Calvary Church Muscatine: Recent Episodes
Calvary Church
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God Hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but the Israelites had been told that He will free them from the Egyptian oppression. We see God’s faithfulness to Moses and the Israelites as He prepares to liberate them from the Egyptians. There are times when we feel abandoned by our friends, by our family and even God. God never changes and is He always faithful, we are the ones that change orlose faith. God said to Joshua “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” This promise is repeated in the book of Hebrews.
Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt with God’s message for Pharaoh and they said to him, “Let my people go…”; he refused. Now things go from bad to worse. The straw that was used to make bricks was previously provided by the king but now he said they are to gather their own straw, but still make their quota of bricks. Some of the Israelites appealed to Pharaoh who called them lazy and told them to go back to work. At this, Moses and Aaron were angry saying “You have put a sword in the Egyptians hands to kill us”.
We continue the encounter at the burning bush, between Moses and God. In spite of all of the assurances that God had given Moses, 5 times he said “No”. It is clear that at this point in his life, all of the confidence and desire for action he had when he murdered the Egyptian, is gone. He has become as meek as the sheep he is tending for his father-in-law. God insists that Moses must go to rescue the Israelites in Egypt, and so he sent Aaron, Moses’ brother as Moses’ mouthpiece, so to speak. Moses had undisputed skills as a leader and for this reason, God insisted.
As we saw earlier, Moses was a foreigner in a foreign land. What happened next changed his life forever. Imagine his surprise to see a bush on fire, but the bush itself was not destroyed. A voice from the bush told him to take his shoes off as he was on holy ground. It was God speaking and He told Moses that He was sending him to rescue His people in Egypt. Moses had a number of “but Lord..” objections. How many times have we said to the Lord “but lord..” when He has asked us to do something for Him?
When Moses was older, he saw an Egyptian beating up on one of his fellow Hebrews. Moses killed him and buried him hoping no one would see. Well, he soon found that didn’t work out too well for him. Pharaoh tried to have Moses killed but he ran away to Midian. Later Moses married Zipporah, a priest’s daughter. They had a son whom Moses named Gershom, as he was a stranger in this land of the Midianites. This reflected the dark time in Moses’ life. Meanwhile, the Egyptians continued persecuting the Israelite slaves and their cry for help was heard by God.
When the king of Egypt saw that the Israelites were multiplying much faster than the Egyptians, he told the Israelite midwives to kill all of the male babies but spare the girls. The midwives feared God more than they feared Pharaoh, so they ignored the command. When the Israelite population continued to rise, he ordered all Egyptians to throw all male babies into the Nile. A mother was afraid her newborn son would be killed so she wrapped him up and put him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter found him crying there and decided to keep him. She named Him Moses because she drew him out of the water. If you look at this passage in Exodus, you’ll find God had His hand in this all of the time.
Today is a celebration of Pastor Dan Schoepf’s “retirement” after serving Calvary Church for 40 years and so today’s service is a little different than what we are used to. It is unusual for a pastor to serve one church community for as long as Dan has served Calvary and even more unusual still for a congregation to want him to carry on serving. His four children provide the worship music and others pay tribute to Dan’s and his wife Lea faithfully serving Our Lord with enthusiasm wrapped in humility.
Christians have many questions regarding their faith and this week Pastor Dan responds to four of the most common questions like, 1. How do I bring order to my life? 2. I still really struggle with sin. Am I a Christian? 3. The really difficult discussion with a family member who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t show it. Is he or she a Christian? Lastly we may ask in despair “Why, God? Why me? Why our neighbor? Why now?” Remember Jesus suffered on the cross so there should be no expectation that we would escape pain, suffering or despair.
A church must be place where we trust one another, and want each other to succeed, like the huddle in a football game. This is where we encourage and hold each other accountable. It also functions a a hospital, where those that are hurting are comforted and encouraged, where they can trust each other. It is not a club where one can come and go without being known. We may not like some of the programs or sermons, but remember it is Jesus’ church, not ours.
The Day of the Lord is coming and Jesus will return on that day. Before then there are going to be those that are doing Satan’s bidding asking why hasn’t He come yet as He promised? They don’t mention that God made all things, and He will decide when the time is right. God is infinitely patient, fortunately for the scoffers, He wants everyone to be saved by His grace. Then he will destroy the earth and all in it, so make good use of the time you have to live holy and Godly lives.
