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Saturday, April 3rd

Saturday, April 3rd      10:00 am
Bear Creek Park in Meridian

February 21, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

TRUSTING THE GOOD SHEPHERD
John 10:1-18
February 21, 2010
First in Sermon Series: Journey to the Cross

God’s Son was special! And He died for a purpose. These crosses behind me—that are indeed before us week after week—remind us that God gave His Son—who died for a purpose. We who call ourselves Christian—we who are followers of Jesus Christ—are forever impacted by the event of the Cross. This morning we’re beginning a series of sermons in which we’re going to Journey to the Cross with Jesus, as told in the Gospel of John.

We are now officially in the season of Lent—a time of Christian reflection on Christ’s sacrifice for us. At the heart of the Gospel is the wonderful truth that God gave His Son for us—that Jesus willingly went to the Cross in order to provide for our salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins, and He was in every way “the Last Sacrifice.” The purpose in Christ’s death was our salvation.

The passage of scripture which I want us to look at this morning comes from the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus, the masterful story-teller, was teaching the people. Many of those in the crowd were His followers. They had discovered new hope in their lives as they had come to place their trust in Jesus, but there were also among them those who refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was using a scene quite familiar to them all to help them understand Who He was and why He had come. Let’s turn to chapter 10 of John and let me begin reading at verse 1—
[Read John 10:1-18, NIV]

Jesus was already on a journey. He clearly had a mission. His miracles had captivated the masses. His teaching had challenged the very foundation of their religious practices. He’d rubbed many of the religious leaders the wrong way. But in it all, He was on a journey…He had a mission…and there was purpose in what He was doing.

By the time we reach this tenth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus is nearing the end of His earthly ministry. Slowly, the reality of Who He is was sinking into the minds and hearts of His followers. And as we begin this journey to the Cross once again with Jesus this morning, I thought perhaps a good place to start is for us to deepen our understanding of just Who we are following on His journey to the Cross. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus identified Himself as “the Good Shepherd.”

The imagery which became the framework for Jesus’ teaching here is that of the common “sheep pen” in Palestine in those days. It was usually made of rough stone or perhaps mud-brick structure, and would only be partially roofed, if covered at all. Sometimes it was actually a cave out in the hills. But whatever the composition of the sheep pen, it had only one opening through which the sheep could pass when they came in for the night.

The pen served for the protection of the sheep—protection against wild animals and against thieves. The thief who would try to steal sheep would not have any right of access through the gate, but would find his own way into the sheep pen. The sheep pen often held several flocks, and when the time came to go out to morning pasture, each shepherd separated his sheep from the others by his peculiar call. Wherever they went, the shepherd led them and they followed as a unit. The shepherd’s role was to provide protection and guidance, leading them to the best pasture and guarding them against unnecessary dangers.

Jesus’ shift to speaking about Him being the gate for the sheep refers to the fact the shepherd stood in the doorway of the pen. When he slept, he laid across the entrance to the sheep pen. His body became the gate to the sheep pen, not allowing any to enter or leave without His awareness.

Now, with that imagery in mind, listen to Jesus’ words again, this time from the paraphrase of Scripture called The Message—
“Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”
Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:1-10, The Message)
We need to remember who it is Who is journeying to this Cross—and why He’s on that journey. This is the Good Shepherd. He’s not a thief. He’s not come to make our lives miserable; He’s come to give us life—that we might “have it to the full.” He has come so that we can have real and purposeful life, more and better than we could ever dream of without Him.

Have you ever thought of Christianity as a “kill-joy”? Be honest. If not now, was there ever a time when you wondered if God’s greatest delight was making life miserable for you—and so He imposed all kinds of rules and regulations on your life that would so bind you that you couldn’t have fun one day of your life without feeling guilty about it?! My Aunt Miriam has a typical response for such thinking—“that’s hogwash!” It’s just not true!

Jesus came to set us free from our sins. While the Enemy deceives us into thinking that the acts of sin are the expressions of personal freedom—“I can do whatever I want to do!”—the truth is that sin is the great enslaver. I couldn’t help but think of that when I saw the confession of Tiger Woods televised over and over again in the past few days. He made an interesting comment in his public confession and apology, by the way. He said,
I knew my actions were wrong. But I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled…Thanks to money and fame…I was wrong. I was foolish. I don’t get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.

It doesn’t sound like sin offered ultimate freedom, does it? But that’s exactly what the Enemy of our soul says.

But the Enemy of our soul—Satan himself—is the thief and the robber that Jesus was speaking of! We cannot trust what he tells us! He wants to manipulate our lives. He wants to control us. He wants to draw us into his web and ultimately destroy us. That’s what he’s about! And the messages we get over and over again from our culture are so often propagating his lies!

But Jesus came to save us from that snare! He came to offer us freedom from the bondage to sin. He came to give us life—life that is full and free and rewarding; life with joy and peace and contentment. There is safety and security in Christ. He came to provide that for us. He came to offer it to us. He is the Good Shepherd.

At verse 9 Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” The footnote in many of our Bibles gives an alternate wording—“whoever enters through me will be kept safe.” While I hope we don’t ever feel we need to get away from the terminology of “being saved”—representing what Christ alone does for us when we seek His forgiveness and the new start He alone can offer—I also like the phrasing that whoever comes to Christ for salvation is “kept safe.”

