Philippians 2:14-16
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become
blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as
you hold out the word of life – in order that I may boast on the day of
Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.
A long time ago – when our boys were quite young – Lorene and I had to
go out somewhere so we had a babysitter come to take care of our boys
while we were away. As I recall, just as she arrived, two of our boys
got into some kind of conflict and we had to intervene so there would be
no bloodshed before we left for the evening! It was actually a pretty
small issue over a toy or something, so we quickly sat the boys down and
got them to re-hash what had happened for us. When it became clear who
had been the offended and who had been the offender, either my wife or I
said something like, “Was that the right thing to do?” The boy who was
guilty shook his head. We said, “What do you say?” And that particular
boy turned and mumbled to his brother, “I’m sorry I took your toy.” To
which his brother said quietly, “I forgive you.” And they both jumped up
and ran off to play. As we turned back to the babysitter to assure her
that the boys would behave – she said in amazement, “Wow! That would
never happen in my house – no one ever says they are sorry!”
I share that little story not to claim that we always handle conflict
perfectly in our family – we don’t! But I share it to show that
something as simple as apology and forgiveness can have impact on
others. Paul says,
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become
blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as
you hold out the word of life –
If we look at these words from the context of “Faith @ Home” we see that
we can have a powerful influence on the world around us simply by how
we treat each other. Ask yourself this question: If my neighbors could
observe my (our) home for a week – how we speak to each other, care
about each other, treat each other, and how we forgive each other –
would they be drawn closer to the God we say we serve – or pushed
further away?
Ask God to make your home a “shining star in the universe”- and ask him to begin with you!
Brian Coffey
Monday, June 29th
Galatians 5:22-23
But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law.
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore,
as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each
other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against each other.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
A number of years ago I flew to Ohio to share in my father’s 65th birthday celebration. We had a big party for him on Saturday night; I spoke at his church on Sunday morning, and we had a big family dinner afterwards. It was a great time! My return flight to Chicago was at 3:50 in the afternoon – and I had scheduled that time very intentionally so I could get back home in time to see my own family before the boys went to bed so I could give them the surprise I promised them (which I often did whenever I traveled). So, after our family dinner I asked my Dad, “My flight is at 3:50 – how long does it take to get to the airport from here?” Without hesitation he said, “Forty minutes.”
Now, when my Dad said, “Forty minutes,” I believed him. I had no reason not to. After all, this was the same man who, to my knowledge, had never intentionally misled me, and had been a pillar of truth and wisdom my whole life. He is as utterly dependable as any man I have ever known, so when he said “forty minutes” – I trusted him.
So I added 20-25 minutes to that 40 – counted backward from 3:50 and said, “So, let’s leave your house about 2:45 then – that will give us plenty of time.” I was thinking that this time frame would allow me maximum time with my Mom and Dad before heading to the airport in time to catch my flight without too much hurry. “Forty minutes,” he had said.
We left at 2:45 pm sharp and after 55 minutes driving 60 MPH we saw the first sign for the Cleveland airport, which said, “Airport 5 miles.” My Dad asked, “What time is your flight again?” I said, with a clipped tone, “3:50 Dad, my flight is at 3:50.” He replied, “Well, the flight will probably be late – you’ll be fine.” At that moment, whatever “Fruit of the Spirit” I had growing in the greenhouse of my heart began to wilt – badly.
As I recall, the first to go was patience. I began looking at my watch every 30 seconds or so and saying helpful things like, “It’s 3:41 Dad.” Or, “We’re not going to make it.” The second to go was peace; then joy, and so on right down the list.
We rolled up to “departures” at 3:47 and I leapt out of the car. But before shutting the door I said, “Happy birthday Dad, thanks for the ride, and just for the record – it takes you an hour and five minutes to get to the airport!”
Even though I sprinted through the airport like O.J. Simpson (O.K. – bad analogy), I missed my flight. I sat in the airport for the next four hours stewing over how it could be that my Dad didn’t know how long it took to get to the airport. When I finally straggled home around 11:00 pm, I realized that in all my frustration and self-pity I had forgotten to get my boys the treat I had promised. Faithfulness, it turns out, was the last of the fruit to bite the dust!
It seems to me that sometimes the fruit of the Spirit can be most difficult at home with the people we know best and love most. Why is that so? First, it’s difficult because they are the people we are around the most – and therefore we see each other at both our best and our worst. Second, I think we tend to expect more from our family than we do everyone else. And when we expect more we are more easily disappointed and/or hurt. Finally, I think we tend to assume that things like love, joy and peace should happen kind of “automatically” at home – without much effort – because, after all, we are family!
The truth is that very often home is the most difficult place to live out the “fruit of the Spirit” It is also true that home is, by far, the most important place to grow fruit! Ask God to help you identify which of the fruit Paul mentions is most lacking in your home – and ask him to add some fertilizer to your heart!
Brian Coffey
Friday, June 26th
To download an audio version of this, click here.
Hosea 2:14-15; 19-20
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead
her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
There I will give her back her vineyards, and will
make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
Then she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in
the day she came up out of Egypt.
(19) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth
you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will
acknowledge the Lord.
On several occasions I have been asked by
married couples to lead them through a ceremony to “restate” their wedding
vows. Sometimes this request is made in honor of a significant milestone – like
a 25th wedding anniversary. Other times a couple is seeking to
affirm their commitment to each other following a significant threat to their
marriage – an experience of intense conflict or perhaps even a time of
infidelity.
Three times in Hosea chapter two we see the word
“betroth.”
(19) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth
you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will
acknowledge the Lord.
We don’t use the word “betroth” much in our
culture, but it’s a great word. To “betroth” is to make a holy promise; to bind
oneself to another in a promise of absolute faithfulness and love. In a sense
this is what a man does when he says to a woman, “Will you marry me?” For when
he asks that question he is stating that he has already invested his love fully
in her; he is already committed lock, stock and barrel – all that remains is
her response.
The Bible is saying that God has offered himself
to us in “betrothal”; that is, he has utterly committed himself in love to us –
and this is most clearly seen through Jesus Christ. All that remains is our
response!
Notice there are two promises that come with
this betrothal.
There I will give her back her vineyards, and will
make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
Then she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in
the day she came up out of Egypt.
The first promise is redemption and blessing.
Throughout the Old Testament vineyards are a symbol of God’s blessing.
Furthermore, the literal translation of “Valley of Achor” is “valley of
trouble.” So God is promising to redeem the rebellion and sin of his people
into blessing and prosperity.
The second promise is joy.
“Then she will sing as in the days of her youth,” Hosea says.
Despite her unfaithfulness; despite her sin;
despite her failure to return his faithfulness and love, God loves his people
and promises to restore them – not only to relationship with himself – but to
the joy for which he created them.
Do you know you were created for joy? Do you
know that sin, no matter how enticing and attractive, always diminishes and
kills your joy? Do you know that God pursues you, confronts your sin, and
forgives you – so that your joy might be restored in him?