We believe that once you have prayed to receive Christ, you are saved and you are in God’s fold forever. The question “How can we be sure of our salvation?” can best be answered by looking at one’s life after accepting Christ as Savior. If there is evidence of a positive change in one’s lifestyle, relationships, behavior and habits etc. after praying to accept Christ, we can be sure. It is by faith we are saved and can stand on God’s promise.
Because God cannot tolerate sin, if we are to have any chance at salvation, we need a substitute, someone or something to take our place. In the Old Testament, sacrifices were offered to God as atonement for the sins of the people. God knew that we could not do it on our own, so all along His plan was to sacrifice His Son Jesus, the one who was without sin, as a substitutionary atonement for us.
This week we learn that the apostle Paul is amazed at how soon the people of Galatia are turning away from the true gospel to false teachings. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God-“ Any other teaching is false and when we pay attention to these false teachings, they are perverting the gospel and we will get confused and mislead. We cannot be saved by what we can do, only by what God has done.
The Bible is the source of truth and when read, understood and applied, is useful for many of the things we do in daily life. It gives hope, because “all scripture is God-breathed”. Therefore, it is important the church’s teaching is straight out of the bible. The moment we start adding to the scriptures or leaving out of the scriptures for political correctness as an example, we are no longer teaching God’s word. Calvary has been deliberate and conscientious and consistent in this regard.
We have been given an instruction, not a hint or a suggestion, an instruction. To “Go” and make disciples, baptize them and teach them. Not teach them to gain knowledge, but to obey everything He has commanded us. He wants us to be missionaries, but we don’t need to go to the ends of the earth to be a missionary, there are opportunities right here in our own city. For those that are not able to “Go”, Jesus provides the opportunity to “Send”, that is to support in prayer and financially those willing and able to “Go”.
Shortly before Jesus was betrayed by Judas, He and His disciples were meeting in the upper room when He began to pray. This time He prayed Himself. He prayed that God would Glorify Him so that He can Glorify the Father. He prayed also for the disciples unity, knowing that His time on earth is short, Jesus prayed that God would protect them knowing that they would encounter trials and danger. He prayed also for those who will believe through the disciples’ message.
If fruit trees are to produce a good crop, they need regular care, including pruning, cutting away all of the dead branches and anything that may be wasting the trees resources. And so it is with Christians. As part of God’s family, we are required to bear fruit, in this case bringing the unsaved into the saving grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without God’s help, this is an impossible task that is why He spends so much time telling us to remain in Him and He will remain in us. He gives us this command: Love each other. We must obey.
Let’s face it, feet are not the most attractive part of the body. In bible times, because they had little in the line of footwear, feet were twisted and bent, dirty and often smelly, yet Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an act of servitude. This job is usually reserved for slaves, but Jesus chose this time to demonstrate what it meant to really serve others. None of the disciples questioned His leadership, but they could not understand why he was doing this. Washing their feet, even Judas’ who was about to betray Him. All of this took place just a few hours before Jesus was crucified.
Zacchaeus was a wealthy chief tax collector, hated by almost everyone. He was a small man, so when he heard that Jesus was coming to town he climbed up a tree to get a better view. Why did Zacchaeus want to see Jesus so badly? Perhaps he has reached a point in his life where he realized that, in spite of all his riches, his life was empty. Jesus saw him in there and told him to come down as He was going to stay with Zacchaeus. During their time together, Zacchaeus announced his about face. At this point Jesus said that Salvation had come to the house of Zacchaeus, and that He “…had come to seek and save the lost”.
“For good times and bad times, We'll be on your side forever more, That's what friends are for…..”. These words from a Dionne Warwick song describe the friends of the paralytic man who took him to see Jesus, even though it meant making a hole in someone’s roof and then lowering him through it lo to get him there. They were looking for Jesus to heal their friend. Instead of healing him, He told them because of their faith, their sins are forgiven. Not what they wanted to hear. They didn’t realize what Jesus had done was better than healing. Later, after chastising the Pharisees that were there, Jesus told the cripple man to pick up his bed and walk. He did.
