Green Acres Worship Daily

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Good morning, today is Saturday, May 30, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Well, here we are, on our last Worship Daily for the summer. Thank you to those who have taken this journey with me. It has been a pleasure reading Scripture and reflecting for a few short moments in the mornings

Today we will close out the Easter season before we worship together on Sunday by reading the last chapter in 2 Peter. I believe the NIV does a great job making Peter’s words clear enough to us, so I will simply read them today and let them speak for themselves. Remember, Peter is writing to a faith community and wants to leave them with his last words to hold fast to his witness of Jesus and to reject the false teachers. Peter’s concern is that we would be adding to our faith, the faith that is a gift from God, so that we can better participate in God’s very nature of love. We can read this letter and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us through it as well.

2 Peter 3

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

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Good morning, today is Friday, May 29, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

I just want to remind you, today and tomorrow will be the final additions to the Worship Daily for the next couple months. We are finishing our Easter season this Sunday and with the end of this season we bring to a close the major movements in the church calendar that we have been observing all year. Think back, we started with the season of preparing for the birth of Jesus during Advent last year in December and we have moved all the way through the Gospels and the story of Jesus to his ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit. As we look toward Pentecost Sunday this coming Sunday, we are reminded of our place in this grand story and that we now live with the empowering of the Holy Spirit and the Spirits guiding and helping us to live the teachings of Jesus. I hope observing the calendar as a devotional tool has been helpful for you.

Yesterday we noted that Peter is rejecting the false teachers and their corrupt lifestyles in this final letter before he dies.

Peter objected to the claim that he and the other apostles just made up the resurrection and future return of Jesus in chapter 1. Now, Peter addresses the the false teachers when they say there will not be a final reckoning of all things. These false teachers were ignoring Jesus’ teachings on money and sex and were hiding behind their false idea that there would be no judgement from God. So Peter reminds the church that God will meet rebellion with His justice.

So, Peter gives three examples from the Scriptures about how God brought divine justice to situations: 1) the sin of the angels, the flood in Noah’s day, and the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah. But, then Peter reminds the people about how God was always faithful to His people. So, the story of Lot being saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah, as sad of a story as it is, provides us an example of how God will bring divine judgement, but will save those who are His.

These false teachers are distorting the teachings from Paul that we are free in Christ. Peter turns the tables and says that these false teachers are actually slaves to their flesh and to sin. Because they reject the teachings of Jesus with their corrupt lives, they are not free at all.

2 Peter 2:1-10, 17-22

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

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Good morning, today is Thursday, May 28, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

2 Peter 1:12-21

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Peter is acknowledging that he is most likely entering the last days of his life. And as his life comes to a close, he challenges the churches to whom he is writing that to follow Jesus means to never stop growing. Remember Peter’s challenge we read yesterday to add to your faith all these different things. Peter is referring to growth in knowledge but also growth in how you live your life and by what criteria you make decisions and do what you do. Remember that big list of character traits that Peter referenced in the verses just above that we looked at yesterday— add to you faith goodness, godliness, knowledge, affection for family, endurance, self- control, and love. Peter’s challenge is that to actually participate in that divine nature that he talked about, requires that the one following Jesus take on a life long pursuit of growing in these other attributes.

Peter also mentions and spends most of the rest of the book referencing a number of false teachers who were corrupting the churches. These false teachers were saying things like the apostles were lying about Jesus and his resurrection. They also were refuting the apostles’ teaching that Jesus is more than a man, he is actually God and that Jesus is coming back one day. These truths are at the very heart at what it means to be a Christian and to grow to be like Christ. So, Peter recounts some of his memories and reminds the people that Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise we find in the prophetic Scriptures. Remember, Peter is pointing out how his Bible, what we call the Old Testament, has been pointing to Jesus all along and it is in Jesus that they find their fulfillment. In other words, the Scriptures point to Jesus and it is in and through Jesus that God has spoken to us.

So, as far as an encouragement for you to go in to your day with, know that these teachings that we hold to and live in — the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension, his coming again, his divinity — these are the same teachings the apostles gave. Jesus, our great hope, is who the Bible gives testimony too. And it is in Jesus that all the promises of Scripture are being fulfilled. Maybe spend some time thinking about the promises from Scripture that have kept you going or have maybe changed your entire outlook on life— it is in Jesus that these promises are kept.

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Good morning, today is Wednesday, May 27, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

2 Peter 1:1-11

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A couple of phrases Peter uses stand out to me. The first is that Peter opens up his letter about the faith by calling this faith precious and received through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I just think about those things in life that are most precious to me… But right here Peter speaks about a reality that I think all of us with faith can understand and relate to in some way. He calls our faith precious. Something that is so foundational for each of our lives. I think perhaps what is most interesting about how Peter talks about faith is that you get this sense that his faith is something given to him. And, for Peter, faith is not just something that we do, not just a verb, but it is something we possess.

And Peter encourages us to add to our faith and thereby participate more in the “divine nature,” as Peter calls it. So we can surely relate to Peter’s idea that our faith is a precious gift and something integral to our lives, but this idea of faith producing a godly live that is participating in a diving nature may be a little more foreign to you. But, it is for this reason that it is beneficial to add goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, and love to our faith.

So, I encourage you today to maybe go back if you have some time and read through 2 Peter chapter 1. Look for how Peter is making a startling claim that a life of living in the grace and peace that we possess because of Jesus is participating in the divine nature. Our faith enables us to intersect with the very heart of God — his very own glory and goodness.

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Good morning, today is Friday, May 22, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

As we head into the weekend I want to help you think toward this coming Sunday. Yesterday, Thursday, was what has historically been called Ascension Day. But we, like many churches now, will celebrate this day on Ascension Sunday, this coming Sunday. The Ascension is a key piece of what we believe as a church and has a large impact on some of the underpinnings of our theology. I know most of us probably do not ever really think of the Ascension, and probably couldn’t really define it well if we had to right now. But, that is why we make use of some of these historic devotional tools, like a 50 day Eastertide season!

We are going to talk much more about this wonderful day on Sunday, but for today I wanted to get your minds heading in that direction by reading the account of Jesus’s ascension from Acts 1 and then playing an audio clip of Malcolm Guite reading a Sonnet he wrote for Ascension Day. As most of you know by now, Malcolm Guite’s poems have been very helpful for me devotionally, and it sounds like they have been impactful for many of you as well. So, this poem is taken from his book Sounding the Seasons.

Acts 1:6-11

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

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 here 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.”

Malcom Guite says of this day, (original quote and Sonnet found here: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/blog/)

In the mystery of the Ascension we reflect on the way in which, one sense Christ ‘leaves’ us and is taken away into Heaven, but in another sense he is given to us and to the world in a new and more universal way. He is no longer located only in one physical space to the exclusion of all others. He is in the Heaven which is at the heart of all things now and is universally accessible to all who call upon Him. And since His humanity is taken into Heaven, our humanity belongs there too, and is in a sense already there with him.”For you have died”, says St. Paul, “and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. In the Ascension Christ’s glory is at once revealed and concealed, and so is ours. The sonnet form seemed to me one way to begin to tease these things out.

Ascension

We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and Heaven-centred now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
Whilst we our selves become his clouds of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light,
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed .

Find this Sonnet and Malcolm Guite’s other work here: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2020/05/20/a-sonnet-for-ascension-day-9/

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Good morning, today is Thursday, May 21, 2020. My name is Keith and welcome to the Worship Daily from Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Well, we have finished reading the book of First Peter together, and, before we move to Second Peter next week, I wanted to sort of move back out to a big picture view of First and Second Peter both. Dr. Sebastian Kim actually has given a very short introduction to these two books. This is some of what he has to say.

These epistles were read primarily by churches in the providences in Asia Minor

The first book is about Christ as the firm foundation, the living stone rejected by the Jews, but chosen by God and precious to Him. It also encourages us to be like that living stone — to be a holy priesthood. The big idea is that our faith is based on Christ as the living stone. Christ provides us a solid rock on which to build our lives.

It is also encouraging us to build up our identity as a chosen people, royal priesthood, and a holy nation. And I actually think Peter is doing something very subtle in how he communicates this. Peter uses all sorts of images and symbols from the Jewish tradition to help us understand that we, whether we are Jew or Gentile, are actually those who will cary this story forward. It is in Christ that all of Israel’s story finds its climax and meaning, and it is in our following him that we continue that same story that God has been writing since creation.

Third, it gives us a vision for living for others and contributing to our neighbor’s and society’s good. There has been so much of this sprinkled throughout the first book, but especially toward the end when Peter challenges the reader to live with a dramatic type of love and humbleness aimed at our neighbor. To prefer others is at the heart of what it means to have new life!

