Born the Savior

Beecher Island Church Sermon

Luke 2: 8-15

12/23/18

Hunter Irvine

Scripture reading by Joseph

   My friend Dave worshiped at his church on Christmas Day several years ago, and his minister told a story of an occasion when he served at a different church years earlier.  One year the youth of that church prepared for a big Christmas play.  The play director was a woman who worked diligently for many weeks with the students.  Thanks to her hard work, the students were well prepared the night of the performance.
   In the Bible, it states there was no room for Joseph and Mary in the inn.  Bethlehem was such a small town, there was probably only one inn.  Now normally people would stay with relatives when traveling to their home town.  But there is speculation that since Mary was pregnant out of wedlock, that no relatives would have anything to do with her or Joseph.
   The director really wanted to emphasize that no one would give Joseph or Mary a place to stay there in Bethlehem, so she embellished the play and added three inns, and three innkeepers.  During the play, Joseph and Mary went to the first inn trying to get a room.  Joseph pleaded with the innkeeper telling him that Mary could have a baby any minute.  But the innkeeper told him “no” in a gruff manner.  The same rejection came from the second innkeeper.  Then Joseph and Mary went to the third inn, and for the last time, Joseph pleaded for a room.  There was a pause, and then the innkeeper said, “Yes!  You can stay here!”  That third innkeeper invited them to come right in.
The play director got frazzled because with Joseph and Mary staying at an inn, how were they going to get to the manager scene?  There was a period where none of the students knew what to say.  The director finally got some improvisation carried out to get Joseph and Mary from the third inn to the manger.  But the play was derailed for a bit.
   After the play, the minister talked with the student who was the third innkeeper.  He had no intention of scolding him, but he was curious why he changed his lines.  The minister knew the boy knew his lines, because the minister had watched the dress rehearsal.  The minister asked the boy how come he changed his lines in the play.  The boy looked at the minister and said, “I could not say ‘no’ to Jesus.”

   As recorded in Luke 2:10-12, an angel of the Lord spoke to some shepherds in a field.  The angel made the announcement of a Savior.

My first question: What do we need to be saved from?

   The answer is sins.  Sin is that which is apart from the holy will of God.  Sin is that which hurts us, even when we cannot detect it.
I was born in Colorado, but I grew up in Annandale, Virginia.  When I was in school, I wanted to do the right thing for my teachers, and in elementary school I always received the “Citizenship Award” which was given at the end of every school year.  I was Captain of the Safety Patrols at my elementary school, which was a huge honor.  In fact I was voted the second best safety patrol in my entire county in the year 1979.  I was an Eagle Scout, and I did much Scouting work in my youth.  In fact I was one of only two Eagle Scouts in Troop 150 history to earn all three Palms up to that time.  My Boy Scout accomplishments became a part of my self-image.  When I went to college at Virginia Tech, I became a Resident Advisor my sophomore year, a job I continued to work until I graduated from Virginia Tech.  It involved much responsibility, and status as a rule enforcer.
   Now all these activities were special.  I would do all of them over again, though some to a much lesser degree.  Yet deep in my heart I was not the moral person a number of people thought I was.  Deep down in my heart, I struggled with lust and anger.  Deep down in my heart, I was not a truly loving person.  Deep down, I was spiritually dying.
   I needed forgiveness of my sins.  I needed true love.  I needed a Savior!

How do you receive the Savior?

   Believe in Jesus.  This is how you receive the Savior.  You need to simply believe in Jesus.
  To believe is to receive!

   Christians should be baptized in water.  God wants that.  But that is not an act which results in salvation.  Christians should be partaking in the Lord’s Supper.  God wants that.  But that does not result in salvation.  God wants believers to do a number of things which will result in goodness, such as reading your Bible, growing spiritually to be more like Jesus, living a life which glorifies God, telling people the good news, doing some things to express love to various people, and fellowshiping with brothers and sisters in the Church.  Christians should be doing work, and we are enabled to do so because we have the Holy Spirit.
   Yet you cannot do any of these things to be saved.  To be saved, you need to believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord!!!

   That angel spoke to shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem.  Those shepherds raised sheep.  Wool was a valuable commodity in those days.  And sometimes sheep were used for meat.  Yet one other thing: sheep were the animal used as the sacrifice for the Passover once a year, and they were used for certain atoning sacrifices throughout the year!
It is possible some of the sheep in that flock, in the coming months or year, may have been sacrificed for the temporary atonement of sins of the Israelites.
   About thirty-three years after His birth, Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the atonement for the consequence of sins.  Then He was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will be saved!!!

   If you do not know Jesus, I invite you right now to open your heart to Him.  This Christmas season, you can receive Jesus by simply believing.
May you know this Christmas season that Jesus loves you!!!!

Cannot Keep a Secret

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

Mark 1: 40-45

by Hunter Irvine

November 4, 2018

Mark 1:40-45 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  “I am willing,” he said.  “Be clean!”
Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: “See that you don’t tell this to anyone.  But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.  As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.  Yet the people still came to him from everywhere (NIV).

This man had a serious skin disease.  We do not know exactly what skin disease he had, though it may have been leprosy.  There were several types of skin diseases back then, and sometimes one word would be used to cover the range.  Some were curable, but apparently there was not a cure for what we call leprosy today, which is that horrible disease where flesh even falls off.
   I saw the Christian gospel group “The Martins” in concert about 17 years ago.  This wonderful singing trio consists of two sisters and a brother.  That music group used their influence to work for a cause of ending leprosy, since there is a cure for it today.  As of the early 2000’s, there still were some people with the disease in a few regions in a few third world countries.  People can be given a shot, but it cost money of course, and The Martins were working to raise money to get this cure to people with the disease, until all humans were cured.

I think this man had what we would call leprosy today, considering he literally begged Jesus for healing.  I think he knew he could not gain a cure on his own.  I like how the man got on his knees.  It shows much humility and sincerity to get on your knees.  Sometimes when I pray by my bed, I like to get on my knees.

Look what Jesus did: Jesus touched the man.  If someone had leprosy, the last thing I would want to do would be to touch the person.
Jesus touched him.  The man was then miraculously healed!

First, Jesus gives him a “strong warning” to keep it a secret.
Why did Jesus sometimes tell people not to tell anyone about His ministry work?
That is a good question!

I learned from a great book, Jesus The Messiah, by Robert Stein, that Jesus knew many Jewish people expected the Messiah to overthrow the Roman government at that time.  Jesus was cautious in order to prevent Jewish people from trying to put Him on a human throne, since this would have provoked the Roman government to come after Him before God’s appointed time for the crucifixion.
I think this is a good theory.  I have trouble picturing the Pharisees putting Jesus on the throne, but there always could have been a revolt attempt by the Israelites, and the Roman’s would have hit hard against any such activity.

