It’s Personal

1 Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and bloodof the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

There is a very important time in our lives when we must face reality. ‘Reality’ may be an abstract word for many in the world these days, especially as avowed by those whose philosophical stripe tends to be existential. Reality can best be expressed by those who think this way as: “What is reality for you?” It seems your reality may be different from someone else’s reality.

Life in the world does teach us this to some degree. After all, look at the disagreements we have over politics. People see what they see about history, and then adapt that into their political opinions based on the historical grid which reflects their perspective. “Too much freedom,” some say, “results in selfishness which oppresses the poor.” “Not enough freedom,” others say, “results in the ruin of all to help the few.” Which is reality to you?

There must be an arbiter of reality when it comes to evaluating your life, lest you fall into this sort of results-oriented escapism which always seems to find you forgiving all of your sin free of charge while at the same time condemning the sin of others. Comparison to others is the realm of the flesh, and is the driver of self-evaluation for all those who are in the world and have never received Christ.

Receiving Christ as your personal Savior changes everything. It is THE delineating moment in the history of YOUR world. YOUR delineating moment. The moment all your history changed. This is why you can only come to Christ through confession. It means we accept His judgment of our sin and not our own. We step away from any sort of sliding-scale-self-acceptance of our sin and agree with Christ - with HIS judgment of ALL of what we have done. How precious then is the fact He willingly pays the price for it. This is true communion with Christ and His church, and there is no way to arrive at this by half-measure.

- Pastor Bill

History Student

1 Cor 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Unlike most people, in school my favorite subject was always history. It didn’t really matter what kind of history either - although I certainly preferred American history since so much of it directly affected my life. Even to this day, I am a student of the Civil War, particularly, and World War II. But I also enjoy hearing all I can about the Revolutionary War, and all that went into the founding of this nation. I find the study of history indispensable. I even enjoy memorizing the dates when things took place – despite the recent emphasis on “happenings” as opposed to “dates.” Is it important to know the Magna Carta was written in 1215? Maybe not – but maybe it is helpful to know how long mankind had lived without any sort of the kind of ‘rights’ we experience today?

Paul is also a student of history, and he is an advocate of knowing “from whence we come.” The point? Well, the old saying is, “Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.” And that’s a great saying, especially in a case like this: Real life in this world.

The saying teaches us we are likely to fail just as badly as previous generations and nations have failed if we do not study and pay attention to the reasons they failed. This is especially true in the case of the Israelites. We can learn an awful lot from them, because they were an ‘awful lot.’

In spite of all God had done for Israel, they consistently turned their backs on God and complained about Him and worshiped idols. That is a tremendous example for us NOT to follow. But here is another thing to pay attention to: Notice how much God had DONE for them. Notice how much GOOD and GREATNESS it was they forgot about. Forget about world history for a moment and think about your life. How much has God done for you? Isn’t that an indicator of what He will do for you in the future?

- Pastor Bill

Stylin’

1 Cor 19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Hey, what’s your favorite…? Who’s your favorite…? Or when’s your favorite…? You can tell a lot about people by what they favor. There’s a lot that goes into that.

As a child – as far back as I can remember – we would go to church on Sunday morning, and then come home and my mom would make fried chicken for the family. EVERY SUNDAY. Now, it could be because the fried chicken was so awesome, (golden brown, moist, with little crispies on the edges and all…) or, it could be because it was a constant occurrence - but that Sunday routine was ingrained in my soul.

When I moved away from home to go to college, I really struggled with being away not just from my mom’s fried chicken, but also from the Sunday routine. (It slowly wore off after maybe 20 years or so.) I know the routine played a huge part in the experience, because when I went home from college, and arrived on say, a Tuesday evening; my mom would always welcome me home with a big platter of fried chicken. Strange, but I noticed the fried chicken did not taste the same to me on Tuesday night as it had Sunday at noon after church.

My wife started blessing me several years back by learning how to make fried chicken for me exactly as my mom makes it – and, if possible – even a teeny, tiny bit better. But when my wife started making fried chicken for me, it took me a while to get used to eating it at times other than Sunday at noon, which simply isn’t possible because of our church-life schedule. Slowly, deliberately over time, I was able to enjoy the fried chicken as much at just about any time as I had originally when my mom made it right after church. (Okay, I may be a little weird, as my wife says on this subject.)

Here’s the point: your style has a lot to do with your life. That’s why they call it, ‘life-style.’ It is who you are as much as what you are because it is so ingrained in you. It is so difficult to separate the life from the style that in many cases it cannot be accomplished. So why should we, as those who desire most of all to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, be concerned at all with the style in which the gospel of Jesus Christ is delivered? Should we not be flexible and agreeable with whatever is necessary to speed the issue?

- Pastor Bill

Birth Mark

1 Cor 7:17 But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. 18 Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. 20 Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.21 Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. 22 For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave.23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called.

There is nothing physical that can keep anyone from the love of Jesus Christ. There is nothing anyone can do to earn His love. There is no advancement in earthly station required. There is no place so low or sin so great that Jesus’ love cannot reach down to meet. There is no height necessary to accomplish.

The simplicity and humility of Jesus’ birth provides a major clue of all that is to follow. The design of the tabernacle had merely hinted at what the coming of Christ accomplished.

Could God be worshiped from a tent? What of the covering of badger skins – that would make the outward appearance not only common, but unattractive? Only those who would approach would see the marvelous and intricate design of the inside of the tent. Those who could be put of by humility and simplicity would be. They would never see the rich tapestries and gold furniture found inside.

Just like the tabernacle, (which actually had more in common with Christ than Solomon’s temple,) Jesus came in humble surroundings, and was of humble appearance. His appeal would be to every man, to every woman, and to every child. It would not take a theological education to enter the kingdom of heaven. It would not require status. Most importantly, it would not require wealth or position. In fact, the tabernacle, and the humble surroundings of Jesus’ birth would signal something else: The birth mark of those who would come to Christ would be humility.

Humility, unlike just about anything else pertaining to men and men’s aspirations, is a mark of the will of the heart. It goes against the grain of the flesh, and can only be arrived at by a conscious decision. And so, if you are a slave when you come to Christ, you have no need to become something better to attain heaven. If you are free, if you are rich, if you are poor, if you are whatever…there is no outward attainment that can or will justify you in God’s eyes. Only the mark of a broken heart is the measure of the Christ-follower – the one who is born again from above. Nothing physical can change or affect that.

- Pastor Bill