Category: Faith

Warning Signs

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Warning signs are very helpful in an environment where there is the potential for danger. Climbing on lions is an activity that, I believe, requires a bit of a heads up.

Often times in life we aren’t afforded written signs that alert us to possible hazards – and that’s especially true as it touches our journey of faith. I’ve said many times that church is a dangerous place. We put a lot on the line to join a faith community – we invest our trust and hopes in it and the potential for disillusionment, or worse, is always present. Beyond just being disappointed by the people of the community, we also have to pay attention to the leadership and guidance that is present in that mix. The dangers range from abusive tactics of overseers to the propagation of a warped believe system. None of these things have warning labels attached to them…but that doesn’t mean we have no means of discerning a problem.

We’re continuing our study called Truth or Consequences, and we’ll be reading the middle section of Jude this Sunday, v5-16.

Jude sort of sounds like an Independent Baptist in this section, doesn’t he? (no offense towards my Independent Baptist friends…but c’mon, you know I’m right)

In v 5-7 he uses three examples from Israel’s history and from rabbinical tradition to re-emphasize that the God who saves us is also the God who does something else? What else is at work in this mix besides God’s desire to save? How does that factor in as a warning sign about the result of following a false teacher?

The focus shifts in the following verses – narrowing in on what these false teachers are like. In V 8-10 there is a theme of rejecting authority – church, civil and even celestial. What sort of warning sign would we assign to leadership based these verses?

V 11-16 provides a dizzying string of metaphors that exemplify what Jude thinks of these teachers. Rain-less clouds, stars that don’t provide for a fixed position, fruitless trees; there’s a common theme to these images – can you think of what it is? Jesus provides a similar warning in Matthew 7:16-20. What is Jude saying here – what are the warning signs to look for?

When Judah started his letter he said he’d rather just talk about the wonders of our shared salvation – and I’m right there with him. This is not my favorite topic, but sometimes we have to stop and read the warning signs for the sake of our spiritual health. This Sunday will be one of those times. See yez’ then!

Hey Jude!

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This Sunday we will be starting the book of Jude in our study Truth or Consequences.  We’ll be reading v1-4.

We don’t know for sure who Judah, the author is – one main theory is that he is the half-brother of Jesus, because of his identification as the brother of James. We assume that James is the leader of the early church mentioned in Acts and he was also a half-brother to Jesus.

As we read the opening verses of this letter we see that Jude was intending to write just to talk about the awesome salvation we have in Jesus. In v1-2 he describes some of what the truth of the gospel has provided us. If you’re so inclined, underline the words that describe what we’ve received through Jesus (helpful tip – don’t use a Sharpie if you’re using a Bible app on your phone). How can the benefits he describes be foundational in our sense of identity? How does that inform us about the importance of the truth of the gospel in our lives?

In v3-4 Jude challenges us to contend for the faith. What are some ways we can “contend”…that is, guard the faith? Some have taken this passage as licence to attack or berate people who don’t share the same beliefs. How would you describe a difference between guarding what we’ve been given and attacking others who believe differently?

It’s been a long week – I’m looking forward to hanging with my church family and attending to God’s word. Hope to see you Sunday.

A Visible Truth

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A few years ago a neighbor came to my door to talk to me about how one of my sons had really hurt his son’s feelings. Now he was a big strong navy seal, not a doting mother, telling me how my son had hurt his son’s feelings so badly that he had come to him crying and beside himself about it. I knew it was serious. His son was a good friend of my kids, so much so that he was at our house on a daily basis. He was probably the most kind-hearted, compassionate child I have ever met and I loved him like my own. So to hear that my son had hurt him to the point of going to his father in tears broke my heart. Not so much because I expected perfection out of my son but because of my love for the other child.

It felt as if I had some part in causing his pain, because my son who is a part of me, a reflection of my heart had hurt him.

I got to thinking about that and was immediately convicted. How many times had I poorly reflected my heavenly father’s love for someone in my own less than compassionate interactions with people? God’s emphasis on us loving people suddenly become more clear. We are His children. We’re called to represent his values, his heart in our broken world When we hurt others it pains His heart as well.

In our study in 2 Chronicles this week we considered what people might think about God as a result of their interactions with us…It’s a great question to ponder, a good thing to remember as we walk out our lives professing Christianity..

We’ll be picking up in the epistle of 3rd John this week. It’s the second book in our 3 book series that discusses the importance of discerning truth. This week John will point out several characters who were actually really good at revealing the truth of God’s character. Their lives, in other words, reflected a visible truth.

