Thursday, May 27, 2010

Sermon – “Heirs of God” – Romans 8:13-17

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – “Heirs of God” – Romans 8:13-17
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Churches
May 23, 2010

Listen to this sermon.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. This is the birthday of the church. We remember the morning, just fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when the Holy Spirit entered the world and empowered the church. Since that moment we have never been alone and God has never been distant because in the Holy Spirit God is with us to empower and comfort us. So this is a glorious day as we celebrate the Holy Spirit with us here in this church. That’s why we are decorated in red to symbolize the Holy Spirit coming as tongues of fire. But before the fireworks start let us pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
Romans 8:13-17 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of 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.

If you search for the keyword “spiritual” on Google you will find 93,500,000 websites. There are over 85,000 books on the topic of spirituality on Amazon. TV and movies are filled with stories about the spirit world. By any measure Americans are looking for a genuine spirituality. But they don’t seem to be particularly successful in finding what they are looking for. So they keep searching for new churches or reading new books trying to find the spirituality they need.

Some say that they are “spiritual but not religious”. This indicates a failure on the part of churches to provide the genuine spirituality people are looking for. Churches are divided in controversy, held back by tradition, and consumed with ethical enforcement. People seeking genuine spirituality have been overworked, criticized and sometimes abused by churches. So people search for answers in bookstores and on the internet, hoping that they will find what we all need, a genuine spirituality.

The Church of Rome was searching for a genuine spirituality in the middle of the first century. This church had been founded shortly after the Day of Pentecost when a few pilgrims who had heard Peter speak that day in Jerusalem went back to Rome and started a church. This church was primarily Jewish in nature, but had a significant outreach to gentiles. In 49AD the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. People like Priscilla and Aquila were forced to leave Rome leaving the gentiles behind in the church. The gentiles then took leadership of the Roman Church until the death of Claudius when the Jews returned. As Jews returned to the church they tried to retake their former leadership positions but were rejected by the gentiles who now held those positions. As a result the church was divided by conflict. And this conflict prevented its members from finding the genuine spirituality they were looking for. So when Paul heard about the conflict in Rome he wrote a letter, the Book of Romans, to the church telling them that genuine spirituality can only be found in Jesus Christ.

According to Paul we are all spiritual people. But the spirits we inherit from our ancestors are spirits of sin. These spirits so warp us that even though we may want to do what pleases God, we cannot. The spirit of sin is like a disability that affects everyone. It causes us to always pursue our own wills and desires, completely ignoring what our creator wants. We satisfy the cravings of self-love rather than the needs of our neighbors whom we are supposed to love. Even though we were created in the image of God the spirit of sin so distorts us that God’s image can just barely be seen. When people search for spirituality outside of a spirit filled church they find this spirit of sin. The spirit of sin causes us to fear. And fear is what the devil uses to get us to give up our freedom and become slaves. We become slaves to adultery, or slaves to lying, or slaves to stealing, or slaves to killing, or slaves to money and power, or slaves to false gods. We are all enslaved by our fears by the spirit of sin.

According to Paul there is only one way to find a genuine spirituality. You can’t find by chanting for hours until your mind goes numb. You can’t find it in loud music mesmerized by its strong beat. You can’t even find it in the beauty of a mountaintop or seashore. Genuine spirituality can only be found in Jesus Christ because Jesus sends his Spirit to kick out the spirit of sin that has enslaved us. Only Jesus’ Spirit frees us to be what God created us to be. Jesus’ Spirit does this by making us children of God. As children of God, we no longer inherit the spirit of sin from our ancestors. Now we inherit the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The reason God sent his Spirit into the world was to prepare us for the coming age. It prepares us for the eventual transformation of this world. The Holy Spirit which transforms us in the church will one day transform all of creation. To prepare for this day we must first be adopted as children of God and heirs to his kingdom. But as heirs to his kingdom we also have responsibilities. Paul talks about the responsibilities in chapter 12 of Romans.
Romans 12:9-18 Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Nothing in this list would be remotely possible for someone with the spirit of sin. But with Spirit of Christ in us all these things are doable and must be done. Christ has redeemed our past and now Christ’s Spirit is leading us into an exciting future.

