Sermon Audio – The Reason for Our Hope – Luke 24

You can find sermon audio for “The Reason for Our Hope” (Luke 24) by hovering your mouse HERE

Christians – and Holiday Season Depression

I recently had a person ask me how to deal with the depression that so often besets people during the holidays… I thought the question and answer might be helpful to many, so here they are!

Q: The Holidays are a very bad time for me ,I suffer depression,anger,hurt, etc. (In short I dread to see them come & would like to hide  in a hole till they are over)!  Could you give me some advice & readings on how I can get through this time of the year better & easier?  I try to be a good Christian but this time of year is very stressful !  Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated !  Thank You !

From what you’ve described it sounds like the depression you feel comes from a cluster of memories or experiences you’ve had, negative in nature, that in some way are related to the holiday season in your mind.  These could range from negative things that happened directly to you in the past during the holidays to the loss of a loved one or a tragic circumstance that somehow comes to mind especially during the holidays.  Or, it could be pain felt from the absence of close family relationships that you feel “should” be there.  Perhaps this comes from estrangement that has occurred, or the loss of a family member.  So to be in a season where it seems expected to be having fun with family, and to face the facts that for some reason that cannot happen in your case, can be quite depressing.

My counsel to you takes two forms… one is centered around how to combat the depression on the level of your thinking/feelings, and the other is centered around practical things you can do to make the holidays take on a new tone in terms of present-day reality.

So first – the thinking and feeling.  Any kind of negative feelings we have, especially when attached to past events, tend to draw us away from keeping our minds set on the central truths of our faith.  Some of those things are:

1. God loves us!  So much so, that He sent His Son Jesus to bear the penalty of our sin!  That is a tremendous love – that outweighs all other loves AND all disappointments.  “If God is FOR us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 – read the whole chapter to re-emphasize this truth in your mind!)
2. Jesus took our punishment – there is no more for us to bear!  Our guilt is gone and we stand “naked and unashamed” before our Creator!  To enable us to be completely free of our sin so that nothing stands in the way of us being WITH God in genuine fellowship is the reason Jesus came as a little baby!  It’s ample reason to celebrate!
3. Jesus has given us HIS righteousness!  When the Father looks at us, He only sees the goodness of Jesus – imputed/given to us as OURS!  (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Soak yourself in this passage as well, and see how the Lord begins to refresh your spirit with the good news of what He has made of you through Jesus!
4. You have a wonderful future ahead, all because of Christ!  The eternity that is ahead for believers in Jesus, will far outweigh any difficulties or depressions we face.  Our hope is secure and sure!  (Colossians 3:4, 1 Timothy 4:10, Hebrews 10:23, Philippians 3:13-15)
5. If any of your depression stems from unresolved “wrongs” that have been done to you, go to 1 Peter 2:21-23 and soak in the truth of how Jesus handled the same thing.  He was mistreated, but did not do the same in return.  Instead He entrusted Himself to the Father, who is ultimately faithful to judge such things.  You can rest, assured that God knows, and God will take care of the wrongs done in due time.

All these truths are helpful in setting our minds on the blessedness we truly have in simply being believers in Jesus - during the holidays and every other time of the year.  When we know the truth, and can set our minds on it repeatedly and effectively, we begin to find a confidence and a peace seeping into our souls, no matter the negative feelings.  Remember – peace is a knowing, not necessarily a feeling.  Check out these passages (Ephesians 4:23-24, Philippians 4:6-8, Colossians 3:1-3)

On the level of practical things to be done… consider these…

1. Get out and do something FOR someone else this holiday season.  Let the power of Jesus’ life in you reach out to impact somebody else.  It’s hard to stay focused on your own sadness when you see others blessed by tangible things you’ve done for them through your faith in Christ.  Make this kind of outreach an exciting thing… maybe even doing your best to keep it all completely secret!  Become a distributor of Jesus’ grace to those in need – and see what Jesus does with your depression as a result!
2. Adopt a new “family” if you need that.  You’ve actually been given a new family in the church.  Spend time with others who know Jesus well and express His joy.  Enjoy the season together, truly celebrating the season of Christ’s arrival to the earth.  Make some new memories of Christmas that in time, will help you to overcome the depressive feelings.

