August 28, 2011

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SERMON:

This summer we’ve been working through the book of Romans. Today we take up our second look at chapter 8.

Last Sunday, we looked at Romans 8:14-25. There the apostle Paul said that even though we are Children of God through faith in Jesus, we will still suffer in this life before we reach heaven.

It’s not that we have to suffer in order to EARN our salvation, Jesus already did that for us. He completely won our forgiveness of sins and gave it to us free of charge. It’s just that after we come to faith in Christ, we’re still living in a sin-broken world. This is a place where evil rules and pain lives, and if God still has things for us to do here before he takes us home, we’re going to feel some pain.

But in our reading from last Sunday Paul also pointed out that we have comfort in our suffering. And this comfort comes from the hope of renewal.

In the Bible God promises that the universe itself will one day be restored to its former glory. And not only that, God promises that our own bodies will be restored, renewed, recreated as they were intended to be: Sinless, perfect and eternal. In the middle of suffering, this sure hope of renewal can lift our heads and our spirits.

But, sometimes our faith wavers, and our hope dims. The shadows of our problems seem to tower above what we know to be true in Christ.

So, Paul moves on in Romans 8, to explain that we have more than hope for the future to help us through our sufferings. We also have the Holy Spirit working on our behalf, right now.

Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

You ever “draw a blank”? Not know what to say? Forget someone’s name? Momentarily find yourself unable to recall the name of some very familiar place? Am I revealing to much about myself?

How often does this happen in our own prayers?

Maybe you’re like me. You move through your day coming across things to put on your prayer list. But your prayer list isn’t a piece of paper you keep in your pocket. It’s just a list in your head. So, when you settle in for the night and turn your thoughts to God and to prayer, all the sudden things that should be on your mental prayer list go missing.

Or maybe you start trying to think out a solution to those problems instead of praying them to God.

Or maybe you actually do remember the thing you wanted to pray about, but when crunch times comes you can’t find the words. You really don’t know what to ask God to do.

There are many ways that Paul’s words come true in our prayer life. When the time comes, “we do not know what to pray for as we ought” (verse 26).

Here’s where the Holy Spirit steps in. Paul says that the “Spirit himself intercedes for us” (verse 26).

I think Paul says these words for a number of reasons. One is to simply call us back to prayer. To remind us to really use the gift of being able to text God our concerns.

But more than that, Paul wants to show us that in the middle of our sufferings, whatever they might be, the Holy Spirit is there. He loves us deeply, and so He does something for us. He prays for us when we fail to lift up the words which will bring God’s swift answer.

Paul wants his fellow Christians to be comforted in their sufferings because we know the Holy Spirit is helping us in ways we can’t even understand.

In verse 6 Paul says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. The idea behind this word “intercede” is something like this. Imagine the Holy Spirit leaning over a figure stooped in prayer, whispering things to God the Father.

Paul says that the Holy Spirit intercedes with “groanings too deep for words” (verse 26).

Paul wants us to marvel at the ability of the Holy Spirit to communicate for us. The Holy Spirit talks to God for Christ followers on a level that we aren’t even capable of.

It’s like best friends who know each other so well that communication doesn’t even need words. All it takes is a look, or a sigh, or a subtle shift in body language – and they know. They know what their friend is saying, even though no word is spoken.

Paul wants us both to admire the ability of the Holy Spirit to communicate for us, and He also wants his fellow Christians to find comfort in this. We never suffer in silence. The deepest needs and desires of the Christian sufferer are being communicated to the Father by the Holy Spirit who lives in us by faith in Christ.

When we stumble over our words in prayer to God, maybe we need to just step back and remember the Holy Spirit. Maybe we need to just say, “I don’t know God. But the Holy Spirit does. Listen to Him. Forget my rambling and my stutter filled prayers. Just listen to the Spirit for me.”

Look at verse 27 again. There Paul says…
“27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27 ESV)
.Sometimes the thing that hinders our prayers, is the fact that we don’t have God’s will in mind. In the book of James, James rebukes his fellow Christians by saying…
“…You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3 NIV).
When our prayers don’t match up with God’s will, He’s a good Father. He doesn’t give us what we ask. Let me say that again, when our prayers don’t match up with God’s GOOD and PERFECT will, He’s a good Father. He doesn’t give us what we ask. He holds out and gives us what is BEST for us.

Sometimes we even think we’re asking for the right thing. The thing that matches up with God’s will, but even though it seems so right to us, it’s not what God has in mind.

In Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote…
“…in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV).
Paul had some kind of physical problem. He called it his “thorn in the flesh”. He considered it to be Satan’s doing, and therefore, he pleaded with God to take it away.

But God’s response was, you’re praying for the wrong thing. I’m not going to take this away because it’s going to keep you humble. Instead, you ought to learn to lean more on ME, and less on your SELF. That’s when you’re strongest.