I once heard a story about a man who went to a hardware store looking for a new saw. The salesperson showed him the most current model and said that with it a person could cut ten cords of wood a day. The next day the man returned. He was exhausted and could barely drag himself and the saw into the store. He told the salesperson that after working all day with the saw he was only able to cut one cord of wood. “There must be something wrong with the saw”, he said. So the salesperson took the saw and his exhausted customer and went outside behind the store. There he started the saw. “What’s that sound?” the man asked. “I have never that before.” Without power it is very hard to cut wood with a chain saw. The same is true with us. Without the power of the Holy Spirit it is very difficult to please God. But if Christ’s Spirit is within us we inherit the power we need to please God as God’s children.

So how do we know if we have Christ’s Spirit within us and that we are heirs of the kingdom and children of God? This is a vital question because if we do not have Christ’s Spirit within us we are still infected with the spirit of sin which leads to death. If we want eternal life then we must receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So how do we know for certain that we have received this gift?

According to scripture we know that we have received the gift of the Spirit of Jesus Christ when our behavior begins to change. Without the Holy Spirit we are sinners who do what displeases God. So if we displease God with our behaviors we know for certain that the Holy Spirit is not in us. But when we see our behaviors begin to change and we start doing things not motivated by our own selfish desires but by a desire to please God then we know for certain that the Holy Spirit is with us, empowering us, and that we are heirs of the kingdom of God. So when you experience a desire to sing in the choir, or help a Sunday school class, or volunteer at Samaritan Shelter or come to Sunrise Prayers then you will know that the Holy Spirit is in you transforming you into what God created you to be.

Holy Spirit, come into our lives this day. Empower us to live as obedient children of God. Prepare us for the day when all of creation will be transformed. Give us a genuine spirituality. And bless us with willing spirit to live in ways pleasing to God. Amen.

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Sermon – "How Can I Be Saved?" – Acts 16:16-34

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – "How Can I Be Saved?" – Acts 16:16-34
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches
March 16, 2010

Listen to this sermon.

Good morning and welcome to Beaver Dam church on this wonderful Lord’s Day, the seventh Sunday of Easter and, traditionally, the Sunday when we think about the ascension of Jesus to heaven. Since Easter Sunday we have been looking at the Book of Acts and we have been amazed at the transformation we see in the disciples of Jesus Christ. This showed that something amazing had happened, namely the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Last week we saw how all of this motivated the Apostle Paul to begin evangelizing gentiles, with Lydia being the first convert to Christianity in Europe. Today we will watch as Paul continues to evangelize gentiles in Philippi. This will give us clues about how to evangelize the unchurched of Pocomoke. But first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Acts 16:16-34 16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—
you and your household."

32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and
to all the others in his house.

33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds;
then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them;
he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God-- he and his whole family.

In today’s scripture we see Paul interacting with gentiles in Philippi. With Lydia they brought a believer to faith. But now Paul was meeting non-believers outside of the synagogue. These people were not familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures found in our Old Testament. They did not believe in the Lord, God of Israel. And they had never heard of Jesus Christ. So let’s look at what happened when Paul began meeting them.

The first person Paul ran into was a slave girl telling fortunes. We are told that she had a spirit, literally the spirit of a python. This was a reference to the Oracle of Delphi, who in ancient times would predict the future from the Temple of Apollo. She would sit over a fissure in the earth, breathing ethylene gas and in a drug haze tell people what they wanted hear. Most of the Oracle’s predictions were vague and ambiguous. This is what we see in Philippi near the synagogue. This slave girl keeps telling Paul and his companions that they were “servants of the Most High God”. This could be a reference to the God of Israel, or it could refer to Zeus – ambiguous. This fortune telling eventually annoyed Paul and so he helped the girl. Scripture says he casted out the spirit. Maybe he helped her to get away from the drugs that kept her enslaved.

