Posted by: Diane | August 26, 2008

From the Pastor…

Hypocrites

Sophisticated Gentile philosophers in the days of the Apostle Paul postulated that morality was the highest calling of man. Influences from Socrates, brought about many moralists and relativists who studied a wide variety of points of view. Greek Philosophers were held in the highest regard as great moral guides. Jesus was called a philosopher in an attempt to satisfy Christian’s perceived need for recognition. But Christianity is not about morality.

Jews thought they had a favored position before God due to a misunderstood promise in scripture. Their attitude was one of disdain for the Gentile who, from their perspective, is morally ignorant. With a disparaging tone, they label them unclean, infidels and pagans.

The truth is that all are immoral. There is not one of the moralists of the world in Hollywood, news media or politics that will not be judged by God’s standards, in God’s time and through God’s prism of moral fortitude.

The only question that will save man is, how do I mitigate the judgment? The only answer to this question is to recognize all are hypocrites except Jesus. The only way to rescind the guilty hypocrite’s sentence is with the imputation of a true perfect morality. Jesus, the Son of God, is the only perfectly moral man and he died to redeem your hypocrisy. Simply believe and you escape God’s moral judgments.

 I’m Saved!!!

 When once I was destined for complete destruction, the weight on my tainted soul was oppressive. Sin dominated my life. Not the things that man might call gross sin, but all sin is gross to God. Not the sins we call reprehensible, just the ones everyone else accepts. To man I was great. To God I was grievous.

When once I was destined for eternal judgment, the finality and deep failure of that thought set me on a course to find redemption. Set apart from God meant a need for reconciliation. Correlation to man met no standard of God. Moral reconciliation/redemption was not enough. God required things to be on a scale beyond man’s comprehension. God’s creation of the universe displays the immensity of His power, but also the immensity of His perfection. One seeking reconciliation with God must seek it on a scale unobtainable by man. God must reconcile man with God. Jesus, the very Son of God did just that.

When once I understood God’s heavenly greatness, yet could not meet the magnitude of demand to enter therein, I sought an avenue to satisfy the requirements for reconciliation. I FOUND THE BLOOD OF Christ. No right, no ritual, no work, no tradition, no moral human life of good deeds can match the blood shed on a cross by the innocent Godman. God sent His own perfect Son to meet His humanly unachievable requirements for entrance into Heaven.

Only the God of the Bible is a God that loves us enough to do all that which is required for the salvation of man. Man is inept to achieve salvation; God’s Son is the author and finisher of the faith. I’m Saved! Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | January 25, 2012

Heart Conviction from One Another

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Last week we went back to our base, our foundation. We looked specifically at salvation in the morning and at proof of our Lord’s resurrection in the evening service. The week before that we discussed how we can do what is right for and by one another.

We talked last week about Moses and Stephen. Where Moses was worldly in his focus, upbringing and response, Stephen was spiritual when he let the Son of God, through the Holy Spirit, control his life. Where we see Stephen convicting souls and suffering from their rebellion against God, Moses was ostracized for what he thought was helping protect his ethnic brother. Clearly, we all look different on the outside, but we are very much alike on the inside. That is no truer than when we discuss the soul. The lost soul focuses upon things and solutions in the world. The saved soul focuses upon God’s will and deliverance.

Last week seemed quite a denunciation of Moses. We should take a moment to also note that God chose to introduce Himself to Moses at a different time. Moses met God later on a mountaintop and was saved. Moses got it right in the wilderness finally where he asked God to provide and do.

Like Stephen and like Moses eventually would, we too should ask God to provide and trust what He chooses for us. That is living out faith in Him. When we have faith in God’s will, we can love, support, and do what is right for one another.

Please turn to Romans 2. We find Paul’s epistle to the Romans beginning to describe how impartial God is with respect to His judgment. We have to remember, everyone who is guilty will be judged. Believer’s judgments will come. They are judged related to their works (2 Cor 5:10). We are without excuse. Every one who passes judgment upon another is hypocritical the moment those words pass their lips. The reason is plain in scripture; everyone will pass through judgment and there is only one Judge.