We’re all seeking safety and security in some way. The whole insurance business is based on people’s need and desire to feel safe and secure. Mental health professionals deal constantly with individuals’ need to feel secure. Lots of people are stressed out day after in a frantic effort to provide financial security for themselves and for their families. But Christ came to provide for any who will call upon Him a special kind of security that covers all the hurdles of life. In Him alone are we kept safe and secure.

Let me ask you something: How do we know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd? How do we know that He’s not just another “thief or robber” who’s trying to take advantage of us or somehow make fools of us? The simple answer that Jesus gives Himself in this passage is that only the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—and that’s exactly what Jesus was about to do. It’s what He was so mindful of as He journeyed to the Cross.

In contrast, clearly the thief and the robber are only out after what they can get for themselves. They’re not going to lay down their lives for the sake of the sheep! They don’t give a rip about the wellbeing of the sheep! Jesus goes on to point out the hired hand isn’t the good shepherd either. It’s just a job for the hired hand. If a wolf attacks the sheep, the hired hand’s going to first and foremost take care of himself—so that the wolf doesn’t attack him! He’ll run away if he needs to—leaving the sheep at the mercy of the wolf. The hired hand may lead the sheep out to pasture and generally take care of the sheep, but when push comes to shove, he’s not likely to risk his life for the sake of the sheep. He’s not going to put his own life in danger in order to protect the sheep! Only a good shepherd would do that—because only a good shepherd has a deep sense of ownership and responsibility toward the sheep.

The Good Shepherd knows his sheep. When he calls out his flock of sheep from the others in the pen in the morning when he’s ready to lead them to good pasture, they recognize his voice and follow him. They trust him. They somehow have learned that this is one who can be trusted—so they follow him.

Jesus is clearly identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd. And in doing so He’s relating to the rich Old Testament teaching that God is our Shepherd, our Ruler, our Protector and Leader, and our caring Companion. Jesus had already lived out such love and care in His response to hurting people and in His prolific healing ministry. Over and over in the Gospels we see Christ’s warm, pastoral concern for people in need. He is the embodiment of the word “good”—the winsome, loving, caring, responsible Shepherd.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He gives His life for the sheep. That’s what the Cross was all about. It’s why Jesus came. He cared for the sheep daily—watching, feeding and protecting them—but in the end He must finally deal with their greatest danger. Jesus must face the mightiest thief, the evil one, who spreads darkness and disorder and chaos into every life he can. Jesus must give His life in order to win the ultimate victory over the Enemy of our souls. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who cares so deeply about us, His sheep.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows the sheep—and His sheep know Him! There is a loving relationship between Him and His sheep. The Shepherd knows the weak and the strong, the stubborn and the submissive ones, the hurts and the needs of every sheep. And the sheep know and trust their Shepherd—every inflection in His voice, the way by which He leads them out to pasture, and even His courage in the face of danger. He is their Shepherd. It is in such a relationship, such a love, that the Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

I don’t know if we can consider the concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd without somehow being reminded of the immortal words of Psalm 23—
The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever. (Psalm 23, NLT)
Truly, Jesus is the Good Shepherd!

So what was Jesus’ point in this teaching recorded in John chapter 10? What are we to glean from it today? It would seem to me that one of the great truths we need to grasp from this is that because Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, He is the One whom we can trust! If I know someone who will lay down their lives for the sake of my wellbeing, that is a person worthy of my trust! If they care so much about my welfare that they would put their own life at risk for the sake of mine, there can be no doubt of the depths of their love and genuine care for me! This One who is journeying to the Cross is the One whom we can trust. It’s really that simple!

Like many of you, I’ve been captivated by much of the Olympic broadcasts in the past week. While I’m not one who watches a lot of sports on TV, I’m always fascinated by the Olympics. Have you been as amazed as I’ve been at the speed of so many of the Alpine skiing events? I suppose I appreciate the dangers even more having had a chance to be on snow skis myself now. Those guys are amazing! And did you see the huge tumbles in the Men’s Super G competition Friday? It’s amazing that the guy didn’t have more serious injuries. And the snowboarding and the ski jumps where they’re gliding through the air for what we realized was the length of a football field! Amazing! I would most certainly break my neck if I even tried such a thing!

They’ve had to learn to trust certain people and certain things in order to even attempt such feats. They’ve certainly had to learn to trust their coaches. They trust their equipment and those who prepare it for them. They trust those who put together such events and set the courses for such competition. And it takes a lot of trust in themselves to venture to do such things. We see in Olympic competition those who made it—and not the hundreds and thousands of hopefuls who fell along the way, who never tasted success. We are drawn to the top three winners—those who win the gold, the silver and the bronze. And we seldom see on TV the coming in of those in 49th place—though it’s certainly a major accomplishment to compete in any way in the Olympics.

While I admire their athleticism and their sheer guts to do the things they do, I can’t help but wonder how many of them “get it”—that the things we pursue in this life can end up being the very thief and robber whom Jesus said came to “steal and kill and destroy.” I wonder if they realize that the gold medals they cherish today all too quickly become the relics of the past that gather dust on shelves and ultimately have little meaning in the broad scope of life. But it’s true, isn’t it?