I’ll be praying for you throughout this season… that God will make Himself strong in your heart and mind to overcome the depressive feelings the enemy wants to use to drag you down!

Our Savior lives!

Carey

Train Up A Child – Child Dedication Sermon

You can find “Train Up A Child” – a sermon for Child Dedication Sunday by hovering your mouse HERE

It’s Never Too Late – sermon audio on-line

You can find sermon audio for the sermon “It’s Never Too Late” (covering Luke 23:50-56) by hovering your mouse HERE

Thomas Acquinas – Fifth way of reasoning toward God

I’m FINALLY finishing up this series of posts… it’s been a busy life!  You can find the rest of the posts here: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4…

The fifth thing that Aquinas points out is that there are entities in creation that have no consciousness at all, yet still act in a predictable or regular fashion and in such a way that it is beneficial to their continued existence.

Trees, for example, have no consciousness of their own to direct themselves, yet they will sink their roots deeply into the soil to collect water, they will spread their branches wide to collect light for their photo-synthetic leaves, and they will drop seeds by which they reproduce.  Aquinas believed that since trees act with some sense of direction in terms of self-preservation, yet are unguided by their own consciousness (because they do not have a consciousness), they must be guided by the consciousness of another.  His theory then, was that this “other consciousness” must be God.

Any thoughts?

When God Died – sermon audio available

You can find “When God Died” – Luke 23:26-49 – sermon audio by hovering your mouse HERE

Christians and the Old Testament Law… Q&A

I recently had a friend write and ask me about a situation where she was being told by some Messianic Jewish friends that Christians are supposed to keep the Old Testament Law – all 613 of them!  I wrote her a reply and my wife told me that it would make a good blog – so here it is!  Thanks for the question A.C.!

HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN VIEW THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW?

#1 – We HAVE to differentiate between issues regarding what it takes to be saved from issues that are centered around other things (which could be myriad).  If someone insists that we must keep the law in order to make God happy, that is quite different than someone who insists that we have to keep the law to be saved.  The first is an emphasis on how we are to be sanctified, the other is an emphasis on how we are to be saved.  I think you understand that.  We make that distinction all the time regarding other things (pre-trib, spiritual gifts, worship style, etc.).  Where it comes to a head for you (I think) is whether you/your family should be sitting under a teaching that is telling you something about the “how” of sanctification/pleasing God AS a Christian, that you disagree with.  If you can recognize what you disagree with and why, and can agree to disagree with them and still glean what is good from their Jewish ways and history, I would have no problem with that.  You obviously are discerning enough to “eat the meat and throw away the bones.”  The question you’d have to wrestle with in that case is whether you feel your family is discerning enough to do the same, or whether you will be able to discuss it with them in a way that enables them to see why what they are hearing there is NOT true.  There are Christians all over the world who believe differently about these kinds of side-issue things having to do with Christian living (i.e. “What type of clothing is modest and godly?”  “What kind of music honors God?”  etc.).  This one just has a “Jewish” tendency/flavor to it.  Are we going to separate from ALL Christians we believe come up with an unBiblical answer to those kinds of “side issue” questions?