We are currently enjoying a presidential primary season in the 2012 election cycle. One of the things we hear in the news about candidates is personal information. News agencies and debate questions are often worded and in such a way by the press to push the pendulum to one side or the other. According to a number of media studies, this ‘leading question’ pendulum swings more normally than not to the tawdry side of the clock. Nasty news sells and no news outlet can pass up a good ‘gotcha’ story. As is true with many individuals pressing an agenda, those in the media are predominantly liberal and over 80% are registered democrats. They are not objective. Therefore, to claim they only want to get the facts out about candidates on the right, while plainly ignoring, even condoning the same activity on the left is the height of hypocrisy.

The real issue in the passage we study today is hypocrisy. There are three schools of thought that are associated with Romans 2:1-16. There are the moralists who believe that being a good human being to mankind and striving to make mankind better is the mark of someone headed for Heaven. A moral testimony speaks of individual salvation. There are the Jews that believe they have the leg-up to get into Heaven, being the selected and chosen people. They believe Jews are already headed there and Gentiles are judged on a different scale because of it. There is a third camp of commentators that says this is a severe criticism and condemnation of all hypocrites regardless of race, creed, color, social status, religion or culture. Let’s look at these a little more closely. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | January 20, 2012

Doing Right by One Another (Acts 7:26)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Last week we introduced some very famous challenges in scripture. Many we would never want to envision for ourselves. I believe, though, that we do undergo the same level of testing. Depending upon our response these tests can be either a great blessing, or a horrid experience that we bemoan. We will discuss more about that when we begin our series titled, “God Tries His Children” in February.

The last ‘one another’ command we studied looked at how we can seek God’s glory and honor with one another. There are many that look at others in the pew and wonder how they can do __________. We all have our frustrations, challenges and idiosyncratic activities. How can we expect to accept all those things that grate on us like sand paper? That is the whole point. Without God’s longsuffering love, we will never get through a single day without running to the end of our rope on some issue.

In John 5:44 we considered the fact that there is no glory in worldly honor. Our whole purpose in life is to glorify God (1 Cor 6:20; 11:7). If we are focused upon His glory, we can easily move to glorifying Him with one another. Instead of seeking the things of self, or the glory of man, we ask Christ to manifest Himself in us.

We talked about the spiritual aspect of God’s glory. God is spirit. We glory in spirit because we worship in spirit and in truth. These facts of faith are the things that we relish most. We will be in Heaven in spirit and in body. If we neglect the spiritual aspect in one another, we absent ourselves from His presence; we do not glorify God.

Finally, we considered glory in faithlessness and determined there is none. Peter saw only the things of the world after walking with the Messiah throughout His entire earthly ministry. Peter saw great miracles. Peter saw the Father glory in the Son. Peter saw the mount of transfiguration. Peter saw and experienced things we believers will never see in this lifetime. Still, through all this, Peter lacked faith until Christ arose from the dead. He denied Jesus. He denied being a disciple of Jesus. He denied being ‘one of them.’ We can only seek God’s honor and glory with one another if we identify with Him and a specific body of believers that stay steadfast in Him. We have to decide; do we continue to stand alone for our own glory, or do we submit to a body of believers and help them glorify God?

Today we consider doing right by one another. These three messages, having to do with glorifying God with one another, doing right by one another, and litigation between one another, are tied together in many ways. As we study through these messages, we struggle with what God would have us do. As with the other ‘one another’ commands, we are called to give up our personal desires (John 15:13). We are faced once again with a very stark reality that it is not about the individual, though God deals with us individually. It is about the body of Christ. Christianity is about a bride, in the body of Christ, that will be wed to the Groom of Grooms. Timeless truths are not born individually, but through God who is Himself three persons in one.

We often miss the littlest things. One of those little things is given to us in a picture of who God is, and how we should operate in our faith. If God is perfect, if the Trinity is perfect, then God sees a need for three persons to operate as God in His kingdom. How can we run off on a personal individual trail when God Himself says it takes at least three!

Ladies and gentlemen, man is so imperfect, I submit  we need many more than three to help us. Today we look at the testimony of a man that scripture records was “full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.” Scripture also says he was “full of faith and power.” Stephen was a wonderfully gifted and blessed man of God. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | January 20, 2012

Seek God’s Honor and Glory with One Another (John 5:44)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Recently, we considered how we maintain peace with one another. When we looked at the verses that command us to do so, we saw them associated with our Christian relationships, in our following the Lord and in our encouraging others in that devotion. Jesus told the disciples that through faith, all things are possible (Mk 9:23). We saw disciples of Christ who worshiped their forefathers at a time when the Father was glorifying the Son (Mk 9:5). Even though they included a “tent” for Jesus, this exhibited more devotion and faith in their heritage than they had in God or the Son of God. They were jealous of others’ spiritual abilities (Mk 9:38). They exhibited faith in their traditions, and not in the Person these traditions should honor. The disciples were presumptive and competitive, overbearing and seeking the advantage in their ambition. They took their position in Christ for granted instead of being humbled by the honor of being chosen by the God of the universe and included in His Kingdom (Mk 9:33-36).

