Monday, June 18, 2007

Fathers' Day

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning (Fathers’ Day)
June 17, 2007
Choices for Every Parent
Psalm 127: 1 – 5.
I. Introduction
When I was living in Waco, I had three very close friends in our church. The church had two Sunday School hours—one at 8:30 and one at 11:00. My responsibilities were at 9:30 and 11:00, so I joined an 8:30 Sunday School class with my friends. These friends were all in their 70’s, so I was a member of the Sunday School class for 70 – 80 year old men!
When we left Waco to move to Mississippi in 1999, I was moving to my first church as pastor. These men in their 70’s had been in church for their entire lives, and as a result, they were full of advice. I specifically remember two things they advised me to do as a pastor. First, they told me that I needed to preach on Hell, because there was not enough preaching on Hell in today’s world. Second, they gave me some advice on Fathers’ Day. One of the men, a retired football coach who had coached at Baylor with Grant Teaff, said, “Do you know what is not fair? Every year on Mothers’ Day, we come to church and hear a sermon about how wonderful our mothers are…We owe our lives to our godly mothers who cared for us and invested their faith into our lives. And then we come to church on Fathers’ Day and hear a sermon about how the whole world is falling apart, because fathers have not done a good job of training our kids. It’s just not fair.”
Let me add another thing that is not fair about Fathers’ Day. We take Sunday nights off on Mothers’ Day and encourage our church family to spend time with your mothers. But on Fathers’ Day we have Sunday night church just like on every week.
In honor of our fathers today, let me begin by reading a description of fatherhood written by one of America’s favorite fathers, Bill Cosby. This description comes from Bill Cosby’s 1987 number one bestselling book Fatherhood:

Now that my father is a grandfather, he just can’t wait to give money to my kids. But when I was a kid and I asked him for fifty cents, he would tell me the story of his life. How he got up at 5 a.m. when he was seven years old and walked twenty three miles to milk ninety cows. And the farmer he worked for had no buckets, so he had to squirt the milk into his little hand and then walk eight miles to the nearest milk can. All this for 5 cents a month…And I never got my fifty cents. But now he tells my children every time he comes into the house, “Well, let’s see how much money Granddad has for his wonderful kids.” And the minute they take the money out of his hands, I call them over to me and snatch it away from them. Because that is MY money.

Cosby also describes the difference between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day:

Mothers’ Day is a bigger deal than Fathers’ Day, because mothers are more organized. Mothers say to their children, “Now, here is a list of what I want. Go get the money from your father.” For Fathers’ Day, I give each of my 5 kids $20 (a total of $100) so they can go buy me a present. They go to the store and buy 2 packages of underwear for $5 a package. They open the packages of underwear and each kid wraps up one pair, giving any extra to the Salvation Army. Therefore, on Fathers’ Day, I am walking around with five new pairs of underwear and my kids are walking around with $90 worth of my change in their pockets.

Read Psalm 127: 1 – 5.

The theme of this Psalm is the Presence of God. In fact, the Psalmist hopes to communicate through this short Psalm the fact that there is no success in life apart from the presence and activity of God in a person’s life.
Then the Psalmist gives us four illustrations about success in the presence of God and failure apart from God. Three of these illustrations are directly related to Fathers’ Day, since they deal with common activities of an ancient household. I believe each of these illustrations applies to every parent—both mothers and fathers—and every individual who is not a parent. However I think we will see some specific applications for fathers.
Perhaps the best way for us to understand and interpret this Psalm would be to think of it as a comparison and contrast. On one hand, there are certain things that a person does in order to survive and just make it through life. On the other hand, there are certain things a person must do in order to live a life with purpose. The choice comes down to two options. Do you want to make it through life? Or do you want to live a life of purpose? Will you be happy just SURVIVING life when you have an opportunity to THRIVE in the presence of God?

