Friday, May 30

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

During my years as a Youth Pastor I led a number of short term mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Most of them involved serving with a ministry that provided food and basic medical care for children from impoverished communities. About half our time was spent doing physical labor as the buildings were being constructed, and about half was just spending time with the children who lived in the local area.

One of the things I noticed early on was that one of the first things the kids would ask us upon our arrival was, “Cuando se van?” The English translation is, “When are you going?” or, “When will you have to leave?”

I wasn’t fluent in Spanish by any means, but I understood enough to figure out what they were asking and it seemed strange to me that almost as soon as we set foot in their village they asked us when we had to leave. It took me a little longer to figure out why they always asked that question first. I eventually came to understand that it was because what was most important to the children was not the building we were helping to build, or the funds we provided for the ministry,  but rather, it was simply our presence in their community.

The children asked, “Cuando se van?” as soon as we arrived because they wanted to know how much time they would have to get to know us, to have fun with our group, and to love us as their friends. The most important thing to them was not our financial or material help, but rather our love and friendship.

I think we can see the importance of caring through relationships if we look closely at Jesus’ words in this parable.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. 

Notice that Jesus refers to both the sharing of material goods like food, drink and clothing; as well as to the sharing of time, attention and personal care. Jesus is teaching us to be willing to share not just our material or financial resources, but to share our time, our love, our friendship and our hearts as well.

This is why we, as a church, make a priority of supporting “Serve the World” partners and choosing short term mission partners where we can establish long term relationships. We want to be serving and giving in ways that do not create dependence on North American resources, but rather a deep sense of blessing and hope that comes with sharing in God’s Kingdom purposes for the people and communities in which we serve. 

I believe that Jesus wants us to reach the world by serving the world; and we are moved to serve the world when we see the world, and see people, as he sees them.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, May 29

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

In 1985, just before I came to FBCG, my wife and I spent six months living in Bolivia as short term missionaries. We taught a class in conversational English at a small evangelical university in Santa Cruz while I played basketball and helped coach with a Bolivian team. At one point during our time in Bolivia we traveled to La Paz, one

of the highest cities in the world, to visit some missionary friends living in that city. During our stay in La Paz we had dinner with our friends one night at a local restaurant. After dinner we were walking back to their apartment when I had an experience that I have remembered all these years. We had just crossed a street when I hears a sound. It was already dark, around 10 p.m. or so, so I couldn’t see right away where the sound was coming from; but it sounded like a child crying. I looked around for a moment... then I saw him. He was a little boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old, crouched down along a wall beside the street. He was alone, from what I could tell, and he was just kind of whimpering softly in the night. It was a pitiful, heart-wrenching sound. 

By this time we had lived in Bolivia for a number of months and had grown somewhat accustomed to the poverty of that land. At the time Bolivia was the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, just behind Haiti. So it was not unusual to see and smell the realities of the under-developed world all around us. But this was different.

I remember the questions that flashed through my mind as I walked past that little boy. Why was he crying? Was he hungry? Was he cold? Was he sick? Why was he out on the street at that time of night? Where were his parents? What should I do? What could I do?

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

In this part of the parable I think Jesus is teaching us to first see those around us and then to respond with compassionate action. He’s teaching us to care.

Now we all know that caring means more than just handing out a few meals or giving away boxes of old clothes. Caring means to care about people; to care about their stories; to care enough to go beyond offering quick fixes for today’s immediate needs to helping people rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. 

But caring starts somewhere. Jesus is teaching that we must learn first to see, then learn to care, then choose to act in compassion and generosity.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, May 28

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

During my last semester of Seminary, back in 1985, I took a class in evangelism. The final project of the class involved a “field trip” to Chicago during which we were required to engage in “street evangelism.” The point was to engage a total stranger in a “spiritual conversation” with the goal of sharing the gospel of Christ with them in some way. 

I was terrified.

While I understood the assignment and understood that “street evangelism” was a good thing, it just was outside my personal comfort zone; way outside my comfort zone!

The day came for the field trip and we were driven to Chicago and dropped off and told we had something like 3 hours to complete the assignment. I walked along the streets feeling completely inadequate and unprepared to do what I was supposed to do.

