The Town

<p>The world was starved for hope before the first advent, but it has always had the gospel promise.</p>

<p>At his first advent, Jesus brought salvation. At his second advent, he will bring judgment. We can know that we will be received if we trust in the person and work of Christ.</p>

<p>Anticipation means hope, eagerness, and expectation. Anticipate means to "beat someone to it", get ahead, or do in advance. Christmas reminds the Christian that we live in anticipation but that in living in hope we are called to actively anticipate. We are to live like children who anticipate the Christmas season by working hard at their school work. For instance, in my home, my kids work really hard in August on their home school work so that they can take off from Thanksgiving week until Christmas. They anticipate not just with feelings but with actions as they wait for their favorite time of the year. In the Bible, those who lived before Jesus taught us how to anticipate the 2nd advent in the way that they anticipated the 1st advent during very real earthly battles, struggles, successes and failures.</p>

<p>There are two cultures described in Revelation. One is the culture of the Kingdom of God and one is the culture of this world. We're called to live in one while being citizens of the other.</p>

<p>There's a great spiritual battle going on over whom/what we will worship. Revelation depicts two types of people: those that worship the beast and those that worship the Lamb. Judgement is coming for those that worship the beast and the doctrine of hell helps Christians to endure in loving our neighbor and loving our Savior.</p>

<p>The devil has been warring against the church since the very beginning. His tactics are broad; he uses force and craftiness, and he engages both the people of this world and its institutions to conquer the saints. Meanwhile, the world rejoices in the splendor of its accomplishments, not realizing the reality of its state; that it is subjugated to terrible (and defeated) forces. The church should know better. It's called to stand firm in both endurance and faith, trusting in the finished work of Jesus, their champion, to bring ultimate victory. Here's the problem: the church can only stand firm against the devil if it recognizes that it's in a war in the first place.</p>

<p>Every one of Jesus' purposes for the church come from one main purpose - to receive His Word, hold fast to his Word, bear testimony in our lives to his Word and to proclaim his Word.</p>

<p>Prayer is the gracious means God has given his people to invite them into his redemptive and sovereign purposes. God hears our prayers. God accepts our prayers because of the mediating work of Christ. God answers our ultimate prayer for his Kingdom to come and His will to be done.</p>

<p>Jesus has given us a future to look forward to. The anticipation of this future is on aspect of the Christian hope that drives us in life and mission. When we look at what the King offers and the vision of His Kingdom that He shared with John we are filled with hope and joy as we navigate the tribulations of this life.</p>

<p>When Jesus died, rose, and ascended into heaven he was given all authority in heaven and on earth to rule, reign and defeat his and our enemies. He continues to reign until he returns and restores all of heaven and earth. But until then, it seems that evil often wins the day. It doesn't take long for us to see the evil in this world when we flip through our news feed. How then, can a Christian claim that Jesus Christ is in charge of history? When there is great evil, the Christian turns to the person, the promises and the purposes of God to find meaning and willingness to continue in faith.</p>

<p>John's vision of the throne room in heaven is a cause for worship as it is seen through the lens of Scripture. The throne room of heaven puts the worth, glory and welcoming goodness of Christ on display for all to see.</p>

<p>Jesus tells the church in Philadelphia that he is pleased with their holding fast to his person and work. He encourages them to remain confidence that He is holy, true and unstoppable. Their confidence is born from these facts. The confidence we have in Christ is the basis of fruitful mission, unwavering perseverance and our standing before a Holy God.</p>

<p>God will do even greater works through his church when they continue to hold on to the same old thing. The same old thing is the greatest news the world has ever heard - the Gospel of Jesus Christ.</p>

<p>Jesus tells the church in Pergamum that he knows they are in the thick of a heated battle. The only way to conquer was to withstand the pressure to compromise. The church today is called to the same uncompromising faith that Jesus called the early church to in Revelation. What does an uncompromising but loving church look like?</p>

<p>In Revelation 3:14-22 Jesus rebukes the church at Laodicea for resting in their material wealth and neglecting to provide spiritual care for the community around them. He then counsels them to come to faith in him knowing that good works can only come from true faith. In this sermon we challenge the church in America today with one question. Are we doing all we can to reach the spiritually sick, dead, and weary with the healing, life-giving, and refreshing Gospel of Jesus Christ or are we standing-by self-satisfied with our lukewarm attempts at effective outreach?</p>

<p>Jesus writes to a lively, active church. But he gives them some unexpected news: they're dead. Not closed. They're spiritually dead because they've severed themselves from their source of life: Christ and his Gospel of grace. We ought to learn from their negative example and guard the Gospel message which has been entrusted to us!</p>