II. Build a House or Build a Home? (v. 1)
There are two ways to approach any project: (1) Do it yourself…(2) Call a professional. If you choose to do it yourself by depending on your own strength, intelligence, wisdom and power, everything will be in vain.
Verse one gives us two illustrations about working on our own strength. The first example is about building a home. The second example falls outside our theme of parenting and fathers, but it does make an interesting point about protecting a city. Human watchmen who stand guard around the walls of ancient cities are imperfect. Even if the human watchmen stay awake all night, they cannot prevent the enemy from attacking. All they can do is sound the alarm.
The first illustration fits our Fathers’ Day theme very well. The Hebrew word translated “house” can be used either as a reference to a literal, physical house. Or it can be used symbolically to describe a household…Or as I prefer to think about it…A Home.
What is the difference between a house and a home? A house is physical and is built with wood and bricks and mortar. A house is something that can be successfully built entirely on human effort. We could even make a similar point about a household. A person gets married, possibly has children, establishes discipline and develops a financial plan…A household.
However, a home is something entirely different. A home cannot be built by human effort. It can only be built by the LORD. Building a home is spiritual work. And we agree with the Psalmist, “Unless the LORD builds the home, its builders labor in vain.
What does a godly home look like in the Twenty-First Century?

A. Jesus Is Lord of the Home.
Lordship always means “ownership.” When individuals accept Jesus as Lord, they actually make him their owner, ruler, master and boss. Therefore, a Christian home is always made up of individuals under the Lordship of Jesus. Jesus owns and operates the Christian home. When our homes are under the Lordship of Jesus, we claim no rights of ownership.

B. Individual Lives Are Changed by the Grace of God.
This applies to every member of the home from the least to the eldest. But let’s focus on our fathers for a minute. There are two faulty images for fathers in the Twenty-First Century:
1. Image of Father most adult grew up with…
The Patriarch and the Breadwinner, who had little or no responsibilities within the home. It was the father’s job to work outside the home to earn a living and then to have his needs and desires met by both wife and children.

2. Image of father created by society…
The Absentee father, who is soft on discipline and ruled by the wishes of his spoiled children.
I found an interesting quote about this kind of father in a book by Bill Hybels, Honest to God?...Bill Hybels was writing about what it means to be a godly man and quoted from a liberal feminist, Deborah Laake…
Ten years ago we (women) were complaining that men feel this need to perform their macho role and think they’ve got to be strong and they cannot cry. And now we have released them from that. We wanted to destroy gender roles, but we destroyed men instead. And now we are the ones complaining.
In this same book, Bill Hybels described godly fatherhood as “Divine Elasticity.” It is a delicate balance between two extremes: Strong, yet Sensitive… Tough, yet Tender… Leader, yet Submitted to the needs of his family… Independent, yet Dependent on God.

III. Make a Living or Make a Life? (v. 2)
The second choice for every parent is found in verse 2. This is another example of attempting life by human effort verses living by the Presence of God. I would summarize this choice with the quote: If you don’t choose your own priorities and determine how much time you will spend on them, someone else will decide for you.
Many of our parents and fathers have allowed their careers to set their priorities rather than determining for themselves how they will spend their time. The result is long hours at work and few hours at home with family…A really good living, but not a very good life. As the Psalmist says, “In vain you rise early and stay up late toiling for food to eat…”
The Hebrew word we translate “vain” is related to the word used in the book of Ecclesiastes, “vanity.” It carries the understanding of “Meaningless.” Why does the Psalmist say that it is “meaningless” to work long hours? Long hours at work are an indication that we are not depending on God. We are depending on our own efforts to provide for our family.
The translation of the NIV does not make much sense to me. It sounds something like, “Don’t get up early and don’t go to bed late, because God provides sleep.” I think the NASB captures a better meaning. The NASB is the most literal translation of the Hebrew and Greek of the Bible. It says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; He gives to His beloved (even in his) sleep.”
The image is of a person’s wealth accumulating even while that person is asleep. The modern mind might be tempted to think in terms of compounding interest or of an investment in the stock market. But the ancient mind would have thought in terms of agriculture. In agriculture the farmer has a responsibility to prepare the land, plant the crops and reap the harvest. But God grows the crops while the farmer sleeps. The farmer’s work would be in vain if God did not send the rain and sun to grow the crops.
We could learn a lot about work from the ancient farmer. Take care of your responsibilities, and trust God for everything else! If all you do is work early and work late and miss out on your family, then you are eating the bread of painful labor. Long hours at work might bring great financial wealth…It might lead to a great living…But if you are not spending time with your wife and children, you are not doing anything of lasting and eternal significance. It is possible to have a great living and a horrible life.
Remember what Steven R. Covey stated in his book First Things First: No one says on his death bed, “I wish I had spent more time at work.”