After 30 minutes or so of meandering along the streets of downtown Chicago wondering how I was ever going to engage someone in a conversation about Jesus, I walked by what appeared to be a homeless man standing on the edge of the sidewalk with his back up against a building. He was holding a plastic cup and shaking it while speaking softly to no one in particular. 

“Can you spare a buck? Will you help me out a little? Can you spare some change?”

Instead of looking away and continuing down the street as I would usually do, I looked at him. He was a gentle-looking African American man who looked to be about 55 or 60 years old. I don’t really know how to explain it but there was just something dignified about him. 

The thought suddenly popped into my head that he was the person I should try to talk to for my class assignment. I hesitated for a few moments thinking that it was crazy to come all the way to Chicago to talk to a homeless man about Jesus, but I noticed there was a Burger King restaurant across the street, so I swallowed hard and walked up to the man.

I said, “Hi, my name’s Brian; what’s yours?”

He said, “I’m John.”

I said, “John, are you hungry? I was just heading over to that Burger King across the street; can I get you a burger or something?”

He said, “A burger sounds good.”

So we walked across the street and I ordered a couple of burgers, a couple of soft drinks, and we talked. I asked

John about his life and he told me a story of broken dreams and a broken life. He spoke with a clarity and eloquence that, frankly, took me by surprise. A couple of times his eyes glistened with tears.

Then he asked me about my life. I told him I was a seminary student trying to figure out what God wanted me to do with my life. He talked about how he had grown up going to church but had drifted away from God in recent years.

We talked for about 30 minutes or so and when we had finished our food it was time for me to head back to my classmates. We stood up and headed out of the Burger King, but as we prepared to go our separate ways John had one more request.

He said, “Thanks for the burger, but I gotta be honest with you. I’m a wino and I could really use a drink.”

I thought for a moment and reached in my pocket and found a $5 bill. I offered it to him and said, “I appreciate your honesty; but I hope you will use this for dinner tonight instead of a drink. I hope you will find your way back to God because he loves you more than you love yourself.” And I gave him the 5 bucks.

John looked me right in the eye, shook my hand, and said, “You’re gonna be a heckuva a priest (only he used a more colorful expression).”

Jesus said:

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Jesus is teaching us to see in a different way. He wants us to see not the nameless homeless man looking for a handout on a city street; he wants us to see a man with a name and a life story. He was us to see people the way he sees them. Beyond that, Jesus is saying that we can learn to see more than a homeless man named “John,” we can learn to see Christ himself.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, May 27

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Acts 1:8

...but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and  even to the remotest part of the earth.

Matthew 20:25-28

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I have often made the observation that in all my travels to some 15 countries on 5 continents, I have always been able to find a cold Coke (well, maybe not always cold, but still a Coke nonetheless). The story of Coca-cola is arguably the most successful marketing strategy the world has ever seen. Today the Coca-cola company reports sales in every country in the world except three (Cuba, North Korea and Myanmar); and a total of 1.8 billion bottles sold every day. Furthermore, market researchers estimate that over 90% of the world’s population recognize the Coke brand logo (as opposed to just 54% that recognize the cross as the symbol of Christianity). Think about that for a moment. Here is a product that is basically carbonated sugar-water; a product that contains absolutely no nutritional value and that by almost every possible measure is bad for your health, and yet sales have increased world wide for 50 consecutive years.

Furthermore, Coke’s current marketing slogan is, “Open happiness.”

Before we shake our heads at the obvious irony of that slogan, let’s consider again Jesus’ vision for us as his church.

...but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and  even to the remotest part of the earth.

Simply put, Jesus wants what the Coca-cola company wants; and that is penetration into every market in the world. He wants the gospel to be communicated, recognized, and understood by every nationality, every culture, and every people group on the face of the earth. The question is method.

In the middle ages the preferred model of “market penetration” was the crusade; which could be described as evangelism at the point of a sword. I think most of us would agree that multiple wars resulting in thousands upon thousands dead are counterproductive to the gospel.

Then came what could be called the “Colonial” method where Western Christians moved into regions of the world to preach the gospel, but tended to bring cultural, political and economic interests with them. The result being that the gospel sometimes became indistinguishable from Western culture.

Here’s a good question: how did Jesus say we should influence the world?