Secondly, Jesus tells the healed man to do what is required under the Mosaic Law recorded in Leviticus 14.  Jesus was following the Mosaic Law!
Under the Mosaic Law, if a person had a skin disease, he or she was considered “unclean,” and could not enter the temple.  There was terrible, since it signified that he or she could not be with God, since the presence of God was in the temple there in Jerusalem.  Any Jewish person would want to be cured and be able to go back to the temple.
If a person was cured of the skin disease, before going to the temple, the person had to go to a priest.  The priest would do a complex ritual involving the sacrifice of a bird.  Then the person would need to give to the priest three lambs to be sacrificed.  It was a complex ordeal laid out in Leviticus 14.

Yet this guy does not obey Jesus.  This guy starts telling people what happened!  He cannot keep it a secret!

I think this is a rare occasion where even though Jesus gave a command, He was actually smiling in His heart this guy was so excited that he could not help but tell folks about what Jesus had done.
This guy was ready for the New Covenant!

The main point of this passage:   This guy is so happy he has been cured he starts telling everyone the good news about his healing!

The personal message for us:   We should be so thankful for what Jesus has done for us that we must tell people!

Obviously you have to be tactful about your witness for Christ.
The witness of each of us is personal, and all of us have different gifts.
Each of us needs to go by the guidance of God!

One example of untactful witnessing:  As many of you know, I am a proud graduate of Virginia Tech!  I was not a Christian when I studied at Virginia Tech.  Once I became a Christian, about one year after graduating from Tech, I gained a friend in my church who had also graduated from Virginia Tech a few years before me.  He had been a Christian for a long time.  His name is Rae.
Rae once told me a story from college when he was walking back from class.  He went through a tunnel where students walk through going from one area of the academic buildings to another.  I remember walking through that tunnel plenty of times.  At the very end, there was a student perched behind the edge of the tunnel.  When Rae was about to come out of the tunnel, the guy jumped out in front of him and asked loudly, “Are you saved?!!”  He scared Rae.  Rae told him that he was saved, and he wanted to ask the guy, “Are you crazy?”  Jumping out in front of someone is not a good way of building a relationship with someone and telling them about the loving relationship he or she can have with Christ.

Regarding a tactful manner of evangelism, every year since 1997, I have written a Christmas letter.  It is my longest lasting ministry.  It started off because when I moved back to Colorado from Virginia, most of my family and friends were in Virginia.  I love to write, so I started giving it much attention year after year, and the letter has thus been a major ministry endeavor since 1997.  The letter goes to people who are Christians and people are not Christians.  Some people are more receptive to a message about Jesus around Christmas time, so it is an evangelistic opportunity for me. 

I want to be like that man!  I want to tell people the Good News.  It is the reason I love preaching!
I am thankful for my total opportunity here today to tell the Good News.
Maybe your gift is to be able to explain the Gospel to a friend over lunch, someone who would not otherwise ever step into a church.

+  I give an invitation if there is anyone here who does not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, to give your heart to Him.  What you need to do is believe in Jesus!
   Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the sacrificial atonement for the penalty for sins.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will be saved from spiritual death.  You will have eternal life.  Jesus loves you!!

Tree Climber

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Luke 19:1-10

by Hunter Irvine

Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
   When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
   All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’”
   But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
   Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (NIV).

+   Jewish tax collectors were considered “sinners,” by fellow Israelites, for good reason:
First - Roman taxing was crooked.
People in conquered territories who were not citizens were heavily taxed, whereas citizens in Rome were hardly taxed.  It was oppressive.
Second – The Roman government supported false gods.
They worshiped the many false gods, and Roman Emperor worship was even added in at times.  Though the Empire let the Jewish people worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, there was tension.
Thus Jewish tax collectors were simply considered traitors.

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.  His enthusiasm was so great that he ran ahead of the crowd and then climbed a tree!
I think Jesus liked that enthusiasm!  Jesus invited Himself to his home as a guest, and Zacchaeus was all for it.

Then Zacchaeus has a radical conversion.  
First he calls Jesus “Lord.”
Second he tells Jesus that he will give away half of his possessions to the poor.

Jesus knew this was more than merely excitement.  Jesus knew the faith of Zacchaeus in his heart, and Jesus declared salvation for a man who had been lost.

~   The point of this passage is that Zacchaeus turned to Jesus and gained salvation from Jesus!

+   The personal message for us is that anyone can turn to Jesus and gain salvation from Jesus!
Salvation is the mission of Jesus the Messiah!

 Two points I really want to make here:
In the conclusion of the book of Acts, Paul is teaching Jewish leaders in Rome.  There is division among the Jewish people regarding the Christian teaching of Paul.  Paul ends up telling the leaders of the Jewish people in Rome that they are not listening to the truth of God, and that he will preach to the Gentiles.
However, other apostles of Jesus still continued to reach out to the Jewish people at the same time in other countries.
The Gospel is for every person of every ethnic group on the planet, and that always includes the Jewish people whom He loves.
I personally have had friends who were Jewish Christians.

Secondly, salvation does not come from an act like giving away your possessions.  Recall the rich young ruler whom Jesus said needed to give away everything, whereas Zacchaeus said he was only going to give away half of his possessions.
The act is not the issue in salvation.  The act is a result of a changed heart.
Opening your heart to Jesus is what is needed for salvation.  Zacchaeus did!

My dear friend Walt comes to mind, because Walt liked to climb trees.  Walt and I met the first day during freshman orientation at Virginia Tech, and we have been lifelong friends.
After graduating, I was at his parent’s house in Maryland visiting one summer for two days, and his mom showed me some large trees in their backyard which Walt had climbed in his youth.  They were huge trees.  Walt said he could see all around the neighborhood from up there.
And I saw Walt climb a huge tree once when he was a graduate student.
   Walt simply enjoyed getting above the neighborhood and being able to see all around.  He was fearless about climbing those trees.

When we were studying at Virginia Tech, Walt was invited by a person in one of his classes to attend a Sunday worship service carried out by CRU which took place in a large classroom at Virginia Tech.  Walt accepted.
Then Walt started attending every Sunday.  Soon thereafter, one night, he knelt by the edge of his bed and believed in Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

He is now a special Christian man.
When I was doing college ministry in Ithaca, Walt opened his home to me.  How generous to allow me to stay with his family for over a year in his home.  That is one example of the type of person Walt is today.