In this way the prophet Hosea also points us
toward Christ; for Jesus said:
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be complete.” John
15:11
Thank God for his redeeming love and ask him to
make his joy complete in you!
Pastor Brian Coffey
Thursday, June 25th
To download an audio version of this, click here.
Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
Do you have a favorite place?
As you look back over your life, is there a particular place – or places – that are filled with memories of warmth, joy or intimacy?
If you are married, one of those places might be the hole-in-the-wall restaurant where you first felt the fire of romance kindled in your heart.
It might be the place where you first said the words, “I love you.”
Or the place where you managed to utter the phrase, “Will you marry me?”
Or the place – perhaps a first home or apartment - where, through the fog of “early parental exhaustion” said to your partner, “Your turn to get up with the baby.”
Most of us have such special places anchored in our memories. Such a place for me was the restaurant where my wife and I had our first date. I don’t remember what I ordered from the menu, or much about the conversation over dinner that night, but I do remember the feeling that came over me when our elbows touched while standing next to each other at the salad bar!
Notice the special place to which Hosea leads his unfaithful wife:
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
The desert! What kind of special place is that?
We think of the desert as a place of extreme heat and barrenness; a place of loneliness and isolation; we think of the desert as a place to avoid. But the desert was actually a good place in the history of Israel. When God led his people out of captivity in Egypt and toward the promised land, he took them through the desert first. The desert was where he gave them his law. The desert was where he gave them his presence through the cloud of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. The desert was where he gave them manna each day and taught them to depend completely on his provision.
The desert was the place where the covenant was sealed and where Israel experienced communion and intimacy with God.
Is there such a “desert place” in your life? Maybe your “desert” is a literal place; a favorite chair in your house where you meet with him in prayer every morning; or perhaps a walking path by the Fox River where you find he walks with you. Or maybe your “desert place” is a time in your life when circumstances of loneliness or pain led you into a deeper experience of God’s love and strength.
Whatever it is, we all need such a “desert place” in our lives for that is the place of intimacy and communion with God. Ask him to lead you to that place frequently and to meet you there.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
Do you have a favorite place?
As you look back over your life, is there a particular place – or places – that are filled with memories of warmth, joy or intimacy?
If you are married, one of those places might be the hole-in-the-wall restaurant where you first felt the fire of romance kindled in your heart.
It might be the place where you first said the words, “I love you.”
Or the place where you managed to utter the phrase, “Will you marry me?”
Or the place – perhaps a first home or apartment - where, through the fog of “early parental exhaustion” said to your partner, “Your turn to get up with the baby.”
Most of us have such special places anchored in our memories. Such a place for me was the restaurant where my wife and I had our first date. I don’t remember what I ordered from the menu, or much about the conversation over dinner that night, but I do remember the feeling that came over me when our elbows touched while standing next to each other at the salad bar!
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
The desert! What kind of special place is that?
We think of the desert as a place of extreme heat and barrenness; a place of loneliness and isolation; we think of the desert as a place to avoid. But the desert was actually a good place in the history of Israel. When God led his people out of captivity in Egypt and toward the promised land, he took them through the desert first. The desert was where he gave them his law. The desert was where he gave them his presence through the cloud of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. The desert was where he gave them manna each day and taught them to depend completely on his provision.
The desert was the place where the covenant was sealed and where Israel experienced communion and intimacy with God.
Is there such a “desert place” in your life? Maybe your “desert” is a literal place; a favorite chair in your house where you meet with him in prayer every morning; or perhaps a walking path by the Fox River where you find he walks with you. Or maybe your “desert place” is a time in your life when circumstances of loneliness or pain led you into a deeper experience of God’s love and strength.
Whatever it is, we all need such a “desert place” in our lives for that is the place of intimacy and communion with God. Ask him to lead you to that place frequently and to meet you there.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Wednesday, June 24th
To download an audio version of this, click here.
Hosea 2:14
Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
My wife and I met at Taylor University in Indiana when I was a graduate student and she an undergrad at Taylor. In the early days of our courtship I was definitely the pursuer and she was the pursuee! In fact, I would say that I pursued her well before she actually knew she was being pursued.
As my interest and feelings grew I had a problem. While I wanted to get to know her better and therefore to be around her as much as I could, I sensed that her level of interest did not exactly match mine – which on a scale of 1 – 10 was about a 35.
So how could I pursue this possible relationship without coming on too strong, or seeming desperate – which I most definitely was! I needed something a little more subtle, I needed a plan.
So I gathered enough “intelligence” to figure out her daily schedule and I planned my days around that schedule so I could “accidentally” bump into her several times each day. I think this is now called “stalking.” If it was time for chapel, I would sprint across campus just so I could manage to walk up the stairs at the same time she did. If it was lunch time, I would hustle to get in line first so I could offer her and her friends a spot in front of me. It never occurred to me that she might wonder why I kept turning up – or why I was always out of breath!
I pursued her because I was convinced that if I could just spend enough time with her I could win her heart. And I did!
Do you see what’s going on here?
This is not just Hosea going after his wayward and unfaithful wife Gomer to win her back. This is a striking, almost embarrassing picture! This is God himself, his heart breaking with unrequited love, pursuing the object of his passion – his people – wanting desperately to woo them back to himself. This is the God who pursues us; who wants to allure us, romance us; to win our hearts and draw us back to himself!
Throughout scripture we see that God is always the pursuer and we are always the pursuee. In the book of Genesis, following their sin we see Adam and Eve hiding from God in the garden for they are ashamed. But God went looking for them, “Where are you?” he said. In the story of Jonah, which we will look at in a few weeks, God pursues his runaway prophet through a storm and by having him swallowed up by a great fish. In the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus is on his way to persecute followers of Jesus when that same Jesus confronts him in a blinding light and says, “Why are you persecuting me?”
And God pursues us; you and me. He pursues because he loves. He pursues because he wants to draw us to himself’ he wants to win us back from all the “lesser gods” who would capture our hearts and lives.
How is God pursuing you today? Is he speaking to you tenderly of his love? Is he using events in your life to turn your eyes toward him? Is his Holy Spirit convicting you to make changes in some area of your life?
Thank him for his relentless and pursing love – and ask him to help you be more and more aware of his presence in your life.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Tuesday, June 23rd
To download an audio version of this, click here.
Hosea 1:1-3
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah , and during the reign of Jereboam son of Jehoash king of Israel.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Have you ever loved someone who didn’t love you back? Ever had a broken relationship? Or maybe an old flame who delivered the bad news that “It’s not you it’s me”? Are you a Cubs fan?
At one time or another most of us have had the bittersweet experience called “unrequited love” – that is, love that is not returned.
Whenever I think of the phrase “unrequited love” I think of Charlie Brown and his infatuation with the “little redheaded girl.” Throughout some 50 years of Charles Shultz’s cartoon strips the “little redheaded girl” is a classmate of Charlie’s at school. He develops a serious crush on her but never musters the courage to actually talk to her. He watches her from a distance on the playground and in the school lunch room. He daydreams of inviting her to sit with him during lunch but he never does. Finally, he says wistfully to himself,
“Nothing takes the taste out of a peanut butter sandwich like unrequited love.”