...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Simply put, the gospel is not to spread by force or by clever marketing; the gospel is to be spread by love, humility, service and sacrifice.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, May 26

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Matthew 20:25-28

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

A couple of weeks ago I was in the locker room at the fitness center I belong to when I overheard what was obviously the tail-end of a conversation. Two men about my age were evidently talking about religion as they were getting dressed. This is the part of the conversation that I heard:

First man: “....well, you have to remember that all religions are evil by definition.”

Second man: “I guess it depends how seriously you take it.”

That’s all I heard, but it was enough to both make me mad and cause me to think about what response I would have given to the first guy if I had been part of the conversation.

I would have wanted to ask the man how he defined “religion?” If by “religion” he meant human systems of beliefs, rituals and laws that have been responsible for everything from crusades to jihads to “ethnic cleansing” I would have probably agreed with him to at least some degree.

But if, by “religion,” he meant faith in Jesus Christ or participation in his church, I would have told him he couldn’t be more wrong.

I would say that because Christianity, properly understood, is not a religion at all; but rather, a relationship. Jesus didn’t call us to form or join a “religion,” he called us to follow him. 

He called us to love our neighbor as ourselves; to love and pray for our enemies; and to serve others as he served us.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I don’t know what prompted that man to say, “all religions are evil by definition,” but I would suspect he has had some negative personal experiences with the church or with those who represented the church. I know for sure it wasn’t a clear understanding of genuine Christianity because I can’t fathom that anyone in their right mind would find love, forgiveness, and humble service to be evil. 

Since overhearing that brief bit of conversation I have moved from anger to a kind of sadness. It makes me sad that there are people who have experienced too much religion and not enough Jesus. It makes me wonder what I can do, what we can do as a church, to help people move from “religion” to a relationship with Jesus. 

I think Jesus would say that it begins with understanding and being willing to demonstrate what he means when he says,

whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Pastor Brian Coffey

Friday, May 23

To listen to the audio version, click here.

This week we have been looking at three stories of of Acts 16 that give the account of three different encounters with God.  They are really stories of gospel transformation!

Notice how different these three individuals were. Lydia was a respectable businesswoman with religious convictions. She had a home large enough to offer lodging to the four missionaries, and so she must have been fairly well-to-do. The slave girl was a piece of property to be used and discarded by her masters. Rather than seeking after God, she was actively serving Satan. The jailer was a hardened military man. He could take prisoners with their backs bleeding, throw them into the prison, fasten their feet into the stocks (which were not designed for personal comfort!), lock the door, and go get a good night’s rest, except for being awakened by an earthquake.

Also notice how different the circumstances were in which these three people encountered the Lord. God had already worked in Lydia’s heart to make her a seeker after Him and so she was in a prayer meeting. The slave girl was on the streets, with absolutely no knowledge of the one true God. The jailer was saved in connection with doing his job. He was suddenly awakened by this powerful earthquake, and when he saw the prison door opened, he was ready to fall on his sword and die, since he would be tortured and executed if any of the prisoners had escaped. Out of this extreme crisis, he met the Lord.

Isn’t it amazing that God picked these three very different types of people to form the nucleus of the infant church in Philippi? Lydia didn’t start a seeker church for Yuppie business- people. The slave girl didn’t join the hippie church for former street people. And the jailer didn’t join the military chapel. They all had to learn to accept and love each other in the same church in Philippi. This is one of the marks of the gospel - people who would not ordinarily like each other, or even associate with each other, coming together because God’s love has changed them!  

God works through His grace to draw very different people from different backgrounds to Himself, and He wants them to learn to love one another as a testimony to the world of His saving grace. And even though these three people were very different, it was the same gospel that saved them all!

Our great God is sovereignly working behind the scenes, even when we are not aware of it, to work all things after the counsel of His will. In other words, nothing happens by chance, even though it may seem to us to be by chance. Certainly the salvation of a soul, whom God has predestined to salvation before the foundation of the world is not left to chance!

Jeff Frazier

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.  - Ephesians 1:4-5

Thursday, May 22

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Acts 16 tells the stories of three people who have their lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Each of these individuals are drastically different from each other, and each of their stories is unique.  However, despite their many differences, there is a wonderful commonality between them; that Jesus used His followers to reach them where they were and to share His love with them.  

Today we are going to examine the third story, it is the story of how the gospel reached a hardened Roman jailer...

