PM sermon for 5/20/07

This Sunday evening I'm going to do something I rarely do - preach someone else's outline and thinking. It will not be a word for word copy since I don't have a manuscript but the outline clearly comes from someone else. I heard this lesson at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. I cannot remember the man's name but I do know that he is the chief Bible teacher at the Holy Land Experience. Although the lesson had some elements of allegory in it, it wasn't allegorical nor was it one of those "imitate this guy" type of lessons. It really focused on God's faithfulness in the man's life and how God will be faithful in ours. The text is 1Chronicles 11:22-25. I haven't decided on a title. The text is about Benaiah, one of David's valiant men. He wasn't one of the "three" but he certainly gained a name. The lesson will focus on the last part of v.22 where Benaiah goes down into a pit and kills a lion. I'm looking forward to studying this text and then seeing if my study leads me in the same direction as the speaker I heard. I hope to have more during the week.

AM sermon for 5/20/07

My lesson this coming Sunday will continue the sermon series from Colossians - Living Heavenly Values on Earthly Soil. The text will be 1:24-2:5 and the title will be "A Heavenly Ministry." I wish I had the time to divide this text up into about three lessons. I will probably focus on 1:24-29 and talk mostly about imitating Paul's ministry in trying to get the Word proclaimed. Of course that focus may change as I study the the text this week.

Public reading of Scripture

Paul wrote to Timothy (1Timothy 4:13):

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. (NIV & TNIV)

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. (NASB)

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (ESV)

Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (NKJV & KJV)

It is interesting to me first that the word "Scripture" doesn't appear in this text yet several translations put it in assuming that is what Paul means when he tells Timothy to devote himself to reading. Only the KJV and the NKJV leave it out. I don't have any doubt that we should assume in interpreting this text that Paul is telling Timothy to pay attention to reading the Scriptures publicly to the gathered church.

What I would like to know is why in our fellowship (Churches of Christ for those of you who may not know my background) we did not include this as one of the acts of the assembly? It seems pretty obvious to me that reading of Scripture was approved in Scripture and practiced by the early church (and even in the Old Testament). This is why lectionaries developed. I have the church where I serve now (and churches in the past) read my text for preaching just before the sermon. But I have not talked them into reading a text or text's as part of a pattern.

I have several questions for all of you who may come by.

1. Does your congregation have Scripture reading as part of your worship service apart from reading the text for preaching?
2. What pattern do you use for reading Scripture? Do you use a lectionary or some other way of choosing the text or texts to be read?
3. Was this a part of the congregation's worship service before you came? If not was it difficult for you to have them start doing it? How did you convince them they should have reading of Scripture as a regular part of the assembly?
4. How is the reading working out? Have you noticed a difference in the congregation?
5. Are you working on developing this as a part of your assembly?

AM sermon for 5/6/07

My text this Sunday AM is Colossians 1:21-23. I will be focusing on what Jesus accomplished through his cross. The focus thus will be reconciliation. I will start by looking at our alienation from God. Paul says it's an inward and outward corruption. Our minds and our deeds are evil. Evil here is defined is less than what God wants. In fact we are hostile to God because of this corruption. But God doesn't allow the fact of our alienation to get in the way of his love for us. He sends his son who through his fleshy body reconciles us to God. The focus on Jesus' body is possibly to counteract those who teach that Jesus was just a man and that when he was baptized the spirit of the Christ entered him. And when he died the spirit of the Christ left him. Wright (in his commentary on Colossians) thinks that Paul usually uses the word "flesh" for humans to emphasize their rebellion against God. So God is identifying with weak man by becoming just like weak man (minus the sin). So in the cross man's sin is condemned and reconciliation takes place.

Verse 22 suggests that once reconciliation takes place Jesus presents us as holy, without blemish, and without reproach. Reconciliation is not just for salvation but also for sanctification. We are to be set apart as the holy people of God.

Some see in verse 23 a condition - our faithfulness. We need to remember that conditions and merit are two separate ideas. The gospel is given without merit because merit is gained by Jesus Christ on the cross and in the empty tomb. The gospel is proclaimed with conditions so that we might identify with the Gospel. This verse deals with one single condition after we have entered into the body of Christ.

It is fitting that these verses follow the wonderful portrait that Paul paints of Jesus in 1:15-20. Jesus came into our world to show us the way back home. He is the only one who could reconcile us to God. He is truly the complete one.