As the book of Hosea begins we see that God calls on his prophet to do a very strange thing.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.”
Quite literally, God tells Hosea to take for himself a wife who will be unfaithful to him; a wife who will not love him in return for his own faithfulness and love.
Why would the God who created marriage to be holy require such a thing of his prophet? He does so to illustrate the unfaithfulness of his own people, Israel.
In Hosea chapter 4 we read:
Hear the word of the Lord you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”
Hosea 4:1
By this time in her history, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, north (Israel) and south (Judah). The kings of the north were fearful that their subjects would be drawn to the southern kingdom so they could worship in the holy city of Jerusalem. This, together with the threat of impending attack from the Assyrians, led King Jereboam II to continue to worship the pagan Canaanite idols that his predecessor, Jereboam I, had set up rather than the God of Israel. This led to all manner of detestable worship practices, including cult prostitution.
So God calls upon the prophet Hosea to take for himself an unfaithful wife and then to demonstrate God’s own steadfast love by continuing to love a woman who does not return his love. In this way the book of Hosea, like all of the minor prophets, points us to Christ himself!
But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Even though Hosea lived nearly 2700 years ago and spoke God’s word to a much different culture than ours, that word is still very relevant to us today. For, in a way, because of our sin, we are the unfaithful wife; we have not returned his faithful love with our own; we have given ourselves to lesser gods; and we are desperately in need of his forgiveness and grace.
And thus the prophet of the Old Testament points us toward Christ and the gospel of grace that permeates the New Testament.
Take a moment to thank God for continuing to love you even when, at times, you may not always love him back!
Pastor Brian Coffey
Hosea 1:1-3
The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah , and during the reign of Jereboam son of Jehoash king of Israel.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
Have you ever loved someone who didn’t love you back? Ever had a broken relationship? Or maybe an old flame who delivered the bad news that “It’s not you it’s me”? Are you a Cubs fan?
At one time or another most of us have had the bittersweet experience called “unrequited love” – that is, love that is not returned.
Whenever I think of the phrase “unrequited love” I think of Charlie Brown and his infatuation with the “little redheaded girl.” Throughout some 50 years of Charles Shultz’s cartoon strips the “little redheaded girl” is a classmate of Charlie’s at school. He develops a serious crush on her but never musters the courage to actually talk to her. He watches her from a distance on the playground and in the school lunch room. He daydreams of inviting her to sit with him during lunch but he never does. Finally, he says wistfully to himself,
“Nothing takes the taste out of a peanut butter sandwich like unrequited love.”
As the book of Hosea begins we see that God calls on his prophet to do a very strange thing.
When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord.”
Quite literally, God tells Hosea to take for himself a wife who will be unfaithful to him; a wife who will not love him in return for his own faithfulness and love.
Why would the God who created marriage to be holy require such a thing of his prophet? He does so to illustrate the unfaithfulness of his own people, Israel.
In Hosea chapter 4 we read:
Hear the word of the Lord you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”
Hosea 4:1
By this time in her history, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, north (Israel) and south (Judah). The kings of the north were fearful that their subjects would be drawn to the southern kingdom so they could worship in the holy city of Jerusalem. This, together with the threat of impending attack from the Assyrians, led King Jereboam II to continue to worship the pagan Canaanite idols that his predecessor, Jereboam I, had set up rather than the God of Israel. This led to all manner of detestable worship practices, including cult prostitution.
So God calls upon the prophet Hosea to take for himself an unfaithful wife and then to demonstrate God’s own steadfast love by continuing to love a woman who does not return his love. In this way the book of Hosea, like all of the minor prophets, points us to Christ himself!
But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Even though Hosea lived nearly 2700 years ago and spoke God’s word to a much different culture than ours, that word is still very relevant to us today. For, in a way, because of our sin, we are the unfaithful wife; we have not returned his faithful love with our own; we have given ourselves to lesser gods; and we are desperately in need of his forgiveness and grace.
And thus the prophet of the Old Testament points us toward Christ and the gospel of grace that permeates the New Testament.
Take a moment to thank God for continuing to love you even when, at times, you may not always love him back!
Pastor Brian Coffey
Monday, June 22nd
Galatians 5:22-23
But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres.
“My old man loves his lawn more than he loves me.”
That
statement was made by a 17 year old boy as he sat eating pizza with a
table-full of his peers. I was a Youth Pastor at the time and was
leading a small group of students on a ministry trip. We had gathered
for a meal and the conversation had turned to parents. The kids were
taking turns talking about their respective relationships with their
parents, and most were surprisingly positive. This particular young man
had been a quiet observer for most of the conversation – until he
finally spoke up and said, “My old man loves his lawn more than he loves
me.”
As
the young man continued on to explain his comment – it became clear
that, while his father did indeed love him as his son, he certainly did
not know how to communicate that love in a way his son could understand
or feel it.
Paul
says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” That is, the very first sign
that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts is the
capacity to love. Now it is easy to think about “love” – and the rest of
the “fruit of the Spirit” - in a kind of abstract way. We think to
ourselves, “Sure I believe that love is important!”, or, “Sure, I love
my family!” But we rarely ask ourselves, “How have I demonstrated my
love; how have I communicated my love; how have I shared my love so that
my wife, husband or children can know without a doubt that I do, in
fact, love them?”
This
is why Paul also takes the time to teach us about what love is and what
love does in 1 Corinthians 13. We most often hear this text during
wedding ceremonies – but take a moment to read it in the context of
“Faith @ Home.”
I
am patient and kind at home – with my wife and children. I make a point
not to be proud or rude at home – and I seek to care for and serve my
family before myself. I am not easily angered, and do not keep track of
times when I feel hurt or disrespected by my family. I do not delight in
evil but rejoice with the truth. The love I have for my family leads me
to always act to protect those I love, to trust and to be trustworthy,
to hope for God’s best and to persevere in love even when it is
difficult to do so. (my paraphrase)
Like
most of scripture, it sounds just a bit different when applied directly
to our own lives! So let’s end today with a question; is the kind of
love Paul is talking about in both Galatians and 1 Corinthians real in
your home – or is it just an idea?
Ask the Holy Spirit to grow love in your home!
Brian Coffey
Friday, June 19th
For an audio version of this, click here.
Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
This past August my oldest son and I took a trip to visit several Major League baseball parks on the east coast. Part of the plan was to visit Yankee Stadium in New York City. Unfortunately, our Yankee game got rained out and we were stuck with a whole day in New York with nothing to do. So we decided to improvise. Using my son’s cell phone GPS function, we made our way through the city to the site of the World Trade Center memorial – which was still under construction but very cool to see. Then we decided to continue our expedition through the concrete jungle to see the Statue of Liberty since my son had never seen it. Our goal was not only to see the Statue of Liberty, but to actually climb up the internal stairway all the way to the “crown” so we could get a view of Manhattan from that unique vantage point. I had remembered making that climb as a young boy (we lived about 40 miles north of New York City) and I thought it would be fun to experience that climb again with my son.