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,  and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.  When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.  But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.   - Acts 16:25-34

This the gospel for the secular person.  The text says he was a “Jailer” – likely a retired Roman soldier because all civic service jobs were given to retired soldiers in Rome (a kind of pension plan).  He is neither the success of Lydia, nor is he the mess of the slave girl.  Just a “regular guy” – blue collar guy, a practical person, not really even spiritually seeking or interested at all (at least not at first). 

How does the gospel come to him?  Interestingly, in a sense it doesn’t, not right away.  Paul brings the message to Lydia and brings it to the slave girl as well.  But this guy actually comes to Paul first (16:29-30).

You don’t tell the gospel to somebody who is not interested.  You show the gospel first.  Paul and Silas had been beaten severely, put into the stocks (16:23-24).  Yet they (Paul and Silas) were praising God!?  They had a joy and a strength that did not come from their physical circumstances.

Earthquake, cells opened.  He was going to kill himself.  Why?  Because it was the law that if the prisoner escaped, the jailer was to be executed.  So, this Jailor is only trying to save himself from the shame and humiliation of being executed publicly. 

Yet look again at verse (16:28) – “We are all here!”  Paul and Silas did not deserve to be there, but they stayed.  Not only that, but they convinced all the prisoners to stay!Imagine what that conversation was like!?

This practical, hardened, secular man looked at this and realized that these men had something that he didn’t have.

Where did this power come from?  The reason Paul and Silas didn’t get their freedom at the expense of the jailer’s life is that they already had their freedom at the expense of Another’s life – Jesus!  What brought this jailer to his knees (16:24) was the power of Jesus in the lives of Paul and Silas.  The cross – ultimate example of repaying evil with good.  Christ praying for His executioners.  This is where Paul and Silas got such power and compassion, and this power is available to us as well!

Jeff Frazier

Wednesday, May 21

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Yesterday we examined the first of three stories From the book of Acts of people who were transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

These three encounters may seem insignificant, but actually they were the beginning of a movement that changed world history. I’m sure that the Roman Emperor, Claudius, would have shrugged his shoulders in apathy if he had learned that a little Jewish man named Paul had set foot on European soil to tell people about Jesus Christ. Claudius had more important matters to attend to than this!  And yet this was the beginning of Christianity in Europe, and its influence there changed the world. These three encounters should encourage us to be faithful to share our faith as we see how God uses the Gospel to save different people.

The first story tells us how the Gospel came to a wealthy, moral and religious woman named Lydia.  The very next story in Acts 16 is also about a woman who has her life changed, but she could not be more different than Lydia...

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”  And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.   - Acts 16:16-18

This is a story of the gospel for the oppressed and the exploited.  The slave girl is the opposite of Lydia in many ways.  She is poor, she is powerless and exploited, she was demon-possessed, she was deeply troubled and in great spiritual turmoil.  The Greek term is that she had a “Python spirit.” This referred to the legendary snake that guarded the Delphic Oracle in central Greece. Apollo supposedly killed this snake, and the snake’s spirit dwelled in the priestess there. So a “Python spirit” referred to a spirit that enabled someone to predict the future. This slave girl was being used by her owners for fortune-telling, much to the fortunes of the owners!

It may be hard for most of us to relate to a demon-possessed, fortune-telling slave girl, so to put this in context, if Lydia was like a wealthy fashion boutique owner from Geneva, then this slave girl is like a drug addicted teenage prostitute in Aurora.
How does the gospel come to this oppressed and exploited slave girl?  Not at all like it did for Lydia (through reason and dialogue).  It comes to her first as an encounter: a healing, liberating, freeing encounter.  She is healed spiritually, psychologically, and socially. 

Notice – she not only had demonic masters, but human masters as well.  The Gospel frees her completely (16:19-20)!  

The forces that  held her mind and spirit captive, no longer control her.  Her human masters no longer can use her.  The implications of the Gospel go beyond just the personal, individual faith decision.  The girl could not make such a decision—could not respond to the gospel message until she was first liberated, cared for, set free.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?   - James 2:15-16

You see, the gospel changes lives, but it also changes social structures and cultures.  A Gospel focused church is a compassionate church—a church concerned with injustice in the world and the needs of the people in its community.  This is exactly the kind of people that we are called to be as His Church in the world!

Jeff Frazier

Tuesday, May 20

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The book of Acts tells the story of the birth and the early growth of the Christian Church.  It is a remarkable story of how the message of the Gospel spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire and captivated the hearts and lives of thousands.  How did this happen?  It happened primarily through the love, sacrifice and service of the men and women who had given their lives to follow Jesus Christ!

