What's Ahead (?)

Tonight is the last night of 2022. 

College Football bowls and playoff games are being played. Parties are being held. Winter breaks are being enjoyed (except for those who flew with Southwest). 

The rest of my family is currently asleep, though my wife will probably want to wake up to see the NYE ball drop. 

Like many often do at this time of year, I've been reminiscing about the past. Not just this year though, the last 10. January 1 marks 10 years at Milford. It has been a rewarding and eventful journey. It felt like the first five years went long, while the last five went fast. Some of that is due to COVID interrupting a good portion of a year plus. Some of it was my own learning curve in ministry those first few years. 

The first seven plus years saw a lot of rewarding things happen. Yet it has also felt like the last 3-4 years have had a lot of difficulties - illnesses, deaths, COVID complications, a congregation changing and aging. 

Tomorrow is Sunday and I will be preaching my last sermon for a bit. It's nothing serious but I am taking sabbatical from my pastorate. Only for a month - a longer one likely awaits in 2024 and I feel more worn down than burned out. But it's a break I can tell my soul needs. It's needed to reconnect with God, stay connected with my family, and find refreshment without the week-to-week grind that being a pastor can often entail. 

I will be taking a break from social media and blogging. But I look forward to returning with some fresh perspective and fresh energy to continue to serve my Lord with all I have.

Faith and Doubt

I am 41 almost 42 years old. 

I've read the Bible since I was a kid and have seriously studied it since I was 17. And still there are times where I go, "Hmm, never seen that before."

The latest example came this week as I prepped for my sermon on the aftermath of the resurrection, in Matthew 28 - appropriately one week after Easter.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Did you catch that? "they worshipped him; but some doubted." 

It is no secret that the disciple Thomas doubted (see John 20) and his story is instructive on its own. But this implies there were more "doubters". And Thomas' account is actually more about disbelief. The term used here is about uncertainty, hesitation, and being unsure. Without splitting too many hairs, these comments are not about unbelief-related doubt but about confusion-related doubt.

And who can blame them? They'd just been through a roller-coaster of a week, filled with hopeful celebrations and the starkest of traumas. The "too-good-to-be-true news" turns out to be real and they worship. Some clearly are still trying to process it all and have genuine doubts - unsure about what it all means, what has happened, and what is to come.

The incredible thing about this part of the story is Jesus' response. We know he graciously warns Thomas about "unbelief" but in this description regarding these doubts, he offers something different. He does not rebuke them for denying him (looking at you Peter) or abandoning him in the Garden (looking at the other 10 of you). He reassures them by focusing them on his supreme authority and empowering them for their mission: 

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

One takeaway from this new observation is that faith and doubt can go together. Some view doubt as an enemy or the opposite of faith. It is as if we must have all the answers to all the questions or we aren't right with God. I don't think so. I think doubt/uncertainty is inherent to faith. Like the father seeking healing for his son in Mark 9:24, we will honestly say sometimes "I believe, but help my unbelief". 

Jesus isn't threatened by our hesitations, confusion, or for that matter our unbelief. He offers us himself -  the supreme King of the Universe - not to give us all the answers, but to encourage us that he's in control. He has a purpose for us and he will be with us. 

There will always be an element of ambiguity to life of faith in Jesus. There will be things we don't know, can't know, and will never know. He will take care of that stuff - and take care of us. And he will welcome our struggle with doubt even if it gets mixed in with our worship. 

Our human nature won't like the tension of faith and doubt. If we turn it over to Jesus, we can learn to live with it.

Wednesday Wisdom

I don't know about "wisdom" but today I thought I would offer you a peek behind the curtain of what the routine of ministry can be like for a pastor - at least this pastor.

There have been long stretches, "seasons" if I want to use church terminology, where I would reflect on my weekly schedule and wonder if I was spending too much time in books. 

Sermon preparation is a important. Sometimes pastors make it too important, as if a 20-45 minute message is going to completely override the hundreds of hours of other messages our people are consuming during the week. And for that reason this pastor sometimes wonders if my week has been taken up by too much commentary reading and message-preparing. Proclaiming God's Word is a vital task but that wondering is helpful self-evaluation that ensures things are in balance. 