   Jesus Christ saved Zacchaeus, He saved Walt, and He saved me.  And Jesus can save you!  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the sacrifice for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with Jesus!

+   If you are not in a loving relationship with the Messiah Jesus, I invite you to give your heart to Him today.  Some hardships will continue.  Yet you will have blessings from God.  Jesus is revealed for us in the Scriptures, and you can believe in Jesus right here and now.  Jesus loves you!

God in the Flesh

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Acts 14: 8-18

9/30/18

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 14: 8-18 reading by Howard

+   Paul heals a man who had never walked.
Notice how the man “jumps up!”  He really did have faith.  He had never walked, yet once healed he jumps up, I speculate with excitement and joy!

The response of the people in that town of Lystra was to think Barnabas and Paul were gods in human form.
They called Barnabas – Zeus, and they called Paul – Hermes.

Folks in the town realized a miracle had taken place, so they assume it was the work of the gods of that culture.
They quickly think Barnabas and Paul are gods.

Notice a priest of Zeus brings bulls and wreaths to sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul.  This is key!

First, as we learned in Sunday school, every four years the Greeks had the Olympiad, the Ancient Olympics, which at the core was a religious festival to Zeus.  During the Olympiad, they would sacrifice 100 bulls to Zeus, since he was not only a god, but a king of the gods.

Then they would give wreaths to the athletes who won events, which was symbolic that winners were a favorite of Zeus.  They believed those who gained victory were favorites of Zeus.

Thus by bringing bulls and wreaths, that combination, to Barnabas and Paul, it was a conviction by that priest of Zeus that Barnabas and Paul were gods in human bodies.

~   But Barnabas and Paul were not gods in human form.
And Zeus and Hermes were false gods!

+    The truth is, Jesus of Nazareth, He was fully God, and He was fully human!

He did not simply come down from heaven and slip in a body like slipping into a shell.  He was born a human baby, and could experience all of the emotions, feelings, and limitations which us human beings experience.

Jesus truly was God in the flesh!  He was God incarnate.

In my youth, I was not a Christian, but I knew about Zeus.
I knew about Zeus since I was taught about the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle at my high school, Falls Church High School, in my Humanities class.  (I was also taught some about those philosophers at Virginia Tech and CCU.)

I remember Socrates and Plato talking about the god Zeus, and others.

But in studying those philosophers at Falls Church High School during my lunch hour, I did not have love.
Those false gods offered no love!
What a struggling high school young man needed was love!

My fourth year at Colorado Christian University, I took “Contemporary Youth Problems,” which was basically an adolescent counseling class where we learned details about youth struggles, and then learned methods for counseling.
During one class session near the end of the semester, the topic was depression in adolescents.  The professor explained that a high percentage of high school students suffer from depression, he elaborated on the subject, and then he was giving some steps for recovery.
In that class was a really mature woman who had much respect from her fellow classmates and the professor.  I vividly recall how in the midst of the discussion that mature woman told the professor about how she had suffered from severe depression in high school.  Professor Koerper asked her, “How did you get over it?”
There were a few seconds of total silence.
Then the woman said, with utter conviction, “Jesus.”

That was a great day for me at CCU, because that young woman blessed me with her testimony.  I was reminded that I needed the love of Jesus when I was at Falls Church High School.  Not having such, even though I was able to progress from high school in various manners, deep in my heart I still had hurts from high school which needed healing.  Such healing resulted after I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990.  And even now where I am blessed with the love of Jesus, I still need to rely on Him daily.
Gaining His love has resulted in salvation, and blessings which can be known on my journey in this world in the midst of smooth days and rough days by relying on the One who still loves me.

+   If you are not in a relationship with the living God, I invite you to open your heart to Jesus.
Jesus loves everyone.  There are no favorites with Jesus.
Jesus loves all people.
You can be in a relationship with Jesus if you believe in Him.
I warn you ahead of time there will be some suffering.
Yet receiving the love of Jesus results in goodness, and it results in eternal life with the living God.

Jesus, who was fully God and fully human, gave Himself as a sacrifice on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of people.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.

Joy in Christ

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon
August 5, 2018

Acts 1: 4-11

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 1: 4-11 reading by Zach

+   In Sunday school, we learned we can be joyful that Jesus died for our sins.
     We can be joyful that Jesus was resurrected!
     And we learned the apostles were joyful after seeing Jesus ascend into heaven, as is recorded at the conclusion of the book of Luke.

   The ascension of Jesus is a Biblical doctrine preserved in the Nicene Creed.  However, I hardly hear Christians talk about it, and I do not remember ever hearing a sermon on the topic.  For me, the event raises a big question:
If Jesus loves us, why did He leave?

He was only with people for 33 years.
Think of all the time of human history, and yet God was with humanity for only 33 years.  That does not seem very loving.
After Jesus was resurrected, Luke states He remained in the world interacting with people for 40 days.  But then after 40 days came the ascension.
If you love someone, you do not want to leave them.
And if you love someone and they leave, you are sad.

   Five years ago, I started teaching Bible in Appalachia.  I was thinking about this the other day, because I arrived at the small Christian school on August 1st, only a few days before school started.  Leaving Denver was one of the hardest things I have ever done, because there are people in Denver whom I love.  I am like an uncle to two kids, and I was heartbroken I had to leave them.  As much as I wanted to teach Bible, it was one of the hardest times of my life.
Then when I returned to Denver two years later, there was much joy.  The first thing I did with those two kids I love so much was head out on one of those boats you peddle with your feet.  I had never done that before, and it was an ideal day to be outside in Denver, yet it was a truly joyful day for me for the one reason that I was back with my two buddies.

   Why did Jesus leave us alone?  As a follower of Jesus I have always had His word, yet He has not been on earth in the flesh to look in the eyes.

   My Dad is a special man, and he attends a special church in Virginia, where he has been a member ever since he turned to Christ, being influenced for Christ at that church.
One Sunday, he was going down the Sunday school hall, and he saw a group of young children coming towards him.  They were young, around three years old, and they were carrying a blanket which had a baby doll on it.  The teacher for the children was standing a bit behind them.  These cute little kids approached my dad and asked, “Have you seen Jesus?  We are looking for Jesus!”
My dad responded, “Well I have not seen Him today.  What is going on?”
“This person cannot walk.  We need to find Jesus because He can help this person walk!  We want him to walk.”
Dad said, “You are correct; Jesus can make him walk.  You keep looking, and I am sure that you will find Jesus.”
“Yes, we are going to keep looking.  We are not going to stop looking.  We want this person to walk.”
And away the little band of young children went down the hall.