IV. Burdened or Blessed by Children? (vv. 3 – 5)
The final choice for parents is related to how we view our children. The Psalmist’s words again direct attention away from human efforts and focus on what God has done. In this case, children come to us as a gift from God, not as a result of human effort. Parents do not have control over the conception of children. That is God’s work. Mothers have no control over how a child develops in the womb. That is God’s work.
Now, let’s stop right here and examine something that the Psalmist does NOT say. Many married couples do not have children. The Bible does not teach us that married couples who do not have children have been cursed by God. NO. We need simply to say that when children enter into the lives of a married couple, those children are a gift from God.
But there are too many people in our world who view their children as a burden or a hindrance to their former way of life. Why do some people view children as a burden instead of a blessing? Because they have placed a value on something that God has not placed a value on. Your finances, you job and your lifestyle are NOT more valuable than your children.
Do you believe that your children are a blessing from God? What have you done lately to communicate to your children that they are a blessing? Being a godly father or mother is more than simply giving birth to a child. Godly parents give life to their children every day…Physical life, emotional life and spiritual life…


V. Conclusion
When we invest in our children by giving them life, we help them to grow into the image and likeness of God himself.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
June 10, 2007

God Provides
1 Kings 17:1 – 16


I. Introduction.

I am sure that you have noticed that the world today is not the same as it was fifty years ago, thirty years ago, even ten years ago. The world does not look at the church like it once did.

There was a time when most people in America—certainly most people in East Texas—thought that church should be an important part of their lives. When families would move from one community to another, the first thing they would do was to find a church. The church was the place where new families became a part of their new community. The parents became involved in a Sunday School class and the children began to meet friends either in the Youth Ministry or in the Children’s Ministry.

This is no longer the case. Families move into a new community and may never give a thought to finding a church.

In fact, it seems that the burden of responsibility has shifted. In years gone by, it was the responsibility of individual families to find a church and get involved. Now, it is the responsibility of the church to find new families and convince them that they need to get involved.

Why has this become the church’s responsibility?

I think it is because people today have become cynical about all organizations! That doesn’t mean that people will not become members of organizations. But it does mean that people need to discover what is so important about an organization before they join.

There is another way to say this. Men and women today are not interested in joining any organization unless they can clearly see some practical reasons why joining is better than not joining.

This is true about joining the church. This is true about becoming a Christian.

What is better about becoming a Christian than not becoming a Christian?

There are many ways we can answer that question. But I want to focus on just one…When you become a Christian, God provides for your needs…


II. Read 1 Kings 17: 1 – 9.

Elijah: the Man.
Elijah is usually thought of as one of the most important religious leaders in the life of Israel…Many call him the first significant religious leader since Moses & Samuel…But at this point in the story, we don’t know much about Elijah.

He appeared on the scene for the first time here in 1 Kings 17.

But we do know something about the context into which he arrived…After Solomon was king over Israel, the kingdom was divided…Solomon’s son Rehoboam was king over Judah…Solomon’s rival Jeroboam was king over 11 tribes of Israel…Judah had a series of good kings, each having long reigns…Israel had a series of evil kings, each serving relatively short…In reading the history of Israel’s kings, it seemed that each was a little worse than the one before him…Then the author of Kings describes Ahab as the worse king yet.

Ahab did something that was very common for kings of smaller countries to do…In fact, Solomon had done it literally hundreds of times…Ahab married a Princess from a foreign country as a way of making peace and establishing trade agreements with the other country…In this case, Ahab married a Princess from one of the most powerful countries in the known world…He married Princess Jezebel of Tyre…A woman who eventually controlled both Ahab and the country of Israel…

Of course we all know about Jezebel…She insisted that Ahab build her a Temple where she could worship the god of her country, Baal…Then Jezebel brought in over 400 prophets of Baal to serve alongside the 400 prophets of the LORD and help the king and queen make daily decisions…Jezebel’s idolatry led the people of Israel into Baal worship and pagan sacrifices like they had never done before…Eventually, Jezebel actually put to death all the prophets and priests who did not follow the pagan gods.

This is when Elijah barges onto the scene…

The first mention we have of Elijah is his announcement before the king…No introduction…No mention that he had even met the king & queen…No personal credentials—like where he went to seminary or what churches he had served before coming to Israel…No reasons…No mention of mercy…Just the announcement of a drought!