So we found our way to Liberty State Park where we paid $7 to park our car. Then we paid $13 each to ride the ferry boat out to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands. Once on the island we made our way through a driving rainstorm to the entrance to the Statue – only to find that we didn’t have the right ticket to actually climb the stairway. Evidently our tickets only gave us permission to be on the island and to observe the Statue from the ground – tickets to climb the Statue had to be purchased on-line two weeks earlier. Keep in mind there were no signs at either the Liberty Island welcome center, nor on the ferry boat, nor at the Statue itself indicating this process – you only learned about it once you stood in line in the rain until you got to the entrance way where a uniformed security guy informed you that you had the wrong ticket!
Soaked and now thoroughly frustrated, I couldn’t help but think of the words engraved on a plaque in the Statue museum:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” (a portion of the text of a poem engraved on a plaque in the museum in the statue’s base)
“Here we are,” I thought, “we are tired, we are $40 bucks poorer, we are homeless and tempest-tost,” and yet, because we don’t have the right ticket the great golden door is shut in our faces! I was not a happy camper!
Freedom: America was built on the dream of freedom and freedom is engraved into our DNA as a people. When we think of freedom, we think of political freedom and personal freedom; the freedom to speak our minds and do what we want – within the law. But the Bible talks about a different kind of freedom – spiritual freedom.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2
Paul is saying that spiritual freedom is freedom from the “law of sin and death” and that the way to experience this freedom is through the “law of the Spirit of life” that is ours when we are “in Christ Jesus.”
What he is saying is simply that we are each held prisoner by the consequences of our own sin; by guilt, condemnation and eventually spiritual death. We are set free only when we trust that because Jesus has taken our place we are free from condemnation because we are forgiven. Furthermore, Jesus gives us his Spirit that empowers us to live in relationship with him rather than in fear of the law.
Becoming a follower of Jesus, then, is not only like having your ticket paid for by someone else – but it is having a ticket that guarantees you full access to the presence, power and promise of God himself! Thank God for the freedom you have in Christ; and ask him to help you to live more and more by the power of the Spirit that lives in you.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
This past August my oldest son and I took a trip to visit several Major League baseball parks on the east coast. Part of the plan was to visit Yankee Stadium in New York City. Unfortunately, our Yankee game got rained out and we were stuck with a whole day in New York with nothing to do. So we decided to improvise. Using my son’s cell phone GPS function, we made our way through the city to the site of the World Trade Center memorial – which was still under construction but very cool to see. Then we decided to continue our expedition through the concrete jungle to see the Statue of Liberty since my son had never seen it. Our goal was not only to see the Statue of Liberty, but to actually climb up the internal stairway all the way to the “crown” so we could get a view of Manhattan from that unique vantage point. I had remembered making that climb as a young boy (we lived about 40 miles north of New York City) and I thought it would be fun to experience that climb again with my son.
So we found our way to Liberty State Park where we paid $7 to park our car. Then we paid $13 each to ride the ferry boat out to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands. Once on the island we made our way through a driving rainstorm to the entrance to the Statue – only to find that we didn’t have the right ticket to actually climb the stairway. Evidently our tickets only gave us permission to be on the island and to observe the Statue from the ground – tickets to climb the Statue had to be purchased on-line two weeks earlier. Keep in mind there were no signs at either the Liberty Island welcome center, nor on the ferry boat, nor at the Statue itself indicating this process – you only learned about it once you stood in line in the rain until you got to the entrance way where a uniformed security guy informed you that you had the wrong ticket!
Soaked and now thoroughly frustrated, I couldn’t help but think of the words engraved on a plaque in the Statue museum:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” (a portion of the text of a poem engraved on a plaque in the museum in the statue’s base)
“Here we are,” I thought, “we are tired, we are $40 bucks poorer, we are homeless and tempest-tost,” and yet, because we don’t have the right ticket the great golden door is shut in our faces! I was not a happy camper!
Freedom: America was built on the dream of freedom and freedom is engraved into our DNA as a people. When we think of freedom, we think of political freedom and personal freedom; the freedom to speak our minds and do what we want – within the law. But the Bible talks about a different kind of freedom – spiritual freedom.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2
Paul is saying that spiritual freedom is freedom from the “law of sin and death” and that the way to experience this freedom is through the “law of the Spirit of life” that is ours when we are “in Christ Jesus.”
What he is saying is simply that we are each held prisoner by the consequences of our own sin; by guilt, condemnation and eventually spiritual death. We are set free only when we trust that because Jesus has taken our place we are free from condemnation because we are forgiven. Furthermore, Jesus gives us his Spirit that empowers us to live in relationship with him rather than in fear of the law.
Becoming a follower of Jesus, then, is not only like having your ticket paid for by someone else – but it is having a ticket that guarantees you full access to the presence, power and promise of God himself! Thank God for the freedom you have in Christ; and ask him to help you to live more and more by the power of the Spirit that lives in you.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Thursday, June 18th
For an audio version of this, click here.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a Vietnamese man named Hien Pham. Mr. Pham was a devoted young Christian whose ability to speak English made him valuable as a civilian translator for American forces during the Vietnam war. After Vietnam fell to the communists, Mr. Pham was arrested and accused of spying for the Americans. He was repeatedly imprisoned and marked for “re-indoctrination” to Marxist thought. He was prohibited from reading any English literature – and certainly not the Bible. The one day as he was forced to clean out a filthy latrine, a soiled piece of paper with English words printed on it caught his eye. Washing it off, he discovered it was a page from the Bible containing these words from Romans 8:
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose…
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 28, 38-39)
Encouraged that God had not forgotten him, the next day Mr. Pham asked his guards if he could clean the filthy latrine again. Soon he discovered that one of the prison guards was using the pages of an English Bible as toilet paper. Every day Mr. Pham fished the pages from the waste can, cleaned them off, and began to piece together his personal Bible. Eventually Mr. Pham survived the horror of the prison camp and escaped to North America, where he lives today. He credits those soiled pages of God’s word with keeping him from despair and giving him hope that God would sustain and deliver him.
What does the Apostle Paul mean in Hebrews when he says the word of God is “living and active?” He means that the Bible is more than just words on a page that we read every now and then. He means that God’s word is alive because the Holy Spirit has filled each word with the presence and power of God himself. Therefore, the words and verses of the Bible actually have the power to read us - that is, to reveal the motivations and attitudes of our hearts as well as to provide strength and encouragement in the deepest parts of who we are. Just as Mr. Pham discovered the power of God to sustain him through words on soiled scraps of paper pulled from a latrine, so the power of God is made available to us each time we invite God to speak to us through his word.