So, the books of First and Second Peter encourages us to build our lives on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, cultivate an identity of the people of Jesus, and shows us to be the people of Jesus means living for others — giving our lives for others just like Jesus did for us.

As far as this being devotional, I would like to actually go back and read the beatitudes that Jesus gave as the introduction to his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Remember, Peter is filtering everything he has learned from his Bible, our Old Testament, through these teachings of Jesus in Peter’s instructions to us in his own letters. So, just like everything Jesus says, these words find new life each time we re-read them and re-think about them through a new leans.

Matthew 5:1-12

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

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Good morning, today is Wednesday, May 20, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Today we are going to read the last chapter of 1 Peter, 1 Peter 5:1-14.

1 Peter 5:1-14

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Just two things in this passage that I think are worth pointing out. First, notice that Peter, while speaking to the elders and the younger in the church reminds them that to cloth ourselves in humility and preference toward each other is actually one way that we remind ourselves that Jesus opposes the proud and favors the humble. When you really sit and think on this a while, this is a startling application and a challenging warning. I think it would be prudent to spend a few minutes today considering how the Holy Spirit might be inviting you in to deeper humility. Ask yourself how well you prefer others. Ask yourself how far is too far before you become uncomfortable not getting “your way.” Then ask the Holy Spirit to remove the pride in your life and lead you into better humbleness. Remember, Philippians tells us that Jesus himself humbled himself to the cross. And humbling ourselves to prefer others, regardless of your status in the faith community, is how we identify with Jesus.

Second and finally, notice how Peter continues to use rich metaphors loaded with meaning from his Bible, what we would call the Old Testament. First, Peter reminds us that our enemy is a spiritual reality called the Devil that walks like a lion trying to devour you. This is a startling image and meant to startle us into understanding the seriousness of the threat. He also calls Rome, the place he is writing from, Babylon. This is another image from his Bible, our Old Testament, that is loaded with meaning. We know that we face a spiritual enemy who is behind the structures and systems built by the world that ultimately maim, cripple, and ultimately destroy those who are under them.

And now we are left asking ourselves, how do we live well in the Babylon we currently live in? How do we resist the Devil, the spiritual reality behind the world’s systems, who seeks to devour us? Well, Peter’s whole first book is the answer. Walk in love. Walk in humbleness. Do these things, even when under persecution, because this is the way of Jesus and the new life that Jesus is offering us. A life where peace comes to the sojourners and strangers, this new kingdom of priests, who live in Babylon but have an allegiance to a kingdom where love and humbleness become our new way of life— just like Jesus.

So, like before, I’ll finish by reading some of Peter’s final words to you again: “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, May 19, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

So, we are nearing the end of 1 Peter. Today we will read the end of chapter 4. Peter is closing his argument that those who experience suffering actually participate in the actual way of Jesus in that way because Jesus experienced suffering. And, ultimately, we have a great hope that our suffering will be vindicated in our new lives in Christ because we know even death itself did not hold victory over Jesus. His resurrection is a symbol of hope for us that we will also gain victory over suffering and death itself.

Peter, echoing the teachings from Jesus in Matthew 5:11-12 from the Sermon on the Mount reminds us that we should find some sort of joy when we are persecuted because of Jesus. Remember, Jesus said, ““Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

Peter is reminding us that God’s people have always been, and still are, a misunderstood minority, living under the rule of a different King. And persecution offers a chance to show others the generous love of Jesus. So, we can say, there is hope in the midst of suffering.

1 Peter 4:12-19

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

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Good morning, today is Friday, May 15, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

This morning hear this from 1 Peter 4:1-11. If you haven’t listened to yesterday’s reading, I encourage you to listen to that first because this last part of chapter 3 and first part of chapter 4 actually go together to make one big point that we are being saved from our suffering and in our suffering by comforting more and more to the image of Christ.

We need to stop for a second and acknowledge that we are sojourners and strangers in a broken world. But as those born of this world, we actually play a part in the brokenness because we are fundamentally broken people. But, Jesus has come to make us whole again. And, through his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, we are actually being invited into a new way of life, a new life altogether! So, we are now priests in this world. And as priests, our values and ways of seeing the world come at odds with the broken philosophies and methods we are actually still surrounded by. So as priests we are sojourners and strangers who suffer.

1 Peter 4:1-11

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Our suffering gives us a unique opportunity to shed desires that are not in line with God’s wisdom and gives us an opportunity to align ourselves with the will of God. Peter’s line, “they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” reminds me, in a way, of Jesus’ prayer when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane that God would let the cup of suffering pass from him, but ultimately that, “not my will, by thy will be done.”

I also hear echos of Jesus’ encouragement to persevere in our faith in him. Not to allow suffering to throw us off course. Those who have come before us and have placed their faith in a coming Messiah were vindicated when Jesus came. And it was Jesus’ death that actually led to their vindication. And we stand in that same line of those through all history, Jew and Gentile, who have placed our faith and trust in Jesus. And we also will be vindicated.

Peter then ends with a note about what is to come. He says, “The end… is near. So be alert and sober minded so that you my pray.” Again, I hear so many echoes of what Jesus was saying in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus told his disciples to watch and pray because the time was coming when the evil one would come and Jesus would suffer.

And finally, Peter’s end is the same message he has been pushing this whole book, above everything and even in your suffering, love each other.

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Good morning, today is Thursday, May 14, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

We are continuing on in 1 Peter. The section we will read today and 4:11 that we will read later actually make up one big thought that Peter is trying to explain to the churches he is writing to. Like we noticed in the first couple chapters, Peter is using all of this Old Testament language to help the predominately gentile churches understand that they claim the same promises God originally gave Israel. These gentile followers of Jesus, and us today as well, actually need to understand Israel’s story with God as our story with God. We, this new multi-ethnic family of believers, are a royal priesthood.

Now, in chapters 3 and 4, Peter is more directly addressing the suffering and persecution they are facing. I’m going to back up and re-read a couple verses and then continue, 1 Peter 3:10-22. Notice Peter’s encouragement to the churches and to us today that suffering has meaning because it is one way in which we are united with the Jesus we follow. His suffering gives us meaning and hope even in our own suffering. Further, our baptism as a sign of the hope we now have in Jesus works as a reminder that we have passed through the chaotic waters, just like Israel, and into the new life that Jesus is calling us into.

I know that’s a lot to try and comprehend in one sitting! I say it simply to encourage you to, as you listen to Peter’s words, see how Peter is mapping on our experiences to those of Jesus. Because of Jesus’ resurrection after his suffering, and his offer to rise to new life with him, we are being vindicated of our suffering. In this way, our salvation is a process of being saved from our suffering through our union with Jesus. Our baptism is a sign, a sacred symbol, showing us that we are joined to Jesus and reminding us of the new life of victory over sin, death, and the devil that we have.

1 Peter 3:10-22

For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, May 12, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

1 Peter 3:1-12

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

There is a lot in these verses, but keep in mind that we have moved into the main body of Peter’s letter where he is encouraging the Christians to whom he is writing to stay faithful to the teachings of Jesus, even in the midst of persecution. Peter has used so many great metaphors and word pictures to help us understand our identity, who we are, in the pervious verses, but then we are reminded that we are these things in exile. We are sojourners and strangers, people who are whole and being made whole in a world that is broken.

We respond to this deep brokenness in the world, often seen in the most intimate relationships, as an opportunity to live out Christ’s teachings of radical love and self-sacrificing service. We as Christians have been liberated from the slavery of sin, the world, and the Satan himself in order to love those who persecute us.

As Christians we need to remember that our King is a different kind of ruler than the rulers of this world. And as people who are different we should not be surprised when those around us don’t understand and we even face some sort of persecution for it. And, what I think is wort pointing out is Jesus’ words to love and serve those who persecute us.

This is the same new way of living, a radically different way of living, that Jesus talked about in his teachings. Being a follower of Jesus means that we follow his teachings to be and act like radically different people. Our values are love, peace, service, and humbleness — to love God and our neighbors; not trying to be the loudest voice, the most powerful person, or the most important figure. It is actually in this way of living that others will come to know Jesus through us.

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1 Peter 2:18-25

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

I want to point out some of the parallels we actually have been going over in our services. Peter is remembering back to what Jesus told him and the rest of the disciples and now telling us. Jesus used Isaiah’s prophetic word that explain that we as humans would be healed by his suffering and now Peter is quoting Jesus quoting Isaiah. It is actually because Christ suffered and brought healing to our souls that Peter finds meaning in the suffering he and other Christians are experiencing. Jesus endured his suffering and death on the cross so that we could die to our selves and now live new lives of being right with God. This is the healing of our souls that Jesus offers.

