Sermon Thoughts from September 12, 2004

What Do You See? Numbers 13-14


1. What you see depends on what you are looking for 13.18-20

• They saw what they wanted to see because some of them wanted to go back to Egypt
• What we see depends on what we are looking for
• If you are looking for problems - you will find problems
• If you are looking for hypocrites - you will find hypocrites
• If you are looking for blessings - you will find blessings
• If you are looking for faithfulness - you will find faithfulness
• What you see depends on what you are looking for
• As parents - look for the best in your children
• As spouses - look for the best in your spouse

2. What you see depends on what your perspective is 13.33

• The 10 who didn’t want to go into the promised land looked at the situation from their perspective
• Joshua and Caleb looked at the situation from God’s perspective
• When they looked they saw giants
• When Joshua and Caleb looked - they saw God - the giants didn’t look so big

3. What you see depends on what your relationship to God is 14.8,9

• The people were wailing and crying grumbling wanting to go back to Egypt
• There relationship to God was lacking and so they saw only problems
• Joshua and Caleb had a right relationship with God and they saw only promise
  

4. What you see depends on what you remember 14.11

• It not that they didn’t believe in God
• They refused to believe the God they believed in
• They didn’t trust his Promises even after he provided
• They didn’t trust his Word even after He proved it
• They didn’t trust his Power even though they had seen it first-hand
• If they would have remembered - They would have seen things differently

What you see determines your destiny 14.26-35

• Caleb and Joshua saw God therefore they saw the promised land
• The ten other spies saw destruction therefore they were destroyed

What do you see?

Pastor's Point - Great Quote

Here is a great thought I came across in my readings.

"We can talk on the phone as we eat fast food while using the

ATM. But not only are we better at multitasking and becoming more porductive and efficient, along with the increased pace, more is required of us. And so we hurtle through life faster and faster, becoming busier and busier. The result is that in our busyness we are becoming increasing efficient at leading meaningless lives."

Pastor's Point - Acts 9

Chapter eight ends with Philip traveling around and preaching the gospel.

Acts 8:40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

As this was happening Saul was on a rampage.

Acts 9:1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.

He was on his way to arrest more people who belonged to the Way when his life changed forever. On the road to Damascus Jesus came and met him.

Acts 9:4-5 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.

The persecution that Paul was spearheading was not only against the followers of the Way but against The Way Himself.

Next Jesus told him to go into the town and wait. Saul did what he was told even though he was blind. There Ananias came to him and his sight was restored.

Point One - No one is beyond God's reach

Point Two - God specializes in the impossible

Point Three - When God touches someone they are changed forever

Pastor's Points Acts 8

After Stephen was stoned a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem. At the forefront of the persecution was Saul. Verse three says, "Saul began to destroy the church." One of the results of this persecution was that the disciples were scattered all over the place. Another result was what verse 4 tells us:

Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

Something great happened as a result of the persecution. The gospel was spread in ways it wouldn't have been if they had faced such hard opposition.
John Stott say, "What is plain is that the devil (who lurks behind all persecution of the church) over-reached himself. His attack had the opposite effect to what he intended. Instead of smothering the gospel, persecution succeeded only in spreading it."

Point 1 - God doesn't cause bad things to happen
Point 2 - God can take bad things and make them into something good
Point 3 - When we are facing hardship we must look and see what God is doing.

Another commentator puts it this way, "The wind increases the flame."

Pastor's Points - Jesus Friend and Redeemer

I was reading the Philly Inquirer the other day and came across a book review of a book entitled Jesus in America - A History.  Obviously it caught my attention.  It talks about how American's have perceived Jesus through the years.  The reviewer, Ed Voves, spends a great deal of time referring to Ralph Waldo Emerson view of Jesus.  I want to quote the last two paragraphs of the review. 
 
Emerson had categorized evangelical piety and religious rituals as "superstitious mouth honor" of God.  Yet an intellectualized approach to the nature of Jesus had no chance of winning the support of America's multitudes, challenged as they were by the Great Depression, two world wars, the nuclear threat, and polarizing social issues, seeming without number.  There are not atheists in foxholes, as the wartime saying goes, and the consolation of philosophy pales beside the cherished conviction of millions who hold Jesus as their intimate friend and redeemer. 
 