Ask God to teach you to read his word in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to speak his truth to your heart as well as to your mind.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a Vietnamese man named Hien Pham. Mr. Pham was a devoted young Christian whose ability to speak English made him valuable as a civilian translator for American forces during the Vietnam war. After Vietnam fell to the communists, Mr. Pham was arrested and accused of spying for the Americans. He was repeatedly imprisoned and marked for “re-indoctrination” to Marxist thought. He was prohibited from reading any English literature – and certainly not the Bible. The one day as he was forced to clean out a filthy latrine, a soiled piece of paper with English words printed on it caught his eye. Washing it off, he discovered it was a page from the Bible containing these words from Romans 8:
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose…
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 28, 38-39)
Encouraged that God had not forgotten him, the next day Mr. Pham asked his guards if he could clean the filthy latrine again. Soon he discovered that one of the prison guards was using the pages of an English Bible as toilet paper. Every day Mr. Pham fished the pages from the waste can, cleaned them off, and began to piece together his personal Bible. Eventually Mr. Pham survived the horror of the prison camp and escaped to North America, where he lives today. He credits those soiled pages of God’s word with keeping him from despair and giving him hope that God would sustain and deliver him.
What does the Apostle Paul mean in Hebrews when he says the word of God is “living and active?” He means that the Bible is more than just words on a page that we read every now and then. He means that God’s word is alive because the Holy Spirit has filled each word with the presence and power of God himself. Therefore, the words and verses of the Bible actually have the power to read us - that is, to reveal the motivations and attitudes of our hearts as well as to provide strength and encouragement in the deepest parts of who we are. Just as Mr. Pham discovered the power of God to sustain him through words on soiled scraps of paper pulled from a latrine, so the power of God is made available to us each time we invite God to speak to us through his word.
Ask God to teach you to read his word in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to speak his truth to your heart as well as to your mind.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Wednesday, June 17th
For an audio version of this, click here.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A number of years ago I heard a South American evangelist named Nilsson Fanini tell a story about a village in Africa. He had traveled with a team of “agricultural missionaries” to a remote region of Africa that had been experiencing severe famine. Their mission was to teach the local African farmers new methods of farming that would maximize their crops under very difficult circumstances. But along with their agricultural expertise they also brought something like 1000 Bibles to give to the local church. Dr. Fanini said that, upon their arrival, somehow word leaked out that they had Bibles with them and when they woke up the next day they discovered a line of people standing in the early morning darkness hoping to receive Bibles. The line was over a mile long.
Growing up in a culture where Bibles are readily available in almost any bookstore, in many homes and in most hotel rooms, it’s hard to imagine such hunger for God’s word. Why would people who were in danger of starvation stand in line for hours just for a chance to have their own copy of the Bible?
Jesus said it this way,
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
Perhaps those African villagers remind us that there is a part of each one of us that is hungry for more than food. Deep down in that part of us that we call the heart – or the soul – we are each hungry for love; hungry to know that we were created for a purpose; hungry to know how to live in a way that brings joy and peace; hungry to know that our lives have meaning; hungry to know what happens to us after we die. But how do we satisfy that inner hunger? Read the text again:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A number of years ago I heard a South American evangelist named Nilsson Fanini tell a story about a village in Africa. He had traveled with a team of “agricultural missionaries” to a remote region of Africa that had been experiencing severe famine. Their mission was to teach the local African farmers new methods of farming that would maximize their crops under very difficult circumstances. But along with their agricultural expertise they also brought something like 1000 Bibles to give to the local church. Dr. Fanini said that, upon their arrival, somehow word leaked out that they had Bibles with them and when they woke up the next day they discovered a line of people standing in the early morning darkness hoping to receive Bibles. The line was over a mile long.
Growing up in a culture where Bibles are readily available in almost any bookstore, in many homes and in most hotel rooms, it’s hard to imagine such hunger for God’s word. Why would people who were in danger of starvation stand in line for hours just for a chance to have their own copy of the Bible?
Jesus said it this way,
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
Perhaps those African villagers remind us that there is a part of each one of us that is hungry for more than food. Deep down in that part of us that we call the heart – or the soul – we are each hungry for love; hungry to know that we were created for a purpose; hungry to know how to live in a way that brings joy and peace; hungry to know that our lives have meaning; hungry to know what happens to us after we die. But how do we satisfy that inner hunger? Read the text again:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Just as those agricultural missionaries could equip African farmers with the knowledge, techniques and tools they needed to grow food in an arid climate, so God’s word equips us with knowledge and instruction that allow us to grow good things in our lives. Sometimes God’s word will teach; sometimes it will correct; sometimes it will discipline; sometimes it will train; but notice that the purpose of all this is to equip us for every good work.
Here are a few questions to consider. How equipped are you when it comes to God’s word? Do you regularly seek the guidance of God’s word in areas of obedience and righteousness? Is God’s word producing more and more “good works” in and through your life? And finally, how hungry are you for God’s word? Most of us have stood in line to buy something we don’t need in a store – or waited to get a table at a favorite restaurant – but would we stand in line all night for the chance to have our own copy of God’s word?
Ask God to increase your appetite for his word so that your soul may be satisfied!
Just as those agricultural missionaries could equip African farmers with the knowledge, techniques and tools they needed to grow food in an arid climate, so God’s word equips us with knowledge and instruction that allow us to grow good things in our lives. Sometimes God’s word will teach; sometimes it will correct; sometimes it will discipline; sometimes it will train; but notice that the purpose of all this is to equip us for every good work.
Here are a few questions to consider. How equipped are you when it comes to God’s word? Do you regularly seek the guidance of God’s word in areas of obedience and righteousness? Is God’s word producing more and more “good works” in and through your life? And finally, how hungry are you for God’s word? Most of us have stood in line to buy something we don’t need in a store – or waited to get a table at a favorite restaurant – but would we stand in line all night for the chance to have our own copy of God’s word?
Ask God to increase your appetite for his word so that your soul may be satisfied!
Pastor Brian Coffey
Tuesday, June 16th
If you would like to listen to this in an audio format, click here.
Acts 1:9-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand there looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
A couple of weeks ago I shared the story of how my father’s life changed when he was influenced by several of his high school friends. One of them was a 15 or 16 year old girl who had simply told him that she had been “saved” and that therefore she didn’t do certain things anymore. My father soon experienced the same spiritual rebirth and within two years was preaching in churches.
Think for a moment about that little story from the perspective of the “ripple effect” phenomenon. It’s easy to see the “ripple” that the change in the young woman’s life helped to produce in my father’s life. But back up a bit from the picture of those two young people in the late 1940’s. Who was the now forgotten preacher whose words touched that teenage girl’s heart one night in a small church in a small town in southern Illinois? Back up a couple more steps. What seminary or Bible college professor fanned into flame a passion for preaching God’s word in that preacher as a student. And who were the spiritual influences in his life as a child? Did he have a mother who prayed beside his bed every night? Back up one more time. And what of that Godly mother? Who was the Sunday school teacher who helped her understand what Jesus had done for her?
Do you see it? Do you see the great ripple effect of God? Do you see that the ripple effect is people? Can you look back over your life and see the dozens of people whose lives generated the hundreds and perhaps thousands of ripples that eventually influenced your life?