Why do you think that Elijah announced a drought? I can think of a couple of reasons. On one hand, ANE world was totally dependent on rainfall to provide for their agricultural economy. On the other hand, Baal was a storm god that the people believe was responsible for bringing the rain…Elijah set out to show that there is only one God…And that God ain’t Baal!

But we do learn some things about Elijah…
-He was pretty bold…

-He heard the voice of God…

-He was usually referred to as “The Man of God.”

-He depended on God to supply his needs…Ravens in the wilderness brought bread & meat.


Elijah: the Man of God.
Imagine the kind of faith Elijah must have had in God…

God spoke to him directly…No one could doubt God’s will that heard God’s voice directly…

God performed a miracle to feed him during the drought…How could he ever waver in his commitment to God as he remembered those black ravens coming, on schedule to bring bread and meat?

God fulfilled the promises Elijah spoke to the people…Just think of the assurance he must have felt in God…When Elijah announced a drought, God brought a drought…




III. Read 1 Kings 17: 10 – 16.

Two things we notice about this particular story…
First, it happened in Zarephath…This was a Gentile territory of Phoenicia in the same part of the world where Jezebel was from…And the region of the world where Baal was recognized as the regional god…Again, this is an attack at the heart of idolatrous Baal worship…

Second, it is about a widow…Widows were generally considered the poorest of citizens in Israel…Women could not work to provide for themselves…Women were dependent on fathers, husbands, sons to take care of their needs…

But this woman was even more destitute than usual, because of the drought…Her situation was so severe that she was preparing for what she thought would be her last meal with her son…

Up until this point, God’s miraculous powers had only benefited the Prophet, Elijah…Now, we see God providing for the needs of a common person…
IV. Conclusion.

I think these two stories should be read together…I don’t think we should isolate either one and read it without the other…When we read them together, we discover that these two stories illustrate how God provides for his people.

1. God provides for regular folks.
The story of Elijah and the ravens is a good story about God using the supernatural to provide for his people…But if we isolate the story and tell it by itself, it can actually be discouraging…Elijah was a Super Prophet…Not a regular guy…Not even a regular prophet…

Therefore it is important to read this along with the story of the widow…She is more like the rest of us…Nothing spectacular…Did not have extraordinary faith…Did not live a high profile life…Probably nobody even noticed that God provided.

2. God provides what you need.
What was the widow’s greatest need?

What was Elijah’s greatest need?

-Food…


3. God provides when you need it.
Notice that both Elijah and the widow had to wait until they were totally without any other human resources before God stepped in…God is NEVER late…But God is NEVER early…



4. God provides exactly enough.
Notice that God sent the ravens to Elijah every day with just enough food for the day…
Notice that God gave the widow enough flour and oil for three cakes of bread per day…

I think this is a direct affront to the TV preachers who try to tell us that God wants to make us rich…God gave the widow enough to eat the daily portion…He did not give her enough to open a bakery!


5. God provides for those who step out in faith.

Notice that every day the widow had to make three cakes of bread…But notice which cake of bread she had to make first…The flour and oil were always there, as long as she made Elijah’s cake first…

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
June 3, 2007

Opportunities In Ethiopia
Mark 10: 13 – 16 AND Mark 9: 36 – 37.

I. Introduction.
Picture 1…The entrance to the Baptist Children’s Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. It serves as an orphanage to 58 children and a Kindergarten – 8th grade school for the children who live in the adjacent slum. The people in the slum live in homes made of wood and mud with a tin roof.



Picture 2…These are some of the orphans from the Baptist Children’s Centre. It was 76 degrees that day. We were wearing short-sleeved shirts, and the children were bundled up like it was snowing.

Picture 3…It is hard to say that one child was my favorite, but I wanted to take this little girl home. She is drinking a mid-morning snack of porridge. The Children’s Centre provides all meals and snacks for the orphans as well as snacks and lunch for all the slum children who come to school there. Very early on, the Children’s Centre discovered that the orphans who lived there were better dressed and ate more meals than the children of the slums. The orphans were considered the “rich kids” at the school. So, they had to begin providing school uniforms and nutrition for all the school children.