Life through Jesus never ends and so this story is about the need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It also demonstrates Jesus love and compassion. Lazarus was Jesus’ friend and Mary and Martha’s brother so when he became sick, the sisters sent for Jesus. He told his disciples that Lazarus will not die but “it is for God’s Glory so that God’s Son will be glorified”. When he arrived, he was deeply moved by the mourning of the sisters and others, He openly cried. By this time, Lazarus had been dead for 4 days. After praying to God, He called to Lazarus to come out. Lazarus came out wrapped in his burial linen.
Phil and Mimi Bjorklund, Missionaries with World Venture - Journey Corps, and their family survived the horrendous 1994 genocide in Rwanda, suffering personal trauma during that time when 800,000 people lost their lives. Since then, their focus has been on preparing young adults for a 1-2 year ministry equipping them to become intentional young believers with a global perspective.
In this week’s study we find Jesus once again in conflict with the religious elite. This time, a man blind from birth is healed by Jesus. This nameless man did not know who it was who healed him, but he rejoiced. This caught the attention of the Pharisees who wanted to know who it was that healed him, but he couldn’t tell them. They didn’t connect the dots. The man was physically blind but the Pharisees were spiritually blind. The man eventually recognized Jesus as the Son of God, but the religious leaders didn’t. Do you have 20-20 spiritual vision?
Jesus needed to get away and rest so He crossed the sea of Galilee but when he got there, He found a large crowd of about 15,000 people people men, women and children, that had come to hear Him preach. He told his disciples to feed them and they wanted to know where the food was coming from. A boy had brought 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fishes, and after giving thanks, Jesus distributed to all who were there. When they were done, they collected the baskets of uneaten food, miraculously, there was more food leftover than when they started.
If you think you’ve had a stressful couple of days, consider this. Jesus had just heard that His relative John the Baptist had been beheaded, He fed about 10,000 people, had been preaching for a few hours. He needed some time to be alone in prayer, so He told the disciples go across the Sea of Galilee to the other side and He would catch up with them later. The wind was howling and the sea was rough and the disciples were scared. While it was still dark, Jesus walked on the water out to the boat. When the disciples saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. Jesus identified Himself to them and invited Peter to join him. As soon as Jesus got in the boat, the sea calmed and immediately they were at the other side of the sea.
Simon, one of the elite Pharisees, invited Jesus to dine with them. While they were reclining around the table, a "sinner" woman entered the room and the silence was deafening. She headed over to Jesus and was standing over him and started crying. Her tears fell on Jesus' feet and used her hair to dry them. She kissed His feet and poured her expensive perfume over them. Simon was thinking to himself, if Jesus was really a prophet he would know what kind of women she was. Jesus reading his mind, chastised him told him a story about forgiveness.
When we talk about cost, we usually are thinking of the monetary costs. We lose sight of the other costs when we’re asked to count the cost. The scripture passages in today’s message are hard to take because they require us to pay much more than money to be a follower of Jesus. We must love Jesus more than we love our families and we are told to pick up our cross and follow Him. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us that we can be look forward to spending eternity with Him.
On His way back to Galilee, Jesus stopped at a small town in Samaria and sat down by the well that Jacob built. Samaritans were considered to be the down and out, the untouchables of the region. It was not normal for Jewish men to speak to women outside of their home so the story of Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well is even more amazing. Jesus asked for a drink of water surprising her and she asked how a Jew can ask a Samaritan for a drink. Jesus offered her living water, where she would never thirst again. After revealing her history to her, He revealed to the woman that He was the Messiah.
Nicodemus was a highly respected man a member of the ruling council, a Pharisee. Because of his position on the council, he went to visit Jesus at night, so no one would see him. He acknowledged that Jesus came from God. When Jesus told him anyone wanting to enter heaven had to be “Born Again”, Nicodemus did not understand so Jesus explained and included probably the most quoted bible verse. John 3:16. “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Shortly after Jesus performed his first miracle, Jesus and His family went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he arrived, he found the Jews using the temple as if it were a “Farmers’ Market”. There were sheep and cattle and doves for sale to be used as sacrifice, and also money changers. He drove all the animals from the temple and overturned the money changers tables scattering their money. This angered the Jews who wanted to know on what authority He was a doing this.