form each week.

We’ve been using this form for a couple months now, and I’ve been really impressed with the results. It is incredible to me how quickly they’ve been able to learn this skill and how much they are able to write down. The other significant thing is they are doing their best to pay attention to the sermon now. Some weeks are better than others, and sometimes they give up or get frustrated, but we’ve found that they are really growing in it and
making  progress. They are learning important life skills in listening and note taking, and I want to deliberately help them grow in these areas.

Another great benefit we’ve found from the note taking is it gives us an opportunity to talk about the sermon as a family. At dinner on Mondays, we all get out our notes and walk through the  sermon. Christy and I help the kids fill in parts that they missed, and we explain the parts that were hard for them to understand. This also reinforces the big ideas for Christy and me too!

In the May newsletter, Jack talked about worship “preflight” and how important it is to get ready in advance to worship. That pre-worship preparation is important for success in teaching your children to take notes.
Ultimately, our family goal is to teach our children about the incredible value of worship and learning in a community of believers. As a parent, I also need to teach my kids through my actions about the exciting opportunity we  have  on  Sunday mornings  to  corporately worship our God and Savior. My kids need to see me truly excited about worshiping God in order to fully incorporate this lesson into their lives.

Download the pdf here:

Sermon November 29, 2009

Rich Shipe

I’ve been involved with a great group of guys for a Bible Study at Jon Tigges’s house. We are going through a study by Robert Lewis called Men’s Fraternity. It has been excellent. We do it from 6:30 – 8 am every Wednesday at Jon’s house.

The last few weeks we’ve been looking at how we can be better husbands and one of the key verses is 1 Peter 3:7 which reads:

Likewise, 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.

That phrase of “understanding way” means to really pursue her with a desire to know her very well. What are her needs? What are her likes and dislikes? What is her personality? What are her strengths and weaknesses? What is her love language?

In terms of needs the study shared that there are four main areas of need that most women have:

1. Security. Feeling safe and protected financially and relationally. They feel safe with you.
2. Conversational companionship. Experiencing each other and life together. Talking and building relationship and sharing heart and feelings.
3. Significance. She is valued and important and esteemed. An equal “heir with you of the grace of life.”
4. Affection. Treasuring her with hugs (non-sexual), compliments, notes, saying “I love you.”

Ok, guys, here is an assignment for you… (This is the same assignment assigned to us in the Bible Study) … Set a date night with your wife and ask her about her needs. Do the above needs match her greatest needs? If not, what would she add? What is most important to her? And finally, ask her if there are ways that you could improve in meeting her biggest needs. If you do this kind of thing and do it regularly you are on your way to “living with your wife in an understanding way.”

One final thing, are you in a small group or discipleship relationship of some kind? If not you need to get yourself into one. God’s design is for his body to grow together and not in isolation. If you are serious about your personal sanctification then you are serious about the Body of Christ, the church.

I’d like to post links from time to time that are interesting or thought provoking … at least for me! Hopefully they will be helpful in some way to you. I’ll put in the title, author, and a short comment. Please don’t assume I fully endorse everything that I link to here. Got a suggested link? Funny or serious? Send it to me at rich@brible.org.

Confronting the Influence of Darwin – Hank Hanegraaff — Can the twentieth century be understood fully outside of an understanding of Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Self-Control in a Wired World – Joshua Harris — Best line: “A little web surfing, a little Facebook, a little folding of the hands around the smart phone and spiritual poverty will come upon you like a robber.”

Five Ways to Feel Scripture – Jared Wilson — Number one is “Interpret before you apply”! That is huge. Too often we start with, “What does this passage mean to you?”

The Gospel, Anger, and Romans 13 – Jay Younts — This is a very challenging article for me personally. What are we most concerned about? What is our priority? Public policy activism is good but are we seeking to love ourselves through it or love God and love our neighbor through it?

Weighty Words [from C.S. Lewis] on the Meaning of a Husband’s Headship – John Piper — Best line: “No relationship is more clearly commanded to model the death of Christ. No relationship is more costly—in both senses of that word (painful and precious).”

Al Mohler has a very interesting and thoughtful post on the images coming from the newly repaired Hubble telescope. The creation declares God’s existence and that he is a powerful and creative God!

“The heavens are telling the glory of God,” sings the Psalmist, “and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” [Psalm 19:1, NASB]  Every atom of creation cries out the glory of God.  The Hubble Space Telescope now shows the glory of God in the universe in a new dimension — and in breathtaking color and complexity.  To see these images is to view the work of the Creator in a glory newly disclosed, newly visible to human eyes.

To read of the vast distances and dimensions seen and measured by Hubble’s technology is to be reminded just how small our planet really is — and how even smaller we humans are.  As the Psalmist reflected:  “When I consider your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” [Psalm 8:3-4, NASB]

The cosmos does reveal the glory of the Creator — indeed it is inevitably so.  The heavens — and Hubble — are telling the glory of God.  He who has eyes to see, let him see.

Read his whole post.

Sermon August 9, 2009

Mark 8:35-38

Sermon August 2, 2009

BibleMap.org looks like a great free resource! Sometimes it makes it a lot easier to follow along with a narritive part of scripture if you have a map as a reference. You can’t get a good personal application from scripture if you haven’t rightly interpretted it and you can’t effectively interpret it if you haven’t made observations first. So we start by observing what the text says, then we interpret what it means, and finally we apply it to life today. Bible maps are a good resource for helping us at the observation stage of Bible study.