Notice what the two men dressed in white (most scholars believe these figures were angels) say to the disciples:
“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand there looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
This passage always makes me smile. The disciples had just been with the risen Son of God; they had heard him give them this almost unimaginable mandate; and then they watched him ascend into the clouds right before their eyes. While they are still gazing slack-jawed into the sky, the angels basically say, “Hey fellas, don’t just stand there, do something!”
I can identify with those disciples! Sometimes I can be so focused on who Jesus is and what he has done for me that I forget that he called me to do something for him! I can be so intent on studying and writing in preparation for preaching in weekend services that I forget that I live in the middle of a sea of people that need to be reached by the ripple effect of the gospel. And I forget that every day is an opportunity for me to generate tiny ripples – through my conversations, through my casual friendships – that God can actually use as spiritual influence.
How about you? Is there any way in which you are like those disciples standing there gazing into heaven? Do you tend to think of your faith in terms of going to church on the weekend? Do you tend to focus more on what Jesus can do for you than on what he asked you to do for him? Ask him to help you see and respond to the opportunities all around you to bear witness to him – and in doing so to generate ripples of spiritual influence that reach the world.
Acts 1:9-11
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand there looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
A couple of weeks ago I shared the story of how my father’s life changed when he was influenced by several of his high school friends. One of them was a 15 or 16 year old girl who had simply told him that she had been “saved” and that therefore she didn’t do certain things anymore. My father soon experienced the same spiritual rebirth and within two years was preaching in churches.
Think for a moment about that little story from the perspective of the “ripple effect” phenomenon. It’s easy to see the “ripple” that the change in the young woman’s life helped to produce in my father’s life. But back up a bit from the picture of those two young people in the late 1940’s. Who was the now forgotten preacher whose words touched that teenage girl’s heart one night in a small church in a small town in southern Illinois? Back up a couple more steps. What seminary or Bible college professor fanned into flame a passion for preaching God’s word in that preacher as a student. And who were the spiritual influences in his life as a child? Did he have a mother who prayed beside his bed every night? Back up one more time. And what of that Godly mother? Who was the Sunday school teacher who helped her understand what Jesus had done for her?
Do you see it? Do you see the great ripple effect of God? Do you see that the ripple effect is people? Can you look back over your life and see the dozens of people whose lives generated the hundreds and perhaps thousands of ripples that eventually influenced your life?
Notice what the two men dressed in white (most scholars believe these figures were angels) say to the disciples:
“They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand there looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
This passage always makes me smile. The disciples had just been with the risen Son of God; they had heard him give them this almost unimaginable mandate; and then they watched him ascend into the clouds right before their eyes. While they are still gazing slack-jawed into the sky, the angels basically say, “Hey fellas, don’t just stand there, do something!”
I can identify with those disciples! Sometimes I can be so focused on who Jesus is and what he has done for me that I forget that he called me to do something for him! I can be so intent on studying and writing in preparation for preaching in weekend services that I forget that I live in the middle of a sea of people that need to be reached by the ripple effect of the gospel. And I forget that every day is an opportunity for me to generate tiny ripples – through my conversations, through my casual friendships – that God can actually use as spiritual influence.
How about you? Is there any way in which you are like those disciples standing there gazing into heaven? Do you tend to think of your faith in terms of going to church on the weekend? Do you tend to focus more on what Jesus can do for you than on what he asked you to do for him? Ask him to help you see and respond to the opportunities all around you to bear witness to him – and in doing so to generate ripples of spiritual influence that reach the world.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Monday, June 15th
If you would like to listen to this in an audio format, click here.
Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
The celebration of baptism is one of my favorite parts of being a pastor at FBCG. Last week we had the great joy of watching 21 people take the step of baptism at our annual FBCG “pig-nic” at the West Campus. I love hearing all the faith stories because each one is unique in some way because God is infinitely creative in how he calls people to himself. But I also love hearing them because each is the same in that they are all about Jesus and what he has done for each one of us! Each time we baptize I explain that baptism is an “external symbol of an internal spiritual event.” Just as my wedding ring is symbolic of my love for and commitment to my wife, so baptism is symbolic of our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
So what does Jesus mean by, “…you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”? Scholars and theologians have debated this question for centuries but at the most basic level I think Jesus is saying something rather simple. Here it is: Where baptism by water is a symbolic event; baptism by the Holy Spirit is an actual event.
Jesus had promised on several occasions that, after returning to his Father in heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit to be with and live in his followers. Later in the Book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, we read…
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting…All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:2, 4
It seems to me that the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was talking about was the actual coming of the Spirit of Jesus to dwell in the hearts of his followers through faith. The Bible teaches that when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit takes up residence in his or her heart as a guarantee of salvation.
“Having believed, you were marked in him by a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…” Ephesians 1:13-14
The Holy Spirit is not symbolic or imaginary. The Holy Spirit is the very real presence of Jesus in spiritual form who promised to dwell in us and with us by faith. In other words, every single person who puts his or her faith in Jesus is “baptized by the Holy Spirit” because that’s what Jesus promised! Over my years in pastoral ministry I have learned that some people experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment they come to faith in Christ. For some it is a powerful emotional experience. For others it is more like a decision – a contract being signed. But still others experience the baptism of the Spirit over and over again – during moments of crisis or spiritual insight when it seems that God pours out more and more of himself and his love into their lives. But the point is, the Holy Spirit is real and is promised by Jesus himself to every believer.
Take a moment to thank God for pouring out his Spirit into your heart by faith and ask him to help you become more and more aware of Jesus’ presence and work in your life.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command:
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
The celebration of baptism is one of my favorite parts of being a pastor at FBCG. Last week we had the great joy of watching 21 people take the step of baptism at our annual FBCG “pig-nic” at the West Campus. I love hearing all the faith stories because each one is unique in some way because God is infinitely creative in how he calls people to himself. But I also love hearing them because each is the same in that they are all about Jesus and what he has done for each one of us! Each time we baptize I explain that baptism is an “external symbol of an internal spiritual event.” Just as my wedding ring is symbolic of my love for and commitment to my wife, so baptism is symbolic of our faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
So what does Jesus mean by, “…you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”? Scholars and theologians have debated this question for centuries but at the most basic level I think Jesus is saying something rather simple. Here it is: Where baptism by water is a symbolic event; baptism by the Holy Spirit is an actual event.
Jesus had promised on several occasions that, after returning to his Father in heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit to be with and live in his followers. Later in the Book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, we read…
“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting…All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:2, 4
It seems to me that the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus was talking about was the actual coming of the Spirit of Jesus to dwell in the hearts of his followers through faith. The Bible teaches that when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit takes up residence in his or her heart as a guarantee of salvation.