<p>The calling to follow the Lord Jesus Christ requires all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27), and we see in the church at Smyrna saints who are willing to do this. The physical capacity of those crushed by the systems of the devil bear no weight on their spiritual capacity. God delights in using all faithful and courageous people as his mouthpieces of grace and truth, and his reward is everlasting life. The church needs to always consider the cost of our faith; to discern that suffering for Christ is viewed by our Heavenly Father as deposits into a precious treasury that will garner for us an imperishable crown of glory in the life to come. It is no less true for us today than it was for the Christians at Smyrna.</p>

<p>Imagine a church full of hard-working Christians who battle against heresy and fight for doctrinal truth. They know what they believe and why they believe it. They have spent years making sure that what they teach is sound. But as the church fell under cultural attack, they began to retreat into the walls of their community. They began to keep what they knew to themselves. That is until the King arrived and found his church a loveless but doctrinally sound community. Jesus sends word to the church in Ephesus that it is time to wake up and to remember the love they had for others. Sound doctrine will propel a church into urgent mission for her King.</p>

<p>The Revelation of Jesus Christ can be one of the most confusing New Testament letters to understand in our current context. And yet, the blessing of the book comes to those who hear the words and understand them. Revelation is not meant to confuse us but rather encourage us in trials, engage is in urgent mission and enrapture us with the coming King.</p>

<p>The marriage union is a blessing given by God from the very beginning of creation, and it has also taken on important redemptive elements in light of the fall of humanity. It should not be missed that our marriages are meant to be mirrors reflecting something much more than simply living out our lives with another person. The Church is the Bride of Christ, and our marriages should make a declaration about our union with him. And in the marriage analogy, we also catch a glimpse of the ultimate marriage to come: when Christ's preparations are complete, his Bride is made perfect, and all the saints celebrate together at the wedding supper of the Lamb.</p>

<p>We spend so much time, money and effort on the first day of our marriage. But what about the last day? What will your marriage become and how will you impact one another. The last day is not a promise of a once and for all, one time victory. It is a race in which we must continually strive and pres on toward the goal. Our priority must be the priorities of God. Our Goal must be the goals God has for us. Our vision for the last day, with Jesus at the center will help us to press on toward that day.</p>

<p>God loves sex and wants you to enjoy sexual intimacy. Sex is something many Christians do not talk about in their churches. But it is a revelatory gift that God wants us to talk about. It is not something to be hidden away. Sex is either ruling us, repulsing us or reminding us of the greatness of a loving and gracious God who wants us to know and be known. When sex is ruling us or we are repulsed by the thought of it, it will become a war in our love life. But when we understand that God loves sex and wants us to enjoy sexual intimacy in the context of marriage we learn how to make love not a war.</p>

<p>God's preferred method of revelation has always been His Word. His Word is how we can know him intimately. The Apple has not fallen far from the tree. God has given his creatures the ability to speak to one another that we might know one another more intimately. The Bible gives us specific instruction on how to talk to one another in a Christ like way that can breathe life.</p>

<p>Every marriage will end. Will your marriage end with a full heart or a hard heart. God's design for marriage guarantees that at the end of our marriage, until death, that we will come to the finish line with a full heart.</p>

<p>Expectations are a strong mental image which we often associate with hope, future joy or fulfillment. Yet our expectations fail us because we were made for so much more than the broken offerings of this world. Jesus has given us the greatest expectation by his word and backed up by the power of God. Our expectations are either grounded in God's Word or they will fall short and break our hearts.</p>

<p>We know that the Christian life is filled with times of both exhaustion and complacency, but we also know that Jesus has secured for us an ultimate victory that cannot be taken away. Thus, our journey becomes a victorious one. This isn't just about positive thinking; it's recognizing that God is guarding both our inheritance (heaven and perfect communion with him) and our souls. We will persevere to the end not because we become more disciplined people, but because God has promised that he will complete the work he has started in us (Phil. 1:6). That should make a difference in the way we sojourn through this world.</p>

<p>As Christians we can often fall into spiritual routines that allow us to become complacent to the Christian life we are called to live. We think we have it all together and don't realize how desperately we daily need the Word of God until our lives have been put into a tailspin. In this sermon we look at some of the ways God has called us out of spiritual complacency in Romans 12:9-21.</p>

<p>Spiritual exhaustion happens to all of us. The reasons for it can vary but it is most likely that we have begun to look for joy in all the wrong places. Joseph's brothers were exhausted with guilt and shame. They were sorry for the evil they had caused Joseph but were under such guilt and shame that they believed Joseph would condemn them to slavery or worse. We often approach God in the same way. Our shame, guilt, or the evils done to us weigh us down and we try to please God on our own. But Jesus has offered us rest from this kind of religion.</p>

<p>Your legacy is not defined by the amount of people you know or the amount of years you live. Your legacy is defined by your character, your message, and your love. Our character, message, and love is defined by the gods that we serve.</p>