Pastor's Point - 

1 Cor 1:17-25  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,  but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

The review continues:
The personal relationship of Christian with Christ is the unifying theme of this thoughtful, engaging book.  Proceeding from his own religious experience, Fox traces the course of Christian America's religious pilgrimage in vivid detail.  It is a journey still in progress, with Jesus continuing to be the inspiration and guide for the devout of all denominations, "the God-man they cherished...a being of awesome variety, one who in his unanswerable power condescend to take humanity's weakness on himself."  
  
I am glad Jesus is more than a abstract philosophical idea.  He is my intimate friend and redeemer.
 
  
  
 

Pastor's Points Acts 7

The Bible describes Stephen as a man full of the Spirit, Wisdom, Power and Grace. He was one of the 7 chosen to "serve tables in the Grecian Jewish Messianic Church. (Jews from outside Jerusalem who accepted Jesus as Christ) So powerful was his ministry he attracted a lot of attention and not all of it good. The religious leaders were growing increasingly concerned and had him brought in before the Sanhedrin. This is where we pick up in chapter 7.

Stephen's sermon to the Sanhedrin is the longest recorded in the book of Acts. His sermon had such an impact that at the end the carried him out and had him stoned to death. What brought them to this murderous point? What did he say that so enraged them?

Stephen, using Israelite history showed the leaders that God was not limited to Jerusalem and the Temple. God spoke to Abraham in Mesopotamia. He spoke to Joseph in Egypt and Moses on Mount Sinai. At the time of his speech the Jewish leaders perceived God as a tribal God headquartered in Jerusalem. To get to God you had to become a Jew and worship at the Temple. Stephen's inference that God can speak any where and anyone can enter into a proper relationship with him, including Gentiles, was more than they could take. They were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.

Acts 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Acts 7:56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
Acts 7:57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,
Acts 7:58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Acts 7:60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.

Alfred Lord Tennison wrote of Stephen:

He heeded not reviling tones,
Nor sold his heart to idle moans
Though cursed and scorned and bruised with stones.
But looking upward, full of grace;
He prayed and from a happy place
God's glory smote him on the face.

Today, God has not asked us to die for Him but to live for Him.

Pastor's Points Acts 6

The church is God's instrument to reach the world, build up the saints and worship the Lord. Paul calls the church 1 Tim 3:15... God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
The church is important! Therefore, the enemy will try to do anything he can to disrupt the work of the church. In Chapter 6 of the book of Acts we see a problem arise. Certain widows were not being taken care of properly. This was an important issue because it involved a schism between the Hebraic and Greek Jewish groups. This could have been extremely harmful to the early church.
One of the tricks of the enemy is to cause division. If he can get Christians fighting each other they won't be fighting against him and his kingdom.
The disciples got together and decided it was time to expand the base of leadership. They looked for men full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. (v. 3) They would "serve the tables" enabling the apostles to dedicate themselves "to prayer and the ministry of the word." (v.4)
The devil tried to cause a split, the Spirit of the Lord led them to increase the leadership team. This proposal pleased the whole group (v. 5) and the church of Jesus Christ continued to grow.

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Point - The enemy works the same way today. He tries to bring division and discontent to the church. We must seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and make sure we keep the Kingdom of God the first priority.
Point- The priority of the minister of the Gospel is prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. The pastor must never get sidetracked by other issues and neglect his main calling.

Dear Lord,
Help us to keep the main thing, the main thing!

Pastor's Points Acts 5

Chapter 5 is the familiar story of Ananais and Sapphira. You have probably heard the story. There are two thoughts I want to bring out about the story.
First, the end of chapter 4 talks about a man who sold property and gave to the needy. His name was Joseph but they changed his name to Barnabas. He did not give to receive recognition but the people were touched and gave him a nickname, Barnabas (son of encouragement). It is in this context Ananais and Sapphira were selling their land. The inference is that they wanted to be recognized too, they wanted a nickname. So they sold their land but kept some for themselves. This was not the problem. They lied about it. Peter condemns them for lying to the Holy Spirit. Both of them died that same day in church.
Point Don't give to be noticed or to get a nickname. Give because it is the right thing to do.