It is not only children looking for Jesus.  There have been times in my life when circumstances were so crummy that I wanted to see Jesus in the flesh.

Yet His ascension into heaven was not a desertion.

+ Carefully reading the text, we learn that Jesus did not leave us alone!
   After Jesus left, He baptized His disciples with the Holy Spirit.

= John 1:33 “I [John the Baptist] would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’  I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

   We Christians believe in the triune God, who is three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is three Persons being One.  Thus the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, thus Christ remains with a believer in the most personal of ways.

   When a person believes in Jesus, she or he has been cleansed of sin because of Christ’s atonement, and she or he is justified before God (Romans 5:1).  Thus that person is baptized with the Spirit of Christ, who indwells a person’s heart.
Paul stated in I Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

   Thus begins “sanctification,” being made more like Jesus, who is holy.  The Holy Spirit works to improve the heart of a person.
The Holy Spirit enables us to become more like Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is the One who can enable us to live in communion with God every single day!!!
The Holy Spirit indwells every believer at every minute. He is not only with you when in church.  The Holy Spirit is with you every minute of every day!

   The Holy Spirit enables us to continue to seek forgiveness, recognizing our wrong doings and relying on Him to do what is good.
The Holy Spirit enables us to forgive!
My parents are divorced, and one of the toughest things I ever did was forgive my parents.  I was enabled by the Holy Spirit.

   The Holy Spirit helps us to interpret Scripture.
When I served in my first ministry position in Grand Junction, Colorado, many years ago, I read a book where the person emphasized how critical it is to have the Holy Spirit assist you when you are working to interpret Scripture.  Knowing that and living according has been a key to my Bible studying all these years.

   Really and truly, Christianity is a relationship with God.  We cannot see the Holy Spirit, which is the hard part, especially when circumstances are crummy.  Yet He is there for the person who is willing to open up to Him.
God the Holy Spirit is with us!  Joy can result!!
Fellowship with the Holy Spirit brings joy!

   I add we can be joyful Jesus is going to return!!
Sometime after I got started writing the sermon for this passage, I realized it would be too much for me to cover both the Holy Spirit and the Second Coming of Christ in a single sermon.  I will give a teaching on the later another day.
Yet I proclaim here, Jesus is coming back!
One day we will be with our heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in full!!!  That is a continued reason to have joy.

+ Invitation:   If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you can today.  I invite you to receive Christ now.
He did ascend into heaven.
He is on His throne in heaven.
Jesus will come again!

Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitute for the wages of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you will have eternal life in Christ.

Believe in Jesus!

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

July 1, 2018

Acts 16: 22-34

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 16: 22-34 reading by Johanna

+   Last month we learned about Peter being put into prison.  Now we have Paul and Silas put into prison.  Different circumstances.  A different place; Paul and Silas were in Philippi.  However, they were all put in for the same reason.  They were all preaching the Gospel and doing ministry work by the power of Jesus Christ.

Here, Paul frees a young lady in the name of Jesus from a bad spirit.  She was a slave, and her owners had been using her to make money.  Her owners became irate they would no longer be able to make money from her, and they come up with accusations against Paul and Silas.

The result is Paul and Silas are beat really bad.
Then they are thrown in prison.
They are even put in stocks.

During my youth, my parents rarely took a family vacation, other than an annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  Yet there were a few other trips, including a memorable vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia.  I thought Williamsburg was so cool.  People dressed in colonial attire carry out jobs which were done back in the 1700’s.  For example, there was a woman making candles and man making bricks.  In the governor’s mansion, there was a violin trio, playing music from the 1700’s.  As a kid, Williamsburg increased my interest in history.
Numerous red brick colonial buildings are restored, and that includes the jail.  In front of the jail are the stockades, where people were locked in for a period of time for public humiliation.  You can put yourself in the stocks, without being locked in of course.  There are pieces of wood on a sliding track with holes for a head and hands.  You lift it up and put your head in, and then put it down.  There is no way a person could break out of it if it was locked.  My parents took a picture.  I always like that picture.
   They also had a similar contraption for your feet.
   Paul and Silas were in stocks.  Whatever type of stocks they had there in Philippi, the odds of getting out was probably zero.

   Even though Paul and Silas were beat really bad and are in prison, they are singing hymns to God!
Being in pain, being in a pitch dark jail, they still have hope.
Note other prisoners were listening to them.  They were being a witness of hope to other prisoners.

Then came an earthquake.  Natural disasters are a part of this fallen world.  However, this was a unique earthquake from God I think.  The chains came loose for all of the prisoners, and the stocks were opened.  Normally in an earthquake, a person's fragile flesh would get hurt in an earthquake.  Yet chains fall off.  Also, the doors flew open all at the same time.

Yet Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners did not make a run for it.
The earthquake wakes up the jailer, and when he sees the prison doors open, he thinks the prisoners escaped, so he is going to commit suicide, because he knows he would be executed for allowing the prisoners to get away.
Back a few chapters in the passage of Acts where God freed Peter from prison, the next day an investigation was done regarding how Peter escaped, and of course no one could figure it out.  The result was that Herod had all 16 of the Roman soldiers who were guarding Peter executed.  That is what probably would have happened to the jailer there in Philippi, a Roman colony.
Yet Paul shouts out to the jailer they are all still there.  Paul cares about the jailer!

The jailer seems to recognize God was involved in this whole prison event.  Maybe he had even caught wind of the reason they were in prison in the first place.

The jailer asks the ultimate question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul and Silas respond with the ultimate answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

~  +   The message for us is clear: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!!!

This verse here in the middle of the church story in Acts, is a pinnacle verse:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!”

   Do note this passage is not teaching patriarchal salvation or infant baptism.  This passage is teaching salvation is available for all people.  The word of God was told to all the family, and they all believed!