<p>What hope do we have when evil seems to thwart the goodness of God? Can there be true light in darkness? The Bible teaches that God is sovereign and good even over the evil acts of men. But this is not just a lofty doctrine that we know is true. This doctrine affects the way in which we live and the way in which we go about our mission.</p>

<p>Not many of us will have a biography written about us. But we still should consider the question, what will I be remembered for? Judah's story is filled with moral failure and short comings, but by the grace of God, he made progress. His biography is about progress. We too, after we are declared righteous in His sight and by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, ought to strive for progress!</p>

<p>Easter cannot be toned down. It is a celebration of facts. These facts changed the future and hope of humanity. It is in these facts, in this defiant declaration of the resurrection that we have any hope at all.</p>

<p>Joseph was living in 2 Kingdoms but he never lost sight that he was a citizen of one. His name would be remembered not by his power in Egypt but by God's power working in him. What is in our name? Where is our identity? Like Joseph, our identity comes from where we hold our citizenship - of which Kingdom are you a citizen? The world or the Kingdom of God?</p>

<p>The temptation to sin is relentless. By default, the human condition is predisposed to protect, gratify and preserve self. But Jesus offers a better way to live in the Kingdom. In the story of Joseph we learn essential principles about how one can resist temptation.</p>

<p>There are times in our lives when we just don't understand what God is doing. We can only see a few things when God is really up to millions of things. He is always moving us toward redemption. God is always watching us, always working in us, and will ultimately win us for Himself.</p>

<p>There are so many things and so many reasons that call us to hold onto this world and to find our joy in the here and now. The message of the world is to find peace and joy in the finite and broken things that this world has to offer. But the message of the Bible is that God has something so much greater for us in mind. The only way to obtain what God is freely giving is to strive for the narrow door of the Kingdom. The striving is a letting go of the call of the world and holding on to the call of the Gospel.</p>

<p>This sermon was preached by Jim Weaver formerly of Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Middletown, DE.</p>

<p>Jacob had plans. He would run for his life and wait out the fury of his brother Esau. He had stolen the blessing and received the covenant promise from his dad. But God had other plans. God met Jacob when he least expected it and the fugitive would become a pilgrim. God showed Jacob a new reality of what life would be like in the Kingdom he would bring to this earth.</p>

<p>In this scene, we see the epitome of a dysfunctional family. There is competition between brothers and spouses. Everyone is out for their own selfish good. It would seem God couldn't move in the midst of such sinners, but the Sovereign God's plan to save sinners from the curse of the law, cannot be thwarted: by your family drama or your selfish sinful tendencies.</p>

<p>The story of Jacob and Esau is an illustration of God's great mercy and relentless love for his people.</p>

<p>Whatever happens in our life, in our land, or in our world is exactly the way that God had planned it to be. This is a hard teaching because many of the things that we see are hard to understand, if we can understand them at all. The story of Isaac and Rebekah's marriage demonstrates that God is always working and that he has plan. God's plan is born from his covenantal love for us. The Bible calls his love for us "hesed" which also means long-suffering love. God plans the details because he loves us. His detailed plan will bring about his glory, and his glory is our greatest good.</p>

<p>We are refugees in a foreign land. As much beauty as this world has to offer we are constantly reminded that this ain't it. God established a foothold on this earth in Canaan through his servant Abraham - but this was just the beginning. God had much more in mind than a land for Israel. God's intent has always been to dwell among us and to be our God. Jesus promises the homesick heart that he is preparing a place for us. But it all began when Abraham lived by faith and allowed God to use him to establish a foothold in the land.</p>

<p>No matter the trial, the test or the tribulation, those that belong to the Lord know that God has provided for every need in the person and work of Christ.</p>

<p>Abraham and Sarah had every earthly reason to be joyful when their firstborn son was born. They were very old yet God performed a miracle and enabled these faithful saints to enjoy a newborn baby when it seemed impossible. But their joy was not founded upon earthly reasons. They laughed on this great day because their joy was found in their Lord. They were joyful in God's Word, God's work in them and a faithful obedience that brought great joy.</p>

<p>It's the New Year, and this is the season for us to look ahead at all the things we wish to accomplish or change over the next twelve months. But have we slowed down to consider God's role in our plans? Or, more accurately, have we considered our role in his plans? We see very clearly in Scripture that as we go about our lives doing all manner of things, it is the purposes of the Lord that will ultimately stand. The Christian's chief end is to glorify and enjoy the Lord, and we do this by intentionally pursuing those things which God will use to transform us more into the image and pattern of his son, Jesus. He has given us, as his new creations, all the power we need to do this, so that no day, event, or plan is wasted.</p>

<p>Had God missed a detail in his plan when there was not one room available to Mary and Joseph. Certainly not. This was just the beginning of Jesus' road to Calvary.</p>