Finally, Peter draws on that metaphor we have been familiarizing ourselves with, of Jesus as our Great Shepherd. Remember, John 10 tells us we know the Good Shepherd because He is the one who lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross is the means to our soul’s healing and being made right with God, the example by which we find meaning in our own suffering, and finally Jesus’ suffering and death is actually him calling out to us as our Good Shepherd to return to Him, the overseer of our souls.

So, this morning, that is the call. Return to the one who suffered and died for you. Find meaning his life life and death, and accept his invitation to live a new life.

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Good morning, today is Friday, May 8, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Well, we are reading through the books of 1 and 2 Peter this month during the season of Eastertide, but today I wanted to do something a little special. One of my favorite living poets, Malcolm Guite, is starting a new series on the Psalms that I wanted to share with you all today. I use his poetry in my own spiritual formation and I wanted to share his work today with you.

The Psalms have been foundational for my own spiritual development, but they have also been a foundation to my own academic study on the topic of worship as well. As a Worship Pastor and someone who cares deeply about the act of gathered and scattered worship, I don’t know that there is anything more important that we can do than read the Psalms over and over again and let them mess with our understanding of the world.

We read the Psalms as poetry developed in the history of the Hebrew people, a heritage that is not what most would claim to be own birth heritage. So, we read them with an “out there and back then” mentality, but also with some sort of “in here and right now” understanding because of the Holy Spirit’s continual shaping of our prayer language by these Psalms.

Our prayers should be shaped by the Psalms, by the actual metaphors and images used. The world the Psalms paint for the reader through its poetic language is the world we as Christian’s are being invited in to.

And praying with the language of the Psalms is somewhat intuitive. We can pray the actual Psalms, sort of like set prayers, or we can adopt the imagery and metaphors the Psalms give us to pray our own prayers.

The Psalms shaped the spiritual life of Christ himself and have been the foundation in both Jewish and Christian worship for thousands of years. I believe that in our moving to the heart of God and living out of our belonging to Him the Psalms are what actually give us the worldview to live according to the life that Jesus is offering.

So, today I am going to read Psalm 1 and then play the audio of Malcolm Guite’s poem as a reflection on Psalm 1. I have linked Guite’s website in the show notes and I highly encourage you to go and read the poem yourself from him when you get a chance. Remember, Psalm 1 works sort of like how an introduction chapter in any book would work. Psalm 1 stands on its own, but it also gives us the guide by which to actually read the whole rest of the book of Psalms.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Find Malcolm Guite’s work and this poem here!

https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/beatus-vir-a-reflection-on-psalm-1/

Malcolm Guite's work

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Good morning, today is Thursday, May 7, 2020. My name is Keith and I am one of the pastors at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Peter, continuing the idea that we are a new group of priests who live with Jesus and his forgiveness as our Cornerstone continues giving his instructions for holy living, or living lives that are being made whole.

1 Peter 2:11-17

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

Peter is continuing to use rich metaphors to help us understand our place in this world and as a new people whom God has called out. In verse 11 Peter gives one of my favorite metaphors when he calls us “foreigners and exiles,” or, those who are not part of this world, simply traveling through.

So, this morning, remind yourself that you are a foreigner and an exile. Feel the deep longing inside of you that we all have to return to a home we have never been to. Let this truth guide you as you seek to abstain from sinful desires and seek to do right. Let this truth that you are not a slave to this land, rather you are free to travel through life’s journey; let this remind you that we are those who follow Jesus in that traveling. And in following Jesus, we do not allow ourselves to become bound to sin.

Let’s pray.

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1 Peter 2:4-10

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter, continuing to use metaphors to describe new life with Christ, uses the idea of building a house to help us understand new life. Jesus is the “Living Stone” and the “Precious Cornerstone” on which all of Israel’s hopes was built.

The Jewish leaders and people rejected Jesus as their cornerstone and they stumble as a result. But, for those of us who have been called out of the darkness and into life, Jesus has become the foundation, our cornerstone, in new life.

Jesus as our cornerstone is a well known metaphor, but still a helpful one. Jesus and his message of forgiveness is our foundation as we seek to live as a new kind of priest. As people who share the mercy that God has shown us with the world.

Let’s pray.

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We have been reading through parts of 1 Peter in our services the past few weeks and this week we will continue on and finish 1 Peter. Remember, we are continuing to reflect on what it means to live according to the new life that Jesus offers us.

1 Peter 1:13-25

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,

“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.

Peter, writing to a group of Jesus followers who are scattered all through the Roman Empire, encourages us to live out of this core, deep place of love for each other.

Peter’s encouragement to his readers, and to us today, is to live holy lives, or lives that are made whole because of the love Christ showed us in his death. He uses the well known sacrificial system as a metaphor to talk about the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice. Just like the Hebrews had to make sacrifices because of their sin in order to commune with God in the Temple, Jesus’s blood redeemed us from death and brokenness and now, as a resurrected Savior, we have a living hope. Now, our brokenness can be made whole and we can live new, holy lives.

But what does this purified living, this holy living, look like? It looks like having sincere love for each other. To love one another deeply from the heart.

I’m going to pray, but I encourage you to think today about what that means, to live out of a place of deep love for one another, today.

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To help finish our reflection on the hope we have for new life with Christ because of Christ’s life and death lets read Psalm 103 together.

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Christ Our Hope In Life And Death

Verse 1

What is our hope in life and death
Christ alone Christ alone
What is our only confidence
That our souls to Him belong
What holds our days within His hand
What comes apart from His command
And what will keep us to the end
The love of Christ in which we stand

Chorus

O sing hallelujah
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

Verse 2

What truth can calm the troubled soul
God is good God is good
Where is His grace and goodness known
In our great Redeemer's blood
Who holds our faith when fears arise
Who stands above the stormy trial
Who sends the waves that bring us nigh
Unto the shore the rock of Christ

Verse 3

Unto the grave what shall we sing
Christ He lives Christ He lives
And what reward will heaven bring
Everlasting life with Him
There we will rise to meet the Lord
Then sin and death will be destroyed
And we will feast in endless joy
When Christ is ours forevermore

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We are returning to the theme of hope this week. Hope has been a key idea for us the past 6 months since Advent and this week we are noting that hope finds its fulfillment in the resurrection and assertion of Jesus. We can have that hope because Jesus, as the hope of the world, came and offers us the hope of new life.

If you were to stop and examine your life, or maybe just this past week so far, what do you think you have been holding on too for hope? Has it been the promise or pursuit of a pay check? Enough groceries to hold out long enough to survive this pandemic? We are presented with opportunities daily to place our hope in something. So ask yourself, what you hoping in?

Easter gives us an opportunity to question what our hope is in. And it gives us this challenge to, like Jesus’ disciples, hope in the resurrection. The find hope in new life with Christ. I don’t know exactly what this would look like for you or what it might change in your life, but I encourage you to think about that today.

Well, I said yesterday that today we would talk more about the Heidelberg Catechism. A catechism is simply a set of questions and answers that are intended to teach. We actually use a catechism in our children’s ministry. The song we have been learning, Christ Our Hope in Life and Death, is actually written as a question and response, like a catechism would do. And it is actually written to put into song the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism.

The question is “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”

The answer is “That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

And the song we are learning gives us many additional questions that come from this one. Each verse has its own set of questions and answers meant to draw the listener into a unifying theme. And then each verse ends with an expressive chorus meant to lift the singer and remind them of the ultimate hope we have in Christ.

Christ Our Hope In Life And Death

Verse 1

Chorus

O sing hallelujah
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

Verse 2

Verse 3

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, April 28, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

I hope your Easter and spring season has been going as well as it can so far. Yesterday I introduced a new song that we will continue to learn this week called Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.

Hope has been one of the major themes we have been exploring since this whole quarantine life started. And really, we have been talking a lot about the idea of having hope since Advent this past year. We began the church calendar that we have been following this year by lighting the candle of hope during Advent and reminding ourselves that we have hope because hope was given to us in the birth of baby Jesus. The hope of the world had come and now we can have hope when we place our trust in Jesus.

We now end the church calendar this Easter season reminding ourselves that Jesus’ life, his death, and now his new life helps gives us a more robust understanding of what it is and who it is that we can hope in. Jesus’ new life is the new life he now offers us, his life that we have been exploring since Advent. As we die to ourselves and find new life in Christ, we end up finding hope.

This is a story that is different than what you hear in the world. It isn’t in money, health care, a nice house, good friends, or even lots of toilet paper that we find hope for this current moment, it is in Jesus.

The Heidelberg Catechism begins with this first question: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” Its answer is: “That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.” It goes on to say, “He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

We will talk more tomorrow about this question and answer, but for today know that this song we are learning comes from this particular question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism and that it is a reminder that those of us who claim Christ do not belong to ourselves, but instead to Jesus who forgives us.