Second, after Sapphira died in the same way as her husband the Bible says,

Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

I would guess so. It is not everyday that you go to church and two people are carried out dead by the ushers. Fear was a natural reaction. It was also a neccesary reaction.

Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Point, where is the fear of the Lord today? People do things in public that should not be mentioned in private. Have they no fear for of the Lord?

Do I fear the Lord with the reverance He deserves and requires?

Pastor's Points Acts 4

In this chapter we see Peter and John facing persecution. Acts 4:2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

They seized Peter and John and put them in prison. The next day Peter and John were brought in for questioning. This is the part I like: Acts 4:7 ..."By what power or what name did you do this?"
Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!

Before the Baptism in the Holy Spirit Peter was intimidated by a servant girl. He ran off his mouth and then ran away. Now Peter full of the Holy Spirit was not intimidated by the most religious and powerful people of the day.

He gives them the hard truth.

Acts 4:9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,
Acts 4:10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
Acts 4:11 He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Dear Lord I wanted to be filled with your Holy Spirit that I might stand up for you.

Pastor's Points Acts 3

Acts 3
The beginning of chapter 3 is the story of the crippled man by the Beautiful Gate. He was put at the gate everyday. He had probably been in the same spot for a long time. Peter and John had passed him before. Some even say Jesus passed by him at this gate. But now something unbelievable was going to happen.

The man asked Peter and John for money just like he always did. Peter said, "Silver and Gold I do not have, but I have I give to you. In the name of Jeuss Christ of Nazareth, walk."

What did Peter have? Power! Looking back to chapter 1 do you remember that the disciples wanted worldly power and Jesus wanted to give them Real and Lasting Power.

Peter had the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Peter had the gift of healing.

1 Cor 12:9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

Peter had authority in Jesus' name.

Mat 10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

I was wondering how many times I have tried to solve problems through natural means when God wanted to do something supernatural.

Pastor's Points Acts 2

Acts 2

Pentecost always changes people. In chapter 1 the disciples were concerned about worldly power. When they received the true power at Pentecost we never see them craving worldly power again. When you receive the real thing nothing else compares.

Look at Peter. He was boisterous and often bumbling. He made a great confession of Christ when asked "who do you say I am." Then he denied this same Lord when pushed by a slave girl. When confronted by the enemies of Christ he picked up a sword and chopped off the guard's ear.

Yet, who was it that preached the first Pentecostal message? Peter. When the true Power comes. People are changed!

Pastor's Points on Acts 1

Having just completed a 1.5 yr study of the book of Acts I want to do a quick review for each chapter based on my personal thoughts.

Chapter 1 - Power

The disciples had one idea of power. Their's was based on worldly, political or military power.
Acts 1:6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Jesus had another.
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus' power was based on submission to the will of God.

Throughout Jesus' earthly ministry the disciples were interested in power. Who would be the greatest? Who would sit as His right hand?

Jesus lived something different. The greatest would be servants.

Phil 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Phil 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Phil 2:7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
Phil 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Phil 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Sunday Sermon "I Am"

Here are some of the thoughts I shared Sunday Morning June 6th.

I Am Accepted in Christ
Rom 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

I am God's child
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

I am Christ's friend
John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

I am Justified by Faith
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
MSG Rom 3:24 God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

I Am Bought with a Price: I belong to God
1 Cor 6:20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

I am a member of Christ's Body
1 Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

I am a saint
Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

I am Adopted as God's child
Eph 1:5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--

I am able to go to God myself
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

I am redeemed and forgiven
Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I am complete in Christ
Col 2:10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

First Entry

Welcome to Pastor's Points.
This is the first entry in my new blog.
I will try to update it weekly with a devotional thought and other things.

Enjoy