Christ is Risen

   I have had some challenging Easters since turning to Christ.  Once when approaching my church for the big morning, a tire blew out.  Fortunately I was only two blocks away, and I drove super slow.  After the service and special fellowship time was over, our head pastor volunteered to change my tire.  The students in the church became quite entertained by the event and were lively spectators and commentators.  Though I ended up having to buy two new tires, I savored the blessing of the enthusiastic students.
   Another challenging Easter was when I was away from my home doing college ministry work in 2015.  The church was jam packed, and I sat with my friends in a pew where everyone was shoulder to shoulder.  Being on the far left of my friends, to my left was a woman and her husband in their early twenties, whom I had never seen in church.  During the sermon, the man started massaging his wife’s back.  I was trying to pay attention to Pastor Eric, but it was totally distracting to have the woman next to me getting a back massage by her husband inches away from me.  Honestly, being single is a tough calling, and in my experience some folks in churches only make it tougher.
   Then there was the Easter when I got a virus. (This was a few years ago, and though nasty, it did not compare to the current dangerous coronavirus.)  My housemate got sick in late February which resulted in him getting laryngitis, and he remained sick for several weeks.  (But he did not go to the doctor that entire time.)  Just as he was recovering, I got sick.  It was the Wednesday before Easter, and I immediately called my doctor, hoping it was a bacterial infection so I could get on antibiotics immediately.  But my doctor diagnosed me with a virus, and said there was nothing she could give me.  I had to miss Easter service.  (I am a longtime advocate that anytime you are sick, out of loving consideration to others and yourself, you should refrain from church and spend some time personally with God.)  I was really disappointed.  I wanted so much to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ on the most important Christian church day of the year.  Yet that Sunday morning I worshiped God in my room, knowing Jesus is resurrected, and gaining a peace which passes understanding.
   Easter of 2020 may appear to be thwarted because of the coronavirus pandemic catastrophe.  In most cases throughout the entire world, churches will be, or should be, locked.  Easter services for many Christians in the world will be electronic.  Easter services for some Christians in the world will not happen.
   I will be doing what I do most every morning.  With only God and me in my room, I will read a passage from my Bible, study the passage, ponder the message, pray, and sing a hymn, all aspects of worshiping God.  Key is the fact I will not be alone.  God is with me daily.  I know that this Sunday, like every day, I can celebrate that my Savior and Lord, Jesus, is risen from the dead.
   Yes I would give the world if I could worship with people and preach an Easter sermon this Sunday.  On March 29th I was supposed to offer a sermon as part of a preliminary pastor interview process, but it was indefinitely postponed.  Now I can only wait until an unknown date.  And the sermon I prepared for that cancelled service would be ideal for Easter.  But on Easter I will remain unemployed, churchless, and without an opportunity to offer my sermon.  Yet I will have love.
   In nearly 30 years of following Jesus, I have had countless disappointments and I still have plenty of regrets.  Yet daily, I have had the love of Jesus.  And daily, it has been possible for me to celebrate in my heart the resurrection of Jesus.  Having a loving relationship with Jesus, the One who died on a cross as the substitute for sins to save us from spiritual death, results in eternal life in heaven with Him in the future, and results in hope in our days in this world.
   Recognizing we are all hurt to some degree by this coronavirus tragedy which is bringing much suffering worldwide, I can still proclaim that you can have a blessed Easter wherever you are, if you rest in the love of Jesus.
Hunter

Touched by Jesus

   In the midst of this coronavirus worldwide tragedy, “social distancing” is saving physical lives, literally.  I have been trying to carry out social distancing to the max.  Sacrificing money, convenience, and much else, could physically save someone’s life.  A projection I heard today for continued deaths worldwide brought me to tears.  The heroes in this nightmare tragedy include people, any people, who are carrying out social distancing as well as they can.