Christ Our Hope In Life And Death

Verse 1

Chorus

O sing hallelujah
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

Verse 2

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Good morning, today is Monday, April 27, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

I’m going to read Psalm 16 this morning. Psalm 16 is a Psalm of trust and a confession of faith and loyalty to God. The first part is a prayer of protection, the second is praise for God’s provision, and it ends with an expression of confidence in God’s provision. The Psalmist expresses purity that the God who guides his people through life will not abandon them in death.

Psalm 16

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Christ Our Hope In Life And Death

Verse 1
What is our hope in life and death
Christ alone Christ alone
What is our only confidence
That our souls to Him belong
What holds our days within His hand
What comes apart from His command
And what will keep us to the end
The love of Christ in which we stand

Chorus
O sing hallelujah
Our hope springs eternal
O sing hallelujah
Now and ever we confess
Christ our hope in life and death

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Good morning, today is Friday, April 24, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!

If you are listening to this online, I have included a link to a poem written by a poet named Malcolm Guite. This poem was written as a reflection on this Easter season in light of the strange times we are in this year. There is some art he has included on his webpage, so I encourage you to look it up, but I have included an audio clip of him reading his poem for us in his own voice. Listen and be encouraged today knowing that Jesus identified with us in his life and death so that we could identify with him in his new life and resurrection.

This poem, and Malcolm Guite’s other work can be found at his website here: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/easter-2020-a-new-poem/

Easter 2020: A New Poem

And where is Jesus, this strange Easter day?

Not lost in our locked churches, anymore

Than he was sealed in that dark sepulchre.

The locks are loosed; the stone is rolled away,

And he is up and risen, long before,

Alive, at large, and making his strong way

Into the world he gave his life to save,

No need to seek him in his empty grave.

He might have been a wafer in the hands

Of priests this day, or music from the lips

Of red-robed choristers, instead he slips

Away from church, shakes off our linen bands

To don his apron with a nurse: he grips

And lifts a stretcher, soothes with gentle hands

The frail flesh of the dying, gives them hope,

Breathes with the breathless, lends them strength to cope.

On Thursday we applauded, for he came

And served us in a thousand names and faces

Mopping our sickroom floors and catching traces

Of that virus which was death to him:

Good Friday happened in a thousand places

Where Jesus held the helpless, died with them

That they might share his Easter in their need,

Now they are risen with him, risen indeed.

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Good morning, today is Thursday, April 23, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

We have been reading 1 Corinthians 15 together this week, and we will finish today with 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

I hope this teaching from Paul and the events that surrounded Peter that we looked at last week bring you hope today just as these events were intended to bring hope. Jesus resurrected, we will be resurrected, and this hope gives us reason to live with Jesus as the center of our lives even now.

Paul finishes this incredible chapter declaring the resurrection of Jesus as the foundation and basis of our faith by giving us a final word of encouragement. He says to stand firm, give yourselves to the Lord’s work, and know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

We talked a few weeks ago now about the idea of our working and our living not being in vain because God is with us. And Paul is giving us another evidence to help us understand that our living to do God’s work is not in vain.

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Good morning, today is Wednesday, April 22, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Paul is continuing to instruct the church in Corinth about the resurrection. There were some in the church who doubted the idea of resurrecting from the dead and Paul responds with this powerful chapter about our hope in being resurrected from the dead ourselves because Jesus resurrected. The resurrection is reason for hope in future victory over death, but it is also the reality in which we live now that guides even the ways and patterns in which we worship.

We’ve been breaking up chapter 15 into smaller chunks this week to read and reflect on, but I invite you to sit down and just read this a few times through on your own from beginning to end. I believe it will encourage you to think about how the resurrection is not just a fact to be known, but a reality to live in to now.

1 Corinthians 15:35-49

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, April 21, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

1 Corinthians 15:20-27

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.”

Psalm 18:1-15, 46-49

I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God my Savior!
He is the God who avenges me,
who subdues nations under me,
who saves me from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from a violent man you rescued me.
Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing the praises of your name.

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Good morning, today is Monday, April 20, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Last week we read through the miracle of the lame man at the Temple gate who was healed after Peter and John told him to rise up and walk. This led to a passionate speech from Peter about the forgiveness that the risen Jesus wants to offer to the very people how killed him. And this offer of new life is for us also! Just as it was our sins as much as the Jews that killed Jesus, Jesus is offering us the same new, resurrected life he has now.

This week, let’s read some of the Apostle Paul’s words about the resurrection. I’m going to read from 1 Corinthians 15. Paul goes in to this lengthy discussion on the resurrection of Jesus right at the end of his instructions for gathered worship services. It is almost as if Paul is reminding the church in Corinth and us as well of why we worship in the first place. What our great hope is.

So, listen to this passage of Scripture and be reminded today that our understanding of reality is shaped by this story and the hope of resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 12-20

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

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Good morning, today is Friday, April 17, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Happy Easter season to you!

For this Easter Season, we are going to hear testimonies from those within our church who are walking in this new life we are talking about. I have with me today, Mrs. Maria Smith.

How did you come to know Jesus
What does new life look like for you
Do you have anything on your heart you would like to share

Philippians 2:1-4

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

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Happy Easter season to you!

We left off in Acts 3 with Peter going into the Temple courtyard and seeing a man who was begging and could not walk. Peter, now filled with the Holy Spirit, tells the man to get up and walk. So the man got up and did more than just walk, he skipped. Because of the sick man’s faith, he was healed. Peter then address the crowed says this.

Acts 3:11-26

While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Can you imagine being one in the crowd hearing this? Luke has actually written this in a way where we are intended to put ourselves in the position of one in the crowd hearing this. Just like Jesus went around healing people and showing what this new life of faith in him would look like, Peter is continuing that pattern. He points to this healed man as an example of what could happen in each of our own lives if we were to live with faith in Jesus.

Can you imagine being one in the crowd, knowing that it was you and your religious system that killed Jesus and then hearing this from Peter that there is still an opportunity for you to turn to Jesus and be healed of the sin and brokenness? The very brokenness in each of us that condemned Jesus to the cross is the brokenness that Jesus wants to heal.

Through faith Peter was healed. Through faith this man who could not walk was health. And Peter’s invitation for you today is to walk in that same faith and by healed of your inward darkness and brokenness as well.

Psalm 8

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Prayer for Wednesday of Easter Week

Almighty God, you show those in error the light of your truth so that they may turn to the path of righteousness: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Good morning, today is Wednesday, April 15, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Happy Easter season to you!

So, we are reading through the first couple chapters from the book of Acts and remember, these first few chapters from the book of Acts are all about what happened immediately after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. They follow the storyline of the apostles, and specifically Peter. So, the story continues on with Peter and the other disciples who are still in Jerusalem. Remember, Jesus had told them in what we call the Great Commission to remain in Jerusalem where the Spirit would come upon them. Acts 1:8 kind of gives us the whole summary of the book. After the disciples ask when Jesus will come back, Jesus says to wait for him and then says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

So, here we are, in Jerusalem, after the Holy Spirit had already come upon the disciples.

Acts 3:1-10

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

For today, just notice this one fact that Peter and the other disciples are now carrying on the same work of Jesus. And if you were to continue reading the book of Acts all the way through, it would become clear that this is just the beginning of the followers of Jesus imitating Jesus and doing what he did. Today, as you continue to wrestle with or think about what it means to be a person who lives according to the truth that Jesus defeated sin and death, be reminded that the Spirit of God is actually with you today and is empowering you to live in union with the life of Christ. To love the poor, help the weak, to forgive your enemies, to separate yourself from corrupt institutions that are built on oppression, and to live with peace and joy because of the hope that Jesus is stronger than death.

Psalm 105:1-8

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

Prayer for Wednesday of Easter Week

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in the fullness of his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Good morning, today is Tuesday, April 14, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

Well, again, happy Easter to you! This week we are reading and thinking about the events that transpired in the book of Acts directly following Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. We read yesterday about Jesus being the one who was rescued from the pit of death, and as the one who defeated death, we are now invited to find hope in him. Jesus is inviting us to share in his victory, in his resurrection, and to be people who now live with hope. This is the true story about reality in which we are being called to live. Not to allow fear and anxiety to overwhelm us, but rather to understand the world through the life and work of Jesus, knowing that even something as evil as death itself is not the end. In other words, our hope is that we will share in the resurrection with Jesus and not be overcome by death.

Listen to this from Peter, still speaking to a great crowd and part of the same speech we listened to yesterday.