Picture 4…This is Tony, the director of the Children’s Centre. He lives on campus and serves as the head of the orphanage as well as the head master for the school. These girls are in what we might refer to as “trade school” learning how to sew. The school system in Kenya is different from our schools. Kindergarten through 8th grade is for all children. Students that want to go to high school have to apply like we apply for college. The ones who have good grades get to go to high school. The others either drop out or learn a trade. Tony told us that these girls have two options when they finish sewing school. They can go back into the slum and try to make a living making new clothes and repairing old clothes. This is not a good option, because people in the slum do not buy new clothes and most do not have their clothes repaired. The second option is for the girls to go to work in a factory, but most factories require employees to start out as an unpaid intern for two months. The girls cannot afford to move to the city and pay rent and eat for two months. We asked him how much that would cost…$250. Just $250 to change a girl’s life forever.
Picture 5…When we were in Ethiopia, we were able to witness the annual meeting of the foster parents who work with Buckner in Ethiopia. Right now there are over 1,000 Ethiopian children in foster care through Buckner. They have a goal to increase that number to 12,000 in the next couple of years.


Picture 6…Getahun Tessema is the director of the Buckner work in Ethiopia. He introduced us to the children and foster parents and translated for us as we spoke to the group. He told them that one of the things our group wanted to do was to do home repairs for the foster homes. He asked, “How many of you need someone to put a new roof on your house?” Hands went up all over the room. But this woman in white just pleaded with us to come and fix her roof.

Picture 7…This is Getahun. In the background is a new Buckner baby home that will house 50 orphaned infants. They have already begun construction, but they do not have enough money to complete the project. It will cost $100,000 to build and furnish this baby home. They only have $80,000. They will need an additional $20,000 to finish the project.


Picture 8…These are pastors from the southern region of Ethiopia. In addition to his work with Buckner, Getahun is also the leader of a church planting movement. In the past 7 – 8 years, they have started several thousand churches and have over 350,000 new Christians in these churches. Each of these men is pastor for six churches. Getahun told us a remarkable story about one of the villages where they started a church. There was no Christian church in the village, but there was an Islamic mosque. They preached a revival in the village and all the Muslims became Christians. So, they took over the mosque, cut down the crescent, put up a cross and converted it into a church.


Picture 9…This is the President of Ethiopia--Girma Wolde-Giorgis. We met him on a Saturday in the residence of the Presidential Palace. Getahun has a close relationship with the President. Through this relationship, the President invited Ken Hall from Buckner to come to Ethiopia. He said, “Please help my people.” When we met the President, I gave him two gifts from Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. I gave him a copy of the history of our church A Light in the East Texas Forest and a copy of our choir’s CD Rise Up and Praise Him.


Picture 10…The President donated 25 acres of land in his home village of Bantu for Buckner to establish a ministry. The ministry will be similar to the work in Kenya. There will be an orphanage, a Kindergarten – 8th grade school and a trade school. Buckner has invited our church to be one of the churches to establish this ministry. If we choose to commit, we will contribute $10,000 annually and take one mission trip each year. The very first mission trip to Bantu will take place in July. Twenty-four people will go to Bantu to do eye exams and Vacation Bible School for the children. There will be 4 ladies from our church working on this mission trip.
Picture 11…The people in Bantu live in mud huts. Some of the huts have thatch roofs, and some have metal roofs. Bantu is one of those villages that has no church. Getahun promised me that the next time I go to Ethiopia, we will schedule a revival so that I can preach in Bantu. I asked him if it would be possible for our church to plant the first church in Bantu. He is supposed to email me a proposal about what it would take to start that first church.
Picture 12…Getahun with some of the children from Bantu. These children might be at the Bible School in July. I don’t know their names, but we can begin to pray for them.


Picture 13…Some of the children of Bantu have no shoes. They are not just running around barefoot because they prefer to. They don’t have shoes. Every year during Bible School, we ask our children to bring a mission offering. Patsy and I have talked about giving that offering to buy shoes for the children of Bantu. Then in October, Patsy will go on a Buckner trip to Bantu to deliver the shoes purchased with the offerings of our children.


Picture 14…I want the last picture to be of the faces of children from Ethiopia. Pray for these children. They live in poverty like we have never experienced. And some of them live in an area of the world where there is no church…No witness about Jesus.



Read Mark 10: 13 – 16.


II. Verse 13.
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them…
The idea of a healing touch is found throughout the Gospels. There was probably an idea that for a “Holy Man” to touch a child was like a special blessing. If so, then the crowds of people recognized there was something special about Jesus. He was holy, righteous and close to God. Therefore they wanted him to touch and bless their children.