   The first time I ever served here, I told a story about a time my grandma and I went for a drive in the eastern plains.  Grandma was born on a homestead, and raised on that farm.  She was a true farm lady at heart.
   Her family moved to Keenesburg, so she and her sisters could attend Keenesburg High School, and then Grandma went with her Mom on Sundays to the Methodist church in Keenesburg where her mom taught a Sunday school class.  Grandma admired and loved her mom, and Grandma liked going to church with her.  I think a seed was planted at that time.  But Grandma did not enter a personal relationship with Jesus.
   When Grandma was 17, her parents got separated, and she moved with her mom to Denver.  Her mom started running a boarding house, and Grandma got a job at Gates.  She would live in the city of Denver the rest of her life in this world, except for her last year plus when she was in a nursing home in Wheat Ridge.
She married my Grandpa in the late 1930’s.  He was a special guy.  But he had been raised in a denomination he did not agree with, and he veered away from God.  As a result, neither he nor grandma ever went to church, with one exception.  Every Sunday, they would attend the sunrise service on Easter at Red Rocks amphitheater.  But neither had a personal relationship with Jesus.
   After my grandpa died, my grandma was in shock.  She soon moved to Windsor Gardens, a retirement community.  There she was encouraged by a caring woman to attend some clubs, and to attend the community church there.  At that church she heard the preaching of Dr. David Beckman, the best preacher I have ever heard.  At that church, she realized the love and care of the assistant pastor, Dick Chambers.  A man who had never taken a theology class in his life, he was a truly caring man.  With such an influence, at some point, Grandma believed in the Lord Jesus, and she was saved.  She was in her late 70’s!  She still physically died.  Yet she is now in heaven now.

+   Invitation        I give an invitation today, that if you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, all you need to do is believe, and you will be saved.
   To be in an everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ, what you need to do is to truly believe in Jesus, and you will receive the Spirit of Christ in your heart.

Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is hell.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved, and you will have eternal life in heaven with our Holy God.

Overjoyed

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

Acts 12: 1-17

by Hunter Irvine

= Acts 12: 1-17 reading by Trevor

+ Open in prayer

+   Peter is led out of prison by an angel of the Lord.  Chains fell, the guards remained sound asleep, and gates opened.
It was a miraculous rescue.  Otherwise Herod probably would have had Peter killed just as he had the apostle James killed.

Peter goes straight to the home of John Mark’s mom.
  Peter is still in danger!
    Peter knocks!

A young lady named Rhoda goes to answer the door.  Rhoda possibly came from a broken family or maybe her father died, thus the reason she was working as a servant there in Jerusalem.  She probably did much cooking and cleaning.

Rhoda is a gutsy young lady, because there so late at night, it could have been soldiers at the door.

At night a person surely would only open the door if he or she recognized the person’s voice.  There was no porch light and no street lights.  Houses usually did not have low windows to be able to look out to see who was there.  Windows, which were open spaces normally to allow ventilation, were often high for safety reasons, and to avoid the smell of garbage in the street.  No kidding, in a Humanities class I had at Virginia Tech, one time the professor talked for a long time during a class on the topic of the placement of windows in ancient houses.  How wild I remember that all these years later.

So Rhoda would have said something like, “Who is it?”  She recognized Peter’s voice.  But instead of opening the door, she is so “overjoyed,” she runs back to the gathering room and tells everyone Peter is at the door.

Reading this after the fact, it is funny.  Of course at the time Peter probably did not think it was funny.

I love Rhoda.  She is so enthusiastic she wants to tell everyone!
They state she is crazy.  Yet she keeps insisting!

Meanwhile Peter keeps banging on the door, and they finally let him in.

~   Rhoda is overjoyed that Peter is alive!

+   The message for us:   We can be overjoyed that Jesus is alive!

God did some incredible miracles during the early period of Christianity to preserve Gospel.  This miracle was one of them.

However, Peter still physically died later on.  Around 64 A.D., Peter was ministering in Rome at the time of the evil emperor Nero.  Peter was murdered along with his wife.  One Christian stated Peter was crucified upside down, since Peter requested to be crucified this way since he did not want to be crucified in the same position as Jesus.

Yet Jesus was resurrected!!

And all those who believe in Jesus are resurrected by Jesus!

+   A week ago, I was driving to the store, and I was paying attention driving because a number of people were driving terribly.  A song came on the radio that I had not heard in a long time.  It was “Walking on Sunshine,” by Katrina and the Waves.  I had not heard that song in a long time.  Every time I hear that song, I think of my friend Kathy Kellogg.
Kathy Kellogg was a woman who was a light for Christ for me when I was a new Christian.  Before I turned to Christ, I started attending the singles group of a church in Virginia.  Kathy was the woman who worked at the welcoming table where they gave out name tags.  After I became a Christian, I became friends with Kathy.
   Kathy studied at BIOLA University, and after graduating she got a job working for a senator in Washington, D.C.  She led a Bible study on Capitol Hill on Tuesdays during the lunch hour.  In that Bible study she brought together people who worked on the Hill who were both die-hard Democrats and die-hard Republicans.
Kathy and I even went on a friend’s date once to a baseball game.  She was one of the most fun people I have ever been around.  She loved to dance.  She danced at the baseball game.  She even danced by the car when we were at a long stoplight.  She was utterly full of life.

   One day I was sitting at my desk at work and I received a call from another friend from our single’s group.  He told me a plane had crashed in Croatia, and that Kathy was on that plane.  Turned out, everyone on the plane died.  Kathy was only 29 years old.
   It was horrible!
   I mourned for Kathy.  Yet as a young Christian, I did not slip into depression or despair.  Instead, I began to realize Kathy Kellogg is dancing in heaven.  I became convicted Kathy is overjoyed now in heaven.
   Pain, suffering, and death are a consistent reality in this world.  After all of the Christian education I have had over 28 years, I still do not know why God allows so much suffering in this world.  Yet for believers in Jesus, one day we will be freed of pain and death, in heaven, thanks to Jesus.

Jesus was the atonement for sins.  He died as the substitute for the consequence of sins.
Jesus was resurrected.  He now reigns in heaven.

Because of Jesus, we can have joy!

+   Invitation If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then you will have eternal life with him.  Right here today, you can open your heart, and receive Jesus!

Through Closed Doors

Sermon given at Beecher Island Sunday School

by Hunter Irvine

5/6/18

Luke 24: 36-43

= Luke 24:36-43 read by Garrett

+ Open in prayer.

+ Following the sudden disappearance of Jesus in Emmaus, He suddenly appears to the apostles and other disciples in Jerusalem.
John 20:19 records this same event, showing the doors were locked!

That is why the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost!
The apostles were “frightened!”

Jesus was not a ghost.

Jesus then invites them to touch Him!
And Jesus even eats some broiled fish!

Yet the nature of Jesus was different.  He went through closed doors.

~ The main point of this passage is Jesus was resurrected both spiritually and physically!

+ The message for us is Jesus was resurrected both spiritually and physically!

When Lazarus was raised from the dead, he came out of the tomb looking a little like a mummy.

Jesus was not a mummy.
The grave clothes of Jesus were left in the tomb.  Peter and John saw those linen clothes.

   * Either Jesus took His grave clothes off, or He went through His grave clothes.

