I’m amazed at how often I find myself coming back to Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae. If you were at New Hope in August of 2010 hopefully you remember that Colossians was the focus of my first sermon series as pastor of New Hope. I am inspired and challenged by this letter. Like all of Scripture, it is a goldmine worthy of our efforts to dig deep and be transformed by its truth. For the handful of readers of my posts, I hope this verse will challenge and encourage you as you follow Christ.

As I examine the cultural landscape of what passes for Christianity, my own heart, and God’s word, I’m convinced that now more than ever we need to take passages like Colossians 2:8 to heart. In the context of the letter, Paul has set forth the centrality of Christ in chapter one and in chapter 2 begins addressing the heresy (and the teachers who introduced it) which was threatening to infect the church. In verse 8 Paul instructs us to “See to it that no one takes you captive…” This is an imperative, an exhortation to “be wary” or “on guard.” Clearly diligence is needed if we are to be on guard but I wonder if this is really the case for us in our current setting. Ok, let me clarify, I don’t “wonder” if this is the case, I’m certain that it is not. For some it will seem that I’m stating the obvious and for others that I’m being unnecessarily critical. For those who doubt the seriousness of the situation let me set forth a few examples: In the past 10 years (actually less) the following heresies have been given mainstream attention (leading to acceptance by many sincere but deceived believers): the denial of the reality of hell, the denial of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, the denial of God’s sovereignty, the denial of the Trinity, the denial of God’s omniscience (that He’s all knowing), and many more.

We are called to “see to it” (be watchful, wary) “that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and NOT ACCORDING TO CHRIST.” If I called you up this evening and said, “I want you to know that I’ve uncovered a sinister plan: you are going to be kidnapped tonight at midnight.” If you see me as a credible source what will you do? Will you go to bed at 10 and not worry about what is supposed to happen at midnight or would you take steps to protect yourself? Would you “see to it” that you don’t get taken captive? If you’re sane you would!

Take this blog entry as your “call” that our enemy is seeking to kidnap you (spiritually speaking) with false teaching, some of which can be found as near as the local Christian bookstore. See to it that this does not happen. Your first line of defense is God’s word, taken in context. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking this cannot happen to us. See to it…

²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  Romans 1:18-25

In this powerful passage from Paul’s letter the Romans, we find the crushing blow against agnosticism and atheism. Why is God’s wrath coming? Because mankind has suppressed the truth about God. Paul tells us that God has revealed His power and divine attributes through what He has made and yet our choice is to ignore all that in favor of other idols. In other words, you have to work (hard) at denying His existence and His power. My goal this morning isn’t to deal with atheism or agnosticism, my goal is to challenge those who name the name of Christ: we, who have seen Paul’s indictment against mankind, recognized our guilt, and fled to the cross of Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation. Christians, we must be aware of our tendency to fall back into the way we once lived, suppressing the truth about God by the way we live. Idolatry is still a problem, we may not worship at a totem pole but we do worship things rather than God Himself. Idolatry can take the form of unbiblical theologies, where we paint God in our own image or see Him as the One who exists to do our bidding. Idolatry can take the form of our love of comfort, pleasure, or entertainment or in the words of Mr. Lunt (Veggie Tales reference) “my life of ease!”

In Christ we have been set free from such worthless endeavors and called to find our lives in Him. The fulfillment found in Christ transcends our circumstances rather than being dependent on them. We have been called to proclaim and delight in His eternal power, providence, love, and glory, now and forevermore. We have the privilege of proclaim the truth about our magnificent Savior to a world that is still mired in the deadly trap of worshipping created things rather than the King of all creation. We are called to think and act biblically, recognizing that it is through God’s grace and power that our lives are transformed. He is God, the Creator, we are His creation. You, who once exchanged the glory of God for a lie, have had your eyes opened to the truth. Why on earth would you look back?

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” or so the song goes! For many though, emotionally it does not feel “wonderful” at all. Whether it be due to missing those who aren’t with us (either through death, distance, or conflict), an overall sense of feeling sorrow, or some other catalyst, this time of year can be a trial for some (even mature Christians). As one who has walked this road I’d like to take a few paragraphs to encourage  you this Christmas season!

It has been said that in many cases (not all) we struggle with depression because we fail to see things in light of the gospel. We look around us at everything that seems wrong with our lives and we lose sight of the One who makes everything right between us and God. Our identity in Christ is the perfect starting point in helping us persevere when the darkness falls on our lives. Let’s look to the third Psalm to help us in our quest to persevere during difficult times:

A little context goes a long way. Psalm 3 was written by King David when he was on the run from his son, Absalom, who wanted the kingdom for himself. It’s not much of a leap here to think that this was probably an emotionally distressing time for King David. His own son wanted him dead and this had all come about due to David’s own failure. In verses 1 and 2 David sets forth his circumstances: he had many foes who believed he had no chance and that God would not deliver him. I imagine it was tempting to believe that their assessment of God’s ability and willingness to save him was right. We may not have many enemies and if we have any I doubt they are trying to kill us (I’m writing from a human perspective), but there are other “enemies” which seek to steal our peace and joy as followers of Christ. From within we may deal with guilt, regret, doubt, or a host of other issues which cause us to ask ourselves: “Does God really love me? Is Christ’s death sufficient for my sins?” The temptation to doubt God in this way is as old as time, think of Satan’s temptation of Eve, “Has God not said?” Whether we realize it or not, this is a spiritual battle. When we doubt God’s goodness and love we are well on the way to despair. King David faced it and so will we.

