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Category: 1 Thessalonians (Page 4 of 8)

Giving Central a Break

March 10, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I know when I’m out of town or on a vacation and somebody else preaches for me, it’s good for Central. I figure the church needs a break. The same can be said as it relates to our church staff and probably the elders: when I’m not there, it’s probably good. I think I can be overly intense and loud. I think I’ve mainly only got one speed and only one volume. And a lot of me for too long of a time is probably too much.

So I haven’t preached at Central in two weeks. We were so blessed to have Rick Atchley preach for us two Sundays ago and then my family and I were gone last Sunday visiting Valerie in Edmond. We missed Central’s annual baby blessing, but, again, I think our church needed a break.

As a church, we’ve also been blowing and going pretty hard since October with our Ignite Initiative. I’ve preached lots of sermons on giving, we’ve talked a lot about vision and mission. It’s been challenging. We’ve all been stretched. God has been faithful and our church has been fabulous. But, in a lot of ways, it’s been tiring. For me, for sure and, I’m assuming, also for Central.

So, my plan has been to start this Sunday on an eight or nine week expository series through 1 Thessalonians. I thought it would be good for all of us to dive into 1 Thessalonians and just relax in it together. I think I feel about Central the way the apostle Paul feels about this church in Thessalonica. When I read this ancient letter to that little church that was meeting in Jason’s house in Thessalonica, I think I could write a similar letter to Central.

1 Thessalonians is different from all the rest of Paul’s letters in the New Testament. In every one of his letters, Paul is responding to a crisis in some church. He’s correcting a false teaching or fixing a bad practice or criticizing some ungodly attitude or behavior. Except in 1 Thessalonians. Instead of rebuking and correcting, Paul writes to these Christians in Thessalonica: Keep doing exactly what you’re doing!

“We instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” ~1 Thessalonians 4:1

This is a very encouraging letter. It’s very positive. It’s inspiring. And I figure it’ll be good for our church to just relax for a couple of months with this easy letter.

But after studying it for the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed it’s not going to be that easy.

The opening ten verses are all thanksgiving and praise, but every sentence is loaded. I have found myself writing a sermon that’s as much challenge and stretch as it is attaboys and praise. What’s wrong with me? I can’t read words like “power” and “deep conviction” without wondering if we feel that in us. I wonder about how well we imitate Christ under the threat of suffering. What does it take to be a “model” church? Have we turned from our idols? What’s wrong with me?

I can’t help it.

I’ll say it again: I feel about Central the way Paul feels about this church in Thessalonica. Central, I believe, is a model church. And we’re serious about this church. We’re reading the Scriptures and we’re fasting and praying. We’re paying more attention to formation. We’re focused on the vision the mission. I’m taking it seriously. And so is the whole church. We’re all walking together.

I just don’t want us to ever settle for surviving — let’s get to thriving! Let’s challenge “what is” for the sake of what could be and should be! If we dig deeper and climb higher and live better and serve others in faith, hope, and love, hell can’t put up gates big enough or strong enough to stop us!

I promise you, Central, this sermon series from 1 Thessalonians will be a bit of a break. Just not as much of a break as I had planned and that you probably deserve.

Peace,

Allan

Resurrection Hope

December 14, 2016 / / 0 Comments

resurrectionbodies“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people.” ~1 Corinthians 15:19

Where is your hope? If your hope is in your health, you’re in trouble because you can’t control that. You can’t count on your health. There are lots of people in your life who can testify to that.

Is your hope in your money or your retirement account or your investments? I pray it’s not. You can’t control your money, either. There’s no guarantee with money. So what if you’ve got a million dollars, how much is it worth when the economy tanks?

Where is your hope? Do you even think about it?

So many of us are talking on the Bluetooth while we’re tapping out a text while we’re ordering at the drive-thru at McDonald’s on the way to a meeting that starts in three-and-a-half minutes. We’re just flying from place to place and going and doing and chasing and getting so frantically, we don’t ever think about the things we’re pursuing. What am I really hoping for?

The truth is we’re all going to die. The truth is that, eventually, you are going to stop breathing, you’re going to die, we’re going to put your body in a box, we’re going to put that box in the ground, we’re going to go inside and eat fried chicken and green bean casserole, and then in about two generations we’re going to forget everything about you. That’s the truth.

(Aren’t you glad you decided to read my blog today?)

There’s got to be more. There had better be more.

“Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” ~1 Corinthians 15:20-23

Our hope is in the resurrection of the body. That means, yes, our God has the final word over death. God has the final say. Not crippling disease, not mental illness, not violent crime, not war, not starvation — our Father has the final say. Your life on this earth might be long and happy or your life might be a bitter experience of pain and groaning. Whatever ravages the hostile powers might inflict on your body or the bodies of those you love, the empty tomb of Jesus and the resurrection promise of God fill us with a genuine hope that the body sown in weakness will be raised in power to life.

“By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.” ~1 Corinthians 6:14

We put undo hope in things that can’t deliver. We don’t rely on God like we should. We put more trust in ourselves and our stuff. It’s not because we intentionally downplay or reject the promises of God, I think it’s because we don’t slow down enough to allow ourselves time to truly reflect.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant about death or to grieve like the rest of people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe…we will be with the Lord forever.” ~1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Peace,

Allan

Proclaiming the Kingdom of God

September 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Megaphone2

The Good News is that Jesus is the new King. With the resurrection and ascension of our Christ, all the kingdoms and nations of the world are claimed under his Lordship. That’s what we proclaim. That’s what the Christians were doing in Thessalonica; and it got them in trouble.

“They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ~ Acts 17:7

Paul goes to Rome, right under the nose of Caesar himself, right in the middle of the Empire’s capital city and “preached the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ boldly and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31).

The whole point is that the world has turned a new corner. A new age has arrived. The entire earth has a new King and people have to be told about it. Because not everybody knows.

Most people today, in a world where Jesus is Lord, are still serving the old kings. And there’s no hope in that. No hope. Most people place their trust and faith in the old kings and old governments, old political systems and old rulers. And there’s no hope.

You see it in the Middle East where dictators rule unjustly and people are treated unfairly. You see it in Africa and parts of Europe where the government refuses to meet the basic needs of their people. No grace. No mercy. No salvation. You see it in the United States where the political system is a gigantic mess. Every politician on both ends of the spectrum and at every position in between says, “Vote for me! Vote for us and everything will be better!” But we don’t believe any of them anymore so they have to dress it up with more hype and noise and spin.

We are sent, each of us, by the authority of Christ Jesus and by the power of his Spirit to spread the news of his good and righteous rule. By our calling as his ambassadors and emissaries, it is our duty and command, all of us, to tell the nations they have a new King. By virtue of his resurrection and our own participation in the new eternal life, it is our great privilege to shout from the rooftops the dawning of the age of the Kingdom of God.

And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we’re up for it. We experience God’s restoration every day. We have received his grace and peace. We can speak of a new creation and we can live a new life because our Lord has already won the war and reigns right now today and forever at God’s right hand.

“Now to him who is able to establish you by the Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ… so that all nations might believe and obey him — to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.” ~Romans 16:25-27

Peace,

Allan

Promised Sanctification

July 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

CrossRoads

Salvation is a process. Slow and painful, mysterious, with many ups and downs, and largely hidden from view. By the grace of God and the power of his Spirit, we are becoming more and more like Christ. And it’s difficult.

I was reminded during some prayer time this morning of a passage in C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity that addresses the topic of sanctification from Jesus’ point of view:

“The moment you put yourself in my hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push me away. But if you do not push me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, and whatever it costs me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect — until my Father can say without reservation that he is well pleased with you, as he said he was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.”

Our Lord has promised to bring that thing he has started in me to completion. It’s not happening as quickly as I had hoped. Sometimes it’s not as much fun as I imagined. And there are times I honestly don’t feel like it’s happening at all. But I trust him. I trust him.

And you can, too.

Peace,

Allan

Thanksgiving in Christ

November 26, 2014 / / 0 Comments

In good times and bad, we have much for which to be thankful. Much. Odds are that you personally rank in the top ten percent of the wealthiest people in the world. And, yes, we are thankful. We are thankful for all the wonderful blessings of our lives: our families, our children, our friends, our jobs and houses, our cars and money. And that’s good. It’s very good to acknowledge God as the giver of all good gifts. Everything you have is a gift from God. We thank him for every good thing we see.

But beyond that — way, way, way beyond that — we enjoy the blessings of a righteous relationship with God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Everything we’ve been given, all our possessions, every blessing you could possibly count this week finds more significance because of Christ. Every blessing is richer, it’s better, it’s deeper, it’s more significant, it’s more meaningful because of Christ. In fact, all thanksgiving is because of, related to, and in the name of Jesus.