But the disciples rebuked them…
Were the disciples just having a bad day? Were they just tired and irritable from their travels with Jesus? Possibly. But more than likely they were jealous of the children. In the First Century world, children were “non-persons.” They had no inherent rights of their own. They were little more than the property of their fathers.
The disciples had entered into their discipleship relationship with Jesus wanting to spend time alone with Jesus and learn from his teachings. However, everywhere they went, sick and demon-possessed people took Jesus’ attention away from them. And now it is children…These insignificant, little people.

III. Verse 14.
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant…
Notice the use of the word “indignant.” When I began my doctoral dissertation on the Gospel of Mark, I had always believed there was only one time when Jesus got angry. It was the story of the money changers in the Temple. These men were using the Jewish feasts and festivals as a time to make money. They had stolen the significance of worship by setting up shop and turning a profit on the religious feelings of worshippers.
But two years ago, this word “indignant” just jumped off the page at me. Here is another example of Jesus’ getting angry. I’m not trying to say that Jesus was an angry person. And I am definitely not saying that Jesus sinned. Jesus had a “righteous indignation.” The only times Jesus was angry, he was angry at injustice.
When Jesus was in the Temple, he became angry about the perversion of worship. In this story, Jesus was angry at the mistreatment of children. Children are real human beings with rights just like their parents. Specifically, children ought to have an opportunity to “come to Jesus.”
We need to share Jesus’ passion for children.

He said to them, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them”…
Beginning in the Second Century, the Catholic Church started using this verse as a way to justify the practice of infant baptism—as if Jesus had said, “Do not hinder the children from being baptized.” But I do not think this is about baptism.
I believe Jesus is teaching us, “Do not hinder the children from spending time in the presence of Jesus.”
Give the children every opportunity to learn about Jesus and to experience Jesus and to receive the Gospel message about Jesus. Do not keep children away from Jesus. Do not put obstacles in between children and Jesus.
Modern day obstacles:
1. Parents who do not bring their children to church.
2. Children who live in Bantu, Ethiopia have no church…and as far as I know, they have never been told about Jesus.

For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these…
Does the Kingdom of God really belong to children? No. I think Jesus is using a metaphor. The Kingdom of God belongs to men, women, boys and girls who possess Childlike Characteristics.
1. Innocence…Humility…Dependence…Trusting…Helpless…Receptive…
2. Eager…Learning…Expecting to Grow…Willing to Bring Friends…


IV. Verse 15.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”…
In this verse, Jesus described the Kingdom of God in two ways. He mixes his metaphors and would have made a “C” if he had written this in a high school term paper.
First, the Kingdom of God is “Something We Receive…” It is a gift. We do not earn the Kingdom of God, we do not work for it, and we can never deserve it.
Gift is the root meaning of the word Grace. And every child loves to receive a gift. When I was driving home from the airport after being in Africa for 12 days, I called home and talked to Shauna and the children. When JoEllen was talking to me, she got upset and started crying. While she was crying, I said, “I am bringing you a surprise. Do you want a surprise?” She immediately stopped crying and started trying to get me to tell her what I was bringing from Africa.
Second, the Kingdom of God is “Something We Enter…” It is a new realm in which God is the King. Once we receive this Grace gift, we hand over control of our lives to God.

In the first church I served as pastor, I had a woman speak to me about her grown children. They were both in their 30’s and she was very concerned about their salvation. She was concerned that it was too late for her children to become Christians, because neither had made a profession of faith. She cited this verse from the King James Version, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God AS a child will never enter it.”
Jesus is not telling us that you have to make a profession of faith before you turn 18, or else it will be too late. Jesus is saying that everyone who becomes a Christian must become like a little child first. Innocent…Humble…Trusting…Dependent… Helpless…


V. Conclusion.
This story is most often used to illustrate Jesus’ love for children. There is even a song, “Jesus Loves the Little Children…All the children of the world…” And the story does express Jesus’ love and concern for the children. But, if you want to know what Jesus really thought about children, we will have to read another passage…

Read Mark 9: 36 – 37.

Jesus used children as a way to illustrate what is in our hearts. If we truly love Jesus, then we will take care of children.

I am convinced that it matters how we treat children. How do we treat the children of Lufkin? How do we treat the children of Africa? Specifically, what are we going to do to help children learn about Jesus and to experience Jesus the way we have experienced Jesus?