That's how some stretches of my routine can go. Then there are days and weeks like the last few I have been through. A elderly widow needs moved, people call in looking for basic assistance, lunches are planned, and meetings must take place. Sermon prep gets done but it gets done more in the margins while relationships and interpersonal interactions dominate my time. It is during these times I remind myself that pastoring is by definition more shepherding than studying.

Ebbs and flows have marked my almost 9 years now as a full-time pastor of our church. I'm thankful I have had room to use my stronger gifts for the edification of our people. But even more so, I'm grateful to have had the space to grow in areas where I wasn't as polished. Pastoring is a multi-faceted calling and our people have been patient and gracious and appreciative of the learning curve I have been on. 

Now, on to the rest of my day full of sermon prep, ministry lunch meetings, and two other appointments.

Music Mondays + Sermon Snippets

Yesterday was unique in the sense that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday. 

Naturally, this pastor chose to prepare a topical sermon on love. I eschewed the theme of romantic love, though I believe Scripture has much to say on that topic. I decided instead to focus on God's love for us. 

The verses of Ephesians 3:17-19 had come to mind early in my preparation process, especially the part where Paul prays that we "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...".

Have you ever thought about how wide God's love is? How long it stretches? How high it reaches? How deep it goes?

I tried to answer those questions in the message and, in doing so, many great songs kept popping up into my head. 

This one in particular stood out above the rest and I ended up quoting it in my conclusion. 

It is such a great song that pays proper tribute to the amazing love of God towards us. I am always captured by the lyrics of the second verse which state:

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies of parchment made

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky

Some songs begin with their most powerful and profound statements. This one waits until the second verse to use incredible imagery to capture the limitless nature of God's love for us.

The love of God - it shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels song!

Making Golden Calves out of Bronze Serpents

In my sermon prep last week in 2 Kings 17-20, a detail popped out to me as I was working through the text. 

In describing the spiritual reforms King Hezekiah implemented, the author makes this note in 18:4

"He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan."

If that reference doesn't ring a bell, there's a short little story in Numbers 21:4-8 of the Israelites growing impatient on their Exodus journey to the Promised Land. God sends snakes in their camp as punishment - and then provides a solution, having Moses craft a snake made of bronze. Anyone who was bitten could look at the serpent and live. Jesus even references it to predict his own sacrificial death in John 3:13-15.

So here in the time of Hezekiah, we learn a) Israel had kept this item b) they had begun to worship it and 3) the King ordered it's destruction. 

What are we to infer from these things?

Well, with a), it was not inappropriate for them to have kept this "icon" that reminded them of God's grace. We know that the Ark of the Covenant was a physical item meant to portray (and seat) God's divine presence. And the Ark itself held other items of special notoriety, namely Moses' staff, manna, and the 10 Commandment tablets. 

Point b) and c) naturally go together as one causes the other. Technically, the passage stops short of stating that out-and-out worship was being observed in the presence of the bronze artifact. Yet the context is clear that Hezekiah was not going to stand for anything that went beyond Yahweh-prescribed worship. 

I find it fascinating how b) follows a) though. Maybe convicting is the better word. Doesn't this feel totally normal for the human experience? Human beings were given a visible sign as part of God's gracious assistance and they start to ascribe special value to the statue itself? Of course we did. 

Early on in church history, the Eastern Orthodox and Western portions of Christianity split over issues including the use of images and iconography. Roman Catholic cathedrals around the world feature exhibits (for lack of a better term) of various alleged items of significant objects of historical Christian events. Evangelical churches aren't often that direct. But we like to put a cross prominently on everything and often take great pride in our architecture and building environment. We often glorify experiences - camps, missions trips, the eucharist - making them the main thing rather than the actual experience of knowing God. 

I'm not equating these examples nor am I outright condemning them. To be honest, this is a half-baked idea. I'm not fully sure of what big application I want to make here other than, we better take care not to make idols out of symbols or memorials. Don't hedge your bets with other rituals or let good tokens of grace turn into superstitious lucky charms. Bronze serpents can easily turn into golden calves if we don't keep the main thing the main thing.