   Now please read this carefully since I do not want this to be misconstrued, and there is a point to this.  The only person who would not need to do any social distancing, if He was physically here, is Jesus.

   The irony is that even in the face of leprosy, Jesus did not do social distancing:

   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!” (Mark 1:40-41)

   Now if it was me, I would get as far away from the guy as possible, yet Jesus touched him.

   Likewise, Jesus touched children:

   “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them…” (Mark 10:13)

   I noticed during my years doing youth ministry that the more the years went on, the more careful us youth workers had to be about touching students, because sexual immorality consistently increased as the social norm in the U.S., thus marring the intention of a caring touch.  Yet Jesus touched little children.

   And how about Jesus spitting into dirt and then rubbing it on the eyes of a blind man.  He was surely not modeling a practice for the rest of us on that one.  Yet the blind man received his sight.

   Jesus did not need to do social distancing since though He was fully human, He was also fully God, and He was able to heal people who were sick.  Regarding social distancing now, all of us humans worldwide need to be carrying it out as able.  However, there are messages from Jesus’ touching for us to learn from.

   First, as I stated in my last piece, we need the spiritual touch of Jesus.  Touching can be an expression of love, and Jesus loves us.  For a person who gives his or her heart to Jesus, the Spirit of Christ will touch him or her in a spiritual manner.

   Second, in this time of tragedy where many are dying and where many are suffering, which obliges us to avoid physical contact with people, we need to continue to look forward to the time when we can resume with social closeness. How do I know God wants social closeness?  Why not simply have church online from now on?  Just think of the benefits of listening to sermons in our pajamas while being able to fast forward though the boring parts of a sermon.  And think of the money churches would save on facility bills.  Simply note the ordinances which Jesus commanded.  There is nothing virtual about them, rather they are relational and real.  Baptism in water is relational and real.  People taking bread and juice in a community setting is relational and real.  Truly, we human beings were never created to be isolated from God or one another.

   The coronavirus makes it necessary for all people to practice social distancing at this time until the danger of COVID 19 is over.  When finally over, may we believers resume engaging in appropriate relational expression to people in the love of Jesus.

Hunter

Free Hugs

   A day or so after the tragedy at my first Alma mater, Virginia Tech, on April 16, 2007, there were two students who stationed themselves by a bench on the drillfield, which is a huge grassy area at the center of campus.  They held a sign which said, “Free Hugs.”  I saw a picture of them, and though many miles away from my beloved university, I was touched in my heart by their loving offer at a time when so many of us were hurting.  And hug many people they did.

   In the midst of this worldwide tragedy of the coronavirus, which is bringing death or pain or an assortment of hardships to countless people worldwide, an additional tragedy is people are being more separated from each other.  Gatherings of people have been halted, truly a safety necessity.  Only such discipline will keep the coronavirus contained.

   In public, everyone is supposed to be carrying out “social distancing,” which includes people refraining from getting close to one another; everyone is supposed to stay at least six feet away.  We human beings are not supposed to touch those outside of our homes, including handshakes or hugs.  No one knows for sure how long this will need to continue.

   This past Sunday, many churches in the United States were closed, and most will be closed for a number of Sundays to come for genuine safety purposes.  Some leaders are speculating all churches may be closed on Easter.  How sad to know churches are locked up.  Now many churches are having online services, which is a good thing for this period, but obviously impersonal.

   At this time of trial, may we Christians realize the basis of Christianity is a relationship with Jesus, not a ritual.  Scripture teaches the foundation of being a follower of Jesus is faith in Jesus, the One who was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of people.  Faith results in a loving relationship.  A believer becomes born again, being permanently indwelled with the Holy Spirit.  Thus any Christian has the opportunity to be spiritually and lovingly touched in his or her heart by God day after day!  As we all are being physically separated from one another due to the coronavirus, this is a time to rely on being touched by our Savior and Lord in a spiritual manner.  Jesus loves us, and He wants to touch our hearts.