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Andrew G. Pittman
Sunday Morning
May 27, 2007

Being and Doing God’s Mission
Acts 1: 6 – 9

I. Introduction.
There are some words we use without really knowing what they mean. Like the word “Integrity.” How would you define Integrity? Now there is a man of Integrity…I want to vote for a President who will bring Integrity back to the White House… What does that really mean?
I remember over 20 years ago, when Ronald Reagan was President, there was a huge public discussion about pornography. If I remember it correctly—and I should have Googled this just to make sure—it happened when Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell were fighting each other in the Supreme Court. Ronald Reagan appointed what was then called a “Blue Ribbon Committee” to study pornography and report back to the American people. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist was the chairman of this Blue Ribbon Committee. When the committee’s work was complete, Justice Rehnquist read their report. Now, I couldn’t make up something any funnier than the report. This is one of my favorite stories…After months of study, the committee reported: “We cannot give a definition of what makes something pornographic, but we know it when we see it.”
Maybe that is the way we use the word Integrity. I can’t really say what Integrity is…But I know it when I see it.
The dictionary definition of Integrity = a. Moral soundness; b. Wholeness or completeness. The second definition is actually the original meaning of the word. It comes from the same word as Integer. Do you remember when you had to learn about Integers in High School math? Integers = whole numbers. All this is to say that when we say that someone is a person of Integrity, we are actually saying they are a whole person, a complete person.
Now, I want to step away from the dictionary and give you my personal definition of Integrity. One aspect of wholeness that we might not immediately think of is that something that is whole is also consistent through and through. Think of a huge pan of brownies. If you were to prepare that pan of brownies, you would start with a bowl. You would mix together flour, sugar, chocolate, eggs and oil (or you might substitute applesauce for the oil if you were trying to cut calories). Then you would mix the batter until it was consistent through and through. Then you pour the batter into the pan and cook it. If the ingredients were mixed properly, then your brownies would have Integrity. That means every brownie tastes exactly the same. Every piece has the same amount of each ingredient and tastes the same. It doesn’t matter which piece you choose to eat. The corner brownies taste the same as the brownies in the middle.
Now when we apply the same concept to people, it is just a little bit different. We are not going to cut you up into 24 pieces and see if every piece is consistent. Instead, we are going to move you from one situation to another. For example, let’s think of another person, maybe it is someone you go to class with or somebody you work with or even a person who goes to church with you. Does that person act the same way around you as when he or she is somewhere else? Or does that person change? If there is a change, then the person is not consistent, not a person of Integrity. Now, think about yourself. Are you the same person around your family that you are around your friends at work / school? What about when you are here at church? Are you the same person here that you are when you are with your friends? Then, are you the same person when you are alone? Are you the same person with your friends that you are when you are surfing the Internet? Are you the same person on Sunday morning and Saturday night?
If you want to be a person of Integrity, then you must become the same person in every relationship you have. This kind of consistency is only possible when you are the same person on the inside and on the outside. As Christians, Jesus has called us to a kind of consistency between who we are and what we do. In other words, Being and Doing.
One of the best places to find this calling is in Jesus’ final words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven…
There are basically two stories of the Ascension of Jesus described in the New Testament. Matthew and Luke tell it just a little differently. They both tell us that Jesus ascended while the disciples stood watching. And they both tell us that Jesus gave his disciples instructions about what to do until he returned again.
In Matthew 28: 19 – 20, we read that right before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave us the Great Commission…Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”

Luke tells this just a little differently…

Read Acts 1: 6 – 9
After speaking these words, the relationship between Jesus and the disciples changed forever. Once they had been able to see Jesus and touch Jesus and experience Jesus through their physical senses. But now, they could only experience Jesus in the same way we experience Jesus today—through our Spiritual Senses.

II. You Shall BE My Witnesses.
Notice that Jesus did NOT begin this Purpose Statement by describing what he wanted the church to DO…He began by describing what the church should BE…
I want to try to capture what Jesus said about BEING in just one phrase, “You shall BE my witnesses.”
As a product of modern American TV culture, the word “witness” always makes me think about a court of law…Perry Mason…Matlock…Law & Order…Boston Legal… If you ever watch these programs, you know that a trial can be won or lost (at least a TV trial) by the testimony of one witness…
What makes a witness a good witness? In my opinion, there are three things that separate good witnesses from bad witnesses.