The scriptures tell us we are to have salt. It is not a request, nor is it a conquest. Some think they need to know more about God before they can witness. They have all they need. The Christian’s “saltiness” is commanded and the abilities for it are given. Our testimony for Christ is the salt we sprinkle on our heart’s offerings to God. We sprinkle our salt on other believers when we witness through our testimony. However, our salt is above all supposed to honor and glorify through faith in Him.

If we know Jesus as our Savior, we have salt. We elicit responses in our testimony, in our lives, in encouragement to others for godliness and growth in the Lord. This is the peace we are to have with one another, a peace that prevails even through a salty testimony.

We consider what other believers are doing in His name and should be humbled when they are not just like us, or as we think they should be; yet they have a wonderful testimony and are productive for the Lord. Our humility should say, “What can we learn from that brother or sister?” We should honor God through their works, and seek to encourage them to a more glorifying relationship with Christ. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | January 7, 2012

Famous Bible Tests

We were privileged to worship the Son of God on the day we celebrate His birthday last week. For me, this was a special treat. To celebrate His birthday in worship with the church family I love so dearly is a great and glorious privilege.

We took a simple trek through history at the time of Christ and discovered many things. The Roman rule they suffered was not unlike our current political climate in many ways. However, we certainly do not suffer the complete intolerance for any proper dissension that Israel did from Rome; we do suffer intolerance concerning our God and Savior. In many ways it seemed the barbarous Romans in the first century were more tolerant of the Jewish faith in Jehovah and their belief systems than our own country, the United States of America, is of its own foundational religion, Christianity. Irony finds our nation founded under the premise of political and religious freedom; while man’s unquenchable thirst for power gradually strips us of our one inalienable right. That right is for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is a sad, but true commentary.

Today we look at a wide variety of scripture, most of which we will not have time enough to read through. We will consider the principles taught in these scriptures and the lessons we should learn from them. We will go to Genesis 6 to begin our discussion. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | December 15, 2011

Be at Peace with One Another (Mark 9:50)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Last week we considered how scripture would have us admonish one another. We found that though we think this is a position of possible encouragement we can have with another believer, we can take it too far and become discouraging. When we looked at the Romans, as Paul saw them, we found a group that exhibited first a great loving kindness for one another. Paul also made mention of their great knowledge in the scriptures. Based upon these two clear indications that the believers in Rome could handle the responsibility; Paul told them they should admonish one another in word and deed.

We also considered the Colossians and their admonishment one to another. Whether they were unusually gifted in music, or they enjoyed music greatly, we do not know. What we do know is that Paul told them to admonish one another not just in word and deed, but also primarily through hymns, psalms and spiritual songs. We are not told why the Colossians have this limitation, only that it exists.

Because there are certain conditions and differing forms of admonishment, we found that as a group of believers, we should seek our leadership concerning whether or not we should admonish others within our fellowship.

Today we gather unto ourselves another piece of this puzzle. We think that being at peace with one another means we should always agree. However, it is during times of contention that peace is tested. These ”one another” lessons tell us what God’s direction is concerning Christian relationships in the church body. They instruct us as to how we are supposed to practice the priesthood of the saints (1 Pet 2:9). When we think of how we must deal with others who might be falling away, or how we might deal with others concerning basic doctrinal issues as they grow in Christ, we should bring these lessons to mind. We are meant to love and help one another. How we are given to admonish one another will be tempered even further, honed to a finer point shall we say, with today’s message.

Though we are turning to Mark 9:50, this encouragement is also found in 1 Thessalonians 5:13. However, these passages differ in focus. We will consider the passage given to Thessalonica in a later message.