“Having believed, you were marked in him by a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…” Ephesians 1:13-14
The Holy Spirit is not symbolic or imaginary. The Holy Spirit is the very real presence of Jesus in spiritual form who promised to dwell in us and with us by faith. In other words, every single person who puts his or her faith in Jesus is “baptized by the Holy Spirit” because that’s what Jesus promised! Over my years in pastoral ministry I have learned that some people experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment they come to faith in Christ. For some it is a powerful emotional experience. For others it is more like a decision – a contract being signed. But still others experience the baptism of the Spirit over and over again – during moments of crisis or spiritual insight when it seems that God pours out more and more of himself and his love into their lives. But the point is, the Holy Spirit is real and is promised by Jesus himself to every believer.
Take a moment to thank God for pouring out his Spirit into your heart by faith and ask him to help you become more and more aware of Jesus’ presence and work in your life.
Pastor Brian Coffey
Friday, June 12th
For an audio version of this, click here.
Friday
I
think that life in the suburbs can easily become a barrier to genuine
Christian community if we are not careful. Let me explain why by
telling you about two experiences I had while leading students on
missions trips many years ago.
The
first experience took place when I took a group of students down to the
south side of Chicago on a mission trip. We stayed in the basement of
an old church at night and worked in a homeless shelter and on housing
projects during the day. I noticed something very interesting about the
houses in this poor inner-city neighborhood that was very different
from the houses in the suburbs where I lived – they all had front
porches. The people were “out front” on their porches talking with each
other and calling one another by name. It seemed like just about
everybody knew each other and folks spent time just talking with each
other out on the front porch. I couldn’t help thinking about how
different this was from my home in the suburbs. I knew my neighbors
names (at least some of them) but we rarely spent time just chatting
with each other. I could drive straight into my attached garage, and
walk straight into my house, and even go out onto my back deck without
having to even see a neighbor.
The
second experience happened on a mission trip with high school students
to Ecuador. As part of our trip, we spent some time in the jungles of
the Amazon basin with an indigenous tribe called the Cofan people. We
helped improve their water supply system, worked on their little church
building, played games with their children and just spent time being
with them. One of the things I noticed right away, was that the Cofan
people did not view home and personal property the same way that we do
in America. They had homes of course, but they spent all of their time
in what they called the “common building” of the village. This was a
large open structure in which the men gathered to talk, the women
prepared large meals, and the children constantly ran in and out
laughing and giggling. As for personal property, the Cofan people saw
all of their possessions as resources for the good of the whole
village. About the only thing they didn’t share were the men’s hunting
rifles. This was partly out of necessity for survival of course, but it
still caused me to think about how isolated and private everything is
in the American suburbs.
Listen again to how the book of Acts describes life among the earliest Chrsitians…
All
the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every
day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord
added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:44-47
Both
the people of the south side of Chicago and the Cofan people in the
jungles of Ecuador were extremely poor in terms of their material
wealth. But they were rich in a different way - they were rich in
relationships. Despite their material poverty, there was something
attractive about their life together. When I read the Biblical accounts
of the early church, it is clear that there was something deeply
attractive about their life together too. In fact it was this
attractive quality of community that God used to draw so many people
into His family of faith.
Now,
I am not suggesting that in order to obey God we must all build front
porches on our houses, or start sharing all of our possessions with
those in our neighborhood. However, I do think we need to seriously
consider how our suburban culture of individualism and isolation may be a
serious barrier to the kind of ripple effect of spiritual influence
that God wants us, as His people, to have in the world.
Jeff Frazier
Thursday, June 11th
For an audio version of this, click here.
Thursday
As
a pastor, one of my responsibilities is to teach the new members
classes at our church. I always enjoy getting to know the participants
in the class and I especially like hearing the stories about how they
came to know Christ and how God has led them to our church. As a part
of the class I talk about the difference between being a participating
member and just being an occasional attender. Members are expected to
have a deeper level of commitment than those who are just attending and
investigating our church. Members are encouraged to give of their time
and financial resources. Members are expected to serve in some kind of
ministry. Members are expected to be a part of some kind of community
group or study. Most of the people who want to become members
understand these expectations because they are already doing them.
However, I recall one man who approached me after the class was over.
He pulled to the side and said in a kind of low voice, “Okay pastor, I
heard you talk about the expectations of membership here, but what about
the requirements?” I told him that they were essentially the same
thing, though we weren’t going to be following people around to check up
on them. I could tell he didn’t believe me when he said, “I mean what
do I really have to do?” I tried to assure him that there were no
hidden requirements for membership in our church. He looked at me kind
of skeptically for a minute and then went on his way. I have often
thought about his question. It kind of reminds me of the question
everyone used to ask the teacher when I was in school, “is this going to
be on the test?” In other words, what is the bare minimum I have to
know or do in order to pass? I think too many people approach church in
this way – what is the minimum I have to do, serve, give, etc. in order
to feel like I am a part of it?
Listen to how Acts describes the early church and its’ level of commitment…
All
the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every
day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke
bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord
added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:44-47
I
don’t know if you caught it, but the text says that they continued to
meet together every day! Did you hear that? Every day! What if you
came to one of our membership classes and I told you that one of the
requirements for membership in our church was that you had to meet with
other Christians from our church for prayer, study and worship for two
hours every day? Now, I need to tell you that we do not have any such
requirement, nor do I think we should. However, I do think most
Christians in America today view their church involvement as a matter of
convenience; they go when they have time or when it is not
inconvenient.
My
guess is that most of you would think that is a little over the top for
a church to require its members to meet for two hours a day. You would
probably feel that it is just unrealistic for you to give up two hours
out of every day to meet with other believers. Most of us have a hard
enough time carving out one or two hours a week for worship and
community. I cannot help but wonder if the members of the early church
in Acts would tell us that it is unrealistic for us to think that we can
just show up for an hour a week and think that we are going to be able
to live the life that Christ has called us to. Christ saves us as
individuals, but He calls us into a community, into His family, to be a
part of his Church. None of us can have the kind of influence separately
that we can together in Christ.
Jeff Frazier
Wednesday, June 10th
For an audio version of this, click here.
Wednesday
Whenever
we talk about the early church, we have to be careful not to make two
common mistakes. On the one hand, we have to be careful not romanticize
or idealize the early church. The stories and letters in the New
Testament about the early Christians do not describe some perfect
utopia. They are about real people, flawed human beings just like us
who sometimes made mistakes and acted in ways that were outside of God’s
plan. The second mistake we must be careful to avoid is the temptation
to legalize the patterns we see in the early church. The stories in
the book of Acts are not meant to be exact prescriptions for our day.
We should not try to recreate the early church in our culture today; it
wouldn’t work even if we could. We can, and we should look for those
principles, values, and commitments, which can be applied in our own
context so that we can continue the “ripple effect” of spiritual
influence, which the early church started.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42
This
single verse gives us a window into what we might call the core
commitments of the very first Christians; in it we get a glimpse of the
character of the early Christian community. By all accounts, there was
something remarkably unique about this group of people. Their shared
life together was not like anything the world had ever seen. What was
it that made that first Christian community so unique? What
distinguishes Christian community from any other community or group of
like-minded people? Some of the unique and critical distinctions are
given right here in this verse.