   And regarding our fellow human beings, we are commanded by Jesus to love them.  Our culture for years has been plagued by sexual immorality which involves wrongful touching, plagued by anger, and plagued by many other sins which interfere with loving human relationships.  There is a grand need now for followers of Jesus to continue to carry out the commands of Jesus, loving God and loving people.  Thus we need to keep forgiving and caring.  Personally, my circumstances are financially rough now, however, in spite of “social distancing” and little cash, I see opportunities to be a light for Jesus now as many people are hurting and confused.

   When churches unlock their doors in the future, church norms may be changed in most for safety reasons.  Sadly enough, I think some churches will get rid of the time when we greet our brothers and sisters during worship.  Yet when this crisis finally ends, I see a day when opportunities will arise to once again give holy hugs to people in the love of Christ.

Hunter Irvine

Home

I John 4: 13-16       We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (NIV)

Luke 23: 43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (NIV)

   My grandma was in a nursing home for a year and ten months before she passed away.  I visited her every single day for the first six months, and frequently after that.  A nursing home is one of the last places I would chose to hang out, yet I loved Grandma, and I wanted to spend time with her as she suffered being bedridden and lonely.  I would talk with her, I would read to her, and I would usually sing one song to her before I left, which also made me popular with her roommate who liked my singing.
   Visiting the nursing home so much, I got to know several residents.  There were some really nice people there.  A few residents were blessed to have family members visit them consistently, but for most residents, visitors came on rare occasions or never.  Then there were a few people who I did not talk with but saw often, since they were often up and about.  One of those folks was Jane, not her real name.  Jane was 103 years old.  She was extremely active.  Normally when I walked down the hall to and from Grandma’s room, at different times, Jane would be shuffling around on her walker.  And though she often was not intelligible, many times she was in a conversation with someone on the hall or to herself.  I never talked with her, but sometimes I would say, “Hi Jane,” when I walked by her.
   One evening I was visiting Grandma a few days before Christmas.  As I walked by Jane, she pushed her walker in front of me and started talking with me for the first time.
   She said with upmost sincerity, “I need to go home.”
   I casually responded, "You are home, Jane."
   Looking right at me, she responded, “You don’t understand.  It is Christmas and I need to be at home.”
   I then got real serious and said something like, “Jane, people here care for you, and you are like family here, so this is kind of your home.”
   I tried to comfort her, but it was sad.
   Growing up in a transient area in Virginia inside the D.C. beltway, experiencing the divorce of my parents, and remaining single all of these years, even though it has been a longstanding dream to be married, has made “home” often seem elusive.
   There is an old saying, “Love makes a house a home.”  I agree, realizing home is a place, yet home also involves relationships.  We learn the atonement Jesus made on the cross as the substitute for sins, which is stated in I John 4:10, resulted in the opportunity for people to be in a truly loving spiritual relationship now with Jesus.  Thus if you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, wherever your abode, you can be at home with Jesus.
   Secondly, receiving Jesus, you gain a forever home.  As Jesus promised one of the men being crucified alongside Him, a believer will be ushered by Christ into heaven.  After following Jesus for coming on thirty years next month, I recognize more and more the journey I have been on in this world does not find completion here.  The result of journeying with Jesus is an eternal home with God in heaven.
   Knowing this in my heart, sometimes it does not seem so.  I have been in churches where leaders or people have been focused on money or whatever else blocks love, and then when I moved on, I felt church homeless.  And there have been two periods in my life in my calling of ministry work when I had to move so frequently, “home” seemed like it may be out of reach.
   Yet whether I am church homeless or a nomad, I live with the Holy Spirit being in me, and I have the promise of heaven.  If you are not a follower of Jesus, you can be today by simply believing in Him.  And if you are a believer, rely on the promises of our loving Father that He is with you right now and cares for you right now, and that He has an eternal home for you, praise be to Jesus!
Hunter

Thanksgiving with Family?