This passage has to be interpreted within the writing itself. If we run back in this chapter (please click here to view the entire chapter, as it is referenced extensively in this introductory section) , we find the Mount of Transfiguration where God the Father spoke to Peter, James and John and told them to listen to what Jesus was going to tell them. Jesus tells them to tell no one of the event until after He is resurrected. This statement actually marks the beginning of when they stopped listening. Jesus tells them early on He will be resurrected, and again that He will die (9:31), but they do not listen. Instead, they contend among themselves about who will be at His right hand. Which one of them is going to be equivalent to Joseph in Egypt – second only to the King of Kings? The force of these passages leads one to believe that the disciples were so stuck on their own concerns and desires, that they really did not listen to what was really going to happen, what Jesus was telling them. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | December 8, 2011

Admonish One Another (Romans 15:14 and Col. 3:16)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Last week we talked about thanksgiving; not the day necessarily, but the fact that we should be thankful to God the Father. We also considered some examples in scripture that display thanks approved by God. We opened to Genesis 4 and found that thankfulness is not just following the rules, but having a heart that knows the great majesty of God. We saw David speaking of being thankful to God before even the heathen of the day. We found Paul thanking God for all things as a testimony to the Gentiles. We remember God’s holiness when we give thanks to Him and we worship Him as we thank Him for all He is and all He does. We found that giving thanks is valuable amongst the congregation. Mountain View faces some rather impossible tasks. However, we find God has given us ministries to combat the evil that seems to press all around us.

Finally, we find we should be giving humble thanks that we have salvation through the Son of God. Our salvation is a gift that is everlasting and cannot be supplanted by any act or work either in Heaven or on Earth. Our salvation is not our doing but God’s, and once we are saved, we are in the family of God. Through salvation in Christ, we are accepted into His fold to be in His kingdom. What a wonderful promise. What a wonderful gift of grace. Thank you, God.

Today we return to our study of ”one another” commands. We will consider how or under what circumstances we should admonish one another. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | November 25, 2011

Fellowship With One Another (1 John 1:7)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Casting all our anxiety upon God is an easy thing to say. It is not as easily practiced. We all struggle with everything the world shoves at us every day, from children in school who may not perform as well as we expect, to our jobs that provide for those very family members. Many struggle with the simple answer ‘cast your cares upon God’ and say, “But it is not that easy.” The problem is that they do not trust God to care. It really is that easy. If you do everything in a day that you can do and still things happen that impact you negatively, then you have done all there is and the rest must be set at God’s feet. He may turn you over to Satan. He may not. Whatever God’s decision, if we lay it at His feet we give our anxieties to Him and we rest in His care.

Much of the problem boils down to loss of control and the possibility of loss of life – one’s own life to be exact. On the first part, it is an illusion anyway. We are not in control and never have been. In a recent article I wrote to our local newspaper, I said,

“As far as the end of life is concerned, will the humanist choose to die by undetectable aneurism, death by drunk driver or pancreatic cancer?”[i]

There are many things in this world completely outside our control. Most of those will take your physical life. Some of them can take your spiritual life. We might consider trusting the One who can take both the physical and spiritual and make it alive. We might consider trusting the One who cared enough to send His own Son to die so we could live. We might consider trusting the One who keeps His promises. We might consider trusting the One who cares for us. Whatever His plan for our life, if we rest in Him, trusting His Son’s atonement, our spiritual life is secure for all eternity.

Today we talk of a “one another” command that is very familiar to Mountain View. As we discuss this command though, I pray we can learn that there are a few prerequisites. There are some preliminaries involved when we are going to fellowship with one another.

Turn to 1 John 1:7 please. When we opened to this scripture in September 2008, we were studying John’s first epistle. We did not give this verse deep consideration at the time because we were considering it with the overall tone of the epistle itself. Today when we open to it, we should consider how it fits into our study of “one another” commands. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | November 19, 2011

Cast Your Cares–1 Peter 5:6,7

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

Last week we discussed 1 Peter 4:10 and considered how we can minister to one another with the spiritual gifts each one of us has been given. What a glory it is to know we can serve one another spiritually.

We learned, above all, that our spiritual gift is special, unique and given to us to glorify God in the body of Christ. We learned we can contribute to the ministry at our church. When we get to the point in our relationships with one another that we can serve one another with gifts, we are already practicing the “one another” commands we have studied together.