First…A good witness must tell the truth…Second…A good witness must be willing to speak out regardless the cost…Third…And perhaps most importantly, a good witness must tell his or her own story…
A good witness can never tell someone else’s story…She must tell her own story…As it truly happened to her…As she experienced it…

When Jesus described the church as his witnesses, that is exactly what he had in mind…The church is to tell the world the story about a real-life experience with Jesus.
The idea of mission (witness) must begin with a real-life experience with the risen Lord, Jesus…The Holy Spirit will come upon you…Then you will receive POWER…Then you will BECOME witnesses…Witnesses with a story to tell about a real-life experience (a life changing experience) with the risen Lord, Jesus.

Do you ever wonder why some visitors come to church only one time never to return again, while other visitors return and eventually become members? Reformed Worship magazine conducted an informal survey in 1996, asking the members of 26 churches to describe why they decided to join that particular church after visiting. The #1 answer… The congregation acts like it really believes that Jesus is alive…
This is what Jesus was describing when he told us to BE his witnesses. We must witness—or experience—a real life encounter with Jesus that can be seen by other people when they are around us…

III. You Shall DO My Witnessing.
Once Jesus established what the church was to BE, he could describe what he wanted the church to DO…In particular, Jesus wanted the church to DO his witnessing in the world…Now that Jesus would no longer be present in a physical sense, he needed someone, anyone, the church to DO his work on earth.

How did Jesus want this work done? At this point we need to make a decision about the text. What do we believe about the book of Acts? Who originally came up with these words? There are basically 2 choices about this text…

1. Did Luke write these words? Some interpret these words to be a kind of outline that describes in spatial terms what Luke is about to spell out through the rest of the book of Acts. In other words, the first few chapters describe the spread of the Gospel in the city of Jerusalem. Then, we read about how the Gospel went through all Judea and Samaria. Then, the book of Acts closes as the Gospel begins to move into the remotest parts of the earth…
2. Did Jesus really say this? Others believe that Jesus spoke these words as a helpful way for the disciples to understand how to spread the Gospel from Jerusalem and then around the world…

I believe that Jesus really did give this command or mission to his disciples. But what did Jesus really intend? I mean, why did Jesus say: Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and the remotest parts of the earth? Again, we have 2 choices…

1. Did Jesus select 3 general areas at random that didn’t really mean anything to him or his disciples?

2. Or did Jesus select 3 specific areas that he truly wanted the church to focus on.
Jerusalem…Literally the city of Jerusalem. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we ought to travel to Jerusalem and begin witnessing in the streets. Some people may be called to do that. But Jerusalem is the very city that the disciples lived in and it was the physical location they were in right that moment.
For you and me, this means the city of Lufkin…It means the brothers and sisters, friends, classmates and coworkers that we see every day of our lives. If you want to follow Jesus’ command, then you must begin by witnessing to the people that see you every day of your life!

Judea and Samaria…Literally the two adjacent regions of Judea and Samaria. This is a larger area that includes people that looked just like the disciples and Samaritan people who are a different race from the disciples. For you and me, this means that we must begin our witnessing at home, witnessing to the people who know us the best. Then, we must move outward to the people who live around us but are not our personal friends and family…It includes people who look like us and enjoy the same kinds of things we enjoy…But it also includes people who do not look like us…People of every race and nationality…

The Ends of the Earth…Literally, these are the people whom the disciples have never met and the people whom the disciples must specifically make an effort to go and witness to. In each of the above groups, it would be possible for the disciples to witness and evangelize through the normal course of their daily lives. But these are the people who can only be reached through a specific mission trip or a missionary effort…


IV. Conclusion.
In which of these 3 places was it most difficult to BE a witness? Jerusalem…Does that surprise you?…Jerusalem was the place where Jesus had been crucified…Imagine trying to convince those people Jesus was alive…They had watched him die on the cross!
It is the same for us today…Jerusalem is the place where we live…The people who see us every day…It’s hard to witness to people who know when you sin…
How well does Lufkin’s First Baptist, measure up to the mission that Jesus gave us? Remotest parts of the earth…We do a great job! Judea and Samaria…We do a great job! But what about Jerusalem? What kind of mission and ministry are we doing within a 20-mile radius of this sanctuary?
How will you help us to witness in Lufkin?


V. Conclusion 2.
Integrity…Consistency in all of your relationships…
Integrity…Being the same person, no matter where you live…Being the same person in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth…

Read Matthew 28: 18 – 20