Despite all the other things and ambitions and desires that compete for first place in our lives, only Christ is the gateway to life that is full and free and eternally significant. And while many religions offer their way to God, Christ claimed an exclusiveness in his statement, “I am the gate for the sheep.” It was Christ alone who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

From Jesus’ day and throughout the ages, there have been those who have rejected the idea that Christ alone is the Good Shepherd, the One whom we can trust for forgiveness, for protection, for peace, for life that is meaningful and purposeful. I was reminded again this week of the words of C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, when he said—
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

As we journey to the Cross with Jesus during this season of Lent, may we be reminded over and over Who He is. May we see and experience Him as the Good Shepherd, the One whom we can trust with the very foundation of our lives. He’s proven His love for us. He’s laid down His life for us. We can trust Him—with the burden of our sins, with the temptations that come our way day by day, with the cares of life, with our heartaches and burdens, and with the challenges of life which offer success and prosperity. We can trust the Good Shepherd with it all. And we must be listening for His voice and seeking out His guidance, trusting Him to lead us to the experience of life that is full of peace and joy and purpose. And wherever you are on your journey today, let me declare to you that you can and must trust this Good Shepherd, Jesus—who gave His life so that you might experience life now and forever at its best.

Pastor Casey’s Blog

Need a Map? Or not?

This last week I was able to go up to Bogus Basin area and go snow shoeing with my wife Alyssa.

We bought snow shoes last year and want to do it more often but this was the first time getting out this year.

We started up a pretty steep hill and soon found it was going to be more difficult than we expected. We made it up a little ways before we needed to stop and rest.

Finally, after moving side to side, we made it to the top…only to be disappointed by the view. It was fairly foggy that day and even from the top of the mountain, we couldn’t see more than 100 feet in front of us. We rested for a little bit and then began contemplating which way we could try going in order to get back to our car. We had a rough idea of which way we needed to go. It was not snowing at all, so our tracks were still easily visible. Not long after beginning the trek down had we run into our own tracks from hiking up. We made it back to the bottom of the mountain with ease. I don’t doubt we could have made it back without our tracks; my manly instincts would have kicked in and I would have never needed to even ask for directions…right? But it was still nice to know that we “for sure” were heading in the right direction.

I was reminded about this incident later on when my Upward team went through the Gospel message and the salvation prayer (all teams did so this week). We had our prayer time and then following our prayer time I was able to meet with each boy to see if they “knew” which direction they were going. We talked about Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then verse 13 of the same chapter says that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The direction I want to go is the one where God is leading the way. We can be assured that God does not turn his back on us, he continues to be there waiting for us to open our arms to Him. Knowing that by following our tracks in the snow, I knew we would never be lead toward the wrong direction. The same happens when you put your sites on God. Following His plan for your life is exactly what He longs for. We can not get lost when we keep our eyes on Jesus. You may feel distracted but no matter how off course or distracted you feel, God is still waiting to help you get right back on track. No map required…good thing for most men.

Pastor Ron’s Blog

FROM MILK TO MEAT

A college student was heard to confess: “The thing that bothers me, is that I’ve received Christ as my Savior, but I have all the same problems I had before. I don’t have victory…It seems all I do is struggle, struggle, struggle, and it isn’t a pleasant experience. Jesus Christ is my Savior, but I don’ feel He’s real to me. I want to feel He’s alive to me, that He’s right here controlling and directing me as I try to walk with God.”

We have an example of this same problem in the life of the Apostle Peter. He tended to live by feeling and not walk by faith. He was reflecting immaturity and the fact that he had not advanced in his Christian walk. He was incredibly slow to catch on, insecure, loudmouthed, hot headed, and with his foot never far from his mouth. But Peter, having failed so miserably in life became repentant, broken and submissive. We see a picture of this changed man one morning after breakfast when Jesus begins to probe deeply into the quality of Peter’s commitment to Him. The Scriptural account is as follows in John 21:15-17, “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these”? “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Why did Jesus question Peter in this manner? He needed Peter to affirm his deepening faith. Indeed Peter was moving from living on milk, as a infant Christian, to taking on the meat of the Word. His love for Christ was not just a feeling but was becoming a strong walk by faith. .

Lets take a moment and do a self evaluation to see if there is a need to move from milk to meat in our Christian journey.

__I often feel like I’m standing still as a Christian

__I know I’m a Christian and Christ has definitely made some changes in my life. I think I should be more mature.

__I often feel frustrated at myself for yielding to the same temptation over and over again.

__Too often I live under the circumstances and fail to experience the joyful abundant life Jesus desires.

The steps to maturity are the same as Peter experienced, repentant, broken and submissive. The Christian life is a journey and it can be a joyful one as we live in obedience to our wonderful Lord.