The things the Scriptures long for, the blessings the psalms yearn for, the promises the Bible begs to be delivered are all fulfilled for us in Christ Jesus. He is our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption.

So, you’re thankful today? “Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25)

You’re thankful for a particular person today? “I always thank God for you, because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus!” (1 Corinthians 1:4)

You’re thankful today even in tough times? “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

You’re thankful for salvation? “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:57)

In Ephesians 5:20, Paul tells us to give thanks to God “for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have a whole lot for which to be thankful today. Let’s be reminded that all thanksgiving — all of it — finds its source and its meaning in our Savior and Lord.

Peace,

Allan

Life in a Theocracy

July 1, 2014 / / 2 Comments

I got sidetracked the past two weeks by what we’re preaching at Central from the first chapter of Philippians that I just had to write about. Allow me now to return for the rest of this week to a couple of more personal observations and thoughts from “Approaching the End: Eschatological Reflections on Church, Politics, and Life” by Stanley Hauerwas.

“Jesus is Lord” is more than just someone’s opinion. It’s more than a claim or a belief. It’s even more than the Christian confession. “Jesus is Lord” is actually a strong political statement that demands allegiance. It is a pledge to another reality, the ultimate reality that not everyone can see.  To say “Jesus is Lord” is to say “Caesar is not.” To claim that “Jesus is Lord” is to claim that he alone rules the world right now today. And to live like it.

The reality of Christ’s lordship, of his rule and authority, is experienced and expressed by the Church. This rule is hidden from most of the world right now. But the Church knows. We know. We submit to the rule of Christ Jesus. We follow in his prescribed “way.” We seek to love and to serve in the name and manner of our King, completely counter to the way the kings of the earth rule and lead. We are convinced beyond any doubt that Christ Jesus has already conquered the world and that he alone will determine the end of history. So we do things the way Jesus does things. He reveals himself and his rule through us.

In contemplating the practical implications of this Christian view of reality, Hauerwas draws on John Howard Yoder. To be a Christian is to subscribe to a particular political view and adhere to specific political behaviors. It’s all politics. The Church is the existence of a people who refuse to acknowledge the claims of worldly rulers to be kings. Therefore, because the Lord triumphed on the cross, his followers refuse to use the violence and force of earthly rulers to achieve what are allegedly good ends.

We are Theocrats. We live in a Theocracy. And it determines what we believe and how we act.

Christian politics are

“based on the confidence that God uses the power structures of this world in spite of themselves for God’s purposes. Christ carries out the purposes of the One who is sovereign by ruling over the rebellious structures of the universe. That rule is hidden but made visible through the servant church. The place of the church in the history of the universe is the place where Christ’s lordship is operative. This is where it is clear that he rules, as well as the kind of rule he exercises. He is the suffering servant whose rule is decisively revealed on a cross. The church makes history not through domination but through being the servant of the crucified Lord.”

Now quoting Yoder from his “The Politics of Jesus”:

“The cross and not the sword, suffering and not brute power determine the meaning of history. The key to the obedience of God’s people is not their effectiveness, but their patience (John 13:10). The triumph of the right is assured not by the might that comes to the aid of the right, which is of course the justification of the use of violence and other kinds of power in every human conflict. The relationship between the obedience of God’s people and the triumph of God’s cause is not a relationship of cause and effect but cross and resurrection.”

How do we recapture this way of political thinking today?

We Christians in the West are so “Constantinianized” (I think I just made that word up) that we don’t see God’s Kingdom anymore as opposed to the kingdoms of the world. We no longer understand that Christ’s rule works just the opposite of the rule of earthly presidents and kings. The Church is so domesticated that instead of seeing Christ’s rule working to overthrow and ultimately conquer the rule of every monarchy, democracy, and dictatorship on the planet, and praying for it, we see the Church and the nation’s government working together. We’ve gone so far as to equate their methods and their goals, the ways and means of both the state and Jesus, and to hold both rulers and manner of ruling in equal regard. Living as a Christian doesn’t mean exploring what makes us faithful followers of Jesus as much as it means developing an ethic that might work for everybody.

Yikes.

How do we live in and under the rule of Christ? Well, we’ve got to decide once and for all that obligations to a particular state or nation, devotion to a specific society or economic system, cannot compromise or supersede our commitments to the Lord. Paul and Jason and the disciples in Thessalonica were arrested for “defying Caesar’s decrees,” claiming that “there is another king, one called Jesus” (Acts 17:7).

Yes, there is another king. His name is Jesus. And he is Lord.

Peace,

Allan

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