How did Gaius reveal the truth of the Gospel in vs 5-6? In that ancient culture hospitality was considered almost a duty even on the secular side. Because of the lack of public accommodations, traveling ministers were dependent on the hospitality of others to house and feed them as they went around spreading the good news. Would you consider opening your home to help a traveling minister or someone in need? We certainly live in a different day and culture today. What might prevent you from doing so? How might we be able to be generous in this regard today?

Our next character isn’t so hospitable. He provides a sharp contrast with the goodness seen in Gaius. What does John suggest the church do in regards to his behavior in vs 11? It’s suggested that Gaius and Diotrephes were part of the same church there in Asia and that Gaius could have been a victim of one of Diotrephes’ excommunications. What does John do in vs 9-10 in light of Diotrephes’ obvious offenses? What doesn’t he suggest or do? In our prior epistle John had warned the church pretty seriously about allowing false teachers to share in their churches. Is it possible Diotrephes was just protecting them from that sort of thing? What do you think is the goal of John’s open rebuke? There was clearly some disunity developing there in the church. What do we learn from the way John handled this about maintaining unity in our own community? How can we rightly represent God’s character in community to a watching world ?

The third character introduced in our text is Demetrius. While the details we have of his life are brief they speak volumes. Who does he obtain a good report from in vs 12? Is there a person or persons or situation where other’s assessments of your character wouldn’t be so glowing? Why do you think it would be important that our character be consistent with everyone? Romans 5:8 says that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. In other words while we were still hating, resisting and cursing him he gave everything, his very life, to reveal Gods love to us. How hard is it to treat those who mistreat us with that kind of self giving love? What would it reveal if we were able to love in the face of hate?

It will be a challenging study for sure. Hope to see ya’ll there!!

A Love for Truth

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 Last summer I was struggling with my weed-eater. I had come to the conclusion that the spool which held the string was old and faulty and needed to be replaced. I tore the whole assembly off the handle and ripped open the packaging on the replacement head and started trying to attach it to the trimmer. Sweat was pouring down my face and into my eyes as I tried and tried to align the new spool properly onto the shaft of the trimmer, but it just wouldn’t work. Then it dawned on me. I had the wrong replacement part. I had wasted hours and expended so much energy, only to realize I was trying to attach the wrong thing.

Ever been there? Hopefully not – I trust you’re smarter than I. There’s nothing worse than putting a lot of effort into something and realizing, too late, that it was all for naught.

That’s something John will be warning us about on a spiritual level as we finish out 2 John in our study called Truth or Consequences. We’ll be reading 2nd John 1:7-13.

John spent the first part of his letter encouraging us to live in love – then the last part of his letter seems to get a little harsh. How can we reconcile his defense of the gospel of Jesus and his challenge to be loving? Does loving others require us to abandon a claim to a singular truth? Why or why not?

What does John encourage us to “watch” in v8? What is his emphasis concerning how his warning is applied? How does that help us understand the balance of loving tolerance and holding the truth?

The deceptive doctrines he’s warning about are most likely ancient forms of “Christian Gnosticism” – it’s good to have a grasp of what his context was.

In the ancient world there were no motels or formal travel accommodations.  Traveling ministers could only spread their message by relying on the hospitality of local churches. They would be housed, fed and blessed – that is, encouraged. If those systems were removed, the teacher would not be able to continue spreading his views.  Given that context, how do we understand what John is telling us about letting false teachers into the home or blessing them?

This study will require some critical thinking on our part as we press some hard questions to the assumptions our present culture has made concerning love, tolerance and truth. Hope to see yez there!

The Truth in Love

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truth-consequences-FB

We will be starting a new study this coming Sunday – a series exploring 2nd and 3rd John , as well as Jude. They are three of the shortest books in the New Testament and we’re lumping them into one study because they all three carry the same theme. Each of them is commending us to the truth, and warning us of the consequences of wandering away from the truth.

Pilate asked Jesus a question that still echoes in the air to this day; “What is truth?” Ours is a world that has learned to be wary of some who declare they have the “truth” because so often they are, in reality, making a power-play. “This is the world as I see it and want it to be, and I will force you into that mold whether you want it or not”. A lot of damage can and has been done in the name of truth.

There are so many different kinds of truth – subjective, propositional, experiential, objective….and with humans being so varied and complex, what qualifies as a universal, meta-truth for all of us?