When people are enslaved by drugs or alcohol they often only recover with the aid of God. This is an important principle of twelve step programs like Alcoholic Anonymous. When people realize that God is the only answer to their enslavement they are usually ready to talk about faith. This gives us an opportunity to reach out to recovering addicts and invite then into the community of the church. Sadly, we have no record that this slave girl in Philippi ever came to faith. Even though there is no guarantee of success when we reach out to addicts we must still share our faith with those who have finally realized that substance abuse is actually worship of a false god and invite them to find the true God in Jesus Christ.

The next people that Paul ran into were the owners of the slave girl and the magistrates in the market place. The slave girl’s owners were upset because she was no longer fortune telling and that their revenue had fallen. And the magistrate was upset because Paul was preaching the lordship of Jesus Christ and not the lordship of Caesar, and threw Paul and Silas into prison. Although neither the owners nor the magistrate would consider themselves slaves, but they really were. They were slaves to money and power. Paul made no attempt to bring the owners or the magistrates to faith because they were so tied to the worship of money and power they just would not be receptive to a message of faith in Jesus Christ. So sadly they never came to faith, and we never hear from them again.

Finally Paul ran into a prison guard. The prison guard slept through a divine earthquake which freed Paul from his chains. When he did wake up he saw the cell door open and realized that he had failed in his most important duty to guard these prisoners. This meant certain punishment and possibly death. Driven to despair, the prison guard was ready to fall on his own sword and die, but was stopped just in time by Paul. And this prompted the guard to ask the most important question in all of scripture, "What must I do to be saved?"

What must a non-believer do to be forgiven by God and receive the gift of eternal life? Here in church we all know the answer to this question. All of us could say, “Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” But how does a nonbeliever come to this belief? The process by which a nonbeliever comes to belief is called conversion. And let’s look at how the prison guard was converted to faith in Christ.

The first step in the conversion of the prison guard was to listen, with his family, as Paul proclaimed the word of God. Preaching and teaching of the Bible are essential ingredients in conversion. Preaching and Bible study open our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit who delivers to us the gift of faith. This is why it is so important to invite nonbelievers to attend church and Christian education classes. In church a nonbeliever hears the word of God and then experiences the work of the Holy Spirit in his life. Knowledge of the gospel and experience of the Holy Spirit is the soil in which belief grows. So we here in the church must provide opportunities for worship and Bible study so the nonbelievers in our community can come to faith and be saved.

Notice especially that the prison guard does not come to faith as an individual. He receives the gift of faith as part of a family. This is why it is so important to have programs in place for people of all ages. Even children and youth need to be taught Bible stories so that they too will come to faith and be saved.

The second step in the conversion of the prison guard was his participation in Christian service. He washed the wounds of Paul and his companions. It is through service to others that our faith, which is first established in the hearing of the proclamation of the Word of God, is then strengthened. In service to others our faith grows into maturity. This is why it is so important to encourage new people in the church to participate in activities for the community. New people need to be invited to bring food for our coffee hours, or teach children in Sunday school, or help out at Samaritan’s Shelter. These activities turn intellectual faith into living faith. And remember that service opportunities must involve the whole family. That way children and youth learn how to serve others and this will strengthen their faith too. We are told in scripture that after the prison guard and his whole family heard the word of God proclaimed and participated in Christian service that they were then ready to profess their belief in Jesus Christ and be baptized into membership of the church.

Finally, the jailor invited everyone over to his home for dinner. This is the third and final step in conversion, being an active participant in Christian community. So new people coming to the church must be warmly welcomed into our groups for women and men. They must be invited to our coffee hours. New people have to be able to find new friends when they come to this church. So we must be a friendly and welcoming church that truly desires to build community with others here in Pocomoke.

So, what must someone do to be saved? The simple answer is to believe in Jesus Christ. The harder question is how can we help people to believe? The answer for this one is that we must provide opportunities for preaching and teaching, Christian service, and community building. If we provide these opportunities for people of all ages and begin inviting people to our church more and more people will come to belief and more and more people will be saved.