February 14, 2010 Dr Ron Kratzer

No written sermon

February 7, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

BEYOND EFFICIENCY
Ephesians 5:15-17

Can anyone tell me what “stewardship” means? It’s basically the teaching from the Bible that everything we have belongs to God and that He asks us to use them as He would. We are to honor God with what we have. Pastor Casey tells me that you’ve been talking about this in Children’s Church—and we’ve been talking about it in our services in the sanctuary too. So, with what things are we to honor God? (Our money, our possessions, our bodies, our talents) This morning in my sermon I’m going to talk about how we are to be good stewards of our time.

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, we read in chapter 3 a section that begins—
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot…(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
God cares about how we use our time! God cares about how you use your time and He cares about how I use my time!

How many hours are there in a day? How many minutes in an hour? How many seconds in a minute? Did you know then that there are 1,440 minutes in a day and 86,400 seconds in a day?! That seems like a lot, but it goes by so quickly! And we only get to live each day and each hour and each minute once—and then it’s gone forever!

Sometimes we talk about “wasting” time. What are kids’ greatest time wasters? (TV, video games, computers) A recent study said that among all kids ages 8 to 18 they average watching TV 4 ½ hours every day! They also average 1 ½ hour on the computer and 1 ¼ hour playing video games. Now they may be doing other things while they’re doing that, and some of the computer time may be legitimate schoolwork, but still, that’s a lot of hours a day! It’s over 7 hours a day! (Have 24 kids line up to represent 24 hours/day; then have 7 turn around to illustrate how much of the day is consumed with media.)

Now, once that time is spent, you’re never going to get it back. Do you think that if that’s how you spend your time that maybe you ought to consider whether or not it’s wise for you to spend so much time this way? I think so. And the only way we can make a wise decision on this is to make sure we’re seeking direction from the Lord. So let’s bow our heads and do just that. (Pray) (Dismiss kids to sit with their parents.)

[Video: “In Time” (1:21)]

Let’s talk about being good stewards of our time this morning. And I’ll admit that it’s a bit interesting for me to be dealing with this topic today because I’m operating on a very tight time frame! I have a new granddaughter I’m anxious to go meet, and, in trying to arrange a flight out today, the only time that would work was a 1:13 flight out of Boise heading to Cleveland! So you’ll have to forgive me for darting out this morning, but I have places to go and people to meet, as they say! But I am glad not to live on such a tight time frame every day!

How do you feel when you hear someone say, “You should be a better steward of your time”? Do you feel a little guilty? Maybe weary? Maybe frustrated? Maybe stressed? If you’re like me, you think of all the things you should stop doing—liking watching TV too much—and remember all the important things you should be doing or should be doing better!

I’m guessing most of us have heard talks or read books about being better time managers. And I agree in principle with the idea—and I do believe that it’s a stewardship issue. But it seems like what the time management experts want to do is schedule every 15 minutes of every day—from morning until night! And the truth is that I’d go nuts if I had to approach every day in such a way! Most of my days are full from early morning until evening—and often late evening, but if I had to schedule every 15 minutes of my day there would seemingly be no time left to make a difference in the lives of people—not all of whom will schedule ahead when they see a crisis coming or when they suddenly need a word of encouragement! Someone posted in Facebook just this week the statement, “A day’s most important meetings may not be the one we’ve put on our calendar.” And I agree with that! Besides that, I truly believe that we need “breathing” time in life that brings balance into our lives.

It would be tempting to think that being good stewards of time simply depends on you and me developing better time management procedures in our lives—go to a time management seminar and put into practice all of their suggestions and surely we’ll be better stewards of our time! And I suppose some of us very much need to do that—so if the shoe fits, as they say, wear it. But I’m guessing that the greater need in most of our lives goes well beyond principles of efficiency.

You see, scripture actually says very little about being good stewards of our time. Proverbs specifically addresses the need for us to learn to be diligent (14:23) and we certainly are given a lot to do in the New Testament passages which challenge us as Christ’s Church to give ourselves to the accomplishment of His mission in our world and to do so everyday. What scripture does focus on is being good stewards of our hearts. The constant drumbeat of Proverbs declares, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). And it would seem then that if we want to be good stewards of our time that we need to first focus on our hearts.

This will require pausing a bit from our busyness and asking ourselves some tough questions. Questions like:
• Why am I doing this activity?
• What is it that God wants from me?
• Am I making this choice to satisfy someone else’s desires—even if they’re good ones—or am I hearing from God on this?
• Am I carving out in my week time to do the things that God wants me to do?
• How am I investing in the lives of people?

While western culture presses efficiency, I believe that being good stewards of our time goes beyond time management and way beyond matters of efficiency! Efficiency can be a deceptive master. In the short haul, learning to work more efficiently results in greater productivity. Over time, though, our hearts can become frayed from our constant activity. But the questions I suggested a moment ago have the potential for taking us a totally different direction. What’s most needed is learning to attune our hearts to the heart of God and letting Him guide the way in which we approach each day—rather than simply trying to manage our time.