With BibleMaps.org you can pull up books and chapters of the Bible from either the ESV or KJV versions and the map will show you the location of places mentioned in the text. Pretty slick. Check out BibleMap.org and add it to your bookmarks!

One of my daily-read blogs linked to this helpful Christian article on movies: Motion Picture Messages. It explains five ways movies communicate a message.

1. Imagery
2. Story
3. Dialogue
4. Identification of Heroes
5. Overall Composition

Very helpful to read as the summer blockbuster season starts. Not that we can’t go to the movies, but we should be aware of the messages being preached rather than blindly absorbing it. We should also be able to answer some basic questions of the films we watch:

1. What is the overal message of the film?
2. Is that message consistent with God’s Word? Why or why not?
3. Does it correctly identify (maybe even just partially) the condition of man and his need for saving? If so, what is the savior it provides?

Read the article and think about it with the next movie you watch.

Sermon May 31, 2009

Follow link to view PowerPoint online.

From the Praise Night on March 13, 2009.

Ian Charleson as Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire

I’m reading through The Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morley with another man in our church. It has been recommended to me many times over the years and I am so glad that I’m finally taking the time to read it. Fantastic book and I recommend it to all men.

Here is a short excerpt that I really liked. It hits the issue of contentment which is something many guys struggle with in our culture. Chariots of Fire is my favorite movie so it made me want to share it.

Chariots of Fire, the fact-based, Oscar-winning movie, depicts the quest of Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell to win gold medals in the 1924 Olympics, a feat they both accomplished.

The difference between Abrahams and Liddell is transparent: Everything Abrahams did was for himself, while everything Liddell did was for the glory of God.

Eric’s sister Jennie mistook her brother’s love of running for rebellion against God, and pressed him to return to the mission field in China, where they both were born and their parents lived. One day his sister was upset because he had missed a mission meeting, so Eric decided to have a talk with her. They walked to a grassy spot overlooking the Scottish highlands.

Clutching her arms, trying to explain his calling to run, he said, “Jennie, Jennie. You’ve got to understand. I believe God made me for a purpose–for China. But He also made me fast!–and when I run, I feel His pleasure!”

That is in sharp contrast to a scene later in the movie, one hour before the final race of Harold Abrahams. While his trainer gave him a rubdown, he lamented to his best friend, “I’m twenty-four and I’ve never known contentment. I’m forever in pursuit, and I don’t even know what it is I’m chasing.”

Both men won a gold medal, but one won his medal for himself, while the other won his medal for God. Do you feel God’s pleasure in what you do or, like Abrahams, does contentment elude you?

At the end of the chapter Morley asks: “What is your ambition? Will it survive your physical death? Will it pass the Luke 14:33 test?” Luke 14:33: “In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.” That verse isn’t a command for a vow of poverty but it is serious challenge to who or what we serve. You can’t serve God and serve your own ambitions.

I hope this is something you can chew on and again, I encourage you to check out Morley’s book and consider going through it with a friend.

Whisper to a Roar hosted their first full concert at the church this evening. Everyone had a great time and Jeremy Horn was great. They put on a great show and it was a very worshipful time of enjoying good music and praising God. I look forward to the next Whisper to a Roar event!

Good job Andre for the whole event and Tom running sound and Carter on the the lights. Read on to see a good sample of Jeremy Horn’s music.

Sermon February 22, 2009

Rich Shipe

On this day in 1973 the Supreme Court declared that unborn babies may be destroyed before birth. Since then an estimated 50 million children have legally lost their lives in the United States of America. Remember this issue in your prayers today and beg our father in heaven for mercy and revival in our nation.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalms 139:13-14

I was chatting with some guys last night about Mormonism and other cults. What struck me is how intellectually blinded people are that are trapped in Mormonism and other cults. In the case of Mormonism there is plenty of information available about its sordid past and its founding on deception and sin. That information is not hard to find with a little research. Here is one example on Mormonism about how the “Book of Abraham” came to be. How could anyone base their faith on that?!

But it isn’t just Mormons… read on.

This past summer the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of a large survey nationally on religion. Among the other details the Washington Post wrote:

A belief in God or a higher spirit is pervasive. Even Americans who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic have a robust sense of a higher power: Twenty-one percent of those who describe themselves as atheists expressed a belief in God or a universal spirit, and more than half of those who call themselves agnostic expressed a similar conviction.

So more than a fifth of atheists and agnostics believe in the existence of a “higher power.” How does that make sense? The simple answer is that it doesn’t make sense.

So why is that? Why do people believe such weird things? How is it possible to deny the existence of God yet believe in a higher power? How is it possible to buy into Joseph Smith’s teachings? This way of thinking (or not thinking) isn’t limited to just Mormons and the atheists of this study, it is throughout the world.

So why are they so blind? And what should our response be? Scripture answers both of these questions in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:

Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.

So why are they so blind? Their minds have been blinded by the “god of this age,” Satan.

And what is our response? To openly proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Are you proclaiming him as Lord through your actions and words? Our lives should be a reflection of his Lordship.

He did, he does it! God loves us beyond what we can understand and his work changes our lives. The below video is a presentation of the Gospel at work. It is from an excellent website I just discovered called IamSecond.com.

Last summer I wrote about Josh Hamilton. He’s got a video on IamSecond.com too.

One of my favorite preachers on the radio is Dr. Allistair Begg. In today’s brodcast he quoted a short Puritan prayer that really hits the centrality of the Gospel in our lives as believers. I hope that this prayer expresses our heart each day.

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.