More importantly, what were the New Testament writers referencing when they declared and rallied their readers around the truth? That’s something we will explore and consider. As you think about what the consistent message of the New Testament writers is, how would you summarize the truth they declared?

We’ll begin our study in 2 John 1:1-6.

Count up how many times the word “truth” appears in the first four verses. What does this frequency intimate about John’s emphasis?

What connection does John make between truth and love? In v3 John is greeting his readers, but he drops a ton of theology in that “hey ya’ll”. What does v 3 tell us that we receive from God by truth and love?

What is the importance of love in relation to truth? What is the importance of truth in relation to love? Do you believe it is possible to have one without the other? Why or why not?

Not to scare you – but come prepared to think this Sunday, we have some fascinating things to consider! Hope to see you then!

 

God is Love

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As I mentioned today, here is 1 Corinthians 13 with God replaced for the word “love”, and ourselves inserted into the text. This is a good starting place for gaining a new perspective on the source of love in our lives.

 

 GOD is patient and kind with me.

God is not jealous, God does not brag,

and is not proud.

 GOD is not rude towards me, is not selfish,

and does not get upset with me.

GOD does not count up wrongs that

 I have done.

  GOD is not happy with the

evil that happens in my life,

but is happy with the truth forming in me.

 GOD patiently endures all things in me.

God always trusts, always hopes,

and always remains strong for me.

 God’s Love never ends for me.

Also – some people had asked for a copy of the slideshow – so here is a PDF you can download: love actually

Cheers!

Love Actually

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

love actuallyWe are going to be starting a new series, but not until next week. This Sunday is Valentine’s Day and I thought I might extrapolate a few of the thoughts I presented last week concerning love as the Bible describes it compared to how our present culture seems to view it. What is love? Is it a good feeling? Is it some force of nature which we have no control over? Is love worth the risk we take to express it? How do we grapple with disappointments and disillusionment in love? How can we love those who don’t love us back?

I don’t know if we can answer all of those questions in full, but we certainly can begin to get our bearings about the nature of love and it’s source by going to the Scriptures.

This Sunday we’ll do a short foray into 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, reading Paul’s quintessential poem about the nature of love. Sadly, this section of Scripture often gets relegated to wedding services only, and we miss the depth of what’s revealed about the nature of agape love and how it must be foundation to any other expression of love. The words in this chapter certainly pertain to spousal relationships, but it also pertains to every other relationship we can know. 1 Corinthians 13 isn’t just for married people – it’s for human people, married, single or in-between and effects how we relate to anyone.

Our culture defines love primarily as romance. But romance is more about the dramatic words and experiences we have that heighten the emotional and physical draw between couples. We often think of love as only associated with good feelings. Yet, read Paul’s description of love. How many of his descriptors imply good feelings? How many imply negative feelings?

What does that tell us about the nature of love?

But if love is something that transcends our feelings, how do we muster the initiative to express it? What is the source of our love if it’s not the good feelings found in reciprocal love?

To answer that, we’ll need to look at what the “Apostle of Love” said (sounds like a funk band from the 70’s, doesn’t it?). John, in 1 John 4:7-11, clues us in on the source of love. If our love doesn’t find it’s source in the love returned to us from another human being…where does it come from and how is it sustained?

That’s some serious stuff to think about. We’re going to talk about love, brain secretions, and a bunch of other interesting things this Sunday as we consider what love is, actually.

Hope to see you then!

Tangibly Greater

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heb graph webThis Sunday we’ll be finishing up our study in the book of Hebrews, reading all of chapter 13 and the writer’s closing thoughts.

There is a lot packed into the wrap-up – but in many ways the author is restating in practical terms what’s been unfolding in the previous 12 chapters. We are given a framework by which the greater life that comes through Christ can be lived out. We have described for us how Jesus is tangibly greater.

in v1-6 we’re encouraged about where, how and who we give our love to. The word that the writer uses for “love” in v1 is “philedelphia“. How can a familial sort of love be encouraged within the church community? In what ways can a church community show hospitality to stranger?

The Christian has always been called to a counter-cultural view of sex and sexuality and materialism. How does our culture view sex, and how does that differ from God’s intent according to this passage in Hebrews? How can a love for money interfere with our love for God? How does remembering God’s care for us influence us away from loving money?

In v7-17 we move from love to faith. What leaders do you suppose the writer has in mind, and what do you think it means to honor them? Given all the other instructions found in the New Testament about discerning what’s being taught to us, this can’t mean that we follow people without question. What are some ways we can we question or even disagree with a leader and still be respectful of the calling?