Let me take you this morning to something written by the Apostle Paul. It’s found in the 5th chapter of the book of Ephesians. In this chapter, Paul has been challenging his readers to give careful attention to living as Children of Light—referring to Christ being the Light, the direction, the Guide, of our lives. He tells us to stay away from “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Then he says this, beginning at verse 15—
[Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV]

Let’s back up just a little and talk about Jesus’ perspective of time. Because Jesus was human, He lived within the framework of time and carried out His ministry in that framework. He didn’t ignore time—or He would have preached half of His messages during the middle of the night when the crowds weren’t around to hear Him. He accepted the constraints of time and the framework of time within a culture. And while His time was precious and brief, He never seemed to exhibit a sense of panic about time. If I had been Him, I would have been panicked about all that had to happen in the three short years of His ministry—and I would have stressed myself and everyone else out in the process running around frantically trying to reach as many people as possible in that short amount of time! I’d have layed awake at night stressing about the huge task! But time clearly did not threaten Jesus’ peace nor His focus in life.

While Jesus lived within the framework of time, Jesus wasn’t a slave to time. He honored its constraints but made time for what was most important. Actually, I can’t think of a time when He was too busy for people who truly needed Him, though He clearly needed and found “breathing room” in life when He pulled away from the crowds and even from His closest followers and quietly spent time with His Father.

And we must learn to do as Jesus did—make time for the matters that are important from the vantage-point of the Heavenly Father, living within the constraints of time and making the most of every opportunity. We also can learn from Jesus not to let time stress us. There is surely enough time in each day to accomplish everything the Lord wants us to accomplish.

There certainly are times when, in order to accomplish all that the Lord has put on our plates, that we are pressed from one thing to the next in tight fashion. Chances are, we all have days and perhaps even stretches of days like that. However, God gives us grace when we’re under the gun in such a way—and most of us have experienced that grace and strength of the Lord so many times when life seemed to mount up around us! But, if we look at the example of Jesus, we do not see One who lived in a sense of panic nor in a state of exhaustion. I believe God has better for us than that! Even Jesus found “breathing room” in life—and the truth is that our Heavenly Father knows that we need that! When you consider the huge challenge on Jesus’ shoulders during His short life on earth and the fact that He didn’t live life in a sense of panic, don’t you suppose we should be able to do the same—with the help of the Lord?

Let’s consider now the New Testament model for stewardship of time—after Christ ascended into heaven and turned His mission over to His followers, to people who weren’t that different from you or me. Let’s go back to the Ephesians passage. Paul says that we need to live as Children of Light—that’s what he said at verse 8, just prior to the passage we read. We are to “make the most of every opportunity.” We are not to be foolish, “but understand what the Lord’s will is.” When we apply this to the stewardship of our time, this does not mean running around frantically trying to do everything others expect of us. Rather it means that we need to carefully explore how God wants us to invest our time and then simply do so—as Children of Light. And Paul makes it clear that Light not only illuminates, it also transforms. It literally shapes who we are—and even who we aren’t!

Paul applies this first to the matter of living a life of purity. Read through the first part of chapter 5. He admonishes us to be sexually pure and chaste, and to not even let obscenities, foolish talk or coarse joking come from our mouths! That’s a novel thought in our culture today! (a whole other sermon!) He contrasts the Light of Christ with the darkness of this world apart from God—and instructs us to have nothing to do with “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Rather, we are to spend our lives trying to figure out what pleases the Lord! Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?! And while we are not to withdraw from this world, we are not to fall into its ways. And He acknowledges that when the Light of Christ shines into our world, it exposes sin for what it is—and we are to let the Light of Christ shine into our lives and let God expose what He wants to expose, in order that nothing will remain that will draw us into the “fruitless deeds of darkness.”

Because we as followers of Christ are indeed Children of Light, we must give such careful attention to how we live our lives. And as it relates to our topic this morning, we must allow the Lord to direct our ways. Each one of us must seek the heart and mind of God in how we are to invest our time and our energies! We must continually seek the heart and mind of God regarding the stewardship of our time!

We are to “make the most of every opportunity”! We are to “redeem” our time! To “redeem” something is to buy it back, so to speak—like someone sold into slavery would have been bought and set free. We are to buy back our time and set it free to do the work of Christ in this world! We would do well to apply the truth of Romans 12:1-2 to the stewardship of our time:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Part of what I’m reminded of in this passage is that the ways of the Lord and what He desires for us and from us is often altogether different than “the pattern of this world.” Let me give you an example. Let’s just acknowledge that love itself isn’t generally very efficient!
• When your child woke up in the middle of the night crying from having had a bad dream, it wasn’t a very efficient use of your time to sit and hold her until she calmed down and went back to sleep, was it? But it was the loving thing to do. From our Heavenly Father’s perspective, you were being a good steward of your time—but apart from your love for your child, waking up in the middle of the night and sitting and rocking a crying child wasn’t a very efficient use of your time!
• In the midst of a busy, demanding day, you really don’t have time to deal with other people’s problems, do you? But when someone steps into your office, holding back tears as they quietly tell of some personal tragedy that has just occurred in their life, love demands you alter your schedule a bit to somehow address their pain. Love isn’t necessarily efficient—love always costs us something, and sometimes what it costs is our time.

You get the idea, don’t you? Being a good steward of my time requires that I tune in to God’s heart and see the opportunities to love those He puts in my life. Paul reminds us to “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” Only when we examine our lives in the light of biblical wisdom and in the light of the Holy Spirit’s Presence in our lives are we able to make the most of our time. Otherwise, we absorb the wisdom of our culture and get caught up in the kingdom of busyness.