Acts 2:36-41

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

What boldness! Peter just recently denied that he knew Jesus at all when Jesus stood before the people and the Sanhedrin and they all wanted to kill him. And now Peter is speaking to a similar crowd about how that Teacher they put to death because he called himself the Messiah is, in fact, the Messiah. And Peter, as one who was just recently forgiven by God and filled with the Holy Spirit, calls the crowd to confess from their wrongdoing, just like he did. And now, as a repentant and forgiven man who is filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter tells the crowds to join him and repent and identify with Jesus, just like he did.

I don’t know how this story hits you, I don’t know where in this story you may find yourself, but hear this word from Peter and know that no matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus wants to forgive you and is inviting you to identify with him and be filled with the Spirit as well.

Prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

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Good morning Green Acres, today is Monday, April 13, 2020.

Well, again, happy Easter to you! I know, I know, Easter was yesterday you say, but just like we observed Lent as a season of fasting, repentance, and reflection for 46 whole days that came to a head at Holy Week, Easter Sunday is actually the first day of the Eastertide. And just like Lent ended dramatically in Holy Week, Easter begins dramatically with what they (whoever they are) call “Easter Week.”

Easter is a season in the church calendar that last for 50 whole days! So, folks, just like spent the Lent season reflecting on specific things like repentance, the Easter brings with it a whole host of celebration and devotional thoughts that we will explore together until the end of May.

Now, it is no secret that we have been using the Church calendar to help us think strategically about our worship patterns, but this is not a new thing for us, even us Baptists! We have been celebrating Christmas and Easter, two of the most principle days in the church calendar, for a very long time now!

Observance of the Christian year is not prescribed in the New Testament, so if it is unhelpful for you, or maybe brings up bad memories of growing up in Catholic Sunday School, don’t worry! It is only one of dozens of devotional practices that Christians have developed as helps to their public and personal prayer life. It is helpful to think of the Christian year as devotional guide, like any other you might purchase at a Christian bookstore.

And speaking about the Easter season specifically, Augustine described Eastertide this way: "These days after the Lord's resurrection form a period, not of labor, but of peace and joy. That is why there is no fasting and we pray standing, which is a sign of the resurrection. . . .[during this season] the "alleluia" is sung to indicate that our future occupation is to be no other than the praise of God."

You may be asking yourself, “but why would we celebrate when we are in the middle of a pandemic?” My hope is that by celebrating Easter in our devotional and prayer life, at least here in this morning devotion, that we would be reminded that our hope in a future resurrection and new life now would be stronger than our fear of the death that this pandemic threatens us with. Notice I did not say that our hope in the resurrection negates our concerns during this time. No, there is a healthy place to process and even express things like fear, hurt, pain, or anxiety. Not to push these feelings down and suppress them, but rather to bring them before the Lord knowing that he suffered with us in all things, knows our pains, and gives us hope that this life, and all that is now, is not the end. Easter reminds us that while our suffering is great, God, how knows the suffering, defeated it and invites us in to new life through Him. We can share in his victory over death.

So, I’m going to read a passage of Scripture and then pray for us. I encourage you to spend some time thinking today about what it means to celebrate the resurrection even in the middle of a pandemic as threatening like COVID-19.

Acts 2:22-32

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.

Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay.

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

Prayer for Monday of Easter Week

O God, who for our redemption gave your only begotten Son to die upon the Cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the devil and the power of death: Grant us grace to die daily to sin, that we may live with him in the joy of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

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Easter Song by Keith Green

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be born again

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They're singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they're singing
Christ, He will reveal it now

The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus' power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah, hallelujah

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
He's risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

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Holy Saturday, Ep 16

Good morning, today is Saturday, April 11, 2020. My name is Keith and I am the Worship Pastor at Green Acres Baptist Church in Athens, GA.

If you’ve been keeping up with us, today is the final day of the Lent season and the final day of this intense Holy Week. Today is what has historically been called Holy Saturday.

Holy Saturday is the day the church remembers that Christ lli dead in the grave for three days. Yesterday on Good Friday we read about his death, today we remember that he lie dead for 3 whole days.

This is not typically the image of Jesus that we turn to in order to find comfort. This picture of Jesus is not of his miraculous birth, his ministry of reconciling the Jew and Gentiles together with God, Christ as a great teacher, or of the great King who will come again to finally bring us back into his presence in full. No, Holy Saturday gives us the picture of Jesus dead in the tomb.

And, you know, this is a fitting way to draw a conclusion to our Lent season. For 40 days and many Sundays we have been considering this big idea that we are a people who need. We need a lot of things— forgiveness, new life, strength, hope, the Holy Spirit. Now in this season of COVID-19 you may need even more than normal. You may need food, friendship, a break from your roommate or spouse, a job, or just about anything everything it seems like right now. Yes, we are a fragile people and have been forced to come face to face with our lack of ability to provide everything we need.

By using this Lent season to create space and consider the fact that we are people who need, we have actually created space in our lives to understand that we really cannot provide for ourselves. Not ultimately at least. And beyond our physical, mental, emotional needs and loneliness, we ultimately need to be saved from our own sins. So, Lent leaves us in this place where we recognize that, above all, we need a God who is with us in our need.

And this is exactly to where Lent has lead us today, and this is what Holy Saturday reminds us of. That there is no place, not even death itself, that God is not with us.

Let me read a quote from a book called He Descended to the Dead which is intended to be a reflection on that same phrase from the Apostle’s Creed. The author says,

“The descent… ought to be a great comfort to those facing death, whether their own or a loved one’s. It is part of the reason we grieve, but not as those without hope… while we think of our departed dead, while we walk in their graveyards and look at their ashes and remember their lives, while we ponder our own deaths, and while we consider how long it is, O Lord, until the Second Coming, we do so with hope. We hope because Christ also remained buried in the grave, buried with us and for us. We hope because we we have a High Priest who has experienced death as we all will… We therefore dig our graves, facing toward the East, knowing that as our bodies decompose, our souls remain with Christ, awaiting the day when he will with loud trumpets return and reunite our bodies and souls so that we can live with him forever by the power of his Spirit to the glory of the Father.”

So, today, as we observe the last day of this Lent season, Holy Saturday, I encourage you to just think about, just sit with, this truth that Jesus was in the grave, dead, for you.

I’m going to pray and then read from the book of John and also Psalm 130. Notice the scenery in John’s account of the Gospel as I read. Remember, the scene in which a story takes place is important to the message the author is trying to convey. In this scene, Jesus is placed in a tomb in a garden. Even in Jesus’ burial John gives us a subtle hint to the hope of new creation we have in this man.

Prayer for Holy Saturday

O God, Creator of Heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may wait with him I’m the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

John 19:38-42

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

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Today we have the privilege of hearing from our Children’s Minister, Rhonda.

So, Rhonda, I am very glad that you are here with us today. I actually have some questions for you pertaining to Good Friday. As you know, I am a new father and all of a sudden I am thinking about things I would have never considered before. For example, as my son grows older, how do I talk about Good Friday? How do I talk about death? How do I talk about it being a “good” day? And when is an appropriate time to introduce what ideas? And how can I actually learn from my son and try to understand Good Friday from a child’s perspective?

So, if it’s okay, I’m going to launch some of these questions to you

Keith: If Good Friday is the day that we observe Jesus’ death, why do we call it a “Good Friday”?

Rhonda:

It doesn’t seem like a very good day when you first think about it

We want to talk about Good Friday in a way that is appropriate for our kid’s age level

Might seem like a sad day at first, but for Christians it is the story about how Jesus saved us

Keith: What are some of the results of exposing children to emotional stories like Jesus’ death?

Rhonda:

Reading/watching emotional stories with kids can give them a chance to experience hard things in a safe way

Of course the story of Good Friday is even more emotional for all of us because it really happened

Some kids will easily separate themselves from stories they hear while some will internalize the feelings of the characters and need more time to talk about/process their thoughts and feelings

When Caleb was ~5 yrs old we read the story of Jesus’s crucifixion leading up to Easter and when we were finished he said “That is the saddest story I have ever heard.”

It is a very sad story, Jesus was innocent and he suffered terribly and gave his own life to save people who may or may not accept Him.

But, it's certainly not the saddest story we’ve ever heard! That’s not the end of the story.

Jesus is the hero that rescued the whole world from destruction and two days later He will be alive again!

Keith: What are some of the ways we can talk to our children about heavy subjects like death?

Rhonda:

The Jesus Storybook Bible is my very favorite children’s Bible because I love the way it talks about some of the harder things that happened in the Bible, but it's always pointing every story back towards Jesus and God’s plan to rescue the people He loves through what Jesus did on the cross.

Keith: I notice in my life that the older I get and the busier I get, the less I am likely to spend time reading stories. I think a lot of people are in the same boat as me. And I think we lose something important when we stop taking in stories. Can you share with us a little from your perspective about what we can learn from our children and how they take in stories?