I think God wants us to learn to pray about things from every angle. When suffering comes, maybe we ought to pray for that suffering to be taken away. Or, maybe we ought to pray for the strength to bear up under the pain. Maybe we should ask to bear our pain gracefully that others may see that our faith does not diminish when things don’t go exactly to plan. Maybe we ought to pray that God would make us learn from our situation. Maybe we ought to pray that God would give us compassion for others in the same situation.

The point is, in the middle of suffering, we get tunnel vision. We think – ONE SOLUTION, take it away, when there are many more angles to aim our prayers. We need to learn to pray down these other angles. In doing so we may stumble over God’s true purpose in a given situation.

Paul wants us to learn how to pray better. How to see things from a greater perspective. He wants us to grow better at seeing things from God’s perspective. But more than that, Paul wants us to be comforted by the Holy Spirit’s perfect connection with the Father’s will.

When often fail to see God’s purpose in painful situations. But the Holy Spirit ALWAYS sees what God the Father is up to. The Holy Spirit and the Father are on the same page. They are in perfect sync.

The main point of this section of Romans is this, we fail in prayer, but we have an amazing communicator on our side who prays for us asking exactly what we need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when you suffer, find comfort in this – the Holy Spirit is praying for YOU. And what He prays is the perfect prayer for you.

I once had an art class in which we did some pottery. I made a little beer stein as a gift for my dad. It was an ugly little mug that had Snoopy on it, but it was for dad.

Well, at the end of class one day, before the mug had been fired in the kiln, I dropped it. The dry and fragile clay shattered into what seemed like a million pieces. In disgust I threw the pieces in the junk-clay bucket by the sink. I couldn’t put the pieces back together. It was a lost cause.

But the next day, the mug was sitting at my spot. My art teacher, Mr. Pronzinski, had painstakingly puzzled the pieces back together, wetting each one and rejoining them with care.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does with our prayers. Sometimes we’re missing pieces. Sometimes we don’t have the skill to arrange the words. Sometimes we wander off dejected and sad on some prayer path far from God’s will.

But God the Spirit puts those pieces back together for us, and sends them off to the Father. And so often we don’t even realize it.

Put this on your prayer list tonight. Thank the Holy Spirit for loving you that much. For being patience enough to speak up for sinners like us. For knowing the Father’s will perfectly, and patiently teaching us how to pray in step with Him. Amen.

And the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.


August 21, 2011

Not Worth Comparing - Aug 21, 2011

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SERMON:

At the end of June we started studying the book of Romans during our sermon time. For the past few Sundays we’ve taken a break from that, and considered some other things. Today, we’re going to dive back into the book of Romans.

Now, Romans was written by the apostle Paul, but inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is God’s Word. And therefore, it really is like a river. Some of it is easy enough for children to splash through, while other parts are deep enough that even the wisest theologians can’t touch the bottom.

At times Romans is a heavy book, and it takes concentration to gather in and understand all that the Holy Spirit would teach us through it.

One of the easiest teachings that comes up over and over in the first seven chapters of Romans is the teaching of “justification by faith”. Now, that sounds technical, but it’s easy to understand. Justification by faith simply means that sinners get to heaven through a simple trust in Jesus. That’s the only way. Sinners are forgiven because Jesus is the Son of God. He died in our place. Even the worst of sinners who trust in Him for forgiveness, are stamped “SINLESS” by God.

Paul talks about “justification by faith” in Romans 3, verse 20
“…righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24 NIV).
Jesus died for your sins. Through faith in Him, God considers you a saint. Sinless and perfect. Forgiven in full. If this were the only thing you remembered from Romans, Paul would be happy.

Another teaching that comes out in the first seven chapters of Romans is the teaching that there is an inner war going on inside all followers of Christ.

We all know that you can’t change what’s in a bottle by simple putting a different label on it. When a sinner comes to faith in Jesus, God labels that person sinless. But sins still happen in that person’s life.

But God doesn’t JUST label us sinless when we come to faith, God ALSO gives His Holy Spirit into us to reform us. To teach us how to live God’s way. To lead us to confess our sins and receive forgiveness. To lead us to forgive others when they sin against us.

But the Holy Spirit has an enemy who also lives within us. Our old sinful nature. The old us wants to destroy our faith in Jesus. So he leads us to sin. To things that the Spirit of God doesn’t want us to do. Things that are damaging to us, and to our faith.

Paul talks about this inner war in Romans 6, verse 11
“…Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-25a NIV).
This inner war isn’t going to end until heaven. But because of Jesus, we don’t have to be slaves to sin now. We have been forgiven, and the Holy Spirit lives within our hearts to lead us.

Enough review. The text for our mediation this morning comes from Romans 8. In this chapter Paul talks about the suffering that followers of Christ will have to endure before we reach heaven.

Romans 8:14-25 (NIV)

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We believe that because He suffered and died in our place, our sins have been forgiven. The Holy Spirit has convinced our hearts of this through the Bible, and through Christians who have brought this message to us personally.

Paul says that if this is true, if the Spirit of God has brought us to faith and is still with us, then we’re “Children of God” and heirs of God. Instead of hell and shame, our inheritance is Heaven and glory. Through faith in Christ, we have become Children of God.