May God deliver us from that! May He help each one of us be wise stewards of our time, bringing honor and glory to Him and truly making a difference in the lives of others! Let me encourage you to do exactly what we did with the kids a few minutes ago—ask the Lord to help us be good stewards of our time—of every day, every hour, even every minute. Let’s ask the Lord to guide us as we seek to honor Him with our time.

Pastor Paul’s Blog

Unsolicited advice – if you don’t want it stop reading this blog. I can’t get away from that phrase and thought. It was at Valley Shepherd’s one day marriage conference that Dr. Todd Bennett spoke to us about unsolicited advice. Think about it, if you’re dealing with an issue in life, whether spiritual, mental, financial, physical or any other, you don’t want to hear or listen to anyone’s advice unless you solicit (ask for) it. And then, even if you ask for their advice, you won’t necessarily take it unless you believe in and trust the individual giving it.

My problem is that I think I know enough about life and what it’s all about that I don’t ever need to ask for anyone’s advice. Ah, but I’ve noticed that the wiser I get in my old age the more I solicit other’s advice. I read this proverb one day in a devotional book by Chuck Swindoll which said; “A Freshman doesn’t know that he doesn’t know. A Sophomore knows that he doesn’t know. A Junior doesn’t know that he knows. A Senior knows that he knows.” I don’t know that I know which one of those stages I’m in right now in life. I’m pretty sure I’m not the Freshman and I know that I know I’m not the Senior.

So why am I blogging about this? Well, I guess because I watched a movie last Sunday night with our teen group – “To Save A Life”, in which the main character stood up in a youth group meeting and gave some very stern “unsolicited advice”. In the scene he said something to the effect of “If we’re not going to allow this stuff to change our lives then what are we doing here?” Well, what are we doing here? Why are you reading a blog on a church website? Why do you attend church? Why do you read the Bible? Is it all just a bunch of unsolicited advice to you? Or do you let it change your life? I’ll be honest, at times it’s been the former for me, but at other times and especially as of late it’s been the latter.

So here’s my bit of unsolicited advice for you; Read God’s Word, listen to Him when you pray, go to church, get involved with the Body of Christ, and let His love change your life. Hey, and if you don’t like it, re-read the first sentence in paragraph one.

January 31, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

ENTRUSTED WITH THE GOSPEL
1 Corinthians 4:1-5

[start with video: “Stewardship—Plain and Simple”]

Does what I have belong to me or God? That’s the question that we keep coming back to in our series on stewardship—and the biblical answer keeps coming back the same: It all belongs to God! I am now in my fourth week of a series of sermons on stewardship that I’ve called “Embrace the Trust.” The trust part is two-fold—God has entrusted everything we have to us as stewards. We’re to use every such resource in our lives as He would, trusting Him to take care of our every need as we do.

We’ve dealt with the overall principle and applied it to our money and our possessions. We also talked about it in the context of our giving. Last week we dealt with the interesting and challenging issue of being good stewards of our bodies—if you weren’t here, I might challenge you to listen to it online. This morning we’re going to deal with a facet of Christian stewardship that you may not have considered a “stewardship” issue before. The basis of it comes from our text. Let’s look together at the beginning of the 4th chapter of 1 Corinthians—
[Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, TNIV]

As servants of Christ, we have been entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. We have been entrusted with the Good News of the Gospel. Have you ever thought about how much God has entrusted to people just like you and me across the ages? Just think: it was to Jesus’ 12 disciples—one of whom defected before the mission ever truly began—and the few hundred or so faithful followers of Jesus that He entrusted getting the word out on the Good News that there is forgiveness, new life, hope and peace to be found and experienced through Him and His sacrificial death. We’re here today because they were faithful with that trust! There are millions of people around the globe today worshipping Jesus Christ and proclaiming that Good News because those early followers of Jesus were faithful stewards of the Gospel then! It’s amazing!

But as the saying goes, “Christianity is only one generation away from extinction.” We are now the stewards of the Gospel. It’s in our hands. And we must ask ourselves, “What is the legacy of faith we are passing on to others in our generation?”

Let’s dig a bit deeper into Paul’s statement to the Corinthians, particularly verses one and two—
[1 Corinthians 4:1-2, TNIV]
We are servants of Christ. We belong to Christ. We are subordinates to Christ, fully responsible to Him. Many of you can recall the role Joseph, in the Old Testament, played in the household of Potiphar. He was a servant to Potiphar and Potiphar had entrusted the management of the entire household to Joseph. Joseph was expected to do everything Potiphar instructed him to do. The Apostle Paul years later saw his role—and ours—to be servants of Jesus Christ who do all and only what God directs us to do. And the truth is that every believer needs to see himself or herself in such a relationship with God—He’s God and we’re not; He’s the Master and we’re the servants. As some kids might put it: God is the Boss of our lives. We are Christ’s servants.

As his servants, then, we are entrusted with the secret things of God—with the mysteries God has revealed. As stewards, we are given the responsibility to direct activities and make decisions in behalf of the Owner. So we are given authority to share the Good News of the Gospel with others—and we’re accountable to God for how we handle that responsibility.