P.S. If I really wanted to stir up some stuff, I might question whether or not we Americans do this with our flag, i.e., do we worry about "disrespecting the flag" as an object instead of focusing on what the flag represents - freedom, independence etc?

Home Worship 5/17/20

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. How does Paul describe his calling in 15:15-16 - what is his goal?
2. Read this article as it relates to Paul's mention of "Illyricum". What are the options for what he's saying? When would he have ministered there?
3. How does Paul taking the collection to Jerusalem picture the Gospel in his estimation - 15:25-27?
4. What warning does he give as he wraps things up in 16:17-18?
5. Who does Paul want to be the focus as he ends his letter - 16:25-27?

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Let's take a look at other endings Paul writes in his letters to other churches.

Monday - 1 Corinthians 16:10-24

Tuesday - Galatians 6:11-18

Wednesday - Colossians 4:7-18

Thursday - 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Friday - 2 Timothy 4:6-22

Saturday - Titus 3:9-15

Home Worship 5/10/20

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. What specifically can the "strong" in faith do that the "weak" cannot - 14:2-3, 5-6?
2. What are Paul's specific commands to each side of the issue - 14:1-4,13; 15:1,7?
3. What are non-essential issues of our day that Christians often get hung up on?
   
4. What kinds of sacrifices does Paul ask the strong to make in 14:19-23?
   
5. Who is the example to follow - 15:3-6?

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 14:1-12

Tuesday - Romans 14:13-23

Wednesday - Romans 15:1-13

Thursday - 1 Corinthians 8

Friday - 1 Corinthians 9

Saturday - 1 Corinthians 10

Home Worship - 5/3/20

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. Who are some examples, from the Bible and elsewhere, of people who blessed their persecutors (12:14)?
2. Who are some examples of people of "low position" whom you can reach out to (12:16)?
3. Why does Paul tell us not to get even in 12:19?
4. Why should we submit to our government (13:1-2)?
5. What example does he give of how we can do this (13:6-7)? What are other ways you can think of?

I'd highly recommend reading this post by Pastor Jordan Muck with summarizes well the biblical foundation for how we ought to interact with our governing powers.

I would also encourage you to become familiar with the life stories of Paul Schneider, Franz Jagerstatter, and Dietrich Bonhoffer. 

Highly recommended viewing - A Hidden Life which tells the story of Mr. Jagerstatter.

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 12:14-13:7

Tuesday - Daniel 6

Wednesday - Acts 4

Thursday - Matthew 5:38-42

Friday - Matthew 17:24-27

Saturday - 1 Peter 2:11-25

Home Worship - 4/26/20

Here's this week's Worship Supplement to go along with our message in Romans 11.

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. What three words are used to describe our sacrifice of ourselves to God in 12:1?
   
2. What might it look like to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? What things could we do to renew our minds?
   
3. What metaphor does Paul give to encourage us to think of ourselves with "sober judgment" - 12:4-5? How does that relate to our giftedness in 12:6-8?
   
4. What command ties 12:9-13 and 13:8-10 together?
   
5. Why is remaining dedicated to God so crucial according to 13:11-14?

Worship Songs

Devotional Guide

Monday - Romans 12:1-13

Tuesday - Romans 13:8-14

Wednesday - 1 Corinthians 12:1-13

Thursday 1 Corinthians 12:14-31

Friday - 1 Corinthians 13

Saturday - 1 Thessalonians 5

Home Worship - 4/19/20

Here's this week's Worship Supplement to go along with our message in Romans 11.