Early on in the book Acts, we read about thousands of people coming to trust Christ in a single day.  So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41).
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand (Acts 4:4).

It is easy to forget that each one of those thousands is an individual person that matters to God. The book of Acts shows us God’s Spirit moving on a large scale amidst the masses of people, and it also shows us how God works in the hearts and lives of individuals.  In fact Acts 16 chronicles the account of three people who encounter God’s people and have their lives transformed by the Gospel.  The first such story is about a woman named Lydia...

 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.  One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.  And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.  - Acts 16:12-15

Who was Lydia?  She was a wealthy business woman (16:14).  Purple dye was extremely expensive.  She was a fashion retailer.  Imagine a fashion boutique owner on third street in Geneva.  She was also a “worshipper of God.”  This term indicated a Gentile reading Hebrew Bible and seeking the Hebrew God.  She was moral and religious.  “Place of prayer”, this was a gathering place for Gentile worshippers, imagine a kind of first cent. Beth Moore Bible study for women.

So here is Lydia – a moral, religious, wealthy, fashionable, respectable business woman.  Sound familiar?  Any wealthy, moral and religious people out there?

How does the gospel come to her?

(Notice 14b) “The Lord opened her heart.”  How?  Through the truth of the message – a rational discourse, discussion and Paul sharing the truth of Christ.  It made sense to her; she got it; she understood.  Paul took the time to explain and share the Gospel withe her because she was curious and seeking God.

She would have been reading portions of the Hebrew Bible, but she did not fully grasp its meaning.  It is as if Paul said to her, “Let me give you the key to it all—the key to unlocking the Bible – Jesus!”  Jesus is the truth, He is the fulfillment of all you have been reading about.  He is the one you have been seeking.  Jesus is the message the church has been given.  There is no other!

(Back in Acts 2:42, we read that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.”  What were they teaching?  Jesus!)

The message may come in many different cultures, different contexts, and different forms, but there is only one message!  A Gospel focused church is a church where the truth of Christ (the Gospel) is central!  Lydia was moral and religious, but she still needed Jesus!

Too often we stop short in cases like Lydia’s.  We assume that because a person is morally upright and/or seemingly religious, that they are okay with God.  Religious people need the gospel as much, and maybe more than anyone else.  The truth of Christ transformed Lydia from a religious person into a person secure in her relationship with God through Jesus, and it can still do that today!

Jeff Frazier

Monday, May 19

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Everybody loves an underdog – the unlikely hero, the one nobody believed in, the classic Cinderella story.  In sports (NCAA tournament, the Masters) and in life, who doesn’t like to see the little guy succeed??

When you think about it, the Bible has some wonderful stories about underdogs and unlikely heroes.  The most famous in the Old Testament is probably the shepherd boy David killing the Philistine giant Goliath.  But there are many others:

• Old crazy Noah building a boat and saving the world.
• Abram, wandering the desert, having a son in 90s!
• Gideon, going from hiding in a hole to defeating the Midianites
• Moses, from living in obscurity in the wilderness to defeating Pharaoh!

The truth is that God seems to like doing things this way (1 Cor. 1:27).  “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, the weak things to shame the strong.”

There is a sense in which our whole faith is a kind of underdog story – a story of an unlikely hero, born in a manger, in obscurity, to a poor family, lived a wandering, homeless existence, had no military background, wrote no books, founded no schools or political institutions.

And when we come to the story of the church, that may be the biggest Cinderella story of them all.  Think of it.  Only 120 confused and isolated Christians, uncertain about what to do (Acts 2 - Pentecost).  The contemporary secular view of the church is usually the opposite: huge institution, wealthy, controlling, often corrupt, hardly an underdog.

But even secular historians marvel and wonder at how this tiny insignificant group of 1^st century Jews could grow into something that would shake the Roman Empire and form the foundations of Western civilization.

How did this happen?  What caused the rapid and explosive growth of the early church?

Former Yale Professor of History, Kenneth Scott Latourette:

“The more one examines the various factors which seem to account for the extraordinary victory of Christianity, the more one is driven to search for a cause underlying them all.  It is clear that at the very beginning of Christianity there must have occurred a vast release of energy virtually unequalled in history.  Without it, the future course of this religion is inexplicable.  Why this occurred may lie outside the realm in which modern historians are supposed to move.”