What do I mean when I saw that we’re entrusted with the Gospel? The Good News includes the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection—and how, by these, Christ has provided for our forgiveness and salvation. But the Gospel goes further to include the mysteries of God—the power of God’s ways and unfathomable strength of His love and grace, poured out upon all who turn to Him for salvation. The Gospel includes the encouraging word that we are not alone, that our Heavenly Father walks with us. And all of this is more than just quoting Bible verses to people—it’s sharing the hope and the peace that’s found in Jesus.

Peter wrote in his first epistle:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (1 Peter 3:15)
Paul wrote to his friend Timothy—
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. (2 Timothy 4:2)
We are to make the most of every opportunity. It’s what’s meant by being a steward of the Gospel. We must not only understand the Good News of the Gospel, but we must allow it to transform how we see the world and how we interact with people in our world today. We are to always be prepared to bring God’s truth to those who are without it.

We’ve been talking about the concept of leaving a legacy recently. As most of you know, we’ve used that term in the context of challenging our people to give proper attention to estate planning—which we believe is an important though often-neglected aspect of Christian stewardship. But we know that the legacy we leave goes well beyond our financial and material resources. The most important legacy we’ll leave behind is what others will have seen or learned about Jesus by observing our lives. The quotation I used two weeks ago is certainly relevant in the broader scope of us being stewards of the Gospel—
Let us not be afraid to begin tasks that are longer than our lives. (Francis Ward)

The task of sharing the Good News of the Gospel with our world is a task that’s bigger than any of our lives—but we need to jump into it anyway! The assignment given us by the Lord can never be completed by any one of our lives, but we must see ourselves coming alongside thousands and millions of others who are co-stewards of the Gospel with us today. We’re certainly not alone in this—and the job won’t be completed in our lifetime!

And, as stewards of the Gospel, we’re not responsible for how others respond. They’re responsible for that. Our responsibility is to be faithful stewards, sharing the Gospel with our words and with our lives. As servants of Jesus Christ, we have been entrusted with the mysteries of God’s marvelous ways.

As stewards of that Gospel, we are called to be faithful. I believe that in one sense Paul is speaking of the trust that had been given to him and to the other apostles of the Early Church, as leaders in this great mission. We could translate that today to the responsibility that has been given to pastors and other church leaders. And I sense that responsibility!

But I do not carry that responsibility alone! Ultimately, it is shared by us all. I don’t believe we can read the New Testament and not have a sense that the monkey’s on all of our backs! We have been entrusted with the Gospel and we are called to be faithful with that trust. We are to be trustworthy.

And as I was thinking of this challenge, I got to thinking of people I have found in every church I’ve served (including Valley Shepherd!) who were absolutely serious about being faithful with that trust. They did not see that as the pastor’s job—whoever that pastor happened to be. They saw themselves as responsible—partners with others in the stewardship of the Gospel in their time and place. And while there have been far more persons who took that trust seriously than we have time to discuss this morning, a few faces came to my mind.

Merle Foraker was a mail carrier who had served on the board of the Galion, Ohio Church for many years when I arrived as pastor. He seemingly knew everyone in that town—and I learned from my friendship with him how much mail carriers end up learning about those they serve—just by seeing the mail that they get! But there was a tender side of Merle that I have loved and appreciated across the years—for he had a genuine interest in the needs of people in our church and in our community. And whenever there was serious Kingdom work to be done, Merle could be counted on to stand with me.

Another face from that church that comes to my mind is a lady named Fairy Casey. She’s what I appreciatively call “an effervescent Christian”—radiating the love and joy of Christ wherever she is. She and her first husband had owned and operated a store in that town for many years—and she knew everyone and always had a word of encouragement for people.

When I went to Bedford to pastor, I quickly gained a love and appreciation for a man named Lloyd Schofield. As I recall, Lloyd made his living maintaining large industrial equipment. But he spent his life serving others. He was a senior adult already when I became his pastor, and he was still teaching 3rd and 4th grade boys in Sunday School—and was one of the best children’s Sunday School teachers I’ve known as he poured himself into not only teaching those boys but loving them. Our son was one of his boys! He’s the kind of man a pastor can depend upon—in prayer, in encouragement, in integrity, in confidential matters. He clearly saw himself as a steward of the Gospel!

When we went to Kansas City, I became pastor to a man who had been Cindy’s boss in our earlier days in Kansas City 25 years before when Cindy and I had met and married. I didn’t know Dick Fields well then, but I appreciated how he treated my wife like a daughter—for example, making sure, if she had to work late at Nazarene Publishing House, that she got to her car safely in an area of town that wasn’t always so safe. I came to love Dick Fields so much as his pastor! What a wonderful man of God with such a Christlike spirit! Whenever I’ve talked with him since we’ve left Kansas City, he reminds me that he and his wife pray for us everyday. He worked for 50 years for the Nazarene Publishing House, serving most of those years as the Director of Productions. He gave himself wholeheartedly to that work as a steward of the Gospel would, and all the while stood with others in the work of the local church.