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html (video will post by Sunday afternoon)

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. What evidence does Paul give that God hasn't outright rejected Israel? 11:1-6
2. What is God's purpose in allowing Israel's rejection?  11:11
3. What does Paul hope to do as he preaches Jesus to the Gentiles? 11:13-14
4. How can we be sure God will draw Israel back to himself?  11:28-29
5. Given God's plan to redeem both Jew and Gentile, how should we respond?  11:33-36

Worship Songs

Weekly Devotional Guide

• Monday - 1 Kings 19
• Tuesday - Psalm 69
• Wednesday - Psalm 92
• Thursday - Isaiah 29:1-10
• Friday - Isaiah 29:11-14
• Saturday - John 15:1-17

If you wanted some good perspective from a Christian journalist and author, I'd encourage you to also read this article that I find to be a convicting yet fair assessment of our response as Christ-followers: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/are-we-christians-the-rich-young-ruler-covid-19/

Home Worship - 4/5/20

Happy Palm Sunday! I'm not happy we cannot meet together yet, but hopefully our thoughts can begin to focus on the hope of the Holy Week and Easter.

Here's this Sunday's Worship Supplement to go along with our message in Romans 9:30-10:21.

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. Who was the "stumbling stone" that tripped up Israel? Why did they trip up? What were they focused on instead? (9:30-33)
2. What is the reason Israel lost its way according to 10:3-4?
3. How can people find salvation according to Romans 10:9-10?
4. Who bears responsibility for Israel's rejection? (10:21)
5. What are some ways we as Christians can be obstinate and reject God's clear Word like Israel did (be specific)?

Worship Songs

It is well

Hosanna (Praise is Rising)

Mighty to Save

King of Kings

Daily Devotional Guide

Here are some related passages to our Romans 10 and this Easter Week to study in your daily devotional time.

• Monday - Deuteronomy 30:1-14
• Tuesday - Isaiah 28
• Wednesday - Mark 12
• Thursday- Mark 14
• Friday - Mark 15
• Saturday - Mark 16

Home Worship - 3/29/20

Greetings! We're trying something a little "extra" for this week's worship. Given we're all still following the "self-isolation" guidelines to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, I thought we'd give you a supplement for doing church at home.

Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Or through our website here: https://www.milfordfirstbrethren.org/live.html

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1.     Paul, a Jew, calls himself an “apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom.1:5). What is his response to the Jewish people rejecting the Gospel – 9:1-3? 

2.     What are the spiritual privileges Israel had – 9:4-5? 

3.     What is the point Paul is making about the true children and descendants of Abraham – 9:6-9? 

4.     Who are the other Old Testament people Paul references in 9:10-18 and what is the truth about God he is teaching? 

5.     In 9:25-26, Paul quotes verses from Hosea that originally were about Israel. Who does he apply them to now here in Romans? 

6.     What does this chapter teach us about God’s larger plan of salvation?

Worship Songs

Had we gathered in person today, here's a sample of what the worship would have been like. Given our passage's focus on God's plan and promises, focus on these hymns that highlight the same sorts of themes.

Originally, our worship teams were planning to introduce a song to our congregation this week called "King of Kings" from Hillsong. We were going to use it as an offertory and then start teaching it to you over the next couple weeks. Ultimately the goal is to incorporate it into our worship service on Easter. It is an incredible worship song that reflects on the meta-story of the Bible that culminates in the beautiful events of Easter (and beyond).

Daily Devotional Reading

Paul traces Israel’s history through this chapter to show how God’s plan has been unfolding in unique and unexpected ways from the beginning. This week, let’s look at the Old Testament background passages to gain a fuller appreciation of Romans 9.

Monday – Abraham & Isaac, Genesis 21, 22:15-19

      Tuesday – Isaac/Rebekah and Jacob/Esau, Genesis 25:19-34

-       

Wednesday – Moses and Pharaoh, Exodus 9-10:20

Thursday – Moses and Pharaoh, Exodus 10:21-11, 12:29-36

Friday – the Potter and the Clay, Jeremiah 18

Saturday – the Prophets, Isaiah 10:12-34

"Has the pastor lost his mind?" - a sermon snippet

No Music Monday this week. Though if you want to scratch that itch and more, check out this article on U2. I'm a casual but ardent U2 fan and it was a lot of fun going through their catalog.

I did want to share another fun thing I'm indulging in, narrative sermons for our Christmas series. Thanks to my friend and author Amy Green, I have some really good scripts to 'act out' instead of preach this holiday season. 