Considering that Hebrews is written to Jewish believers who are feeling the pressure of claiming Jesus as Messiah – what comfort would it bring to them to remember that Jesus accomplished God’s great purposes outside of Jerusalem and away from the temple?

What sacrifices does the writer challenge us to bring to God? How are they different from the sacrifices of the Old Testament?

This has been a challenging book, that’s for sure….but also very rewarding. I hope it’s been that way for you too. See you Sunday!

Unshakeable

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What sort of things do you consider to be part of a stable life? What kinds of events or circumstances seem to threaten a person’s stability in life? This Sunday we’re going to consider some of the things that go into a stable, unshakable life as the book of Hebrews describes it. We’ll be reading Hebrews 12:14-29.

If I were to be honest, I’m not that crazy about what v12 commands of us. What sort of person do you find it most difficult to have peace with? The Greek word for “strive” is dioko – which means to run after something, as though to hunt it. What connection do you see between peace, grace and holiness?

The story of Esau is found it Genesis 25-27. What do you believe the moral of his story is? How can prioritizing eternal goals keep us from falling into sin and painful consequences they sometimes carry?

In v18-24 the writer of Hebrews comes to his stunning climax of the letter by displaying the intense contrast between Mount Sinai where the law was given to Israel, and the result of a faith in Jesus, which brings us into God’s welcoming presence, pictured as Mount Zion. Everything about it is better…greater, hence the theme of this whole letter. What did the blood of Able speak? What does the blood of Christ speak on our behalf?

The writer finishes off by reminding us (something consistently proclaimed in Scripture) that this broken world is going to be shaken out of it’s place, and a new, resurrected world will emerge. The point he’s making is a warning about who we ally with. The shakeable world will go into destruction – but those allied with Christ will not be shaken. V28 tells us what a stable response to this grace would be – what is it?

What are your thoughts about v29? Does it make you nervous, or stoked? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Really looking forward to this teaching! Hope to see you there!

The Story of Faith

Rob Woodrum1 Comment

My formative Christian years were spent embracing what has popularly come to be known as “the health and wealth” gospel. I was told that if I had the right amount of faith, I could get God to do my bidding and provide me fabulous toys and inexhaustible wellness. Hebrews chapter 11 was a go-to source for the teaching of this persuasion. Over and over again I would be challenged with the anthem: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! By FAITH they obtained the promises!”, which by application meant that through the exercising of faith I would obtain the (presumed) promise of a new model automobile. If I was still driving a rusty Pinto, it was my fault for not having enough faith to bring my desires into existence.

How did we draw that conclusion from Hebrews 11? Very simply. We NEVER read it in one sitting. We never put it all together to get the sweep of the story, nor did we ever place it in the larger context of the whole book. We dunked into it like we were bobbing for apples, coming up with a prized proof text in our teeth and demanding God’s unconditional surrender to what we “discovered”.

Needless to say, I don’t read Hebrews 11 that way anymore. I certainly won’t teach it that way this weekend. Nor will I break this lengthy chapter up to provide bite-sized sermons about Old Testament Heroes. *You’re sounding a little curmudgeonly Rob.*  – Sorry. I don’t mean to. It’s just that I’m pretty passionate about getting at the heart of what the writer is communicating in this chapter. It’s really very cool, but not what many people suppose. I really believe this is a chapter that needs to be read in one sitting to get the sense of emphasis I believe the writer intends.

You should read Hebrews 11. As you do, remind yourself of the overall point of this letter: encouraging Jewish believers not to give up their faith in Jesus as the Messiah because Jesus is greater than the Old Covenant system they had known. They were discouraged because they were facing persecution (as we learned in chapter 10) and Jesus hadn’t yet returned  – so Hebrews 11 presents a case for holding on by faith.

V6 of this chapter gives us the primitive core of a life of faith. How would you paraphrase what the writer is saying? Describe what that would look like in your life.

In this long list of characters, what is the consistent situation that must be faced by those who are holding on by faith? V13,19,22 and 39 can give you a hint. What direction does faith look? What impact did their faith have on how they viewed this present life?

How was Moses’ faith expressed according to v24-25? How does that influence our understanding of faith as it relates to the choices we make in this present, fallen world?

Man….I’m sorta’ stoked about this chapter. Hope you can make it this Sunday as we explore it together!

Also, here are the songs we’ll be singing:

Divine Romance

Glory to God Forever

Spirit of the Living God

Whom Shall I Fear

Hallelujah What a Savior