Mark 3: 31-35     Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived.  Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
   “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
   Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (NIV).
   Jesus gave a radical description of His family, defining His family as those who do God’s will.  No birthright and no family tree?  Now Mary gave birth to Jesus, and Joseph and Mary were parents who raised Him.  Yet Jesus was not the flesh and blood of Joseph and Mary, rather He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  And in this passage, Jesus revealed the reality of a spiritual family, which is available for anyone who believes in Him.  John 1:12 states people who believe in Jesus are adopted as children of God.  It is a spiritual adoption.  Those who are children of God have the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to do the will of God.  What a privilege to not only be saved from our sins by Jesus and to be united with God, yet to also gain such an intimate relationship with God as to become His children.
   Often Christians start a prayer addressing the Father: Heavenly Father, Holy Father, Father God, Our Father, and such.  This title of Father is a reality for the person who is a follower of Jesus.  Incredible.
   My sophomore year in college at Virginia Tech, my mom left my dad the day before Thanksgiving.  That Thanksgiving was one of the most painful days of my life.  My full family never had Thanksgiving together again.  Future Thanksgivings were infused with some pain for me for at least a decade following that horrible Thanksgiving.
   Since that time, Thanksgiving Day has been spent with a bunch of different folks.  People I have shared that traditional meal with over the years include my grandma until she passed away, several different families from several different churches, three elderly ladies from my church, and twice with some CCU students unable to travel home for the holiday.  When I first went into ministry work, I spent three out of four Thanksgivings alone with God.  I needed healing and His comfort during that period.  This year I spent the holiday with folks from a special Christian singles group.
   Spending Thanksgiving with various people in various places, I was enriched, and I always appreciated people inviting me to join their family celebration.  Yet honestly, none of those Thanksgivings were my true desire.  My sincere desire was to be with a wife.  Honestly, I still would do anything to spend a quiet day in our own home with a wife giving thanks for Christ’s love.
   However, I reflected during this Thanksgiving of how throughout my hodgepodge of Thanksgiving events, I have been blessed to be with family-in-Christ on Thanksgiving, even if it did not seem like I was with family.  And all of those times were an opportunity for me to express Christ’s love!
   If you are not in a relationship with the Heavenly Father, you can call God your Father even today.  Referring back to John 1:12, to receive forgiveness and to be adopted into the family of God, you simply need to believe in Jesus, the One who died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.  Now He offers you the invitation to join His forever family for all eternity, and you will be enabled to do the will of God.
   Speaking from experience, you still may have some challenging Thanksgivings, (even if with physical family or Christ’s family), or some crummy Thanksgivings, or even some lonely Thanksgivings.  However, you will never again be alone on Thanksgiving, even if you feel lonely.  God promises to spiritually be with His children always.
Hunter

A Sacred Time

Sermon

A Sacred Time

Mark 1: 35-37

First Baptist Church (ABC) of Longmont

9/22/19

by Pastor Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Mark 1: 35-37  Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” (NIV)

1. Duffy Robbins & Merrill Tenney:

   A professor named Duffy Robbins has served at Eastern University in Pennsylvania for decades.  Duffy is a nationally renowned Youth Ministry professor.  I read several of his books when I was a student at CCU, and they were good textbooks.  And I have had the privilege to hear him speak twice at seminars.  He is a gifted teacher.

   Duffy also spoke at CCU a few years ago, and I attended the symposium to listen to him.  In that talk, Duffy told of the time he had an opportunity to have lunch with Dr. Merrill Tenney, the outstanding Bible scholar.

(There is a book by Merrill Tenney in this church up in the chapel bookcase.)

   So Duffy was extremely excited to meet Dr. Tenney, and during lunch with the famous scholar, he asked him a big question: “How do you spend your quiet time with God?”

Dr. Tenney replied, “I read my Bible, and I pray.”

That was all he said.

