http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php en-us Library of sermons given at Saint James Church, 2006 and newer are available as MP3 downloads. Outlines are provided as available. © 2008 Saint James Church 1440 Saint James Church Library of sermons given at Saint James Church, 2006 and newer are available as MP3 downloads. Outlines are provided as available. Saint James Church email@saint-james.org Fri, 09 May 2008 09:53:20 -0400 Louise Weld 4/27/2008 Not as Orphans! NOT AS ORPHANS! Saint James Church April 27, 2008 It is an odd thing Jesus says to a bunch of grown, self sufficient men in the Gospel of John this morning: I will not leave you as orphans. Jesus is preparing them for His departure, and you’d think He be strategizing with them, giving directions. (After all, He is leaving the fate of the world in their hands.) Instead, He is taking care of their hearts… and our hearts, because He knows we are all needy orphans, with hopelessly broken hearts, outside of a relationship with the Father who created us. We think a lot about orphans at Saint James because of our relationships with Suzie McCall and God’s Littlest Lambs and Michael and Michiel Campbell at Save R Kids in Guyana. Some of us here were orphaned by some circumstance of life and have been happily adopted into families. There are orphans all over the world: some of get taken in or adopted , some don’t. Being an orphan can stunt development and cause behavioral troubles. Among children who are adopted later than infancy, there can be all kinds of difficult issues. There’s a psychological condition called an attachment disorder: symptoms include inability to develop and maintain friendships; alienation from caregivers and other authority figures; aggression and violence; difficulty with genuine trust, intimacy, and affection; negative, hopeless, pessimistic view of self, family and society. The condition springs from inadequate or abusive or absent parenting. In the spiritual world we call this inability to attach (to love) an orphan spirit. And since God’s chief commandment is that we love Him and one another, an inability to love is a BIG problem. But the amazing news of the Gospel is that Jesus has come just for this: to make possible and then to invite us into the relationship that heals us. Jesus tells us that He is sending the Holy Spirit to be in us to show us that I am in my Father and you are in me, and I am in you. This is FAMILY! What Jesus is going to do for those disciples who are soon to feel abandoned and lost, is to seal them in a relationship so secure and abundant and fulfilling that they will lack nothing and fear nothing—not the things of the world that threaten to destroy them, not even the persecution and deaths they will experience on account of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul waxes eloquent on the subject: 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. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. It is both an objective and a subjective reality: The Spirit… testifies with our spirit. We will KNOW that we are safe and loved. There is no one more self-confident and secure and full of delight in the world than a little child who knows his/her parents (and especially his father) love him. That is the Spirit of sonship. And it is God’s free gift to all who will abandon their striving, their trying to measure up, to prove themselves; and simply receive it. God’s only plan for redeeming the world, is that those who become children of God and heirs, co-heirs with Christ, will not be able to keep this gift of grace, this great blessing, to themselves. We will seek out the orphans around the world and in our own neighborhoods and offer them adoption. We will pray and work and love for the spread of the Kingdom of God. All for the love of Him who first loved us. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080427Msermon.mp3 4/27/2008 Not as Orphans! NOT AS ORPHANS! Saint James Church April 27, 2008 It is an odd thing Jesus says to a bunch of grown, self sufficient men in the Gospel of John this morning: I will not leave you as orphans. Jesus is preparing them for His departure, and you’d think He be strategizing with them, giving directions. (After all, He is leaving the fate of the world in their hands.) Instead, He is taking care of their hearts… and our hearts, because He knows we are all needy orphans, with hopelessly broken hearts, outside of a relationship with the Father who created us. We think a lot about orphans at Saint James because of our relationships with Suzie McCall and God’s Littlest Lambs and Michael and Michiel Campbell at Save R Kids in Guyana. Some of us here were orphaned by some circumstance of life and have been happily adopted into families. There are orphans all over the world: some of get taken in or adopted , some don’t. Being an orphan can stunt development and cause behavioral troubles. Among children who are adopted later than infancy, there can be all kinds of difficult issues. There’s a psychological condition called an attachment disorder: symptoms include inability to develop and maintain friendships; alienation from caregivers and other authority figures; aggression and violence; difficulty with genuine trust, intimacy, and affection; negative, hopeless, pessimistic view of self, family and society. The condition springs from inadequate or abusive or absent parenting. In the spiritual world we call this inability to attach (to love) an orphan spirit. And since God’s chief commandment is that we love Him and one another, an inability to love is a BIG problem. But the amazing news of the Gospel is that Jesus has come just for this: to make possible and then to invite us into the relationship that heals us. Jesus tells us that He is sending the Holy Spirit to be in us to show us that I am in my Father and you are in me, and I am in you. This is FAMILY! What Jesus is going to do for those disciples who are soon to feel abandoned and lost, is to seal them in a relationship so secure and abundant and fulfilling that they will lack nothing and fear nothing—not the things of the world that threaten to destroy them, not even the persecution and deaths they will experience on account of the Gospel. The Apostle Paul waxes eloquent on the subject: 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. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. It is both an objective and a subjective reality: The Spirit… testifies with our spirit. We will KNOW that we are safe and loved. There is no one more self-confident and secure and full of delight in the world than a little child who knows his/her parents (and especially his father) love him. That is the Spirit of sonship. And it is God’s free gift to all who will abandon their striving, their trying to measure up, to prove themselves; and simply receive it. God’s only plan for redeeming the world, is that those who become children of God and heirs, co-heirs with Christ, will not be able to keep this gift of grace, this great blessing, to themselves. We will seek out the orphans around the world and in our own neighborhoods and offer them adoption. We will pray and work and love for the spread of the Kingdom of God. All for the love of Him who first loved us. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=653 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 4/27/2008 Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080427Csermon.mp3 4/27/2008 Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=654 Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 4/20/2008 Faith Encourages Faith http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080420Csermon.mp3 4/20/2008 Faith Encourages Faith http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=651 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Louise Weld 4/20/2008 Sill You Don't Know Me? STILL YOU DON’T KNOW ME? Saint James Church April 20, 2008 Have you had the experience in Scripture of reading a familiar passage and having a story or a verse or a phrase leap out at you like you never saw it before? That happened to me this week as I was actually preparing a very comforting message about one of my favorite comforting passages from John 14: In my father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you… But what kept blinking at me was the little exchange between Philip and Jesus, (right after Jesus has made it clear who He is and who God the Father is). Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough. Scripture is full of people-- folks like you and me, who sound like (and look like) they haven’t heard a word Jesus has been saying, or seen anything He’s been doing. And then Jesus’ response: Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? A gentle rebuke for Philip—and me. Don’t you know me, Louise… Yes Lord, I have known you for almost 40 years. Yes you have, Louise, but do you know me? And is it possible that in our relationships with Jesus, He offers us far more than we have so far experienced? This question I put humbly before you not to criticize or judge your relationship with God. I believe that the Father and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, invite us this very morning to a far deeper intimacy with Him that we have known, with greater access to the benefits of His presence. We get a clue of how transforming a relationship with Jesus is when we look at Stephen, who was so in love with Jesus and so certain of who Jesus was, so full of Jesus, that even as the stones are crushing the life out of him he has compassion on those who are murdering him. Jesus is on the way to the Cross. By now there’s an urgency about his teaching—no more ambiguity, no more parables about the kingdom of heaven, no more sparring with the Pharisees. Direct information for those who follow Him. Yes, He is coming back to take us to be with Him in His Father’s house— But He also is present with us now, in this life, to make an impact on our lives that only He can make, as He uses us to draw the world to Himself. When we look at the church, we see very little evidence that having the right theological viewpoint or belonging to a particular denomination or being involved in debates about what Christians should do or not do—has accomplished what Jesus came to do. We do see evidence that a relationship with Jesus Christ is changing peoples’ lives. To see Jesus for who He is and remain unchanged is impossible. He is gentle with our misconceptions and delusions and ways of hiding from Him. But over the long haul, you cannot be in a relationship with Jesus and have life as usual. You will do even greater things than I have been doing, He says. I will do whatever you ask in my name, He says. As we see more and more people at Saint James getting involved in ministry and mission, it becomes clear that as we seek to know Jesus we are pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]. Resurrection power. Peace and assurance in the middle of the storms and stonings of life. Hearing His voice. Don’t you know me, even after I have been among you such a long time? I believe God is urgently inviting us today know Him as the extravagant lover of our souls that He is. We urges us to repent of the ways we hide from Him rather than seek His face. He invites us into the green pastures of His abundant grace and freedom. He invites us to let His face shine on and through us. There is no bottom to the deep well that is a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a cup running over, a surely goodness and mercy cup. Drink deeper. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080420Msermon.mp3 4/20/2008 Sill You Don't Know Me? STILL YOU DON’T KNOW ME? Saint James Church April 20, 2008 Have you had the experience in Scripture of reading a familiar passage and having a story or a verse or a phrase leap out at you like you never saw it before? That happened to me this week as I was actually preparing a very comforting message about one of my favorite comforting passages from John 14: In my father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you… But what kept blinking at me was the little exchange between Philip and Jesus, (right after Jesus has made it clear who He is and who God the Father is). Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough. Scripture is full of people-- folks like you and me, who sound like (and look like) they haven’t heard a word Jesus has been saying, or seen anything He’s been doing. And then Jesus’ response: Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? A gentle rebuke for Philip—and me. Don’t you know me, Louise… Yes Lord, I have known you for almost 40 years. Yes you have, Louise, but do you know me? And is it possible that in our relationships with Jesus, He offers us far more than we have so far experienced? This question I put humbly before you not to criticize or judge your relationship with God. I believe that the Father and Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, invite us this very morning to a far deeper intimacy with Him that we have known, with greater access to the benefits of His presence. We get a clue of how transforming a relationship with Jesus is when we look at Stephen, who was so in love with Jesus and so certain of who Jesus was, so full of Jesus, that even as the stones are crushing the life out of him he has compassion on those who are murdering him. Jesus is on the way to the Cross. By now there’s an urgency about his teaching—no more ambiguity, no more parables about the kingdom of heaven, no more sparring with the Pharisees. Direct information for those who follow Him. Yes, He is coming back to take us to be with Him in His Father’s house— But He also is present with us now, in this life, to make an impact on our lives that only He can make, as He uses us to draw the world to Himself. When we look at the church, we see very little evidence that having the right theological viewpoint or belonging to a particular denomination or being involved in debates about what Christians should do or not do—has accomplished what Jesus came to do. We do see evidence that a relationship with Jesus Christ is changing peoples’ lives. To see Jesus for who He is and remain unchanged is impossible. He is gentle with our misconceptions and delusions and ways of hiding from Him. But over the long haul, you cannot be in a relationship with Jesus and have life as usual. You will do even greater things than I have been doing, He says. I will do whatever you ask in my name, He says. As we see more and more people at Saint James getting involved in ministry and mission, it becomes clear that as we seek to know Jesus we are pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of [us]. Resurrection power. Peace and assurance in the middle of the storms and stonings of life. Hearing His voice. Don’t you know me, even after I have been among you such a long time? I believe God is urgently inviting us today know Him as the extravagant lover of our souls that He is. We urges us to repent of the ways we hide from Him rather than seek His face. He invites us into the green pastures of His abundant grace and freedom. He invites us to let His face shine on and through us. There is no bottom to the deep well that is a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a cup running over, a surely goodness and mercy cup. Drink deeper. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=652 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Louise Weld 4/13/2008 Life to the Full LIFE TO THE FULL Saint James Church April 13, 2008 In today’s Gospel Jesus says that He is both gate and shepherd for His sheep. And He says he has come so that His sheep may have life and have it to the full. Life to the FULL is the subject of Psalm 23. So often we use the 23rd Psalm at funerals, as a word of comfort and reassurance for those left behind at the end of someone’s earthly life. But the Lord is our shepherd for the lives we live right now, as we walk through the many valleys of the shadow of death in which we find ourselves in this unstable life. What the psalm declares is that those who hear the shepherd’s voice are led into the fullness of life that is literally the kingdom of heaven come to earth. We shall not be in want… shall be led beside still waters… he restores my soul… guides me in paths of righteousness… causes me to fear no evil… prepares a table before me… anoints my head with oil; my cup overflows… goodness and mercy follow me… And isn’t that rich experience of safety and blessing exactly what is going on for the new believers in the Book of Acts who have heard and responded to the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd, and whose hearts have been transformed for relationship both with Him and with one another? Everyone…filled with awe… many wonders and miraculous signs… all the believers were together and had everything in common… Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need… They broke bread… and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… If you have talked to anyone from the team back from Honduras or who has just returned from Cursillo, you have heard testimony of the truth of God’s marvelous promise to lead His people into the green pastures of His abundant grace and mission. Responding to the call of Jesus Christ to follow His voice leads us into an incredible experience of service and fellowship with one another. You discover what Jesus meant when He said He had come in order for us to have life to the full. But it is not just on mission trips or retreat weekends that God means for us to enjoy a quality of fellowship that fills every valley with light. Life to the full is also God’s promise for all of us at Saint James when we surrender to His care and leading for our lives. In the house of the Lord forever relationships are transformed, needs met, fellowship enriched as we worship together, eat together, and listen to Him. May the testimony this morning of those who have been filled with joy and love for one another because of the Good Shepherd be a cup running over to drench all of us with expectancy and desire and surrender to His generous and abundant grace. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080413Csermon.mp3 4/13/2008 Life to the Full LIFE TO THE FULL Saint James Church April 13, 2008 In today’s Gospel Jesus says that He is both gate and shepherd for His sheep. And He says he has come so that His sheep may have life and have it to the full. Life to the FULL is the subject of Psalm 23. So often we use the 23rd Psalm at funerals, as a word of comfort and reassurance for those left behind at the end of someone’s earthly life. But the Lord is our shepherd for the lives we live right now, as we walk through the many valleys of the shadow of death in which we find ourselves in this unstable life. What the psalm declares is that those who hear the shepherd’s voice are led into the fullness of life that is literally the kingdom of heaven come to earth. We shall not be in want… shall be led beside still waters… he restores my soul… guides me in paths of righteousness… causes me to fear no evil… prepares a table before me… anoints my head with oil; my cup overflows… goodness and mercy follow me… And isn’t that rich experience of safety and blessing exactly what is going on for the new believers in the Book of Acts who have heard and responded to the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd, and whose hearts have been transformed for relationship both with Him and with one another? Everyone…filled with awe… many wonders and miraculous signs… all the believers were together and had everything in common… Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need… They broke bread… and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… If you have talked to anyone from the team back from Honduras or who has just returned from Cursillo, you have heard testimony of the truth of God’s marvelous promise to lead His people into the green pastures of His abundant grace and mission. Responding to the call of Jesus Christ to follow His voice leads us into an incredible experience of service and fellowship with one another. You discover what Jesus meant when He said He had come in order for us to have life to the full. But it is not just on mission trips or retreat weekends that God means for us to enjoy a quality of fellowship that fills every valley with light. Life to the full is also God’s promise for all of us at Saint James when we surrender to His care and leading for our lives. In the house of the Lord forever relationships are transformed, needs met, fellowship enriched as we worship together, eat together, and listen to Him. May the testimony this morning of those who have been filled with joy and love for one another because of the Good Shepherd be a cup running over to drench all of us with expectancy and desire and surrender to His generous and abundant grace. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=649 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Honduras Missions Team 4/13/2008 Honduras Mission Team Testimonies http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080413Msermon.mp3 4/13/2008 Honduras Mission Team Testimonies http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=650 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 John Hemphill 4/6/2008 He Will Bind Up Our Broken Hearts http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080406Csermon.mp3 4/6/2008 He Will Bind Up Our Broken Hearts http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=646 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Louise Weld 4/6/2008 We Need a Body/We Are The Body We Need a Body / We Are The Body Saint James Church April 6, 2008 On the road again. The pair trudging home to Emmaus from an amazingly painful week in Jerusalem are despondant. All the excitement and promise of Jesus, all their expectations for the future, gone! All they can think about is his broken body hanging on that cross. And to add insult to injury, now there are rumors that the body has disappeared. The tomb is empty! It will take more than talk by some women to convince them that their hopes and dreams are not shattered. Like Thomas, they will need something they can touch and feel: they need a body! Bodies have always mattered to God. Genesis describes the pleasure God took from creating the physical universe. His most important work was taking dirt and turning it into living flesh, into humans to whom He offered His intimate friendship. We can only imagine God’s sorrow when we walked away from Him. We know that God’s desire to restore relationship with us was so strong that He came into the world in a body to whom we could relate. Scripture tells us that Jesus in His human body is the image of the invisible God. We know that God used that body to save us. He sacrificed His life for us as He died and was placed in a tomb. And then His body disappeared from the tomb, because God raised Him from the dead! We know that, and yet we all, like the people on the road to Emmaus, have times of deep need when we need more than anything else to experience that Jesus is alive. We need to have him in the midst of our trouble. We need a body, a tangible experience of Jesus. It is not until Jesus shows up, in His resurrected body, that everything starts to change, make sense. He appears to the people on the road to Emmaus not in some invisible form, or as a spirit, but in the flesh: breathing, walking and talking with them, right in the middle of their despair. He makes the confusing words of Scripture come alive as He explains to them how all the prophets were pointing to Him. We too need an experience of Jesus in order for Scripture to become the living active word of God that God designed it to be for us. We need, in the midst of living our difficult and often incomprehensible lives, not just information, but an experience of Jesus. We need Him to open the eyes of our hearts to understand that He is risen—for us and for the daily circumstances of our lives. And so, we read, he went in to stay with them…he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him…They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. Jesus alive: Revival! Where in your life do you need Jesus to be the bread of life this morning? He who loved us before we loved Him, is more ready to give than we are even to ask. Just as He came in His resurrected body to the first disciples, he comes to us again here, because He knows we need Him. Wherever two or three are gathered together, He promises to be in the midst of us. He promises to open the eyes of our hearts. And most amazingly, He sends the Holy Spirit to transform us into His physical body, the body of Christ at Saint James, in order to bring revival to all who need it, all who are weary and heavy laden. Let the breaking of bread this morning be for us the symbol of a body given and received. Let our worship be our turning from our dark roads towards the light of Christ. Jesus. Here now. In the body. As the body of Christ, we have at our disposal every gift of the kingdom of heaven. As we love one another deeply from the heart, may God give us the grace to bring healing and revival to this broken world. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080406Msermon.mp3 4/6/2008 We Need a Body/We Are The Body We Need a Body / We Are The Body Saint James Church April 6, 2008 On the road again. The pair trudging home to Emmaus from an amazingly painful week in Jerusalem are despondant. All the excitement and promise of Jesus, all their expectations for the future, gone! All they can think about is his broken body hanging on that cross. And to add insult to injury, now there are rumors that the body has disappeared. The tomb is empty! It will take more than talk by some women to convince them that their hopes and dreams are not shattered. Like Thomas, they will need something they can touch and feel: they need a body! Bodies have always mattered to God. Genesis describes the pleasure God took from creating the physical universe. His most important work was taking dirt and turning it into living flesh, into humans to whom He offered His intimate friendship. We can only imagine God’s sorrow when we walked away from Him. We know that God’s desire to restore relationship with us was so strong that He came into the world in a body to whom we could relate. Scripture tells us that Jesus in His human body is the image of the invisible God. We know that God used that body to save us. He sacrificed His life for us as He died and was placed in a tomb. And then His body disappeared from the tomb, because God raised Him from the dead! We know that, and yet we all, like the people on the road to Emmaus, have times of deep need when we need more than anything else to experience that Jesus is alive. We need to have him in the midst of our trouble. We need a body, a tangible experience of Jesus. It is not until Jesus shows up, in His resurrected body, that everything starts to change, make sense. He appears to the people on the road to Emmaus not in some invisible form, or as a spirit, but in the flesh: breathing, walking and talking with them, right in the middle of their despair. He makes the confusing words of Scripture come alive as He explains to them how all the prophets were pointing to Him. We too need an experience of Jesus in order for Scripture to become the living active word of God that God designed it to be for us. We need, in the midst of living our difficult and often incomprehensible lives, not just information, but an experience of Jesus. We need Him to open the eyes of our hearts to understand that He is risen—for us and for the daily circumstances of our lives. And so, we read, he went in to stay with them…he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him…They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. Jesus alive: Revival! Where in your life do you need Jesus to be the bread of life this morning? He who loved us before we loved Him, is more ready to give than we are even to ask. Just as He came in His resurrected body to the first disciples, he comes to us again here, because He knows we need Him. Wherever two or three are gathered together, He promises to be in the midst of us. He promises to open the eyes of our hearts. And most amazingly, He sends the Holy Spirit to transform us into His physical body, the body of Christ at Saint James, in order to bring revival to all who need it, all who are weary and heavy laden. Let the breaking of bread this morning be for us the symbol of a body given and received. Let our worship be our turning from our dark roads towards the light of Christ. Jesus. Here now. In the body. As the body of Christ, we have at our disposal every gift of the kingdom of heaven. As we love one another deeply from the heart, may God give us the grace to bring healing and revival to this broken world. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=648 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 3/30/2008 God Goes First http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080330Msermon.mp3 3/30/2008 God Goes First http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=641 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 3/23/2008 Mercy Wins http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080323Msermon.mp3 3/23/2008 Mercy Wins http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=647 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 3/16/2008 The Kingdom Culture THE KINGDOM CULTURE Saint James Church March 16, 2008 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.” Matthew 21:9 When a couple plans to marry, one of the things they each bring to the marriage is a picture of the life they will lead as a couple. The problem is rarely are the two pictures the same. Each brings their own individual expectations to their new life together. Big problems arise when one of them is not willing to give up any part of their picture, their personal expectations in acceptance of the spouses’ expectations. You can imagine the conflict. Maybe you’ve experienced the conflict? Whenever I counsel a couple early in marriage I encourage them to negotiate and compromise on their individual expectations for their lives that their expectations might become shared expectations. Jesus is more narrow-minded than that. When Jesus invites us to join Him, follow Him, share life with Him, He doesn’t compromise with our expectations for our lives. He doesn’t invite us to bring some of our expectations and accept some of His and all will be well. He asks us to give them up completely. “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it.” Jesus doesn’t compromise. He asks us to follow Him and completely give up our own plans and expectations and replace them with His. He asks us to give up our own way of life and replace them with His. He asks us to give up our own way of handling the problems of life and replace them with His. Jesus Brought His Own Kingdom With Him Most of us know that the emotional dynamics changed from Palm Sunday to Good Friday. Palm Sunday is the welcome for the king. Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as a prophet, one to deliver the people from the oppression of Roman occupation, and a triumphant king. The welcome, the praise, the adulation didn’t last long. The reason the people of Jerusalem grew so angry with Jesus was because they were upset that He brought His Kingdom with Him. In John, chapter 18, Jesus told His judge, Pilate: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My Kingdom is from another place.” Jesus Christ came and brought Heaven to Earth to proclaim the invitation to the Kingdom of God. “Repent for the Kingdom is at hand,” were His first official words. When you pray, He taught us to say, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus came and brought Heaven to Earth in order to initiate the Kingdom of God, then and there, here and now. That is why the people grew angry with Him. Jesus brought His Kingdom with Him. They wanted Jesus to come and change their kingdom, to fix their way of life. Jesus came to give them an entirely new Kingdom and an entirely new way of life. And they crucified Him for it. The people were angry because everyone wanted a better life, but no one was willing to give up the one they had. Today on Palm Sunday and during this Holy Week, we prepare for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We prepare for Crucifixion and Resurrection. We need to make sure that we recognize that the only Crucifixion and Resurrection that must take place now are our own. To the extent that you are willing to submit your life, your expectations of life to Christ the King, you may join Him in His Resurrection and live, here and now in the Kingdom of God. That is to live in the Spiritual Promised Land, to live in the Place of Sabbath Rest, to live in intimacy with God, to live under His Dominion and His protection. That which we do not submit to Him, He cannot keep. But all we are willing to submit to Him, He promises His Sacred Care. Arthur Matthew 7:26 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080316Csermon.mp3 3/16/2008 The Kingdom Culture THE KINGDOM CULTURE Saint James Church March 16, 2008 “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.” Matthew 21:9 When a couple plans to marry, one of the things they each bring to the marriage is a picture of the life they will lead as a couple. The problem is rarely are the two pictures the same. Each brings their own individual expectations to their new life together. Big problems arise when one of them is not willing to give up any part of their picture, their personal expectations in acceptance of the spouses’ expectations. You can imagine the conflict. Maybe you’ve experienced the conflict? Whenever I counsel a couple early in marriage I encourage them to negotiate and compromise on their individual expectations for their lives that their expectations might become shared expectations. Jesus is more narrow-minded than that. When Jesus invites us to join Him, follow Him, share life with Him, He doesn’t compromise with our expectations for our lives. He doesn’t invite us to bring some of our expectations and accept some of His and all will be well. He asks us to give them up completely. “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it.” Jesus doesn’t compromise. He asks us to follow Him and completely give up our own plans and expectations and replace them with His. He asks us to give up our own way of life and replace them with His. He asks us to give up our own way of handling the problems of life and replace them with His. Jesus Brought His Own Kingdom With Him Most of us know that the emotional dynamics changed from Palm Sunday to Good Friday. Palm Sunday is the welcome for the king. Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem as a prophet, one to deliver the people from the oppression of Roman occupation, and a triumphant king. The welcome, the praise, the adulation didn’t last long. The reason the people of Jerusalem grew so angry with Jesus was because they were upset that He brought His Kingdom with Him. In John, chapter 18, Jesus told His judge, Pilate: "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My Kingdom is from another place.” Jesus Christ came and brought Heaven to Earth to proclaim the invitation to the Kingdom of God. “Repent for the Kingdom is at hand,” were His first official words. When you pray, He taught us to say, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Jesus came and brought Heaven to Earth in order to initiate the Kingdom of God, then and there, here and now. That is why the people grew angry with Him. Jesus brought His Kingdom with Him. They wanted Jesus to come and change their kingdom, to fix their way of life. Jesus came to give them an entirely new Kingdom and an entirely new way of life. And they crucified Him for it. The people were angry because everyone wanted a better life, but no one was willing to give up the one they had. Today on Palm Sunday and during this Holy Week, we prepare for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We prepare for Crucifixion and Resurrection. We need to make sure that we recognize that the only Crucifixion and Resurrection that must take place now are our own. To the extent that you are willing to submit your life, your expectations of life to Christ the King, you may join Him in His Resurrection and live, here and now in the Kingdom of God. That is to live in the Spiritual Promised Land, to live in the Place of Sabbath Rest, to live in intimacy with God, to live under His Dominion and His protection. That which we do not submit to Him, He cannot keep. But all we are willing to submit to Him, He promises His Sacred Care. Arthur Matthew 7:26 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=639 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Louise Weld 3/16/2008 Full Of Himself FULL OF HIMSELF Saint James Church March 16, 2008 This is the time of year when the staff and ministry teams at Saint James go into high gear to plan worship for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. Nothing is left to chance- from banners to acolytes to musicians to bulletins… Everything is carefully planned to make worship as meaningful as possible during these days of great significance for Christians. This morning we are remembering another season of great religious significance that was planned just as carefully, by our Lord Jesus Christ. The timing and details of his arrival and entrance into Jerusalem are precise and purposeful. They correspond with what has been predicted in Scripture about the messiah, and they occur during the Passover Celebration, the most important observance of the year. The city is full of pilgrims thinking about deliverance. As Jesus enters Jerusalem he fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah; he calls himself LORD, he knows the expectations of the palm-waving crowds even as he receives their accolades of the crowd as he rides into town, he goes to the temple and performs miraculous acts of healing: there can be little doubt that he wants to be known for Who he is. He proceeds into Jerusalem, full of Himself, the figure who is fully God and fully human—with all the rights and privileges and powers of the creator of the universe. The people who witness his arrival are just as full of themselves: full of their own hopes and needs and demands and self importance (and wounds and failures and overwhelming circumstances). He has come to take charge, and he has everything he needs to do it. But then, he does exactly the opposite of what you’d expect a conquering hero to do: Being in very nature God, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped… He emptied himself of all the resources of the Godhead, gave up control, gave up the right to judgment, gave up his intimacy with his father. Jesus planned this remarkable sequence of events, this fulfillment of prophecy, this demonstration of power and then emptying of self-- to show us that power and political maneuvering and self interest will never overcome the disfiguring of sin in the world, will never get us what we think we want, will never heal our sinsickness. It is totally a God-thing, beyond human reason, offensive to our self importance, that only love conquers hate and only forgiveness saves us, that service to others is the path to freedom. That resurrection comes only after the death of self. And that God, in the most loving and deliberate and excruciating way, sacrificed himself and did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. And it is beyond human understanding that, because of that act of obedience and surrender: God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. When Jesus approaches we are all full of ourselves, shouting Hosanna—come meet my needs, fill my expectations! But then the emptying of himself disarms us, and we find our shouts turning to cries of surrender, and emptying, and invitation, for Jesus to become Lord of our hearts. Our new hearts shout praise as we discover that the kingdom of heaven, filled with all the fullness of God, has come to earth. May it be so for each of us. Come, Lord Jesus. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080316Msermon.mp3 3/16/2008 Full Of Himself FULL OF HIMSELF Saint James Church March 16, 2008 This is the time of year when the staff and ministry teams at Saint James go into high gear to plan worship for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. Nothing is left to chance- from banners to acolytes to musicians to bulletins… Everything is carefully planned to make worship as meaningful as possible during these days of great significance for Christians. This morning we are remembering another season of great religious significance that was planned just as carefully, by our Lord Jesus Christ. The timing and details of his arrival and entrance into Jerusalem are precise and purposeful. They correspond with what has been predicted in Scripture about the messiah, and they occur during the Passover Celebration, the most important observance of the year. The city is full of pilgrims thinking about deliverance. As Jesus enters Jerusalem he fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah; he calls himself LORD, he knows the expectations of the palm-waving crowds even as he receives their accolades of the crowd as he rides into town, he goes to the temple and performs miraculous acts of healing: there can be little doubt that he wants to be known for Who he is. He proceeds into Jerusalem, full of Himself, the figure who is fully God and fully human—with all the rights and privileges and powers of the creator of the universe. The people who witness his arrival are just as full of themselves: full of their own hopes and needs and demands and self importance (and wounds and failures and overwhelming circumstances). He has come to take charge, and he has everything he needs to do it. But then, he does exactly the opposite of what you’d expect a conquering hero to do: Being in very nature God, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped… He emptied himself of all the resources of the Godhead, gave up control, gave up the right to judgment, gave up his intimacy with his father. Jesus planned this remarkable sequence of events, this fulfillment of prophecy, this demonstration of power and then emptying of self-- to show us that power and political maneuvering and self interest will never overcome the disfiguring of sin in the world, will never get us what we think we want, will never heal our sinsickness. It is totally a God-thing, beyond human reason, offensive to our self importance, that only love conquers hate and only forgiveness saves us, that service to others is the path to freedom. That resurrection comes only after the death of self. And that God, in the most loving and deliberate and excruciating way, sacrificed himself and did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. And it is beyond human understanding that, because of that act of obedience and surrender: God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. When Jesus approaches we are all full of ourselves, shouting Hosanna—come meet my needs, fill my expectations! But then the emptying of himself disarms us, and we find our shouts turning to cries of surrender, and emptying, and invitation, for Jesus to become Lord of our hearts. Our new hearts shout praise as we discover that the kingdom of heaven, filled with all the fullness of God, has come to earth. May it be so for each of us. Come, Lord Jesus. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=640 Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 3/9/2008 It’s A Personal Thing IT’S A PERSONAL THING Saint James Church March 9, 2008 Following the sermon we stand and say the Creed. “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth… And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God…” “And I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord, and Giver of Life…” We say it but these words will only have an impact on our lives when they become personal. The Death of Lazarus John 11:1 How We Deal With Problems Vs. 5: Jesus is a friend with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus Vs. 6: He hears Lazarus is sick and yet he waits two more days before going to them. Vs. 4: Why? Just as last week, “Who sinned that this man was born blind?” Whose fault is it? This week, three times we hear blame. Verse 21, vs. 32, vs. 37, all agree, “Lord, if you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” In the kingdom of the world the only means we have of dealing with the problems and crises of life is deflection. We deflect the problem most often by blame or denial. Sound familiar? Who did Adam blame when God asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” From Blame to Belief John 11:17 Vs. 21: Martha begins the blame game. How can she deal with the loss and grief at her brother’s death? She uses blame. Vs. 22: Here is the presence of faith from her friendship with Jesus. Vs. 23: Here is why Jesus has come. Vs. 24: Martha answers by stating doctrine, a belief that as yet has no impact on her life. This is the ‘logos’, that is the Word of God. Vs. 25: Jesus’ reveals himself as the means of new life. Martha’s personal relationship and faith in Jesus is about to grow. She has known him as teacher, mentor, and friend. Now she is about to get to know him as Resurrection and as Life. Vs. 27: Martha moves from knowing the Word of God to hearing the Voice of God. This is ‘logos’ to ‘rhema’. Martha moves from blame to belief. Now for Martha, resurrection has become a personal thing. Vs. 32: The scene with Martha is repeated by Mary. Vs. 37: The professional mourners are blaming Jesus also. Up From The Grave He Arose Vs. 39: What is the stone that inhibits your new life? Vss. 41,42: Jesus proclaims His Sabbath Rest. Vs. 43: Jesus calls Lazarus from the grave. Just as God spoke the world into being saying, “Let there be light.” Now Jesus speaks the same word of new creation for Lazarus. This is Christ’s mission. Just as Nicodemus needed to be born again, the blind man needed sight, and Lazarus needed a heartbeat, Jesus has come to call us out of the grave. He has come to breathe the breath of life into us, the Holy Spirit that we too might come out of the grave, shake off the bandages of past hurt, and death, that we might be released from the “grave clothes” of blame and denial in order to take our place in the Body of Christ. In the Kingdom of God In the kingdom of the world we are taught to deflect the problems of life using means such as blame and denial. We must deflect these problems and crises because we have no solution. In the Kingdom of God we experience sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is sufficient to give us hope in the face of death and the authority in Jesus’ name to call on God’s will here just as it is in heaven. Our Lord has need of us to call others out of the grave and into LIFE. Arthur Ezekiel 37:10 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080309Msermon.mp3 3/9/2008 It’s A Personal Thing IT’S A PERSONAL THING Saint James Church March 9, 2008 Following the sermon we stand and say the Creed. “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth… And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God…” “And I believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord, and Giver of Life…” We say it but these words will only have an impact on our lives when they become personal. The Death of Lazarus John 11:1 How We Deal With Problems Vs. 5: Jesus is a friend with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus Vs. 6: He hears Lazarus is sick and yet he waits two more days before going to them. Vs. 4: Why? Just as last week, “Who sinned that this man was born blind?” Whose fault is it? This week, three times we hear blame. Verse 21, vs. 32, vs. 37, all agree, “Lord, if you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” In the kingdom of the world the only means we have of dealing with the problems and crises of life is deflection. We deflect the problem most often by blame or denial. Sound familiar? Who did Adam blame when God asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” From Blame to Belief John 11:17 Vs. 21: Martha begins the blame game. How can she deal with the loss and grief at her brother’s death? She uses blame. Vs. 22: Here is the presence of faith from her friendship with Jesus. Vs. 23: Here is why Jesus has come. Vs. 24: Martha answers by stating doctrine, a belief that as yet has no impact on her life. This is the ‘logos’, that is the Word of God. Vs. 25: Jesus’ reveals himself as the means of new life. Martha’s personal relationship and faith in Jesus is about to grow. She has known him as teacher, mentor, and friend. Now she is about to get to know him as Resurrection and as Life. Vs. 27: Martha moves from knowing the Word of God to hearing the Voice of God. This is ‘logos’ to ‘rhema’. Martha moves from blame to belief. Now for Martha, resurrection has become a personal thing. Vs. 32: The scene with Martha is repeated by Mary. Vs. 37: The professional mourners are blaming Jesus also. Up From The Grave He Arose Vs. 39: What is the stone that inhibits your new life? Vss. 41,42: Jesus proclaims His Sabbath Rest. Vs. 43: Jesus calls Lazarus from the grave. Just as God spoke the world into being saying, “Let there be light.” Now Jesus speaks the same word of new creation for Lazarus. This is Christ’s mission. Just as Nicodemus needed to be born again, the blind man needed sight, and Lazarus needed a heartbeat, Jesus has come to call us out of the grave. He has come to breathe the breath of life into us, the Holy Spirit that we too might come out of the grave, shake off the bandages of past hurt, and death, that we might be released from the “grave clothes” of blame and denial in order to take our place in the Body of Christ. In the Kingdom of God In the kingdom of the world we are taught to deflect the problems of life using means such as blame and denial. We must deflect these problems and crises because we have no solution. In the Kingdom of God we experience sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ that is sufficient to give us hope in the face of death and the authority in Jesus’ name to call on God’s will here just as it is in heaven. Our Lord has need of us to call others out of the grave and into LIFE. Arthur Ezekiel 37:10 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=638 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Carl Green 3/9/2008 He Died for Us http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080309Csermon.mp3 3/9/2008 He Died for Us http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=645 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Louise Weld 3/2/2008 Surely Goodness And Mercy SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY Saint James Church March 2, 2008 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. We just declared that in Psalm 23. The blind man in John’s Gospel is surely in want. He had the misfortune to be born blind. His life has been spent sitting beside the road begging. He has no hope and no future. But then the very Lord who is our shepherd comes along, sees him, and spreads a table before [him] – gives him his vision and his first sight of the world: God’s amazing creation- color and shape and movement… Except that right up in his face obstructing his view, arguing with him, are all the people who don’t want to believe God has healed him… He is in the presence of those who trouble me. The 9th chapter of John is full of people (the people of God, actually) who don’t really believe the 23rd Psalm. They have no expectation that the God who created heaven and earth and who has acted on behalf of broken sinners and miraculously preserved his rebellious and broken creation, would heal a blind man. It does not occur to Jesus’ disciples when they see him on the side of the road, the neighbors of the beggar don’t believe it, the man’s parents distance themselves from him… the Pharisees denounce him and throw him out. And so the first humans the man born blind sees—are people who have physical sight, but are blind- spiritually. Presented with a remarkable healing intervention by God, their vision and expectations of God are clouded by their practice of religion as they occupy themselves with disputes about the law, about whose fault his blindness is… They cannot see, and they will never see until they recognize that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, has come to save them. If they will accept him, He has come to save them not only from the eternal consequences of sin, symbolized by their blindness to the miracle. He has come to relieve them of daily judgments of their world—criticism, not measuring up, not meeting other’s expectations, sitting beside the road with no purpose or meaning. Jesus says he has come so the blind will see—their need met by the goodness of God: not a God full of impossible demands and rules (like no healing on the Sabbath!) but kindness and mercy and power and grace in the person and actions of Jesus Christ… you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over. The man formerly blind is not disturbed or confused by the judgmental reactions of those around him, because he has been set free of judgment: One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see. John Newton, slave trader, used the same words to describe his conversion, his healing-- in his great hymn “Amazing Grace.” And it has been the testimony of people born blind down through the ages—people once possessed by fear, obsessed by the need to control, people with no hope, no expectation. People given a view of the kingdom of God, given Jesus Christ. Are you here this morning burdened by the pressures and judgment of the world, expecting little of God? Or do you anticipate that God wants to heal, transform you-- this morning? Are you ready for him to enter the trouble of your life, take your hand and lead you beside still waters and to revive your soul? Are you ready to see? The blind beggar was just sitting there, condemned to his miserable existence, with no expectation of relief, when God came along. God is no less willing to act in power today then he was when he walked on the earth. Lift up your hearts and expectations. Come to Jesus Christ: ask him for what you need. Ours is a mighty God, Surrender to the transforming miracle of his love. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080302Csermon.mp3 3/2/2008 Surely Goodness And Mercy SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY Saint James Church March 2, 2008 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. We just declared that in Psalm 23. The blind man in John’s Gospel is surely in want. He had the misfortune to be born blind. His life has been spent sitting beside the road begging. He has no hope and no future. But then the very Lord who is our shepherd comes along, sees him, and spreads a table before [him] – gives him his vision and his first sight of the world: God’s amazing creation- color and shape and movement… Except that right up in his face obstructing his view, arguing with him, are all the people who don’t want to believe God has healed him… He is in the presence of those who trouble me. The 9th chapter of John is full of people (the people of God, actually) who don’t really believe the 23rd Psalm. They have no expectation that the God who created heaven and earth and who has acted on behalf of broken sinners and miraculously preserved his rebellious and broken creation, would heal a blind man. It does not occur to Jesus’ disciples when they see him on the side of the road, the neighbors of the beggar don’t believe it, the man’s parents distance themselves from him… the Pharisees denounce him and throw him out. And so the first humans the man born blind sees—are people who have physical sight, but are blind- spiritually. Presented with a remarkable healing intervention by God, their vision and expectations of God are clouded by their practice of religion as they occupy themselves with disputes about the law, about whose fault his blindness is… They cannot see, and they will never see until they recognize that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, has come to save them. If they will accept him, He has come to save them not only from the eternal consequences of sin, symbolized by their blindness to the miracle. He has come to relieve them of daily judgments of their world—criticism, not measuring up, not meeting other’s expectations, sitting beside the road with no purpose or meaning. Jesus says he has come so the blind will see—their need met by the goodness of God: not a God full of impossible demands and rules (like no healing on the Sabbath!) but kindness and mercy and power and grace in the person and actions of Jesus Christ… you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over. The man formerly blind is not disturbed or confused by the judgmental reactions of those around him, because he has been set free of judgment: One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see. John Newton, slave trader, used the same words to describe his conversion, his healing-- in his great hymn “Amazing Grace.” And it has been the testimony of people born blind down through the ages—people once possessed by fear, obsessed by the need to control, people with no hope, no expectation. People given a view of the kingdom of God, given Jesus Christ. Are you here this morning burdened by the pressures and judgment of the world, expecting little of God? Or do you anticipate that God wants to heal, transform you-- this morning? Are you ready for him to enter the trouble of your life, take your hand and lead you beside still waters and to revive your soul? Are you ready to see? The blind beggar was just sitting there, condemned to his miserable existence, with no expectation of relief, when God came along. God is no less willing to act in power today then he was when he walked on the earth. Lift up your hearts and expectations. Come to Jesus Christ: ask him for what you need. Ours is a mighty God, Surrender to the transforming miracle of his love. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=636 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 3/2/2008 Time For A Priority Shift TIME FOR A PRIORITY SHIFT Saint James Church March 2, 2008 Busy, aren’t you? Thank God you took the time to come to church. I’m sure the needs and responsibilities of your life are immense. Do your job well. Pay attention to your spouse. Care for your children. Pay your taxes. Make ends meet. Find time for some fun and rest. Don’t disappoint anyone. Make sure you measure up. Whew! No wonder you’re busy. The demands of life are, well, demanding. This morning as we gather for worship and to hear God’s Word and be nourished by God’s voice we hear of the healing of a man born blind. John 9:25 The blind man said, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” Now I bet that changed his priorities. I bet that changed his to-do list. I bet that changed the demands of his life. Are someone else’s priorities in control of your life? Maybe your priorities need to be adjusted, that is, transformed. Listen for God’s voice today as we look at the transformation of the man born blind and then could see. John, Chapter 9 Vs. 2: “Rabbi, who sinned,…?” The disciples could view the blind affliction only through the eyes of the Law. The Lex Talionis is the law of direct retribution, i.e., an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Someone must have done something wrong to cause the blindness. Vs. 3: Jesus responds that it isn’t the cause and effect of sin but in order that God’s glory may be seen. This is an opportunity for redemption. Vs. 4,5: Jesus is the Light. The light of Grace over Law. Vs. 6: Mud – just as God breathed life into the mud in Genesis 2:7, so Jesus recreated the man’s eyes. So too for us, John 20:19. Vs. 7: Immerse yourself in the “mission.” These are the changed priorities. Vs. 10: How did it happen? Vs. 11: The blind man trusted Jesus. Vs. 28, Whose disciple are you? Whom do you follow, Moses or Jesus? Vs. 38, The blind man who could see physically now can see spiritually. Physical sight gives way to spiritual sight. Now he gets it. “Lord, I believe,” he says. Vs. 39: Jesus came into the world not to judge the world but to meet God’s judgment of us on our behalf. We are freed from the judgment and punishment we deserve from God. When we “get that” we are also freed from the judgment of others, i.e., meeting everyone else’s expectations. Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In the Kingdom of God, love comes before obedience. In the kingdom of the world, obedience comes before love. Jesus Christ meets judgment on our behalf. We experience judgment as the expectations and competition of life. It drives us to meet and measure up to the needs and expectations of others. It drives us to get ahead because by the sweat of our brow will the earth produce. Genesis 3:19 When it strikes your heart that Jesus Christ has met the judgment of God and life on your behalf you have peace, shalom. This gives you the spiritual eyes and ears to see God’s priorities for you and not just everyone else’s. In the Kingdom of God, love comes before obedience. It’s time for a priority shift. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Then, “Tag! You’re it!” Now “you are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 How about that for a new priority? ƒrArthur Exodus 20:19 Try to understand why this connects http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080302Msermon.mp3 3/2/2008 Time For A Priority Shift TIME FOR A PRIORITY SHIFT Saint James Church March 2, 2008 Busy, aren’t you? Thank God you took the time to come to church. I’m sure the needs and responsibilities of your life are immense. Do your job well. Pay attention to your spouse. Care for your children. Pay your taxes. Make ends meet. Find time for some fun and rest. Don’t disappoint anyone. Make sure you measure up. Whew! No wonder you’re busy. The demands of life are, well, demanding. This morning as we gather for worship and to hear God’s Word and be nourished by God’s voice we hear of the healing of a man born blind. John 9:25 The blind man said, “Once I was blind, but now I see.” Now I bet that changed his priorities. I bet that changed his to-do list. I bet that changed the demands of his life. Are someone else’s priorities in control of your life? Maybe your priorities need to be adjusted, that is, transformed. Listen for God’s voice today as we look at the transformation of the man born blind and then could see. John, Chapter 9 Vs. 2: “Rabbi, who sinned,…?” The disciples could view the blind affliction only through the eyes of the Law. The Lex Talionis is the law of direct retribution, i.e., an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Someone must have done something wrong to cause the blindness. Vs. 3: Jesus responds that it isn’t the cause and effect of sin but in order that God’s glory may be seen. This is an opportunity for redemption. Vs. 4,5: Jesus is the Light. The light of Grace over Law. Vs. 6: Mud – just as God breathed life into the mud in Genesis 2:7, so Jesus recreated the man’s eyes. So too for us, John 20:19. Vs. 7: Immerse yourself in the “mission.” These are the changed priorities. Vs. 10: How did it happen? Vs. 11: The blind man trusted Jesus. Vs. 28, Whose disciple are you? Whom do you follow, Moses or Jesus? Vs. 38, The blind man who could see physically now can see spiritually. Physical sight gives way to spiritual sight. Now he gets it. “Lord, I believe,” he says. Vs. 39: Jesus came into the world not to judge the world but to meet God’s judgment of us on our behalf. We are freed from the judgment and punishment we deserve from God. When we “get that” we are also freed from the judgment of others, i.e., meeting everyone else’s expectations. Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In the Kingdom of God, love comes before obedience. In the kingdom of the world, obedience comes before love. Jesus Christ meets judgment on our behalf. We experience judgment as the expectations and competition of life. It drives us to meet and measure up to the needs and expectations of others. It drives us to get ahead because by the sweat of our brow will the earth produce. Genesis 3:19 When it strikes your heart that Jesus Christ has met the judgment of God and life on your behalf you have peace, shalom. This gives you the spiritual eyes and ears to see God’s priorities for you and not just everyone else’s. In the Kingdom of God, love comes before obedience. It’s time for a priority shift. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Then, “Tag! You’re it!” Now “you are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14 How about that for a new priority? ƒrArthur Exodus 20:19 Try to understand why this connects http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=637 Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 2/24/2008 Time To Drink TIME TO DRINK Saint James Church February 24, 2008 John 4:15, The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” We experience life as a collision between the temporal and the eternal. I doubt that you are aware of that on a daily basis: nevertheless it is happening. Every moment of your life is an attraction to the things you can see and feel, all the while knowing they will not last. We all long for something, anything upon which we can depend. Something that we know we can’t lose. The Samaritan Woman came to Jacob’s well in Sychar needing water; and yet, longing for something that would make a lasting difference in her life. The Well of Transformation As Jesus talked with the woman he described to her the difference between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God (KOG). Read John 4:12-14 The Old Covenant was not a covenant of transformation, but one of obedience. The KOG is a place of transformation. In the KOG love comes before obedience. Transformation doesn’t take place because we say the right words or know the correct Biblical principles. Transformation takes place when we have an encounter with the living God. The Enemy Covers the Well The wells that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dug were attractive targets for their enemies. In Genesis 26 we read that the Philistines came and stopped up the wells by filling them with earth. Isaac, in this case, realized the importance of the wells -- they were life-giving. He determined that he would re dig the wells the enemy had covered. Our enemy stops up our wells with the constant reminder of our issues, our weaknesses, our history. We too, must re dig the wells. We do this simply by living honestly with God. It’s called confession and repentance, i.e., keeping short accounts. Complaints or Spiritual Vision? The Serpent told Eve, “See all you don’t have? You can’t touch that one tree.” The Devil told Israel in the desert, “See where you are. Your God has brought you out here to die. Even slavery is better than death.” Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” To be ‘born again’ is to come alive spiritually and to see with your heart. With that eyesight Israel would have seen the miracle of water from a rock and not just their thirst. On which do you focus: on what is wrong, or on what God is doing? A Dispenser, Not a Receptacle Jesus told the woman at the well, ‘Get a drink of this and you will never be thirsty again.’ This is transformation. This is being “born again.” This is resurrection. Jesus said, “I am Living Water” ready to make you “a fountain of living water.” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” ready to make you “the light of the world.” In the Kingdom of God you drink of the Living Water, that is, the Holy Spirit and you become a Fountain. Just one drink and you become the River of Life. The Samaritan woman became a dispenser and not just a receptacle. She left her encounter with the Lord and ran back to town to tell everyone that she had met the Christ, the Messiah. You already have God’s favor, the question is, what will you do with it? Arthur Jeremiah 2:13 Revelation 7:7 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080224Msermon.mp3 2/24/2008 Time To Drink TIME TO DRINK Saint James Church February 24, 2008 John 4:15, The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” We experience life as a collision between the temporal and the eternal. I doubt that you are aware of that on a daily basis: nevertheless it is happening. Every moment of your life is an attraction to the things you can see and feel, all the while knowing they will not last. We all long for something, anything upon which we can depend. Something that we know we can’t lose. The Samaritan Woman came to Jacob’s well in Sychar needing water; and yet, longing for something that would make a lasting difference in her life. The Well of Transformation As Jesus talked with the woman he described to her the difference between the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God (KOG). Read John 4:12-14 The Old Covenant was not a covenant of transformation, but one of obedience. The KOG is a place of transformation. In the KOG love comes before obedience. Transformation doesn’t take place because we say the right words or know the correct Biblical principles. Transformation takes place when we have an encounter with the living God. The Enemy Covers the Well The wells that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dug were attractive targets for their enemies. In Genesis 26 we read that the Philistines came and stopped up the wells by filling them with earth. Isaac, in this case, realized the importance of the wells -- they were life-giving. He determined that he would re dig the wells the enemy had covered. Our enemy stops up our wells with the constant reminder of our issues, our weaknesses, our history. We too, must re dig the wells. We do this simply by living honestly with God. It’s called confession and repentance, i.e., keeping short accounts. Complaints or Spiritual Vision? The Serpent told Eve, “See all you don’t have? You can’t touch that one tree.” The Devil told Israel in the desert, “See where you are. Your God has brought you out here to die. Even slavery is better than death.” Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” To be ‘born again’ is to come alive spiritually and to see with your heart. With that eyesight Israel would have seen the miracle of water from a rock and not just their thirst. On which do you focus: on what is wrong, or on what God is doing? A Dispenser, Not a Receptacle Jesus told the woman at the well, ‘Get a drink of this and you will never be thirsty again.’ This is transformation. This is being “born again.” This is resurrection. Jesus said, “I am Living Water” ready to make you “a fountain of living water.” Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” ready to make you “the light of the world.” In the Kingdom of God you drink of the Living Water, that is, the Holy Spirit and you become a Fountain. Just one drink and you become the River of Life. The Samaritan woman became a dispenser and not just a receptacle. She left her encounter with the Lord and ran back to town to tell everyone that she had met the Christ, the Messiah. You already have God’s favor, the question is, what will you do with it? Arthur Jeremiah 2:13 Revelation 7:7 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=634 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Louise Weld 2/24/2008 Access ACCESS Saint James Church February 24, 2008 The Scriptures this morning are all about access. The Psalm invites us to come before the Lord, to kneel before the Lord our Maker. In John’s Gospel Jesus has a conversation with a woman to whom the religious authorities of the day would have issued no such invitation. She was an outcast: a Samaritan, a woman, a prostitute. Jesus’ disciples were shocked that he was talking to her. Now Nicodemus, in last week’s Gospel—he’s another matter—he’s got impeccable status and standing—It would be as good for Jesus’ cause to have his approval as it was for John McCain to get the endorsement of the elder President Bush. But the odd thing is, Jesus doesn’t seem to care about Nicodemus’ credentials any more than he cares about the Samaritan woman’s lack of credentials. From Jesus’ perspective, both the distinguished Jewish leader and the outcast half breed have the same problem, which is a condition they can’t fix by anything they can do. And they don’t even know it, until they have a conversation with Jesus that give them access to their own need. We hide from ourselves (and from each other) because of the inadequacy, insecurity and isolation we inherited from Adam and Eve. They disobeyed God and then hid from Him: locked out, denied access to the most important relationship of life. When the Samaritan woman says, “He told me everything I ever did” she is recognizing with enormous relief that someone has found her out, has seen through her, and is making her an offer she can’t refuse. Nicodemus and the woman both need access to the life of the Spirit. They both need to be rescued from the kingdom of the flesh— which is a dried up river bed, a dead end, a misguided journey, a delusion of the life they were meant to live. And that rescue is exactly what Jesus has come to do. Jesus told Nicodemus God gave his one and only Son, not to condemn the world but to save the world through him. And when the woman acknowledges that she has heard that someone, a Messiah, is coming, Jesus says I who speak to you am he. It takes an encounter with Jesus Christ to discover that you have a thirst that can quenched only by living water. Only Jesus Christ sees through our pretenses and coping styles and does not condemn us, rather offers us himself as the way to healing, offers us peace with God. Only Jesus Christ can give us access to the kingdom of God. There are no strings attached. Satan would like you to think it is a little more complicated, that we need to do something. No. Jesus has already done what needed to be done, on the Cross. We simply acknowledge our need, accept his offer of friendship. We simply receive the acceptance and reconciliation for which our spirits have longed. Paul describes what Jesus gives us as access into grace, peace, hope, joy. The kingdom of God is solid ground: rich soil, lush and amazing, growing the fruits of the Spirit. It is where we stand in the presence of God not fearful of judgment and condemnation but certain of forgiveness. The person of Jesus Christ is the place of transformation. The Samaritan woman went racing back to town, unable to keep quiet about Jesus. Many believed because of the testimony of one who was lost but now was found, who was blind but now saw, who was unacceptable, not accepted. Access to transformation. An open door to life eternal with God. Starting now. Starting with Jesus Christ. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080224Csermon.mp3 2/24/2008 Access ACCESS Saint James Church February 24, 2008 The Scriptures this morning are all about access. The Psalm invites us to come before the Lord, to kneel before the Lord our Maker. In John’s Gospel Jesus has a conversation with a woman to whom the religious authorities of the day would have issued no such invitation. She was an outcast: a Samaritan, a woman, a prostitute. Jesus’ disciples were shocked that he was talking to her. Now Nicodemus, in last week’s Gospel—he’s another matter—he’s got impeccable status and standing—It would be as good for Jesus’ cause to have his approval as it was for John McCain to get the endorsement of the elder President Bush. But the odd thing is, Jesus doesn’t seem to care about Nicodemus’ credentials any more than he cares about the Samaritan woman’s lack of credentials. From Jesus’ perspective, both the distinguished Jewish leader and the outcast half breed have the same problem, which is a condition they can’t fix by anything they can do. And they don’t even know it, until they have a conversation with Jesus that give them access to their own need. We hide from ourselves (and from each other) because of the inadequacy, insecurity and isolation we inherited from Adam and Eve. They disobeyed God and then hid from Him: locked out, denied access to the most important relationship of life. When the Samaritan woman says, “He told me everything I ever did” she is recognizing with enormous relief that someone has found her out, has seen through her, and is making her an offer she can’t refuse. Nicodemus and the woman both need access to the life of the Spirit. They both need to be rescued from the kingdom of the flesh— which is a dried up river bed, a dead end, a misguided journey, a delusion of the life they were meant to live. And that rescue is exactly what Jesus has come to do. Jesus told Nicodemus God gave his one and only Son, not to condemn the world but to save the world through him. And when the woman acknowledges that she has heard that someone, a Messiah, is coming, Jesus says I who speak to you am he. It takes an encounter with Jesus Christ to discover that you have a thirst that can quenched only by living water. Only Jesus Christ sees through our pretenses and coping styles and does not condemn us, rather offers us himself as the way to healing, offers us peace with God. Only Jesus Christ can give us access to the kingdom of God. There are no strings attached. Satan would like you to think it is a little more complicated, that we need to do something. No. Jesus has already done what needed to be done, on the Cross. We simply acknowledge our need, accept his offer of friendship. We simply receive the acceptance and reconciliation for which our spirits have longed. Paul describes what Jesus gives us as access into grace, peace, hope, joy. The kingdom of God is solid ground: rich soil, lush and amazing, growing the fruits of the Spirit. It is where we stand in the presence of God not fearful of judgment and condemnation but certain of forgiveness. The person of Jesus Christ is the place of transformation. The Samaritan woman went racing back to town, unable to keep quiet about Jesus. Many believed because of the testimony of one who was lost but now was found, who was blind but now saw, who was unacceptable, not accepted. Access to transformation. An open door to life eternal with God. Starting now. Starting with Jesus Christ. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=635 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 2/17/2008 Seeing With Your Heart SEEING WITH YOUR HEART Saint James Church February 17, 2008 In Matthew 7:1 Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Okay, so the Lord wants us to stop being so judgmental? No. He wants to stop being judgmental at all. Last week I talked about JUDGMENT in reference to temptations and the spiritual needs we try to fill by sinful means. The judgment we looked at last week was self-judgment. We are our own worst judges. We unintentionally agree with Satan when we say things such as: “I’m a failure.” Or “I’m just a misfit.” I called these “innocent curses.” We crucify ourselves and our innocent curses become self-fulfilling prophecies. How do I stop? This week, we’ll look at the other side of the coin of judgment. We need to look at the way we so easily judge others. We say or think things such as: “She never gets this right.” “I’m so tired of hearing his excuses.” ‘He is always late.” Then we may get to our righteous judgment. “If only he read the Bible more.” “You know, if she would spend more time praying, her life would be better.” Again, these are “innocent curses.” They sound harmless. We utter them under our breath daily, but they deal destruction and death, not only to the person of whom we are speaking, but also to ourselves. When most of our thoughts and words are complaints and criticism we are agreeing with Satan and not our Lord. When we do this we are giving Satan permission to harass us. Does this ring a bell in your life? Are you constantly critical? Do you constantly feel criticized? Because words are powerful, we are commanded to speak words of life, words that are truth, and love, and intended for good. Our Lord explained it this way, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) Our complaining and our critical nature is a symptom of our spiritual health. When we constantly feel under criticism and pressure and we react with our own complaints and criticism, it is an indication that the spirit within us is malnourished. There are many of us, good Christians all, who are spiritually anorexic. How do you know when you are spiritually hungry? We know our spirit is starving when things of the flesh or the soul become an all-consuming need. Last Sunday we recognized that our weakness to a particular temptation is one of these signs. This week we see that the need to complain and criticize about life, and people, and situations is a cry of the human spirit that needs nourishment. What must we do? Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” To be “born again” of the spirit, is not be become some holy roller, or to begin to speak in stained glass phrases such as, “halleluiah brother.” To be born again is to ask Christ for His Holy Spirit that you will become spiritually alive and begin to see with your heart. Yes, see with your heart. When Adam and Eve disobeyed and died spiritually, they stopped seeing with their heart. All they saw was that they had no clothes, and they complained and hid. When the Israelites in the Desert, who could only see with their stomachs, ate the miraculous provision of Manna from God, they could only complain and criticize. When the Pharisees were watching Jesus, they could only see through the eyes of their minds and reason They griped and complained about how he was doing so much wrong. When we are born again and begin to see with our hearts and not just our natural senses, we begin to recognize so much that God is doing that was invisible to us before. As this happens we find that our complaints and criticisms are turned to thanksgiving. TBTG! We recognize that “freely we have received and freely we give.” We have received mercy that we might share that mercy and always with those who don’t deserve it. Arthur James 3:9 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080217Csermon.mp3 2/17/2008 Seeing With Your Heart SEEING WITH YOUR HEART Saint James Church February 17, 2008 In Matthew 7:1 Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Okay, so the Lord wants us to stop being so judgmental? No. He wants to stop being judgmental at all. Last week I talked about JUDGMENT in reference to temptations and the spiritual needs we try to fill by sinful means. The judgment we looked at last week was self-judgment. We are our own worst judges. We unintentionally agree with Satan when we say things such as: “I’m a failure.” Or “I’m just a misfit.” I called these “innocent curses.” We crucify ourselves and our innocent curses become self-fulfilling prophecies. How do I stop? This week, we’ll look at the other side of the coin of judgment. We need to look at the way we so easily judge others. We say or think things such as: “She never gets this right.” “I’m so tired of hearing his excuses.” ‘He is always late.” Then we may get to our righteous judgment. “If only he read the Bible more.” “You know, if she would spend more time praying, her life would be better.” Again, these are “innocent curses.” They sound harmless. We utter them under our breath daily, but they deal destruction and death, not only to the person of whom we are speaking, but also to ourselves. When most of our thoughts and words are complaints and criticism we are agreeing with Satan and not our Lord. When we do this we are giving Satan permission to harass us. Does this ring a bell in your life? Are you constantly critical? Do you constantly feel criticized? Because words are powerful, we are commanded to speak words of life, words that are truth, and love, and intended for good. Our Lord explained it this way, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) Our complaining and our critical nature is a symptom of our spiritual health. When we constantly feel under criticism and pressure and we react with our own complaints and criticism, it is an indication that the spirit within us is malnourished. There are many of us, good Christians all, who are spiritually anorexic. How do you know when you are spiritually hungry? We know our spirit is starving when things of the flesh or the soul become an all-consuming need. Last Sunday we recognized that our weakness to a particular temptation is one of these signs. This week we see that the need to complain and criticize about life, and people, and situations is a cry of the human spirit that needs nourishment. What must we do? Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” To be “born again” of the spirit, is not be become some holy roller, or to begin to speak in stained glass phrases such as, “halleluiah brother.” To be born again is to ask Christ for His Holy Spirit that you will become spiritually alive and begin to see with your heart. Yes, see with your heart. When Adam and Eve disobeyed and died spiritually, they stopped seeing with their heart. All they saw was that they had no clothes, and they complained and hid. When the Israelites in the Desert, who could only see with their stomachs, ate the miraculous provision of Manna from God, they could only complain and criticize. When the Pharisees were watching Jesus, they could only see through the eyes of their minds and reason They griped and complained about how he was doing so much wrong. When we are born again and begin to see with our hearts and not just our natural senses, we begin to recognize so much that God is doing that was invisible to us before. As this happens we find that our complaints and criticisms are turned to thanksgiving. TBTG! We recognize that “freely we have received and freely we give.” We have received mercy that we might share that mercy and always with those who don’t deserve it. Arthur James 3:9 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=633 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Guest Preacher 2/17/2008 Guest Preacher http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080217Msermon.mp3 2/17/2008 Guest Preacher http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=644 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 2/10/2008 The Power Of Disagreement THE POWER OF DISAGREEMENT Saint James Church February 10, 2008 Is there ever a time when you don’t need an Easter moment in your life? Many of us know the feeling of crucifixion. We often feel that life has crucified us. Yet we do not experience the Easter that comes with Good Friday often enough. That is why we would give these forty days of Lent our attention. Not just to prepare for the Crucifixion, but also to ready ourselves for Easter, the Resurrection we all need. We always begin the Season of Lent by looking at the power of temptations in our lives. We do that because the defeat we know in our relenting to temptation are the crucifixion moments of our life. Woe is me. And yet, let’s not forget that because of Jesus Christ, the death of yielding to temptation may be followed by the new life of resurrection. TEMPTATIONS “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:16 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye… she took some and ate it.” Genesis 3:6 We are all constantly bombarded by temptations. This morning as we read our Bibles we see that our Lord Jesus was also bombarded by temptations. Following his Baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert. (a small cul de sac will come here) There Satan tempted him. How did Jesus resist the temptations? He never agreed with Satan. Jesus used the power of disagreement on Satan. The only power the devil has is the power we give him by our agreement. That is how all the tempting began. Eve agreed with Satan and disagreed with God. Conversely, every time Jesus was tempted he disagreed with Satan. “Aren’t you hungry?” Satan said. “Turn these stones to bread.” “No.” Jesus replied. Because Jesus continually disagreed with Satan, the temptation never had any power over Him. This may sound like a very theoretical and abstract point, but may I assure you that it affects your life every day. Every day you inadvertently fall into agreement with Satan and disagree with God. It happens when you say, “I’m a failure.” Or, “I’m just a misfit.” Or, “I can never get this right.” All of these are what I have begun to call “innocent curses.” It also happens every time we complain about another person. “If he could only get it right this time.” “I don’t know where he was raised.” “Have you heard what so and so did?” All of this stems from our judgmental nature that comes from our pride and self-sufficiency. We think we are good enough to make fair and honest judgments in every situation. All these thoughts and statements like this, no matter how innocent give the Devil permission to tempt us and torment us. Early in life the temptations with which we think we wrestle are the temptations to overindulge in food, shopping, chocolate, dresses, new TV’s, new cars and jobs and friends and spouses. By God’s grace, we come to recognize that the great temptations of life are not the physical desires of life, but the spiritual aspects of life. The greatest temptations are not the physical, touchable needs of our life, but the spiritual parts. That is when we overindulge in fun, work, guilt, hate, shame, gossip, grumbling and complaining. These temptations are seductive. These are the temptations that bring us to agreeing with Satan, as did Eve, and give the Devil permission to whisper in our heads. Our comfort and strength comes as we hear the voice of God, our Father and not the Devil, the father of all lies. Then we will disagree with the Devil and agree with our Creator. Remember: the Accuser accuses and the Comforter comforts. (John 10:10 & 14:26) Disagree with Satan and stop crucifying yourself. Arthur James 2:13 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080210Csermon.mp3 2/10/2008 The Power Of Disagreement THE POWER OF DISAGREEMENT Saint James Church February 10, 2008 Is there ever a time when you don’t need an Easter moment in your life? Many of us know the feeling of crucifixion. We often feel that life has crucified us. Yet we do not experience the Easter that comes with Good Friday often enough. That is why we would give these forty days of Lent our attention. Not just to prepare for the Crucifixion, but also to ready ourselves for Easter, the Resurrection we all need. We always begin the Season of Lent by looking at the power of temptations in our lives. We do that because the defeat we know in our relenting to temptation are the crucifixion moments of our life. Woe is me. And yet, let’s not forget that because of Jesus Christ, the death of yielding to temptation may be followed by the new life of resurrection. TEMPTATIONS “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:16 “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye… she took some and ate it.” Genesis 3:6 We are all constantly bombarded by temptations. This morning as we read our Bibles we see that our Lord Jesus was also bombarded by temptations. Following his Baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert. (a small cul de sac will come here) There Satan tempted him. How did Jesus resist the temptations? He never agreed with Satan. Jesus used the power of disagreement on Satan. The only power the devil has is the power we give him by our agreement. That is how all the tempting began. Eve agreed with Satan and disagreed with God. Conversely, every time Jesus was tempted he disagreed with Satan. “Aren’t you hungry?” Satan said. “Turn these stones to bread.” “No.” Jesus replied. Because Jesus continually disagreed with Satan, the temptation never had any power over Him. This may sound like a very theoretical and abstract point, but may I assure you that it affects your life every day. Every day you inadvertently fall into agreement with Satan and disagree with God. It happens when you say, “I’m a failure.” Or, “I’m just a misfit.” Or, “I can never get this right.” All of these are what I have begun to call “innocent curses.” It also happens every time we complain about another person. “If he could only get it right this time.” “I don’t know where he was raised.” “Have you heard what so and so did?” All of this stems from our judgmental nature that comes from our pride and self-sufficiency. We think we are good enough to make fair and honest judgments in every situation. All these thoughts and statements like this, no matter how innocent give the Devil permission to tempt us and torment us. Early in life the temptations with which we think we wrestle are the temptations to overindulge in food, shopping, chocolate, dresses, new TV’s, new cars and jobs and friends and spouses. By God’s grace, we come to recognize that the great temptations of life are not the physical desires of life, but the spiritual aspects of life. The greatest temptations are not the physical, touchable needs of our life, but the spiritual parts. That is when we overindulge in fun, work, guilt, hate, shame, gossip, grumbling and complaining. These temptations are seductive. These are the temptations that bring us to agreeing with Satan, as did Eve, and give the Devil permission to whisper in our heads. Our comfort and strength comes as we hear the voice of God, our Father and not the Devil, the father of all lies. Then we will disagree with the Devil and agree with our Creator. Remember: the Accuser accuses and the Comforter comforts. (John 10:10 & 14:26) Disagree with Satan and stop crucifying yourself. Arthur James 2:13 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=632 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Carl Green 2/10/2008 Grace to Our Rescue http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080210Msermon.mp3 2/10/2008 Grace to Our Rescue http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=642 Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Louise Weld 2/3/2008 Light For The World LIGHT FOR THE WORLD Saint James Church February 3, 2008 It is a painful thing when someone you dearly love won’t speak to you. The person may think she has good reasons: you have hurt her, you have misunderstood him, you have mistreated him… The truth is, there is never a good reason for a relationship to be broken. Sometimes people quit relationships simply out of fear. Fear of loss of control, fear of losing the upper hand. Often it is a fear of judgment. That’s what happened when Adam and Eve stopped speaking to God. They were afraid and ashamed—and they should have been! They had just made a mess of the amazing world God had created and then presented to them. They had just turned their backs on their closest friend. Knowing how much broken relationships hurt (and how strong the urge is to get even) I have marveled anew this week at the graciousness of God. When we meet Moses this morning we step into the story of a God who is not out to get even, but who is determined to get us back. That’s why Moses is up in the mountain, literally getting seared with the presence of God so that he is forever God’s man. The Israelites see a raging fire at the top of the mountain. Moses always comes down the mountain glowing with the presence of God. He needs it too, because the people of God entrusted to his care are so prone to wander, so hard to love… When we get to the Gospel of Matthew, centuries later, we know that even the Law and the Prophets have not been able to cause God’s people to repent and to be restored to Him and to themselves. And so the Letter to the Hebrews reports that God has finally spoken to us by his Son…the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Peter, James, John. And others are attracted to Jesus and respond to his call to follow him. But we know from the witness of the Old Testament that they won’t be able to remain faithful unless God does something transformative to their wayward hearts. We join them on the mountain to see what God is going to do. We see Jesus, and Moses and Elijah, and this amazing light, a light that comes from the inside, lighting up Jesus so that his face shines like the sun and even his clothing is glittering white. We hear a voice declaring this is my Son. And then, in today’s Epistle from 2 Peter, we hear again from Peter, the impetuous and shortsighted young fisherman whose fear and self-interest would, at a campfire during the terrible persecution of Jesus, win out over his love for his friend Jesus. Now at the end of his life, Peter understands that the transfiguration of Jesus was not only to show them that Jesus was God. It was to show them and us what God was going to do to all recognize their need of Jesus Christ and are willing to be loved and changed by the Love that casts out fear. He places his glory in our hearts, call us sons. As Peter is about to be martyred for his faith and his courageous witness, he reminisces: We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty…we were with him on the sacred mountain. And He has been with me ever since, muses Peter, as he considers the birth of the church and God using him to heal people and preach with eloquence and power, and the failure of persecution and false teachers and all kinds of trouble to extinguish the light of the Gospel… His divine power has given us everything we need for life! He has given me Himself! The Transfiguration is for us individually: for our broken relationships and our aimless lives, to show us that Jesus is the son of God. And it is for us as the body of Christ, that we (like Peter and the others), from the blessing of our relationship with Him, may declare the praises of him who called [us] our of darkness into his wonderful light. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080203Csermon.mp3 2/3/2008 Light For The World LIGHT FOR THE WORLD Saint James Church February 3, 2008 It is a painful thing when someone you dearly love won’t speak to you. The person may think she has good reasons: you have hurt her, you have misunderstood him, you have mistreated him… The truth is, there is never a good reason for a relationship to be broken. Sometimes people quit relationships simply out of fear. Fear of loss of control, fear of losing the upper hand. Often it is a fear of judgment. That’s what happened when Adam and Eve stopped speaking to God. They were afraid and ashamed—and they should have been! They had just made a mess of the amazing world God had created and then presented to them. They had just turned their backs on their closest friend. Knowing how much broken relationships hurt (and how strong the urge is to get even) I have marveled anew this week at the graciousness of God. When we meet Moses this morning we step into the story of a God who is not out to get even, but who is determined to get us back. That’s why Moses is up in the mountain, literally getting seared with the presence of God so that he is forever God’s man. The Israelites see a raging fire at the top of the mountain. Moses always comes down the mountain glowing with the presence of God. He needs it too, because the people of God entrusted to his care are so prone to wander, so hard to love… When we get to the Gospel of Matthew, centuries later, we know that even the Law and the Prophets have not been able to cause God’s people to repent and to be restored to Him and to themselves. And so the Letter to the Hebrews reports that God has finally spoken to us by his Son…the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Peter, James, John. And others are attracted to Jesus and respond to his call to follow him. But we know from the witness of the Old Testament that they won’t be able to remain faithful unless God does something transformative to their wayward hearts. We join them on the mountain to see what God is going to do. We see Jesus, and Moses and Elijah, and this amazing light, a light that comes from the inside, lighting up Jesus so that his face shines like the sun and even his clothing is glittering white. We hear a voice declaring this is my Son. And then, in today’s Epistle from 2 Peter, we hear again from Peter, the impetuous and shortsighted young fisherman whose fear and self-interest would, at a campfire during the terrible persecution of Jesus, win out over his love for his friend Jesus. Now at the end of his life, Peter understands that the transfiguration of Jesus was not only to show them that Jesus was God. It was to show them and us what God was going to do to all recognize their need of Jesus Christ and are willing to be loved and changed by the Love that casts out fear. He places his glory in our hearts, call us sons. As Peter is about to be martyred for his faith and his courageous witness, he reminisces: We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty…we were with him on the sacred mountain. And He has been with me ever since, muses Peter, as he considers the birth of the church and God using him to heal people and preach with eloquence and power, and the failure of persecution and false teachers and all kinds of trouble to extinguish the light of the Gospel… His divine power has given us everything we need for life! He has given me Himself! The Transfiguration is for us individually: for our broken relationships and our aimless lives, to show us that Jesus is the son of God. And it is for us as the body of Christ, that we (like Peter and the others), from the blessing of our relationship with Him, may declare the praises of him who called [us] our of darkness into his wonderful light. Louise http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=630 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Arthur Jenkins 2/3/2008 Conduits Of Glory CONDUITS OF GLORY Saint James Church February 3, 2008 Everything you did yesterday was because you are missing something. No matter what you did, in everything you did you were attempting to fill the void in your life. Some of us try to fill the void with “meaning,” others fill it with “love.” Some would fill the void with “self-esteem,” and one of the new buzzwords lately has been “purpose.” You get the picture. (Now recognize, I’m taking the high road here and not just talking about all the other self-destructive ways we attempt to fill the void, i.e. shopping, addiction, rebellion, anger, revenge, pornography.) The assumption is that one is in need of meaning, or love, or self-esteem or purpose and when you find it, you’ll be fulfilled. Most of you know that it is easy for me to say the void that we try to fill is our need for God. That is certainly true. We are created from the intimacy of God, by the intimacy of God, for intimacy with God. Even with that recognition, we could still describe God as filling the void with meaning or love or self-esteem or purpose and we wouldn’t really be wrong, but we would still be incomplete. Allow me to offer another description of that which God wants to fill the void in our lives. It is GLORY! Exodus 24:12ff Moses went up on the Mountain of God, the place of intimacy with God. As Moses spent time there with God, he didn’t just receive meaning or love or self-esteem or purpose. Moses received Glory, God’s Glory shared with him. And that Glory had an affect. It was transforming. It made Moses’ face shine. It was God’s Glory shared with Moses that gave him authority, strength, courage, and willingness to carry on the mission God had given him. Glory! Matthew 17:1ff, Transfiguration Jesus too went up the mountain, the place of intimacy with the Father. As he was there he was Transfigured, that is Jesus radiated the Glory of His Father. Notice the difference in the change the shekinah glory of God had on Jesus than on Moses. Moses’ face radiated God’s glory and even that was fading. Jesus’ whole body radiated glory. (Did you get that – Body?) “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Mt. 17:2 In the New Covenant, in the Kingdom of God the boundaries change. Unlike with Moses, a veil could not be used to cover Jesus’ face as it shone with glory, as the veil itself would also soon radiate with the same glory. Glory Shared Moses had to go up on the mountain to bask in the glory of God. Jesus too went up on the mountain. On the other hand, Jesus told the disciples to “wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” At Pentecost God’s glory, His Spirit is shared with all who will believe and receive and they became the Glory of God on earth. What did Peter do when he saw the crippled man at the Temple’s Beautiful Gate? “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” That was glory shared. Glory! Will you be a conduit of God’s glory? You certainly need to receive His glory, His Holy Spirit, His life within you. We all stuff our lives with whatever we can grab until we receive the Holy Spirit and share that intimacy with God. Then we are transformed for the mission. We are conduits of His Glory for His Glory and for the blessing of the world. Glory! “And we, who with unveiled face all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18 “Will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?” 2 Cor. 3:8 Arthur Luke 2:32 http://www.saint-james.org/podcast/20080203Msermon.mp3 2/3/2008 Conduits Of Glory CONDUITS OF GLORY Saint James Church February 3, 2008 Everything you did yesterday was because you are missing something. No matter what you did, in everything you did you were attempting to fill the void in your life. Some of us try to fill the void with “meaning,” others fill it with “love.” Some would fill the void with “self-esteem,” and one of the new buzzwords lately has been “purpose.” You get the picture. (Now recognize, I’m taking the high road here and not just talking about all the other self-destructive ways we attempt to fill the void, i.e. shopping, addiction, rebellion, anger, revenge, pornography.) The assumption is that one is in need of meaning, or love, or self-esteem or purpose and when you find it, you’ll be fulfilled. Most of you know that it is easy for me to say the void that we try to fill is our need for God. That is certainly true. We are created from the intimacy of God, by the intimacy of God, for intimacy with God. Even with that recognition, we could still describe God as filling the void with meaning or love or self-esteem or purpose and we wouldn’t really be wrong, but we would still be incomplete. Allow me to offer another description of that which God wants to fill the void in our lives. It is GLORY! Exodus 24:12ff Moses went up on the Mountain of God, the place of intimacy with God. As Moses spent time there with God, he didn’t just receive meaning or love or self-esteem or purpose. Moses received Glory, God’s Glory shared with him. And that Glory had an affect. It was transforming. It made Moses’ face shine. It was God’s Glory shared with Moses that gave him authority, strength, courage, and willingness to carry on the mission God had given him. Glory! Matthew 17:1ff, Transfiguration Jesus too went up the mountain, the place of intimacy with the Father. As he was there he was Transfigured, that is Jesus radiated the Glory of His Father. Notice the difference in the change the shekinah glory of God had on Jesus than on Moses. Moses’ face radiated God’s glory and even that was fading. Jesus’ whole body radiated glory. (Did you get that – Body?) “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Mt. 17:2 In the New Covenant, in the Kingdom of God the boundaries change. Unlike with Moses, a veil could not be used to cover Jesus’ face as it shone with glory, as the veil itself would also soon radiate with the same glory. Glory Shared Moses had to go up on the mountain to bask in the glory of God. Jesus too went up on the mountain. On the other hand, Jesus told the disciples to “wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” At Pentecost God’s glory, His Spirit is shared with all who will believe and receive and they became the Glory of God on earth. What did Peter do when he saw the crippled man at the Temple’s Beautiful Gate? “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” That was glory shared. Glory! Will you be a conduit of God’s glory? You certainly need to receive His glory, His Holy Spirit, His life within you. We all stuff our lives with whatever we can grab until we receive the Holy Spirit and share that intimacy with God. Then we are transformed for the mission. We are conduits of His Glory for His Glory and for the blessing of the world. Glory! “And we, who with unveiled face all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 3:18 “Will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?” 2 Cor. 3:8 Arthur Luke 2:32 http://www.saint-james.org/sermons.php?ID=631 Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500 15:00 Louise Weld 1/27/2008 Supreme Makeover SUPREME MAKEOVER Saint James Church January 27, 2008 For the last decade or so in our culture the mantra has been It’s all about me. I suggest that our new buzz phrase (obsession) is Extreme Makeover. If television is any indication, when we decided that each one of us was the most important thing in our world, we also realized we weren’t able to measure up to our expectation of our selves. No problem: get a makeover! Among the most popular TV shows are the Extreme Makeover shows. You can get a new body in 6 weeks, or a cosmetic do-over, or even a brand new house. The name of the game is transformation. Something new to replace the old. This is not new revelation to those who read their Bibles. According to Scripture, we’ve needed something new to replace our broken selves ever since we deliberately tried to take charge of our worlds instead of submitting to the authority of our creator. That’s why Isaiah talks about the people living in darkness. The world separated from God is very dark, so dark that we can’t just bolster up ourselves or try harder: we need something new to replace the old. And Isaiah’s proclamation this morning is that God has done exactly what we needed: the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. That great light is Jesus Christ, who has come to save us, to give us a Supreme Makeover. The restoration of His creation was so important, so n