He is pondering a question which simply cannot be answered from a purely historical point of view.  And the book of Acts gives us the answer.

• Acts 2:4 – “Filled with the Spirit”
• Acts 2:17 – “Pour out my Spirit”
• Acts 2:47 – “The Lord added to their number”

God is in their midst!  God is doing something!  The Spirit is on the move!  “The cause underlying them all” is the Holy Spirit.  That same Spirit lives in us today!  We are a part of this remarkable story that God has been writing throughout history by His Holy Spirit.

Jeff Frazier

Friday, May 16

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Colossians 3

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

The summer after I graduated from high school my family moved from New York to Florida. As anyone who has ever had to move a family across the country knows, moving is a big deal. To help with the move, the church that was hiring my Dad enabled my parents to hire a moving company to take care of packing up all our worldly possessions and getting them safely to our new home in Orlando, Florida.

My mother likes to tell the story of finally getting to our new home in Florida and opening the freshly moved refrigerator in the kitchen and finding a single egg, still wrapped in packing paper, sitting in the “egg tray.” She had evidently left that single egg in the refrigerator when we left our home in New York and the movers had dutifully packed it up with the rest of our belongings and transported it all the way to Florida!

I’ve often thought that would make a good commercial for a moving company, because THAT’S a good moving company! The guy who took the time and care to pack up and move that egg was also a great example of what Paul is talking about when he writes:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

We have already talked about how our work matters to God and how people matter to him as well. We’ve seen that the gospel fundamentally changes the employer- employee relationship by adding a sense of value and responsibility to both.

Now we see one more revolutionary idea: that how we do our job is both an act of worship as well as a testimony to the work of Christ in our hearts.

Here’s how I would summarize Paul’s teaching here: All work well done serves others and honors Christ.
Sometimes we think that in order to be a witness for Christ in our workplace we have to carry our Bibles and consistently engage people in overtly spiritual conversations. While these may be things we can do, depending on our workplace, Paul is telling us that perhaps the most important thing we can do is perform our particular job with excellence.

Think about it this way: what does it say about Jesus if we do our jobs poorly, or do just enough to get by?

Conversely, what does it say about our Lord if we are diligent, trustworthy workers who consistently go above and beyond to serve our boss or our co-workers with excellence? Which do you think is a better witness for the God we claim to serve?

I like to think the guy that moved the egg was a follower of Jesus, because that’s how I think Jesus would have done that job. I also am challenged to ask myself, “Would I have packed up the egg or just tossed it in the garbage when no one was looking?”

If I’m honest I have to admit that I probably would have tossed the egg aside as not being worth the effort. I think Jesus is teaching me, and us, that the egg is worth the effort because HE is worth the effort.

Pastor Brian Coffey 

Thursday, May 15

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Ephesians 6:5-9

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Have you ever had a bad job? Have you ever worked for a terrible boss?

One of the jobs I tried as a boy was caddying for golfers at a local country club. About the second time I was hired to carry a golf bag for 18 holes was by a guy who was not only a lousy golfer but who had significant anger issues. He sprayed balls all over the course; in the woods, in the various ponds on the course; and in the back yards of the homes that lined some of the fairways. Each time he would hit a wayward shot he would utter very colorful curses and then say, “Coffey, go get that ball!” He had asked me my name early on but only called me by my last name. Over and over again it was, “Coffey, go get that ball!” Wanting to do a good job, and not knowing it wasn’t typically expected of caddies to find every lost ball hit by their golfer, I did my best to find every ball - risking life and limb, not to mention the possibility of getting poison ivy over my whole body in the process.

Finally, he became so enraged after yet another lousy shot that he hurled his five-iron, helicopter style, completely across the fairway and then said, “Coffey, go get that club!”

I dutifully fetched his club and returned it to him, but I never caddied again!

Read again how Paul describes how the gospel shapes the relationship between boss and employee:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

In his book “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job,” author Patrick Lencioni says the three things that rob people of joy and fulfillment in work are, anonymity, irrelevance and what he calls “immeasurability.” In other words, no matter what we do for work we can become miserable if no one knows who we are; if what we do doesn’t seem to matter; and if we don’t know if we are performing our job well or not.