The
first three words of verse 42 read, “they devoted themselves”, the
Greek actually means that they were continually devoting themselves.
This was an ongoing commitment. There is no true community without
commitment! You can have casual friends and acquaintances without much
commitment. You can smile and make small talk at church once a week
without much commitment. But you cannot have true community without
some level of sacrifice and commitment. Far too many American
Christians see church and community as an option, something to make
their life a little better, but not a central commitment of their
existence.
The
very first thing we see that these early Christians were devoted to is
the Apostle’s Teaching. The apostles were essentially the 12 disciples
that Jesus chose. In Luke 6:13 we read, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles. These
men were first hand eyewitnesses of Jesus. They heard Him teach, they
saw Him perform miracles, they watched Him die, and they saw Him raised
from the dead. The early church was devoted to the teaching of these
men. Notice that it does not say they were devoted to the
apostles themselves. What were these apostles teaching? In a
word–Jesus. When they read from and taught about the Old Testament law,
they did so knowing that it pointed to and prophesied about Jesus. The
apostles taught about the life, teaching, death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The early church was no cult of personality built around
the ego of a few superstars, it was built on the person of Jesus Christ.
This
might sound obvious to you, but it is absolutely crucial. More and
more churches today are drifting away from this central conviction.
They teach all kinds of interesting things, but they are fuzzy about the
person and the work of Jesus Christ. I cannot think of a better litmus
test for a church than what they believe and teach about Jesus Christ.
Wherever and whenever the church has had the most influence in the
world, it has taught Jesus. Not the Jesus of popular opinion or secular
myth, but Jesus as He is revealed to us in the gospels. The Messiah,
the Living Word made flesh, the Righteous Son of God, the Lamb of God
that takes away the sins of the world!
The
ripple effect of the church throughout history was not, and is not a
self-help movement or a humanitarian service movement, it was and will
always be a Jesus movement!
Jeff Frazier
Tuesday, June 9th
To listen to this in an audio format, click here.
Tuesday
The
book of Acts is tells the story of the early church. It chronicles the
actions of the first Christians and the spread of the Gospel in the
days immediately following Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into
heaven. It is an incredibly interesting and exciting story. Listen to
how Luke (the author of Acts) describes life in the early church.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone
was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by
the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in
common. – Acts 2:42-44
In his book, The Rise of Christianity,
sociologist and historian Rodney Stark examines how Christianity, a
small and insignificant Jewish sect in the first century, could have
grown so rapidly, endured so long, and had such an incredible impact on
the world. He writes, “the explosive growth of the Christianity in its
earliest days can only be understood as a function of community.”
Community has become something of a buzz word in the church over the
last 10-15 years or so. The Greek word for this idea is ‘koinonia’, it
means “commonness”, or having in common. It is the same word translated
fellowship in the passage quoted earlier. The New Testament authors
took this word and gave it new meaning and new significance.
The
ironic truth is that the earliest Christians really did not have all
that much in common. They came from many different cultures and racial
groups, some were converted Jews and others were Greek speaking
Gentiles. They came from different social and economic backgrounds,
some were wealthy, but many were poor or lower class.
My
roommate for my first semester as a freshman in college was a guy named
Matt. Matt and I were just about as different as night and day. Matt
was from a small rural town – I was from the suburbs. Matt played the
cello - I played football. Matt went to a small private Christian high
school – I went to a large public school. Matt was a valedictorian - I
was an average student. Matt wore shirts with collars – I occasionally
wore shirts with sleeves. I wasn’t very kind to Matt that first
semester, and I am sure that he was more than a little irritated with
having me for a roommate. Sadly, it would take nearly all four years of
college for me to realize what a truly great guy Matt really was. I
was too focused on the surface level differences that separated us to
see that we shared something amazing in common. When I think back on
that time in my life, it is clear to me that I was far too immature in
my faith to realize that what Matt and I shared in Christ far outweighed
any of our differences on the surface.
The
Christian community should overcome and transcend the social, racial
and cultural barriers that often divide us. Liberal/Conservative,
Old/Young, Blue Collar/White Collar, Rich/Poor,
Black/White/Brown/Yellow, all of these distinctions fade away when
compared to the joy of knowing Jesus. Here is a question I would like
you to consider – Do you have people in your life that you love and you
know they love you, but you also know that if it weren’t for Jesus
Christ, you probably would not even know them or like them?
When
the book of Acts tells us that the early Christians had “everything in
common”, it is not saying that they were all exactly alike or clones of
each other. It means that they had everything that really and truly
mattered in common, because they had Christ in common! It was the love
of Christ that bound them together in such a remarkable community. What
they had in common was Jesus!
Jeff Frazier
Monday, June 8th
To listen to this in an audio format, click here.
Monday
If
you drive down Main Street in almost any town in America, you will pass
by at least two or three churches, often many more than that. Have you
ever stopped to wonder, where did all of these churches come from? Why
are they all here? What distinguishes all of these churches from each
other? Where did this whole “church thing” start anyway?
If
someone you didn’t know asked you to describe your church, what would
you say? Would you begin by describing the building? Would you talk
about the style of music in the worship services? Would you describe
the various ministries and programs of your church? Maybe you would
talk about its’ history and denominational background? Perhaps you
would mention the preaching and theological convictions of your church?
I know churchgoers who like to describe their church by telling people what they are not like. They are not
like those liberal churches, or they are not like the stuffy, uptight,
conservative churches. We are often far too focused on our
differences. Many people today are hopping from church to church
looking for the perfect one. The truth is that there are no perfect
churches because there are no perfect people. In fact, if you ever did
find the perfect church, you probably should not go there because you
would screw it up! The church in which Christ dwells is not some ideal,
universal, invisible group of people who behave as we think they
should. No, the church is the local gathering of God’s people with all
its cranks and hypocrites, sinners and saints.
Listen to the way the early church is described in Acts chapter 2…
They
devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to
the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and
many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the
believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their
possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day
they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread
in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47
These
verses describe the birth of the Christian church. Jesus has risen and
appeared to His followers on several occasions, and He has ascended
into heaven. There are only about 120 Christians in the entire world at
this time. Who could have possibly predicted that this insignificant
little band of believers would grow to shake the foundations of the
Roman Empire and change the course of history?
Most
of us don’t think about these kinds of things when get up on a Sunday
morning and head off to church. We don’t stop to consider the fact that
we are a part of something that is truly remarkable in human history.
When we gather together as the Body of Christ, we are continuing in a
tradition that traces its roots back to this very passage, and beyond.
When Jesus Christ was crucified and then rose from the grave, He not
only accomplished our eternal salvation, but He set in motion a ripple
effect of transformed lives throughout the course of human history. It
is a ripple effect that continues still today! Those of us who are
followers of Jesus Christ and part of His church today, are direct
descendants of this remarkable ripple effect. We trace our spiritual
heritage back to the singular event in human history that started it all
– the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jeff Frazier
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