I first learned of narrative sermons in seminary, but I had seen a few from my mentor, Pastor Ralph Porter, when he was at my home church during my college and seminary days. 

In our seminary preaching classes, they required us to preach one. The hardest part for me was the 'script'. Writing from the point of view of a character didn't come naturally to me. So last year, when I read through Amy's blog, I knew I had the basic content I needed to actually preach one well. 

So, on top of the excellent material I was beginning with, I added a few rhetorical nuggets, found some pretty good costumes in our church storage, and warned our people ahead of time that these Christmas sermons were about to get weird. 

Don't be fooled by these pictures, there were plenty of people in attendance. Few of our folks want to sit right up front is all. I will probably add some more later. And next week, I might even have some video and you can judge for yourself how good of an actor I am. For now, you can listen to our audio recording, and imagine me prancing around the front wearing some very interesting garb.

Sermon Snippets

Sometimes it's clear throughout the sermon preparation process that some points of an expositional and exegetical message are more powerful than others. When a pastor knows what is going on in the context of his congregation, he will often see relevant points of application within the words of Scripture that will hit home to anyone with a pulse sitting in the pews of his congregation.

Sometimes it is not clear until the actual sermon is presented that these points become clear. A pastor may or may not realize it, but often the congregation will let him know how much they appreciated x,y, or z point that he made because it related to what they are going through.

This week, I think it happened during the in-between. By 'in-between', I mean during the time when I practiced my sermon this morning. The best I can express it is that I felt the Holy Spirit impress upon me the weight and power of the principles I was expounding on from Scripture.

I'm not going to share specifically what it was, as I don't want to spoil Sunday. Though I always enjoy the week-to-week study of God's Word and consistently feel awe and wonder at the truth of God's Word, I don't always get 'blown away' by it. I don't know if that feels as strange to read as it does to write - shouldn't a pastor always be super-passionate and super-awed about proclaiming a message from God's Word because he's fully digested it and wrestled with it deeply? - but quite honestly, this pastor isn't always super-convicted and completely humbled by the message each week. I seek that level of interaction with the passage, but some weeks it resonates better than others.

This should probably teach me something about how those sitting in the pews will respond and react to my sermons.

I wasn't intending to go in this direction for this week's 'Sermon Snippets', yet here we are. If I haven't lost you yet, permit me to take one final rabbit trail regarding sermon preparation.

While we weren't required to do one specific style in seminary, we were encouraged to both write out our sermons and practice them. From there we would encouraged to find whatever method worked for us. So normally on Fridays, I will cue up my PowerPoint in the sanctuary and preach my sermon to an empty room.

Since then, I've continued to write out my sermons and also practice them. I know some pastors who only sketch out their outlines and preach from there. I know others who use Saturday to finish their messages. After 10 years of teaching regularly and now preaching consistently, I've found I work best when I progressively prepare for my lesson/sermon so that it is complete by Friday.  I usually start prep on Wednesday, and I've found this pace helpful because it allows the sermon text and ideas to rattle around in my head for three days.

And once I have the sermon in a completed form, it continues to marinate in my heart and head one more day. I usually review it on Saturday, sometimes re-practicing it, if I've made major changes.

I find that practicing my messages is helpful for a couple of reasons.

First, it gives me a sense of time.  While my church is not too particular, I do want to be sensitive to not going too long. Some preachers, like John MacArthur and Dale Harris, are talented enough communicators to make a 50 minute sermon feel like 20. I don't think I'm that good. My goal is 30 minutes, I don't feel bad if I'm five minutes under or over.

Second, it allows me to personalize the message and inhabit it after I've typed it out in my head. Sometimes talking my way through it shows me that what sounded good in my head doesn't sound smooth when actually spoken. Practicing the sermon allows me to capture an effective pace and work on generating momentum into key points and principles drawn from the text.

I can admit that there have been times I think I've practiced too much. Usually twice before Sunday is the limit for me. After that, I feel like I lose some of the natural emotional force of necessary for good public speaking.

I don't know if that all makes sense, but hopefully it's an interesting peek behind the curtain of sermon preparation.