Lord Jesus, as your followers we ask for your help. Give our church the gift of evangelism so that we can better go into our community to proclaim the good news. Give us the gift of preaching and teaching so that as new people come to our church they will come to belief and be saved. Give us more opportunities to serve the poor and the needy in our community. Help us to reach out to our neighbors to create a Christian community at this church. We pray all this in your powerful name confident of your help as we strive to grow this church. Amen.

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Friday, May 14, 2010

Sermon: Evangelism – Acts 16:6-15

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon: Evangelism – Acts 16:6-15
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches
May 9, 2010

Listen to this sermon.

Good morning and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in the congregation. I am happy to report that I spent a day this week in Northern Virginia visiting my parents. Grace and I celebrated my father’s birthday and Mother’s Day by taking them out to dinner. So I hope and pray that all of you mothers will have a blessed day today. And here is a Mother’s Day Card for all the mothers in the congregation from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 31:10-31 10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. 11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. 13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. 15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. 16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. 18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. 19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. 21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Today we will be looking at a very distinguished first century woman. Her name is Lydia and she is a very successful business woman, dealing in expensive fabrics. She is also a gentile God-Fearer and attends a synagogue near the river in Philippi. But before I tell you her story please pray with me.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Acts 16:6-15 6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

9 During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.

The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Let’s talk about evangelism. Evangelism is a spiritual gift we receive from God. With this gift we proclaim the good news to people of little or no faith and rely on the Holy Spirit to strengthen their faith and become a part of the community of God, the church. So God gives us evangelists to begin the process of conversion and church growth. One person who had the gift of evangelism was the Apostle Paul.

In today’s passage we see the beginning of Paul’s attempt to convert people to belief in Jesus Christ. After his own conversion experience on the road to Damascus, Paul joined the church at Antioch and was there as it experienced tremendous growth. Trying to duplicate what he saw there, Paul made two attempts to start new ministries and both of these were complete failures. Trying to take a strategy that works in one church and use it in another will probably not work. Each church has to find its own way of bringing people to faith and this involves trial and error and the likelihood of many false starts. Like Paul we need to be persistent, get up from our failures and move on.

After his first two failures Paul had a dream. He had a vision of a man from Macedonia in northern Greece. This man needed help and asked Paul to come. Paul acted on this dream and set sail for Europe for the church’s first overseas mission trip. We don’t know anything about the man in Paul’s dream and there is no record that Paul ever met him. So Paul’s dream seems not to be a literal summons to respond to a need but an indirect action, by the Holy Spirit, to get Paul into Europe. We can expect from this that evangelism is less about our plans and more about what the Holy Spirit is doing in the community through us. Churches tend to think that they will grow with new programs or new music or even a new pastor. All of these might be good things to do. But ultimately evangelism is about what the Holy Spirit doing in the community and the church being an obedient servant following the Spirit’s direction.

Paul probably had no idea how to convert the people of Europe to faith in Jesus Christ. So he did what he usually did in times of uncertainty. He engaged in spiritual disciplines, Sabbath keeping and prayer. He went down to the side of the river where he supposed that there might be a synagogue engaging in prayer on the Sabbath. This shows us that evangelism always begins, not with a new program, but with spiritual disciplines like , prayer, Bible study, worship, and Sabbath keeping. Taking care of our own spirits helps us to be aware of the Holy Spirit and its work in our community. That is why a church that wants to grow must first immerse itself in daily prayer and meditation on scripture. This leads to spiritual growth which precedes numerical growth.

Paul entered the synagogue and began praying. There he met a woman named Lydia. She was a businesswoman. She sold purple cloth which by law only the upper class could wear. So she was probably very prosperous and had many contacts among the leaders of the community. And in her encounter with Paul we see the elements of successful evangelism.

We see, first of all, that Paul encountered Lydia on her turf. She was in a place that was familiar and comfortable, her synagogue on the Sabbath. This is important. When we want to approach people about faith we have to go to where they are. We can’t just sit here and hope that people will come to church on Sunday mornings to find Jesus. We have to go out to where the people are, to Hardees, or Rotary meetings, or tractor supply stores, or PTA meetings, wherever people meet. There we can meet people where they feel safe and are comfortable and therefore are receptive to what we have to say.