#2 – The other issue has to do with what role the law should play in our lives as believers in Christ.  Your Messianic Jew friends may or may not EVER agree completely with you on this, and you’ll have to reach a point where that is O.K. with you if you want to continue your association with them… you can trust them to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  That doesn’t mean that as you get this doctrinal issue more readily understandable to yourself mentally you shouldn’t speak the truth in love when you have appropriate opportunities.  It just means that if you hit a brick wall you will in some ways have to leave it with the Lord.  So – let’s look at the issue of the law as it relates to believers…

First, I’m going to make a distinction scripture only alludes to but nevertheless is clearly true… and that is that the law had different components to it: Levitical, civil, & moral.  The Levitical was the “how to”s on the sacrificial system and issues of religious ceremony.  The civil law had to do with things like public health, laws to govern society well, punishments for law-breakers, etc.  The moral law had to do with individuals and their personal obedience before God (adultery, murder, covetousness, etc.).  The difficulty is that the Torah weaves them all together with no clear distinctions like I’ve made here, but nevertheless those 3 types of law are clearly present.  The Levitical law is no more, because there is no longer need of sacrifice – Christ was the final and perfect sacrifice for all who believe (Hebrews chapters 9 & 10 are KEY here).  The civil law is no more, because God’s people are no longer comprised ONLY of a political entity known as Israel, but rather “one new man” who is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, spread all over the world in various places and countries (Ephesians 2:11-22).

BUT, the moral law of God still remains, at least in part because it flows out of His character, which is unchanging and eternal… and we as His children are to imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1).  But it’s the HOW of keeping that moral law that makes all the difference!

In one sentence Jesus both affirmed the Law and also emphatically stated that He would fulfill it Himself (something people had NEVER been able to do on their own up to that point – and still can’t… (Matthew 5:17-18).  And He did fulfill it by His perfect life of obedience (Hebrews 4:15).  As a result of that fact, Paul teaches us that as partakers of the righteousness of Christ we are not to consider the law as our master, but rather to understand that when we walk by the guidance and control of the Spirit of God, the righteous requirements of the law are fully met in us (Romans 8:3-4 – read it carefully and slowly).  So in a way, your Messianic friends and you can fully agree on this – we DO need to keep the moral law because we are God’s children!  But you my friend are going to do so via a means OTHER than personal effort or legalism…

My understanding of what that type of life looks like practically comes from the book of Galatians.  Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to be our Teacher, Guide, and Help (John 14, John 16).  When we hear, listen to, and obey the Spirit, we accomplish what the moral law of God requires – automatically (Galatians 5:18, 22-23).  That’s because the Spirit NEVER leads us in a way that is contrary to the moral law of God – which seems to be a no-brainer to me, since the Spirit IS God.  So in effect, we don’t have to worry about these lists of 613 laws to obey, we only need to cultivate a listening ear and an obedient heart so that when the Spirit of God leads us, we obey.

So, does that mean we should not read/learn from/teach the Old Testament law?  Not at all!  I can glean TONS from a good sermon about one or all of the 10 commandments (for example) in terms of what it LOOKS LIKE to walk in the Spirit in a particular area.  That helps me to be more conscious of what the Spirit might be saying or how He might be leading at any given time.  It may also be a means the Spirit uses to convict me about an area where I’ve been disobedient or resistant to His leadership.  But I should not take what I learn as a “rule” for me to follow.  THAT would be living a life guided by law, not the grace of the Spirit (Romans 6:14).  So we are live by the Spirit, in close relationship to Jesus through the Spirit… not by our own efforts to keep the law or any other rules.

The Greatest Injustice Ever – Sermon audio available

You can find the sermon “The Greatest Injustice Ever” from our study of the Gospel of Luke by hovering your mouse HERE.

Our Will or God’s Will? – sermon audio available

You can find, “Our Will or God’s Will” – sermon audio from our study through the gospel of Luke by hovering your mouse HERE

Speaking at Pastor/wives Fall getaway – Your prayers are needed!

Coming up next Monday-Tuesday (November 2-3) I’ll be speaking at our Denomination’s District Getaway for Pastors and their wives.  This will be the first time I’ve been invited to speak to a group of my peers in this kind of a setting, and I would greatly appreciate your prayers!  I’ll be speaking from 7:30 to 8:30 on Monday evening, and 9:30 to 10:30 on Tuesday morning.  Thanks!