  • We are affectionate and honorable toward one another.
  • We do not judge one another’s motives.
  • We focus upon edifying one another and are like-minded in that edification, faith and service.
  • We receive and accept one another.
  • We should not be prideful against one another but patient for one another. Members of the body should (and here at Mountain View certainly do) care for one another.
  • We should serve one another in love.
  • We should never snip, backbite, speak hatefully of one another. The chief destroying sins in a ministry are conceit, and disunity through evil speaking of one another.
  • We should instead bear one another’s burdens. In knowing and bearing one another’s burdens, we certainly must learn to tolerate one another.
  • We should be strong enough to be truthful to one another; kind and tender hearted when we are truthful. In these ways, we should concentrate on forgiving one another and submit to one another in that forgiveness.
  • We should not deceive one another about our relationship with Christ, but teach one another and comfort one another in that relationship.
  • We should never prefer one over another, but exhort each other equally in the Lord to stimulate one another to love and good works.
  • We should never speak evil of one another or grudge against one another especially since we will be confessing our faults to one another. In all these ways, we should be praying for one another in a humble spirit.
  • When we work on all these things in our relationship, we can finally get to how we can be hospitable toward one another and minister to one another. Unless we are actually working on our relationship with one another in these other ways, we will find it difficult to be hospitable and especially to minister to one another.

The relationship in Christ, one to another, is based in love. This love is born from a spirit that is first poor because it knows it is beggarly. If we are not first humbled to one another, we will never be able to admonish one another because admonishment is not a peaceful endeavor; yet we are commanded to be at peace with one another. It is a conundrum, but one which makes sense when logically followed. If we do not love one another, it will be extremely difficult to accomplish any of the one another commands. Read More…

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Posted by: Diane | November 15, 2011

I Was, Now I Am

I was once lost, but now I am found.

I was once angry, but now I am at peace.

My life was once full of tumult; now there is strength, order and solemnity.

I was once abhorrent to God, but now I am made righteous.

I was once condemned to torment, but now I am destined for heaven.

My eternity was once full of pain and suffering; now there is treasure, mansions, family and God’s Son.

I was once rightly judged, now I am forgiven.

I was once bound by sin, now I am free.

My existence on earth was full of sin’s struggle; now there is peace and comfort.

I was once blinded by darkness, now I see by His light.

I was once dead to God, now I am alive in Him.

My spiritual life was empty, purposeless; now I am full in Christ for God’s glory.

I was once hateful, now I can love.

I was once hated, now I am loved.

My attitude was vile; now through God’s grace I am cordial.

God lives within me by the Son in the person of the Holy Spirit.

I was once cursed, now I am saved.

~Pastor Tim Senter

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Posted by: Diane | November 10, 2011

Minister to One Another (1 Peter 4:10)

[This is part of a series of sermons on the topic of "One Another".  To access previous messages, please click here.]

In our last “one another” study we talked about hospitality. I’ll admit, I left off a discussion without discussing the performance of our reasonable, ungrudging hospitality. I did so in order to briefly touch on it here.

Being hospitable can become burdensome, costly and exhausting. One can also be irritated by such a task. The Greek term for “grudgingly” indicates that one performs the task while uttering under their breath about having to do so. It is an indication of pure displeasure in the performance of what should be a normal, natural and joyous function of the Christian heart. This is Martha, always busying herself with tasks and not taking the time to appreciate her service and how it blesses others (Lk 10:40-41). This attitude destroys any enjoyment one might otherwise gain from Christian company, fellowship and love. One can get so disgruntled in service that it is no longer a mere Martha syndrome where we are too busy to enjoy it. This situation grows and the heart is distressed to a point that the individual is simply begrudging having to be hospitable. The thought of hospitality itself is distressing.

One thing to realize is that Peter does not seem to be saying his people were grudgingly hospitable. It simply acknowledges the fact that hospitality can be a very trying and tiring service. Still, we should approach all these opportunities with the strength only Christ can muster within us. Seek Him for faith and the right heart to cheerfully serve the people of God.

This is where we are today. We are given a couple of gifts universally for the body of Christ. Hospitality is one such gift. Love is another such gift. As with all gifts in the body, we can only properly use them with Jesus at the center. Today we are encouraged in the use of our heavenly gifts. We must understand first the ultimate purpose in any spiritual gift, which is glorifying God in the body of Christ. If we ever lose sight of this, we fail in our own individuality and potentially hurt the church body in the process. Read More…

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