I could go on and on in citing marvelous examples of men and women who embraced the trust of being stewards of the Gospel. And while they inspire us—and they do!—perhaps the most significant question we must ask is this: How are we to live out faithfulness in our stewardship of the Gospel? Let me suggest a few ways to you.

The first is in the context of what we have often called “Spiritual Gifts.” Listen to a passage from Ephesians 4—
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
The New Testament listings of spiritual gifts are not all closely aligned, leaving us to believe that it’s not meant to be a finite, definitive list, but the principle is that God has uniquely gifted each of us with certain personal abilities which we are to use for His Kingdom purposes. In Corinthians 12, we read of additional spiritual gifts, including gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, discernment, and administration.

The bottom line is that God hasn’t made us all alike—aren’t we all glad for that?! Can you imagine how boring this world would be if all of us were like me? Or like you? Scripture speaks of us collectively as “one body”—
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body…Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body…But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be…The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”…Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 14-15, 18, 21, 27)
As God has gifted us, we are entrusted as stewards to use those spiritual gifts—for His Kingdom purposes.

In a little different way, every one of us has talents that are unique to our personality and character and makeup. Some have music talents that they use to help us worship. Some are talented in working with their hands—building and maintaining things. Some of you are incredibly talented in cooking. And on and on we could go. God does not give us these talents for us to merely use selfishly. They are part of the resources entrusted to us for His purposes. They’re not really ours—they belong to Him, and we are to be faithful stewards of them.

Scripture teaches us to be faithful stewards of our time. We’re going to talk more about that next Sunday…

Some people see their work as something totally apart from their walk with Christ. But the truth is that God has put us where He has in order to serve His purposes in that place and time. That doesn’t mean we are to be less committed to doing what our superiors in the work setting instruct us to do and expect us to do—it’s just that we see our jobs as a gift entrusted to us by God and that we ultimately see our work accomplishing a greater purpose than even our employers might recognize. We’re to be exemplary workers, but ones who understand our work in the context of God’s greater plan. Certainly God has you in that workplace setting to accomplish His purposes in the lives of those with whom you work and with whom you interact in the course of your work.

We’ve probably talked more about money than we have possessions, so let’s acknowledge now that our possessions are such that we are to be faithful stewards of them. That may mean that your house is intended as a tool whereby you can extend hospitality and kindness to others. It also means that we hold loosely to things, responding to the promptings of the Lord when He instructs us to give something away to someone who may need it more than we do.

Have you ever thought about the need for us to be faithful stewards of our insights? Some people are tremendously creative—and God wants us to be faithful stewards of the ideas He gives us. It is God who grants wisdom, and wisdom needs to be shared in the right place and the right time and the right way—but it needs to be shared for Christ’s Kingdom purposes.

Can you see your relationships as treasures over which you are to be a faithful steward? Can you dare to see your interactions with other people as unique opportunities to serve the Lord and to serve others? There may be no other person in their lives who is a positioned to help them embrace the breadth of the Gospel quite like you! I’m learning before I get with friends and family members to ask the Lord to help me be a blessing to them. And I’m seeing more and more that I am a steward of the Gospel—and that my faithfulness to that calling is essential!

I’m also learning that the “chance meetings” I have from time to time are from the Lord. God has purpose in what may seem like random encounters. It’s part of being a faithful steward of our time—and allowing for God to send interruptions into our day whenever He so desires!

Verses 3-5 of our passage for today deal with the whole matter of accountability. Paul is acknowledging that God is the only One who can truly judge our faithfulness in our stewardship of the Gospel. It doesn’t ultimately matter what others think; it doesn’t even matter what we think ourselves about our “performance”! What matters is God’s judgment of our faithfulness in the stewardship of the Gospel.

Of course, we seem to have a cultural predisposition against anyone “judging” us—including the Lord! In the spiritual realm, our culture has fostered the thought that we can do whatever we want, that we can even create our own religion. We don’t want to believe that we are accountable to anyone—even to God!

But that doesn’t change the reality that we are accountable to God. Paul speaks of God judging us “when the Lord comes.” It’s like the end of many of the stewardship parables that Jesus told—about someone who went away and left his property in the hands of a steward. Those stories all seem to end with “When the master returned…” There always came a day of reckoning—just as there will surely be for each of us. And truly, when Christ returns as Scripture tells us He will, only the Lord will be capable of judging us.

So our question today then needs to be: Will God find that we have been faithful with what He’s entrusted to us? Will He deem us having been faithful with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Will He conclude that we have been faithful in doing our part in pointing people to Jesus Christ? Will we have been faithful with the spiritual gifts He’s given us? Will we have been faithful with our unique talents? Will we have been faithful stewards of the Gospel in the context of our relationships?

Can I just admit something to you? When I put it like that, I am overwhelmed! I can’t do it all! I’m not good enough to pull this off! But I am reminded that we are not in this alone. Remember what some say is the most often quoted word from the Lord in scripture? “Fear not!…Don’t be afraid!” God does not desert us in this challenge. He does not desert us in this tremendous stewardship challenge! He walks with us! He empowers us! He picks us up when we fall short! He encourages us and cheers us on—until the battle is over and we fall into the loving arms of Jesus.

May God help you and me to be faithful stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—whatever that may call for in each of our lives.