Rhonda:

The way you know that a story is really great is when you want to hear it again and again, even when it is sad or scary and even when you already know what happens.

When Lucas was young we read “Charlotte’s Web” together, which is also a sad story, and at the end he cried. I felt bad and I asked him if the story was too sad. He just said “No, I want to read it again!”

Every time you read a great story like that, I feel like you notice something about the story that you might have missed before.

For me, that’s what the story of Jesus’s crucifixion is like. Every version of it, every person that retells it has a little different emphasis, and every time I read it or hear it, I notice something different that I hadn’t thought about before.

Prayer for Good Friday

Holy and loving God, as we prepare to set aside our busyness and to focus intently on Jesus’ suffering and death, we ask for eyes to see all of the amazing things that Jesus’ death means for understanding you, your love, and your salvation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness—
so he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

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The Fourth Word from the Cross :

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The Death of Jesus

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Matt. 27:45-56 (ESV)

Did God really forsake Jesus there on the Cross, His only begotten son?

As difficult as it is to understand, Yes, He did.

The fourth word from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" comes as the day darkens. Surely the sun couldn’t shine as its creator was crucified. All the sin of the world from the fall of Adam to the last rebellion of humanity came upon the Savior. The New Testament reiterates this when Paul writes, "God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21 NIV).

Owen Bourgaize articulates this so well in his sermon, The Seven Words from the Cross, when he writes, “Only the night before, Jesus had told his disciples that in his hour of trial they would all desert him but he said, "Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me" (John 16:33). But now at the climax of his passion, at the moment of making atonement for our sin it was necessary that even his Father should stand aside. Just as a scapegoat of the Old Testament had to be banished into the wilderness, so Jesus had to bear the sin of the world alone - literally. God forsaken. He who was made sin for us was feeling the punishment of the sinner, being separated from God. His humiliation was complete. It has been said that "Christ’s self-emptying was not a single act or bereavement, but a growing poorer and poorer, until at last nothing was left to Him but a piece of ground where He could weep and a Cross where He could die. (Abraham Kuyper)

How Jesus felt as his loud cry broke the dreadful silence of that moment of destiny we cannot know. Never before had he stood alone, forsaken by God his Father. Yet, although he was forsaken he never ceased to be his Father’s well-beloved Son, for he was carrying out his Father’s will and purpose in becoming our atonement for sin. This Word from the Cross points us to the cost of the atonement made. Thank God, there’s atonement for sin at the Cross by the Lord Jesus. It’s something we must never lose sight of.”

As hard as this is to believe, God had to walk away. He could not be with his son on this one. The full weight of sin came down on Jesus. And just as “there was darkness over the land” (v.45) Jesus took on himself the darkness of the sins of the world. Oh what pain, that God had turned his face away!

Read the words to this beautiful hymn below written by Stuart Townend, How Deep the Fathers Love For Us. As you read through the hymn imagine the pain, the agony, and the sin Jesus took on Himself. This is the day to feel the darkness; this is the day to wonder what it would be like without the presence of God. Journal your thoughts beside each stanza. But then thank God that He gave His son to pay the price for our sins. Find the wonderful truth that those that trust in Jesus and are found in him, may never have the Father’s face turned from them. Trust in Christ more deeply. Pray and ask God to draw you nearer to Him because of the work of Christ on the cross.

Psalm 22:1-5, 27-29

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

How Deep the Father’s Love

Verse 1

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss -
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Verse 2

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life -
I know that it is finished.

Verse 3

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart -
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Stuart Townend Copyright © 1995 Thankyou Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com)- See more at: http://www.stuarttownend.co.uk/song/how-deep-the-fathers-love-for-us/#sthash.J6RH6wsH.dpuf

April 10, 2020 @ 6PM Zoom Call

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April 10, 2020 @ 6PM Zoom Call

One of the ideas we are dwelling on this week is the idea that the Way of the Cross is filled with hope. And that’s paradoxical. It is counterintuitive to see Jesus’ death as something that would actually give us hope and strength, or as the biblical authors like to say, light in the darkness. And while we are surrounded by darkness all around us, we learn from Jesus that the Way of the Cross is actually the path to light. So, we cling to the cross of Christ and find hope when surrounded by death.

Hope because we are not alone in the darkness and death that surrounds us. There is no darkness, not even death itself, that Jesus did not expereince.

Today as we continue in a spirit of reflection on the cross, Teressa Knight is going to help us by reading a few passages of Scripture.

Prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week

O Lord, our God, whose blessed Son gave his back to be whipped and did not hide his face from shame and spitting: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 12:37-38, 42-46

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Psalm 71:1-11

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,

my confidence since my youth.

From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendor all day long.

Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

They say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no one will rescue him.”

1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

The Old Rugged Cross

by George Bennard

Verse 1
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross

The emblem of suffering and shame

And I love that old cross where the dearest and best

For a world of lost sinners was slain

Chorus
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross

Till my trophies at last I lay down

And I will cling to the old rugged cross

And exchange it some day for a crown

Verse 2
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true

It's shame and reproach gladly bear

Then he'll call me someday to my home far away

Where his glory forever I'll share

Chorus
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross

Till my trophies at last I lay down

And I will cling to the old rugged cross

And exchange it some day for a crown

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April 6, 2020

Psalm 36:5-10

Hebrews 12:1-3

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Numbers 21:4-9

John 3:14

Matthew 16:24

Matthew 20:20-28

Colossians 2:6-8, 13-15

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We’ve been talking about the three tests Jesus went through in his wilderness journey. Today we will finish by reading and thinking about the last test.

Matthew 4:8-11
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

This last test is a culmination of the previous two and also the most subtle of all three tests. This one, especially I think, is intended to be profound commentary on the tests that we all go through. This particular test is the temptation for Jesus to give in to his heart’s desire.

Don’t be thrown off by the fact that the Devil as a character in this story already implies some sort of debauchery in the scene. This test provides one of the most challenging temptations that we as human’s experience.

Without diving too deep into speculation, I think it is safe to assume that the readers of Matthew’s account of the Gospel know that Jesus is being presented both as Israel’s true king and also as the fulfillment of Israel’s purpose to bring all nations into the blessing that God gave Abraham. As this Messianic figure, we know that the end game here is that Jesus is now and becomes through his own story the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. This temptation is a little bit of foreshadowing to the end, but also profound commentary on how Jesus actually gets to that end. We will talk more about that tomorrow!

For today, think about this familiar motif that we find in all sorts of western media. From the movie Ghost Rider to the novel the Devil’s Elixer, to the Christmas film Jack Frost, to the popular song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” the motif of some character making a deal with the Devil for some sort of gain or avoidance of pain is popular in ancient literature all the way up to present storylines. And this is exactly what is going on here in this third test! Jesus is being tempted to “make a deal with the Devil,” if you will, that involves him gaining what is suppose to be His in the end, but in a much easier and faster way.

This test, for Jesus, is really about bypassing what could be God’s plans, even if not realizing he is actually bypassing God’s plans. Think about it, Jesus has read the Psalms and writings of the Prophets. He knows that as the Messiah this is the end game! It would make total sense that the Tempter would think Jesus could see this is the path the path Father was actually leading him down. But Jesus knows better. He knows, and can teach us, that the Father’s plans cannot be described as the “easy way.”

The test is really a temptation to think that God’s plans are not best because God’s plans are hard. It is a test where you will be tempted with things that look shiny, easy, and maybe even a little like common sense for one who’s goal is to reach the end as quick, easy, and effortless as possible. These distractions will only nock you off course, however.

We are all walking through a wilderness right now with COVID-19 and we are all walking through various wilderness experiences all the time. The Lord is asking us to be patient and full of fidelity as we walk forward, as we press in to the hard times with hope knowing that God is with us.

The invitation, then, as we have been saying over and over, is to press in to the hard. Because the hard path is the way the Father works! There are no get rich schemes, no shortcuts, no easy paths to our ultimate goal of Christlikeness and union with God. God’s plan for each of us is that we move forward in ways that are challenging, but will ultimately change you to become more like Christ. It is counterintuitive, but the good life only comes from the hard path that is God’s plan. I obviously don’t have time to defend that point that God’s path is a hard path like I would in a paper maybe, but if you have any doubts, I challenge you to read the Sermon on the Mount and the Be Attitudes again.

The Devil is telling you that you can have an easy life, splendor, success, and significance AND you can serve God the whole time. This is not true.

In his commentary on Luke, Norval Geldenhuys remarks, “The devil knows that Jesus came to the world to found the Messianic kingdom and to be the Head thereof. Now he declares that if only Jesus will worship him, he will give Him all the kingdoms of the world with all their glory. So he proposes that Jesus should found the Messianic kingdom by making a compromise with him. Then He will be able to achieve His aim without any struggle and suffering.