We’ve already discussed how the gospel frees us from a miserable job experience by teaching that we work for Christ and not our earthly boss. We know that Jesus knows us by name, that our work matters to him, and that he will reward us for work well done.

In this passage Paul turns his attention to those who are “masters”; that is, those who own or manage doulos bond- servants. In today’s world he would be talking to employers, managers and bosses.

The revolutionary nature of Paul’s teaching here would have been that masters need to be concerned at all with their treatment of their bond-servants. A master would have considered his servants to be his property and would have felt completely within his rights as an owner to treat his servants any way he pleased. But Paul is pointing out that the gospel changes everything, even the employer- employee relationship. Not only does our work matter to Christ, but people matter to him as well. Therefore, how we treat people matters because Jesus loves and values bond-servants as much as he does masters; hourly employees as much as CEOs.

What if the guy who hired me to be his caddy so long ago had called me by my first name? What if he had told me I was doing a good job and that he appreciated my efforts? What if he had treated me as if I mattered?

Almost all of us, at some time or another, play the role of “master” or employer. You might be a CEO, a manager, a parent or just someone who occasionally has dinner in a restaurant and pays someone to be your servant for the evening. Paul wants us to remember that people must be treated as if they matter to God, because they do.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, May 14

To listen to the audio version, click here.

Genesis 2:1-3

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Can you remember your first job? I don’t mean the first job after college, I mean the very first the first job for which you were paid? Was it babysitting? Raking leaves? Shoveling snow?

When I was 8 years old I had a hand-me-down 20 inch red bicycle. I loved that bike! The bike came with the responsibility to put it in the garage every night at dinner time. One evening, after riding around and playing with my friends, I hurried home and left it in our front yard, forgetting to put it away in the garage.

The next day my bike was gone! Evidently, during the night someone had stolen my little hand-me-down 20 inch bike right out of our tiny yard on 23rd street in Akron, Ohio.

My first thought was, “What kind of person steals a kid’s bike?” It was the first time it dawned on me that the world is not a safe place.

My second thought was, “I’m in big trouble.” I knew it was my responsibility to put my bike away and I had failed to do so and now my bike was gone.

My Dad told me I could get a new bike but that I would have to earn the money myself. He offered me a job: he said I could mow the grass for $1 each time.

Now our yard was pretty small, but we didn’t have a power mower. We had one of those old rotary push mowers with the blades that turned as the wheels turned. Remember those? My Dad evidently thought that, at 8 years old, I was big enough to push that mower around our little yard and earn the money for a new bike. I thought so too.

So I looked in the Sears catalogue and found a bike that I wanted; it was a 26 incher with a head-light powered by a generator attached to the wheel. I thought that was awesome! I would have the coolest bike on the block; but the price tag was the astronomical sum of $56.

So I mowed.

My mom says the first day I mowed I came in with blisters hanging from my hands. But I wanted that bike!

That job didn’t feel much like a gift, but it was. I eventually saved up enough cash to buy my new bike, but the real gift was learning the value of hard work.

Listen to how the Bible describes the work of God himself.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

God’s work was creating. The ancient Hebrew words used to describe God’s work point to a master craftsman doing the finest kind of work. When God finished his work it was complete and perfect. (Note: it is both interesting and significant that Jesus cried out, “It is finished” from the cross as he completed the work of our salvation!)

Now look at how the Bible describes our work:

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The Bible teaches that human beings, and only human beings, are created in the “image of God.” This phrase is chock-full of meaning! It means, among many other things, that human beings are created with unique capacities among all the creatures of the earth, and that we are created for a unique kind of relationship with God.

Human beings are created with unique intelligence; with a unique capacity to worship; with a unique capacity to love; with the unique capacity to create; with the unique capacity for free will; and with the unique capacity to work.

Notice that work was part of God’s creation right from the beginning. He created, designed and purposed human beings to work as a way of sharing in his management of the earth and it’s resources.

All that to say that when we work, whether that work is commuting to an office in the city, sitting in front of a computer all day, or doing 4 loads of laundry and changing dirty diapers, we are expressing the very image of God and fulfilling part of his purpose for creation.

When I go out to mow my lawn these days, I sometimes think about that rotary mower and my new bike; but I also realize, at a deeper level, that I was created to work and that there is joy in all work well done.

Pastor Brian Coffey