But then Paul starts talking about our “present sufferings”. Becoming a Child of God doesn’t mean that God is going to suddenly whisk us up into heaven. Very few Christians have had the joy of being taken to heaven shortly after coming to faith.

So why? Why does God leave the ones that He loves in this broken, painful, frustrating and exhausting world? Why does God leave His Children here?

Because He has more things for us to do here. Because there are young one to raise so that they know Christ. So that they are productive Christians, bringing glory to God and sinners to peace. There are friends to make and friends to support in hard times. There are fellow Christians to correct and encourage. There are a million different answers to that question, “Why does God leave His Children in this world”. I guess the simplest is that He has more things for us to do here.

There will be pain in our lives. There will be suffering. Paul knew it. On one of the journeys Paul took to preach the Good News of Sins forgiven through Jesus, he ended up getting seriously injured. Paul’s enemies stirred up a crowd in the city of Iconium and got the people to stone Paul to death. Well, they thought He was dead anyway and then dragged him out of the city and left him.

But Paul wasn’t dead. He got up and moved on. Shortly after, in another city, Paul told a small group of Christians to remain strong and hold onto the faith because…
“…We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God…” (Acts 14:22b NIV).

As we go through these hardships, Paul wants us to be encouraged. That’s why he reminds us that the race is already won. We aren’t going through hardships in order to earn heaven, Jesus has already earned and given us forgiveness, peace with God and heaven as our final inheritance. That work is already done.

Paul says, look to the future you have in Christ for encouragement when you’re feeling weighed down and worn out. Look at Paul’s words in verse 18
“18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18 NIV).
Note that Paul doesn’t say, “Come on you wimps, I’ve suffered ten times what you have.” He doesn’t encourage us to get through our suffering by beating ourselves up for what we’re feeling. Instead He says, get your head up! Look at what’s coming. The glory that we’re going to experience in the presence of God is so much greater than anything we could suffer in this life, that it’s not even worth comparing.

In heaven we’re not going to sit around comparing scars and swapping stories about the terrible suffering we had to go through. The amazing glory of being with God, in a renewed body that doesn’t feel pain is going overshadow our past sufferings like Mount Rainier compared to a mole hill.

Paul gives us a glimpse of the glory He’s talking about in verse 19
“19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21 NIV).
When we look around us, we see a world that is full of things God didn’t want in His Creation. God didn’t plan earthquakes and tidal waves that destroy cities, villages and kill thousands. God didn’t design animals to eat their own young, or predators who stalk the weak as their food source? But when Adam and Eve sinned, God let sin bleed right into the fabric of our universe.

God did this for two reasons. One, so that all humans would would know that this world is not it. This world is not what it should be. There is something wrong with this world, and that thing is sin. This is not our final home.

The second reason that God cursed the physical universe after Adam and Eve sinned, is what Paul talks about here. So that in the end, when the Children of God are revealed and renewed, the renewal of the universe will make that day all the more glorious. The broken universe is breathtaking now. Imagine what it will be when it all flows in harmony together, without the effects of sin and pain and death.

God talks about renewing the universe in other places in the Bible also. In Isaiah 11 it says…
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9 NIV).
And in Revelation 21 it says…
“1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” m for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ u or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life” (Revelation 21:1-6 NIV).

When we look forward to heaven, it’s natural to groan under the weight of our present pains. It’s natural to long for the time when we won’t just read about glory, but when we will see it with our own eyes. Look at verse 22
“22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:22-25 NIV).
Groaning is okay. There’s a difference between groaning and grumbling. When we imagine what living with God will be like and we groan inwardly, we’re expressing our deep longing to be with God, and free from our present sufferings. And that’s just fine. It reminds us that this world isn’t all there is. And we shouldn’t live our lives like this world is all there is. Because of Christ, we have a future glory which outshines everything we now know.

I don’t know what you’re struggling through right now. Maybe it’s not much. Maybe it’s huge and heavy. Whatever it is, don’t hold it yourself. Let Jesus hold it up by praying it into His hands.

Our present sufferings may seem everlasting, but they’re not. They are temporary. God has made us His own Children through Christ. And He will bring us home at last. To a universe, renewed in glory. To our own bodies, renewed in glory. To a renewed and sinless self. To living face to face with God. To freedom from a broken and dying world. To final adoption into God’s House.

To close our meditation today I’m going to read two verses. One spoken by Paul, and one written by him. Dear Christians, Children of God through faith in our Savior, let these verses stick with you in hard times.
“…We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God…” (Acts 14:22b NIV).

“18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18 NIV).
All praise and honor and glory be to Jesus, who makes the future of sinners like us, a future full of joy and glory.

Amen.

The Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.


August 14, 2011

Give Your Soul a Vacation - Aug 14, 2011

This Sunday’s Sermon was written by Pastor Michael M. Eichstadt and provided through “Ministry by Mail”. To read it online go to “Ministry by Mail” by clicking here.

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In Service to Christ,
-Pastor Caleb Schaller