The temptation is to think that we can have the good life with God without pain and suffering.

Be reminded of the question Jesus asks us in Matthew 16:26 when he asks, “What good will to be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”

Beware of offers that promise things that God has not promised.

Super results (a.k.a. “Follow these methods”)
Instant results
Recognition and importance (phrases like “be significant for God”)
No suffering

So, I can’t wrap a tight little bow on these three temptation and just hand them to you, that’s not the purpose of these devotions. My encouragement is, then, to go back and read these temptations yourself. How is the Tempter testing you in your work life and in your relationship with your boss and co-workers; in your parent life as a mom, dad, husband, or wife; for all of us, in your relationship with your friends, neighbors, and family; kids and teenagers, maybe with your relationship with your parents; and ultimately, for all of us in our relationship with Christ? Remember, this “good life” I keep talking about is not an easy life. It is marked by deserts, tests, pain, suffering, and ultimately we see from Jesus’ example, death. BUT, we have hope! The one who walked this path before us defeated sin, death, and the Tempter once and for all and wants to bring us into that victory as well in the Resurrection! But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself too much as we lead into Holy Week and Easter.

Let me read Psalm 2, which the Church has traditionally understood to be speaking of Jesus as the Son of God, to finish our time together this morning.

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We have been thinking about what it means to be a church that journeys well through the wilderness like Jesus did. We noticed that this retelling of Jesus’ wilderness journey is meant to be, ultimately, a reflection on how Jesus passed the wilderness test that the Israelites did not. We also have been thinking about what it means for us, especially in this season of lent we are in and also the season of COVID-19, to be a people who also face tests, many times a day, in our own wilderness journey. But, we are led into the wilderness, like Jesus, by the Holy Spirit and with the confidence that God loves us and wants to make himself known to us even more in this time.

Yesterday we read Satan’s first temptation for Jesus to turn the stone into bread since he was hungry. Ultimately, this test was a temptation to act out of a spirit of self-preservation, or turn on survival mode, and for Jesus to trust in his own ability to provide instead of depending on God to provide. Jesus passed this test and with is showed us that he believed God to be both the giver of life and the one who sustains life.

Today, let’s read the second test from Matthew 4:6-7:

“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

and they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

We know from the other Gospel accounts that Satan had taken Jesus up to the Temple and basically to jump off and trust that God will protect him.

Notice the setting has changed for this test. Instead of hungry in the wilderness, Jesus is now standing on top of the Temple. The Temple was the very hot-spot of God’s presence in the world! It was in the Holy of Holy’s that God dwelt. We are constantly given the image of God dwelling in the “most high” with the Ark of the Covenant as his footstool. So, the Temple was the actual place where God Himself dwelt with the Israelites. The first test took place where God could have been assumed to be far away. This test took place at the hot-spot of God’s presence. And instead of turning stones into bread, Jesus is tempted to jump off of the Temple and trust that the Angels will come and protect him.

So, this is a very dense two verses in Matthew that I would love to sit down and talk about together at some point, but for us today I think it is important for us to note that here Jesus is being tempted to act in a way in which He becomes the one who controls his own life and destiny. Let me explain.

Satan, knowing after the first test that Jesus would be faithful to trust in the Father alone for sustenance, quotes from Psalm 91 and twists it to tempt Jesus to act in a way that will make Jesus the tester and put the Father in the position of being tested.

Again, this is dense and deserves a lot more conversation than we could possibly have in a short morning devotion, but in keeping with our theme of traveling well through the wilderness this Lent season, notice that Jesus is being tempted to act presumptuously, convinced that the Father is near. Jesus is being tempted to put aside his submission to the father and instead take control of the situation and move forward in a way that actually demands God “keep up.” During hard times some I’m sure face the temptation of hiding from reality or disengaging through destructive practices, but others are tempted in hard times to over-act. Or maybe to react to difficulty in an unhealthy way. Some avoid discomfort and some move too quickly into heroic and reckless action in an attempt to validate or inflate his or her sense of significance. What’s worse, especially for those of us who genuinely want to trust that God will provide, is that we will often move faster than God is actually leading because we lack the ability to slow down and consider how God is leading first. So, for this type of person, the challenge is to slow down. Pray. Meditate on God’s Word. It is hard for busy people with very little privacy, but try to spend 3-5 minutes today sitting, hearing your own breath, feeling the weight of your own body, and saying something that is genuinely true about how you feel to God.

This mindset that Satan is tempting us with is subtle. But learn from Jesus example and refuse to act in a way or a timing that could not be described as submissive to God’s leading. This is hard. It takes time, attention, concentration, honesty, and submission. This cannot be measured by hours worked, jobs completed on your check-list, or any sort of measurable tool of productivity.

So, today I will leave you with that. Instead of reading a Psalm or praying for you, I invite you to take a minute and do so yourself. Since Satan twisted Psalm 91’s meaning in our reflection today, that might be a good one to read on your own. I’ll keep this cool pad music playing in the background for a minute so you can continue in this frame of mind, but this is where I will leave you for today.

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We today and the next two days we will look at the tastings that Jesus went through in the desert. If you haven’t already listened to last week’s thoughts about Jesus entering the wilderness as the fulfillment of Israel’s story, I recommend listening back to those first.

We talked about last Friday that Jesus entered the wilderness to be tested, just like Israel entered the wilderness and was tested. The Gospel writers are clear to specify for us though that Jesus is being led into the wilderness as one who is loved by God. In the same way, we only enter into wilderness experiences as those who are loved by God. Before we were all quarantined due to COVID-19, this is exactly along the same lines as we were thinking about as a church with our practices of confession and assurance. We can enter into hard places like the wilderness or confession of our own sin because we know we are loved by God and therefore provided for and forgiven.

By this point in the story, we should be well aware that this is not a random act in Jesus life. This is a specific retelling of Israel’s history through the life of Jesus. If you can, imagine being a Hebrew who grew up hearing about your ancestors who were freed from Egypt by passing through the Red Sea, this miracle of God, only to eventually die in the wilderness without entering the promised land of rest because of rebellion. And then, knowing all this, you hear about one who passed through the waters and then was led into the wilderness to be tested. Tested just like Adam and Eve, tested just like Cain, and tested just like Abraham and Jacob. Your sensors would be going off and your next question would be, “what did He do!?”

Well, Jesus reenacts Israel’s wilderness journey, but does not give into temptation like the Israelites. Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel’s story. Just like the Israelites passed through the waters and traveled through the desert, Jesus does as well. Except, unlike the Israelites, Jesus does not fall or give into the pitfalls that the Israelites do. Jesus is the example and picture of one who travels through the wilderness well.

Matthew 4:1-4

Psalm 141

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We are going to keep looking at the idea of the wilderness and look at the example Jesus gave us of how to be people who live well in the wilderness. Today, though, I wanted to read a passage from Philippians 3.

If you are anything like me then these last couple weeks have been exhausting. We are all probably taking in more information than we normally do while also trying to manage more change than we normally do as well. Many of us are, I assume, getting tired. I wanted to try and hop on this morning and share a motivational verse in order to get you feeling well for the day, but I honestly think that at times like this what we need is more caution, more rest, and more thoughtfulness instead of just another shot of caffeine or another source of information to leave you feeling even more bloated.

So, this morning I want to share an encouragement to remember your center and encourage you to live out of that center today and this week. Especially with so much more information than normal coming out, if we are not careful to center ourselves, we will be quickly swept away by someone else’s central concern.

Now, please hear what I’m saying. I am not saying this pandemic is not important and that our understanding of what to do is not incredibly essential. What I’m saying is that we all have a tendency and are being constantly tempted to make anything other than Christ our center. Whether that is fear of the unknown, apathy because of prolonged discomfort, or anger because of a loss, we all are being tempted to move away from Christ instead of towered Him.

We as Believers already decided when we first followed Christ that He alone would be the new center of our life. So, I hope this passage from Philippians 3:7-14 can help ground you and center you on Jesus and His work in you.

Read Philippians 3:7-14

Prayer:
Father, thank you for your goodness to us. Thank you for sending your Son to redeem us. Thank you for continuing to sustain and guide us as we seek to live for you. Please help us to live in to our Christian identity and to press further in to seeking you, even during this time. Bless us as we work, spend time with our loved ones, enjoy down time, and live today. Amen.

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We have spent all week thinking about the wilderness looking at some of the different concepts or themes from the Bible concerning the idea of traveling through the wilderness. I hope this has been both encouraging and helpful for you as you consider what it looks like for you to live well in the wilderness.