Basic Christianity by John Stott is a classic book.  John Stott explains the original Greek text indicates the linen clothes fell off of Jesus as if the body disappeared.  (Keep in mind 75 pounds of spices were in the strips of linen.)  One key was the head cloth being separate from the other linens.

= John Stott states:
“A glance at these grave clothes proved the reality, and indicated the nature, of the resurrection.  They had been neither touched nor folded nor manipulated by any human being.  They were like a discarded chrysalis from which the butterfly has emerged” (Stott 53-54).

= John Stott continues:
“What then should we have seen, had we been there [in the tomb]?  We should suddenly have noticed that the body had disappeared.  It would have ‘vaporized,’ being transmuted into something new and different and wonderful.  It would have passed through the grave clothes, as it was later to pass through closed doors…” (Stott 53).

After the resurrection of Jesus, He was even able to go through closed doors.  His resurrection has a supernatural element to it.

All of this talk of ghosts and mummies leads to the question: Why does God allow death in the first place?

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Yet then He was resurrected!  If you believe in Jesus, you will have everlasting life with Him in heaven!

+   Invitation!   You can believe in Jesus this very day!

Night Hike

Sermon offered at Beecher Island Sunday School

by Hunter Irvine
4/29/18
Luke 24: 13-35

= Luke 24:13-35 reading by Dax

+ Open in prayer.

+   Distraught - these two disciples walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and they were distraught because of the death of Jesus, which is shown when they start talking with Jesus.  They both quit walking as if energy was taken from them, and their faces were “downcast.”

   Neither seemed to know Jesus is the Christ.  Instead they called Him a prophet.  However, they had hoped He was the one who would “redeem” Israel.  What they needed to learn is only the Christ can truly redeem Israel, and only the Christ can truly redeem the souls of people.  Jesus does explain this to them, as we talked about in Sunday school.  And I think their misunderstanding is the reason Jesus waited to reveal Himself to them.

Excited!!  When they finally recognize Jesus, they became excited.
   How do we know?  They walked seven more miles in the dark!

First, they had just walked seven miles.  Yet they turned around and walked seven more.

Second, apparently they did not eat dinner.  Jesus revealed Himself to them at the start of the meal.  They must have been hungry after hiking seven miles, even if they were snacking on fig cakes, yet they did not eat dinner.

Third, and most important, it was dark!
When they reached Emmaus earlier, it was “nearly evening.”  Thus their return was at night.  They could not wait for morning; they started walking “at once.”
  Night was never a safe time to travel back then.  Roads in the Roman Empire were under more protection, yet there was still always a risk.  The two disciples were so excited, they returned immediately.

~   The main point of these verses is the two disciples were determined to tell disciples in Jerusalem that Jesus was alive!

+   The personal message for us is we should be determined to tell people: Jesus is alive!

   The two disciples took a risk.  Honestly, that is what I would expect from two people who truly saw Him risen from the dead.
   And since we know Jesus is alive, and since Jesus is our Redeemer, we should be willing to take a risk to tell people of the love of Christ.

   For one school year in 2014 to 2015, I did college ministry work for Awaken Fellowship, a special interdenominational Christian ministry at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, N.Y.  It was hard for me since it was a raise your own support position, yet I do not like asking people for money, so I almost starved.  Plus I was homesick, even though I am an old guy.  Yet I loved those students with all my heart!
And a blessing, and the reason I was able to do that ministry work for one year, was that I was living in the home of my good friend Walt, who has been a friend ever since we studied together at Virginia Tech.  And I became friends with his wife and his cool daughter.
However, I had another challenge only five days after arriving in Ithaca: my car was pronounced dead by a mechanic.  So there I was without a car.
   Our group had our big worship and fellowship time every Friday evening.  When the weather was cold, the kind wife of my friend would drive me to the college.  And someone would always drive me home.
   Yet when the weather was fine, I would walk from my friend’s home where I was staying.  It was at least a forty minute walk through remote woods between his house and the college.  I like walking, so often the walk was truly enjoyable for me.
   The scenic walk was always in the afternoon, until one spring day.  I attended a special ministry event, of which none of the students who usually gave me a ride home were attending.  I had to walk home at night.  Frankly, it was a bit spooky walking through those isolated woods in the dark.  And there had been flooding because of melting snow.  Several times my feet sunk into cold water.  I was so glad to get home that night.  As spooky as that night was, even if I had to do that night over again, I would, because I love those students.
   It was worth the risk!

   Hopefully none of us will have to take any future risky night hikes.  Yet Jesus wants us to be willing to tell people He is alive!
   Risks may be more subtle in this day and age, but the risks are mounting here in the U.S. as the culture is more hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

   We should not be careless; that is not smart.  And the truth always needs to be told in love.  Yet being obedient to Jesus involves risks, even to the point of risking losing a job or a friend.  May we rely on Jesus to take the risk to tell people He is alive!

   Jesus was dead.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then he was resurrected!  These two guys who had walked to Emmaus saw Him!
If you believe in Jesus, you will have everlasting life with Him in heaven!

+   Invitation!