Paul started to talk with Lydia about faith. This is how conversion starts – in conversations with people. Paul talked about the good news of Jesus Christ and his own personal experiences after his encounter with Jesus. This is all we have to do in evangelism: tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the impact it has had on our lives. We all have compelling stories to tell. Others need to hear these stories before they can come to belief. And scripture promises that if we talk to others about our faith, the Holy Spirit will work though us and our words to bring them to belief.

After Lydia heard what Paul had to say, she wanted to hear even more about Jesus. So she invited Paul and his companions over to her home where the conversations about faith could continue. You see, people are on spiritual journeys. They are all satisfying their spiritual needs is some way. Maybe they do it with books and videos. Maybe they listen to Christian radio. Maybe they attend church or a small group. But we have the only thing that will satisfy their spiritual needs, the gospel Jesus Christ. So if we share the good news and our stories with people already on a spiritual journey they will want to know more about what we already have. This is our great opportunity for evangelism – to enter into the conversation about spirituality happening in American today and contributing our faith in Jesus Christ as an authentic spirituality. Paul brought the gospel into Lydia’s spiritual journey and this led to her conversion and the establishment of the church of Philippi.

So how can we do evangelism in our church? We start by determining what spiritual gifts are present in this congregation. According to demographers, about 10%, of us have the gift of evangelism, but only about ½% of us realize it. Those who have the gift of evangelism must be identified and nurtured. The rest of us have to be ready to help the evangelists with prayer and hospitality and by using the other gifts the Holy Spirit has given us to build up the church.

Once we have determined who the evangelists are, then we need to turn our attention to entry points in the church. An entry point is a place where people can interact with the church. For example the choir is an entry point for people in the community who love to sing. Our groups for women and men and Sunday morning classes are entry points for people looking for opportunities for Bible education. Our Sunrise Prayer Service is an entry point for people who need prayer. Special events and Sunday worship can all be entry points. Anything could be an entry point so long as it is something we are excited about and provides us something of interest or personal value. Those with the gift of evangelism should focus their efforts on bringing people into the church through these entry points where new people will find a fellowship of people with like interests with whom they can share their spiritual pilgrimage.

After we have determined the gifts of the congregation and entry points into the church our next task is to find bridge people. Bridge people link groups in the community with the entry points in the church. For example a bridge person might be a member of the choir and of the PTA and could invite people at the PTA who like to sing to be a part of our choir. Farmers in the church could invite other farmers to come to our Bible study on Fridays. Teachers in the church could invite other teachers to early morning prayers before school starts.

In Acts we saw what could happen when a person with the gift of evangelism, Paul, meets a bridge person, Lydia, and they develop an entry point, fellowship in her home. A house church was started in Lydia’s home and she began inviting her family, friends, customers and business associates. The church of Philippi, the first church in Europe, was born.

Later Paul wrote these words to Lydia and this new church.

Philippians 1:1-11 NRS Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Let us share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Pocomoke and pray that this work too will be completed when Jesus returns. Amen.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Sermon – Acts 11:1-18 – A Matter of Circumcision

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Acts 11:1-18 – A Matter of Circumcision
Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Presbyterian Churches
May 2, 2010

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Good Morning and welcome to Beaver Dam church. Today is the fifth Sunday of Easter. And we have spent five weeks looking at the reaction of Jesus’ disciples following his resurrection. Our purpose is to see if there is any evidence in scripture indicating if the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was an historical fact or an elaborate hoax. We started with a test suggested by the first century rabbi, Gamaliel that if the disciples of Jesus showed transformation in their lives and if this transformation succeeded in establishing the church then this would be evidence that God was with them and their account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ must be true. We saw the transformation in the lives of both Peter and Paul and the tremendous growth of the early church and concluded that the resurrection must have been the cause. Last week we applied a test suggested by Jesus that if what he was saying about resurrection was true then his followers would be able to do extraordinary things like heal the lame and raise the dead to new life. And once we saw this happening we knew that the resurrection of Jesus must be real. Today we will be applying yet another test. This one suggested by John the Baptist and affirmed by Jesus and a church council in Jerusalem. If this test is passed successfully then I think we can be assured that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead really happened. So let get to this, but first please pray with me.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Acts 11:1-18 NIV Acts 11:1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

4 Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 8 "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

11 "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' 15 "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17 So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"

18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."