Today, we are going to look at the Life of Jesus and see what his wilderness experience looked like. The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the same story that took place before the public ministry of Jesus. The story goes that Jesus went down to the Jordan River where John the Baptizer baptized Jesus. And just like the Israelites traveled through the Red Sea waters, Jesus reenacts the story of Israel in his own life as he also goes through the waters. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are all intending to layer on meaning by paralleling Jesus’ story with that of the Israelites.

I’m reading from Matthew 3 and 4 here and Matthew says:

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

We are going to continue looking at the wilderness experience Jesus went through next week, but today I want to point out how Matthew sets up the story.

Let me read these few verses from Matthew again and highlight some significant notes that Matthew makes. Matthew says,

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Matthew is very clear to point out that Jesus enters the wilderness as one who is beloved, pleasing to God, and only through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

And I think this should be an encouragement for us as well. As we look to Jesus’ life as an example, let us also understand that the Holy Spirit leads us into these wilderness experiences and he leads us not as victims who are being punished and under the “mighty wrath of God,” but rather the Spirit leads us as those who are loved by God. We will only survive in the wilderness if we recognize that we go with the love of God and with the Holy Spirit present with us.We are not alone in our suffering and we are not left to figure it out on our own.

So, this is an invitation to, like Jesus, press in to hard places and hard times instead of fleeing from them. Press in to the uncomfortable instead of running away or trying to figure out how to ignore it, or get by as normal without acknowledging the change that needs to take place that the Holy Spirit is leading you into. Don’t ignore the wilderness and miss the lessons because the wilderness isn’t where you want to be.

Hard places are exactly where the Holy Spirit often leads us and wants to shape and form us into being more into the image of Christ. God’s renewing work in this world and in our lives is not a comfortable or easy path. But, if we can remain faithful and even grow to flourish in the wilderness, we will come out on the other side stronger, braver, and more like Christ.

So, to finish our time together this morning, I want to lead us in an ancient idea called a Welcoming Prayer. I’ll start by praying and inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives and then give you just a moment to reflect and pray yourself.

Almighty God, we invite you into our lives today. We ask that you be present with us in our thinking, doing, working, and our being today. We do not desire to push back, but rather to sit in your presence and be led by your still, small voice.

Take a moment and pray yourself…

God, we thank you that you are with us. We praise you for your faithfulness to us. And in the name of the One who goes before us to lead us in your path of righteousness we pray. Amen.

I encourage you to remain in a spirit of prayer all day and reflect on how you can invite the Holy Spirit into your daily rhythms or normal routines. And ask the Holy Spirit to make clear to you how he wants to change and form you in your normal practices.

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We have been thinking about what it means to journey through the wilderness all week, and to help us we have been thinking about what it meant for the Children of Israel to travel through the wilderness in their journey to the Promised Land. Monday we looked at the idea of the wilderness as a place where we undergo intense experiences, like trials or hard times. Tuesday we saw that the wilderness is a place where God actually reveals Himself to us and that there are things we learn about God that we can only learn in a wilderness experience. Yesterday, Wednesday, we saw that the wilderness experience is filled with pitfalls and traps, temptations like fear, apathy, impulses to act out of a spirit of self-preservation, or as a time to desire comfort more than anything else. The wilderness is a time where the Devil would like to capture us and convince us that it would be better to return back to Egypt than to preserver and move toward the promises of God.

Yes, the temptations in the wilderness are great. So great that the prophets and later Biblical authors look back at the time Israel spent in the wilderness as a time of failure. Their refusal to trust God in the wilderness, even after He has revealed Himself to them and established them as His people, led to their death in the wilderness. If you can remember back to the story, 12 spies were sent to the Promised Land, they came back with reports about great giants and massive threats, and the Israelites did not trust that God would protect them. So, God allowed them to die in the wilderness and instead brought the next generation into the Promised Land.

This is a sobering thought for us, the reality is that the pitfalls we are tempted to fall in to will destroy our lives. Our fear, self-preservation, apathy, self-medicating, and overwhelming desire for control and power in our lives are all paths that lead to death.

Hebrews 3, this is a quotation of Psalm 95 that is itself a reflection back on the wilderness journey of the Israelites. It is an encouragement to us to persevere in these times of intense trials. Hebrews 3:7-11 says:

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

on the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your fathers put me to the test

and saw my works for forty years.

Therefore I was provoked with that generation,

and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;

they have not known my ways.’

As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter my rest.’”

My encouragement to you this morning is to continue to open your heart and continue trusting in God. You may be asking, like the Israelites, “Has God brought us here to kill us!? Does God care!? Is God even there!?”

And His answer is “yes.” He loves us and He is leading us to a promised land where the wilderness will be turned back into ga rden. Our labor, our struggle, our pain, is not in vain! Though we live under the curse, we have the same hope that God has always given His people, the hope that one will come and has come to release us from this curse. Remember the last verse of Joy to the World when it says, “He comes to make his blessings known, far as the curse is found.”

We are going to look at Jesus’ wilderness journey tomorrow and see how He is the fulfillment of this journeying through the wilderness picture, but for now I hope you can find hope in this poem from Isaiah 35. He is speaking to our current situation now, but also of a future when the Kingdom Jesus came to proclaim will be brought in full.

Isaiah 35

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

say to those with fearful hearts,

“Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you.”

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

No lion will be there,

nor any ravenous beast;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

If you have another minute today, I have included a link to a song called “Your Labor is Not in Vain” in the description. I encourage you to listen sometime today and be reminded of God’s love toward you, even in the wilderness.

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Interviewed Pastor Cameron about the pitfalls in the wilderness

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So, this week we are spending all week focusing on the idea of living well in the wilderness. And specifically we have and are going to look at some poems from the Prophets, the Psalms, the New Testament, and even hymns that we may or may not be familiar with to help us understand how others have responded in the wilderness. The goal is that we would learn from others how to live well in the wilderness.

Yesterday Dr. Rebecca Moore joined me and helped us see that the wilderness as the setting in which a story takes place brings on new significance. Authors communicate to us as readers not just in the plotline of a story, but also in the settings. And this is true in the Bible’s use of wilderness as well. “Okay, so what!?” you may be asking yourself. Well, it is significant for us that we understand the Bible speaks to us in the wilderness we find ourselves in now and is even focused on helping us know how to live well when we find ourselves in the wilderness. Even if we were not facing something like this COVID-19, social distancing, world-wide pandemic, the Bible would still be wanting to show us that WE are a people traveling through the wilderness.

So, today I want to read several passages of Scripture from the Old Testament about intense wilderness experiences.

Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

o “Wilderness and waste”

o God planted a garden and placed the people in the garden

The Fall
Genesis 3:17-18, 23-24

Return to the wilderness

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat food from it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, others – all wilderness experiences
Exodus 3:1-2

God revealed himself to Moses in the wilderness

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

Exodus 15:22 - Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.
Exodus 16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.
Exodus 19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.
Deut. 32: 9-12

“For the people of Israel belong to the Lord;

Jacob is his special possession.

In a desert land he found him,

in a barren and howling waste.

He shielded him and cared for him;

he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

like an eagle that stirs up its nest

and hovers over its young,

that spreads its wings to catch them

and carries them aloft.

The Lord alone led him;

no foreign god was with him.

So there ya go. I don’t know how intense of an experience this is for you, or what intense experiences you have gone through in your life. But, I do know that we have this great promise that God has not left us in the wilderness, in fact, God often leads us into the wilderness because it is there that He wants to reveal himself to us. That is the story… God reveals himself to us in the wilderness—From creation to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Israel, and through the whole Bible. And he will continue to reveal himself through the wilderness.

I’ll leave you with these verses from a poem taken from the Book of Hosea. This is a poem in which a women is used metaphorically in place of Israel that had found themselves in exile after being crushed by the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. This is a poem of hope to the people of God, of whom we are part.

Hosea 2:14-15

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the wilderness

and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards,

and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.

There she will respond as in the days of her youth,

as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

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Good morning Green Acres! This week we are going to try something a little bit special in these daily moments of worship. This whole week we are going to read through Psalms, poems from the Old Testament, stories from the New Testament, and some hymns even that focus on the idea of traveling through the wilderness. My goal is that this week, as we continue to adjust and learn how to live well in a time of social distancing, we would learn what the Bible has to say about living well in even in a time of intense anxiety, struggle, uncertainty, or general discomfort.

In order to help us understand living well according to the Bible’s own terms, I have ask Dr. Rebecca Moore to help us understand the idea of wilderness in literature and maybe how the Bible gives us the category of wilderness to help us make sense of times in our own life that feel uncomfortable.

So, this is your warning, we are going to get a little bit nerdy, but if you can stick with me, throughout this whole week we will begin to uncover some rich depth the Bible has to offer us to understand our own times even. So, I hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr. Rebecca Moore!

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Keith Willis