Ossuaries in Denver

   As I stood Monday looking intently at a parchment or possibly papyrus fragment containing writing from the book of Isaiah, which is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition in Denver, a young lady around twelve years old made a keen observation to me: “The writing is so small.”
   I had just met the intelligent young lady a few minutes earlier since we were next to each other in the line circling the structure where ten Dead Sea Scrolls fragments can be viewed from only a few inches away.  Her astute observation caused us to discuss a possible reason why they wrote in such small letters.  We considered that since writing material was so rare there in Judea thousands of years ago that tiny writing may have been a way of conserving parchment or papyri.  (According to the exhibition guide: "Most are on parchment, with some on papyrus.")  We both liked this hypothesis.  I was impressed with the interest and thought given by the girl.
   This all took place at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science here in Colorado, where there is the visiting display of the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition, an extraordinary museum exhibit.  Though I think a few facts presented were wrong, overall the exhibit is extremely professional, it contains artifacts which have never been seen before, and it contains other artifacts which I have never viewed in my life, several of which I was honored to see.  The total is over 600.
   To see fragments over 2,000 years old with the writings of Old Testament Scripture from the books of Isaiah and Palms is something I will always cherish.  Yet there was a surprise highlight for me.  Among the many ancient artifacts included, they have about six ossuaries from two thousand years ago!  Incredible.
   Ossuaries, which have the slang term “bone boxes,” are containers in which Jewish people put the bones of people who were deceased, the final stage of a process called “secondary burial.”  First learning of this subject from an article by Steven Fine from the September/October 2001 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, I learned the practice took place in Judea from around 20 B.C. to 70 A.D.
   The body of a deceased person was placed in a cave or a tomb cut into a limestone cliff, and stones were put in front of the openings so wild animals would not get in.  Bodies in those tombs would decompose.  Around a year later someone would return to get the bones.  Many bones were piled up with a bunch of other bones in a cavern or tomb.  But for wealthy families, the bones were put in an ossuary.  An ossuary was made out of limestone, and sometimes that limestone box was plain, sometimes it had a design on it, and sometimes it had a name carved into it.  Then the ossuaries were often put in a cavern or a hole.  Over one thousand ossuaries have been discovered.
   In a sermon I gave years ago, I proposed secondary burial resulted from the view by Jewish people that bones were crucial for resurrection based on the vision of resurrected bones in Ezekiel 37.  This vision is a metaphor from God that the people of Israel would be “resurrected” from their doom of being conquered by Babylon.  Yet I think people started advocating bones were key in resurrection, thus the practice of secondary burial developed.
   I have wanted to see an ossuary in person for seventeen years!  In the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit, in the same room as the ten fragments, the ossuaries are quite hidden from view from most places in the large room unless you are near the spot, with the exception of one petite ossuary which is in clear view.  Thrilled even to see that, I still did not know of the treasure sitting to my right.  Upon finally seeing the collection of ossuaries, I was in awe.  I wanted to tell everyone in the room ossuaries were there.  I had seen pictures, and I had told others about them in two sermons, yet now I was seeing them with my own eyes in person.  Incredible.
   Secondary burial history gives great insight into context surrounding the burial and resurrection of Jesus.  The practice of secondary burial is the reason Jesus was put in a tomb in which there normally would have been access.  But when Christ was dead, there was not easy access to His tomb since it was “sealed” and Roman guards were posted as stated in Matthew 27:65-66.  Yet Roman fortification did not stop Jesus from leaving, and it did not stop the angel from rolling away the stone as revealed in Matthew 28:2-4, thus there was once again easy access to the tomb.
   And secondary burial is why the women were going to the tomb to put spices on the body early in the morning of the first day of the week.  Yet they did not find the deceased body of Jesus.  In fact, shortly thereafter they saw Jesus alive!  I think Mary Magdalene separated from the other women who saw Jesus as recorded in Matthew 28:8-10, yet of course Mary Magdalene saw Jesus as recorded in John 20:10-18.  He is risen!
Hunter Irvine

Where is Home?

Sermon given at Beecher Island Sunday School

by Hunter Irvine
3/25/18

Luke 23:35-43

+ Open in prayer.

= Luke 23:35-43 reading by Rachel

Being insulted! As Jesus is suffering on the cross, He is getting insulted by many people.  They are being sarcastic about Him being the Christ.  They do not think He is, or they refuse to consider that He is the Christ.
   The “rulers” are insulting Him, which included priests and teachers of the law.  Roman soldiers are mocking Him.  And a “criminal” is insulting Him.  Other “gospels” show the crime committed by the two criminals was robbery, and at one point, both men were insulting Jesus.  Yet then one of them had a change of heart, which I will get to in a bit.

Christ is the Anointed One! Christ is from the Greek language, the same word as Messiah which is from the Hebrew, and both mean Anointed One.  So what does being the Anointed One entail?

Christ is the High Priest and King of Kings!!
Who were anointed under the Mosaic Law? Priests and kings!
As we discussed in Sunday School, priests were anointed with the special “sacred” oil mandated in Exodus 30:22-33, which had an olive oil base with perfumes and such.  And kings were anointed with olive oil.
Being the Anointed One, Jesus is the High Priest of Heaven, and He is the King of Kings.  He is anointed with the Holy Spirit!

As High Priest, Jesus sacrificed Himself.  He was the Lamb of God, dying in our place.  The book of Hebrews explains how Jesus as the High Priest was the One offering the sacrifice, and the Sacrifice, being the Lamb of God.
   Many missed this fact about the Christ.  They expected the Messiah to establish His kingdom at that time in Israel by overthrowing the Roman Empire.  They did not understand the role of the Messiah as High Priest there on the cross, physically and spiritually dying in the place of people.

As King - The sign in four languages! Above Jesus was a sign.  Luke states it said, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS”
   But Matthew, Mark, and John all state what was put on the sign a little differently, though all have "King of the Jews" as part of the phrase.
   If the Bible is accurate, how can all four of the “gospel” writers record something different?  This was a question which bothered me when I studied the issue when living in Grand Junction, Colorado, and it was an issue I handed over to the Lord in trust.  Several years later He answered my question from a chapter in a book I read in a Christian bookstore here in Lakewood, Colorado.
   John 19 gives the answer, since it states the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.  Thus the person who wrote the phrases on the sign surely wrote each phrase a bit differently when writing in the three different languages.  And Mark just wrote an abbreviated part of one of the phrases.  So there is no contradiction!

Change of heart: The other gospels show both criminals were robbers, and they show that at one point, both criminals were hurling insults at Jesus.  Yet then the one criminal has a change of heart and indirectly asks Jesus for mercy.

~ The main point of this passage is that Jesus offers paradise to the one criminal.

+ The message for us is Jesus offers paradise to us.

None of us are criminals.  But we all have sinned, and we all need forgiveness.  And Jesus offers forgiveness!

+   Here I am today in the great eastern plains of Colorado.  My grandma was born on a homestead outside of Prospect Valley, and she attended Keenesburg High School.
Jumping ahead, after my grandpa died, Grandma soon moved into Windsor Gardens Retirement Community.  She never had a driver’s license, and she became a “shut-in.”  I would take her out on drives, and I would take her out to eat.  This was always her best day of the week.
And Grandma liked football.  We watched much college football, and we watched the Super Bowl together for a number of years.
I rarely watch pro-football, but I consider Super Bowl Sunday to be like an American holiday.  I have only missed a few Super Bowls ever since Super Bowl 11.
One of the few I missed was in 2003.  I was not into the game that year.
When I proposed going out to dinner that night instead, Grandma reluctantly agreed to skip it, but I think she would have rather watched the game.
We drove around the beautiful country that afternoon.  Then that late afternoon we ate a nice dinner in Bennett.

Driving back to Denver, there were few cars on I 70, and it was a reminder we were missing the Super Bowl.  Unusual for me, I felt loneliness, right there driving down the highway.  Yet I considered how the fulfillment found in this world is temporary.  I considered what seems so glamorous and exciting in this world will one day end.
As I continued driving, there was a magnificent orange sunset in the west.  It was a reminder to me that God offers heaven.  It is everlasting!  Heaven is fulfilling and is better than I can even start to imagine.
I know this from Biblical revelations, including this promise recorded in Luke by Jesus on the cross of true paradise.

Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the atoning sacrifice for the wages of sins.  As High Priest, He sacrificed Himself.  Then He was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have everlasting life in paradise with Jesus!  Jesus truly loves you.

+   Invitation!

Billy Graham

   Standing in a thrift store in my hometown of Annandale, Virginia, looking at books on a shelf, I saw a paperback written in 1961 entitled Billy Graham: The Man Who Walks With God, by Glenn Daniels.  I had only been a Christian a few years yet I had become a student of the Bible.  Yet I had only read three Christian books to that date, and I decided that since I was now a Christian I had better learn something about the man who was the most well known Christian in my country.  I then read that influential book on subway rides to work.
   Soon after I attended the memorial service for a woman in our church named Dula.  She had a physical challenge which had inhibited her physically in many ways and which was the cause of her physical death at a rather young age.  Yet her focus was not on her physical challenges, and she was a kind and caring woman.  I really liked her.
   I learned at the memorial service that Dula had come to believe in Jesus after hearing Billy Graham preach at a stadium.  I was grateful for his ministry which had resulted in her life being changed!
   Then in Virginia a few years before my call into ministry work, there was a blessed evening when I sat with my dad in his living room watching Billy Graham preach with such conviction.  It was beautiful father and son time.
   Years later I would learn that my friend, Dr. David Beckman, was a freshman at Wheaton College the same time Billy Graham was a senior there, and they were friends.  During a challenging time in my life, I read the autobiography by Billy Graham, Just As I Am, which was a tremendous encouragement to me and an influence on me.  His honesty in that book was fantastic, and he showed times of struggling in his life, during which he turned to God with a sincere desire to trust Him.  Blessings resulted.
   Billy Graham had guts for God.  Willing to rely on the Holy Spirit, he preached with conviction, never neglecting the topic of sin.  Yet the aim of his sermons was the love of God and the opportunity to turn to Jesus for salvation.
   Billy Graham loves Jesus, and the result was the saving of many.  Billy Graham was an evangelist, an evangelist who desired to preach Christ in whatever country he could.  What an incredible journey with Jesus he traversed in this world.  He is now home.  And I say, “Thank you Billy.”
   This past Sunday, I was honored to preach at my church.  On the pulpit at my church are the words, “We preach Christ crucified, and risen.”  At the core, this is what Billy Graham preached.  And he preached that all people have a decision to make of whether to receive Christ or not.
   If you are not in a personal relationship with Jesus, you can know Him as your Savior and Lord even today.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the atonement for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  If you believe in Jesus, you will have eternal life in heaven with the Holy God.
Hunter Irvine

A student of Scripture

   When I studied at Virginia Tech, I took several law classes with a distinguished professor in the Political Science department, Dr. J.W. Tubbs.  He had been a successful lawyer, yet then moved into teaching due to a muscle disease.  That move was into a profession which was also a calling.  The muscle disease once caused him to be bed ridden for an entire year.  His saintly wife cared for him.  During that year he read every Supreme Court decision ever decided.  Incredible.
   In the second constitutional law class I studied under him, during the fall of 1987, we started the semester with his instruction on how to do a detailed examination of a Supreme Court case.  This is what he taught:  First, get the facts.  Second, get the decision.  Third, get the reasoning supporting the decision, and even the reasoning of the Justices who dissented with the decision.  Fourth, get the precedent.  For that quarter, I enthusiastically applied that methodology to successfully studying Supreme Court decisions.
   Several years later, less than a year after graduating from Virginia Tech, I turned to Jesus.  Then I started reading the Bible.  As a young adult, I knew less about the Bible than most of the people in my church.  Yet as a Virginia Tech grad, I employed, and still employ, lessons I learned in Dr. Tubbs’ class.
First, I get the facts.
Second, I get the message.
Third, I get supporting Scripture and reasoning supporting the message.
Fourth, I get an application.
   I steadily started learning more and more about the Bible.  And that continues here twenty-seven years later, and with further principles for gaining messages.
   Studying the Bible involves a rich dynamic, yet the bottom line is I want to gain messages God has in His revelations for us.  The point of that large book is to learn from God so we can gain messages for our lives, starting with salvation, and the lives of others.  So what we need first and foremost is content!
   The Bible is an ancient text containing sixty-six books which were written over a period of over 1500 years, which had numerous authors, and which were written in different literary styles.  The entrenched disagreement concerning certain Biblical messages between various Christian communities shows that Biblical interpretation is challenging.  Yet for me, learning from God’s revelations are of upmost importance.  After reading a number of Christian books in my early Christian days, I developed further principles, praise be to God.
   Four critical principles for Biblical interpretation are:
First, be willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  He is the One who inspired the Biblical writing.
Second, to get the message, take a verse in the context of the passage, a passage in the context of the chapter, a chapter in the context of the book, and a book in the context of the entire Bible.  More simply put by many, interpret Scripture with Scripture.
Third, gaining context may include learning some historical information.
Fourth, gain the message, not getting derailed by semantics.
   Regarding the fourth point, messages can be missed if you are caught up in some practice such as diagraming sentences like I had to do in the 8th grade.  And in my opinion, sometimes there is a passage in Scripture which is not clear, and trying to force a doctrine out of such a passage is a mistake.
   Details are still important!  For example, in most cultures there is a difference between a town and a city.  This was the case in Biblical times. (1)  But if there is not a difference between a town and a city in a culture, then that student of the Bible would need to learn a Biblical history fact, which leads back to my third principle for Biblical interpretation.  Once understood, the reader will recognize the distinction between the “City of David,” a term used in1 Kings 8:1 along with a number of other passages, and the “town of David,” a key term used in Luke 2:11.  City of David refers to Jerusalem, whereas the town of David is Bethlehem.
   Taking the class Interpreting the Bible at Colorado Christian University, I learned that context is an important element of content, but becoming pre-occupied with context can lead to missing the messages of God.  God’s purpose of Scripture for us goes back to the content, so we may gain messages from Him and apply them in our lives.  For a person who follows Jesus, we are to be carrying on with the Biblical story.
Hunter Irvine

(1) Patricia Dutcher-Walls, Reading the Historical Books: A Student’s Guide to Engaging the Biblical Text (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014), 31.

Rebecca St. James has long been one of my favorite musical artists, and this is one of my favorite songs of all time, Lest I Forget:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYNeO7y5rBk