Cornelius was an officer of the Roman Legions. He was commanding a hundred men serving as an occupying force in Judea. They were stationed in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. But they could march anywhere in region whenever the empire needed force to impose its will.

Cornelius was open to thinking in new ways. He had wandered into a synagogue in Caesarea one day and began having conversations with the rabbi. As he learned more and more about the Lord, God of Israel, he became a believer. As you heard earlier today non-Jews, those who are not descendants of Abraham and have not been circumcised, are not part of the covenant that God had established with his people. So Cornelius could never become a Jew, rather he became what was called a God-Fearer. And Cornelius began a life of obedience engaging in prayer and caring for the poor. One day, while praying, Cornelius saw a vision. An angel of God appeared and told Cornelius to summon Peter from Joppa. And Cornelius, being obedient to God, did just that.

Peter had just returned from witnessing the raising of Tabitha from the dead by the risen Jesus Christ. He entered into a period of prayer and fasting to try to discerned what all this meant. While praying he saw a vision of a sheet coming down from the sky with all kinds of birds and reptiles that he had always been taught never to eat. When God told him to kill and eat these things Peter’s stomach turned. How could he eat these unclean things? This challenged Peter’s identity as a Jew, as one who did not eat things like this. But God used this as an occasion to teach Peter something he needed to know. He told Peter that since everything was created by God, nothing was to be considered unclean. God then told Peter to go to Cornelius, the God-Fearer. And Peter, being obedient to God, did just that.

Peter arrived at Cornelius’ home. Cornelius was eagerly waiting for Peter to come. He wanted to know why God had asked him to summon Peter. He assumed that there was something that God was going say to him through Peter. So he greeted Peter warmly and their conversation began.

Peter explained his vision and how God had told him that everything had been created by God and therefore nothing was unclean. This was really good news for Cornelius. As an uncircumcised gentile he had always felt unclean. But now he knew that he was clean and would be accepted as a child of God. While Peter was proclaiming this good news the Holy Spirit came upon Cornelius. He began speaking in tongues. And Peter knew that it was time to baptize Cornelius and his family into the family of God as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The reaction to all of this in Jerusalem was harsh. They called Peter back to Jerusalem for a talk. They showed him in scripture where it said that only the children of Abraham who had be circumcised could be in the family of God. How could he do such a terrible thing as to baptize an uncircumcised Gentile?

But Peter reminded them of the words of John the Baptist who said: "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16). So it is Jesus Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And if we see people being baptized with the Holy Spirit then we must conclude that it is being done by Jesus who must be alive. Therefore the baptism of the Holy Spirit of Cornelius proves the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This argument persuaded the church leaders in Jerusalem who allowed uncircumcised gentiles into the church paving the way for Paul’s evangelism effort which established gentile churches all over the Mediterranean region.

This idea, that all people are created by God and must be welcomed around this table, is as difficult for us as it was for the first century church in Jerusalem. It was hard for them to accept the uncircumcised into their fellowship. And it is hard for us to accept the poor, Blacks, Hispanics, undocumented workers, homosexuals, and others whom we consider may unclean into our fellowship. If we take Peter’s vision seriously, and believe that everyone is created in the image of God, then don’t we have to invite the unclean of Pocomoke into our church to hear the proclamation of the good news and receive from Jesus the baptism of the Holy Spirit? I think the answer from today’s scripture is yes to all of these questions. And the promise of today’s scripture is that if we accept into Beaver Dam church what others call unclean we will be richly blessed with a growing church.

As we gather around this table today remember that this is the Lord’s Table. And all who are created by God are welcome to join us around it. You have heard the proclamation of the good news that we are all accepted into the family of God. So this is a joyful feast of the whole family coming together in the presence of Jesus Christ to break bread and drink wine. Everyone is welcome. Amen.

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