In verses 3 and 4 we find David making a choice that will help us as we seek to fight the darkness by faith. He reminds himself of what is true about God: God is the “shield about him,” “his glory,” and the “lifter of his head.” David reminds himself that God is the One who will protect him, David chose to trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness even when the circumstances did not yet match what he knew to be true. He knew that God would redeem him and restore him. Christian, you must remember that in Christ you have already been redeemed and restored. The guilt for our sin has been removed and we are brought near in Christ. Even if your circumstances cloud your view of the cross you must cling to Christ and what He has accomplished for us. The cross proclaims God’s love for us far more loudly than our circumstances, even when we experience times of blessing. Seasons of emotional and spiritual darkness tempt us to lose perspective and to lose sight of the One who truly is our glory. We must fight by faith to cling to Him until the darkness lifts. How do we do this? Like David, we must remind ourselves of what is true about God. Let me write that with a little more force: we must PREACH these truths to ourselves. Like David we must call out to God for help to sustain us in the battle.

Verses 5 and 6 are the reason I wrote this blog post. After calling out to God David made the choice to rest in Him. He understood that the battle is the Lord’s and his best course of action was to trust God with the outcome. So he rested. If you’ve ever struggled with times of deep sorrow you know that rest does not come easy. Even when we sleep we wake up with a sense of not having truly rested. This can be devastating emotionally as fatigue builds over time. We see David’s confidence in God evidenced in the fact that he rested even though his circumstances had not yet changed. This is an example that we must follow in overcoming the darkness. When we remember what is true about God we must act on it (even if that action is to stop fretting and go to sleep!), this is true faith. Knowing the truth means nothing if it does not result in a changed life. David proclaimed “I will not fear!” What a strong statement given his circumstances. As those redeemed by the blood of Christ we have nothing to fear. The most frightening thing in the universe (God’s wrath) has been dealt with on our behalf! Anything we lose now is gain if it brings us closer to Christ.

I’ll stop here even though the rest of Psalm 3 is powerful. Your homework is to read it, believe it, and apply it!

A word to those struggling because of sin, regret, and guilt: It has been said by someone way smarter than me, “the Christian life is made up (consists) of repentance.” The fact that we sin shows that we have lost perspective and embraced a lie rather than the truth. Confess your sin, turn to Christ, and press on in faith pursuing obedience. If you are struggling and you feel that it is unrelated to something you have done the remedy is the same. Confess to God that you have lost perspective and ask for His help in renewing your mind and enabling you to see things as they truly are, through the lens of the gospel!

Sunday we celebrate the Savior’s birth. If all the other hoopla threatens to steal your joy (it does mine at times) remind yourself that the baby lying in a manger is the One who restores you to God. God’s wisdom is on display in the plan of redemption, we can rejoice in that year round! May this Christmas be spent celebrating the glory of the incarnation and the beginning of the ministry of the One who is truly “our glory” and the “lifter of our heads!”

]]> http://nh-online.com/encouragement-for-those-who-struggle-during-the-holidays/feed/ 0 http://nh-online.com/eleuthera-vlog-sunday-sept-18/ http://nh-online.com/eleuthera-vlog-sunday-sept-18/#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:20:50 +0000 admin http://nh-online.com/?p=819

Reason for the World by Matthew West

There are no words in times like these
When tears don’t hide the tragedies
And all you want is a reason for the world

No comfort in the greeting card
Cause God is good, But life’s still hard
and your heart just wants a reason for the world

Maybe the reason for the pain
Is so we would pray for strength
And maybe the reason for the strength
Is so that we would not lose hope
And maybe the reason for all hope
Is so that we could face the world
And the reason for the world
Is to make us long for home

For God so loved your broken heart
He sent his son to where you are
and he died
To give a reason for the world

So lift your sorrows to the one
Whose plan for you has just begun
And rests here in the hands that hold the world

Maybe the reason for the pain
Is so we would pray for strength
And maybe the reason for the strength
Is so that we would not lose hope
And maybe the reason for all hope
Is so that we could face the world
And the reason for the world
Is to make us long for home

Well I know your past the point of broken
Surrounded by your fear
I know your feet are tired and weary
from the road that you walked down here
But just keep your eyes on heaven
and know that you are not alone
remember the reason for the world

No ear has heard, No eye has seen
Not even in your wildest dreams
A beauty that awaits beyond this world
When you look into the eyes of grace
and hear the voice of mercy say
Child, welcome to the reason for the world

Click here to view the embedded video.

This morning I had the pleasure of sharing my devotional time with two of my children. We read the account of Jesus healing the man born blind from John 9. I won’t break down the whole story in this post (go read it for yourself, you’ll be glad you did). After we read the story, I focused primarily on the man’s (who was born blind) response to the questions of the Pharisees. Jesus had not revealed himself as the Messiah to the man at this point yet his answers to the Pharisees’ questions are powerful nonetheless. The man testified of what he knew and did not back down in the face of those in power. He knew that the one who had healed him had power that could only come from God. Later, when Jesus approached him, he was ready to respond in faith to the news that Jesus was the Messiah.

As the kids and I discussed this story we talked about the man’s honesty and boldness. He didn’t know much when he faced the Pharisees but he did testify of what he knew (and he came to some pretty logical conclusions about what kind of man Jesus was). There are times when we don’t think we know enough to tell others about Jesus. We fear that someone will ask a question that we don’t know the answer to (and they might!). Does this mean we should hold back from sharing the gospel with those around us until we know all the answers? Of course not. The call on our lives is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this with our mouths and our actions. We should be growing in our knowledge of God through his word and we should be able to communicate the facts of the gospel clearly and we should actively be seeking to share with others what God has done and is doing in our lives. Spiritually speaking we were once blind but can now see!

Pastor Sam

See, what a morning, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce, “Christ is risen!”
See God’s salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, “Where is He laid?”
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It’s the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow’r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One of my all time favorites… Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Blessings,

Pastor Sam