Now I think some other spiritual practices are great.

I sing one song every morning to conclude my quiet time.

Journaling is a special spiritual practice for me.

And many people do a variety of other activities during their personal time with God.

Yet Dr. Tenney got to the foundation of growing in Jesus day by day:   Read your Bible and pray.

2. Solitude is needed:

Solitude is a word many people do not like.  They equate it with being lonely.

Yet when you seek solitude for your quiet time with God, you will not end up lonely because you will end up spending the time with God!

Spending time with the Lord God Almighty, you will end up fulfilled rather than lonely!

We need to seek solitude, to get away from the countless distractions, so we can spend sacred time with God.

3. Your sacred time? :

Do you have a specific time and place where you spend your sacred time with God?

Of course we can spend time with God anytime, yet having a daily discipline usually promotes consistency.

In the book Manna, by Steve Farrar, in Chapter 5, Red Leather Chair, he tells of his daily practice of waking up early and reading his Bible and praying in the same red chair, morning after morning.  He emphasizes that time with the Lord is foundational for the way he lives his life.

Do remember the key is not the time or the place, yet the key is interacting with your Father in heaven.

* All loving relationships require loving interaction.  Spending time together, talking, and listening, are all needed for a healthy relationship.  Spending such time with our Heavenly Father is imperative!!

4. My sacred time with God:

   My personal time with God has been a key to my growth in Christ ever since I was a new Christian.

Most days, I spend time reading the Bible and praying after breakfast.  I cherish the time.

* I am the Christian man I am today, because day after day, year after year, I have spent sacred time with God.

5. Jesus got recharged for preaching the Good News:

Did Jesus read His Bible and pray?

Again, from the book Manna, from that same chapter on page 112, Mr. Farrar states, “In the gospel of Matthew alone, we find Jesus directly quoting from the Old Testament seventy-six times.”

And we learn from this passage that Jesus prayed.

Jesus was fully God, and He was also fully human, and even He prayed when on earth.

Spending that time alone with the Father, Jesus got recharged to preach, to teach, and to heal!

Sacred time with the Father prepared Him to preach.

And Jesus preached the good news!

The word “Gospel” means good news.

What is that good news?

+ The Gospel

                             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.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with Him in heaven.

+ Invitation

                             If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I invite you today to give your heart to Jesus.  You can receive Him by simply believing.  Believe in Jesus, and you will spend eternity in heaven.

Jesus loves you!!!

Jesus Offers Heaven

Sermon

Jesus Offers Heaven

Matthew 4: 12-17

FABC of Longmont

September 15, 2019

Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Matthew 4: 12-17 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.  Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (NIV).


Why not Galilee of the Jewish people??:
Why is the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali called “Galilee of the Gentiles?”

After all, Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the twelve tribes of Israel, and their land was part of Israel.

In 931 B.C., there was a split in Israel – the northern kingdom, Israel, and the southern kingdom, Judah.  The northern kingdom had 10 tribes, and the southern kingdom had 2 tribes.

After the split, there was much disobedience by kings and many Israelites in the northern kingdom, year after year.  God warned them to stop turning to false gods and doing other sins, including violence.  But the leaders did not listen, so God allowed the invasion of the Assyrians.  Isaiah gave a specific prophecy that Assyria would conquer Israel.

In 722 B.C., the Assyrians conquered Israel, the northern kingdom.

The Assyrians were terrible.  They would conquer a country, and then to reduce the chance of that country rebelling later on, they would deport most of the people to another country they had conquered.  Then they would send foreigners from the other country to live in the newly conquered country.  So they were not only conquering countries, they were ripping people out of their homeland.

Thus much of the area which had been Israel became filled with people from another country, or countries.

Later on Judah was conquered by Babylon, and then came the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., which I will not get into because that is a complete sermon in and of itself.

Some Jewish people did return, but…:

So Galilee was inhabited by Gentiles, however, there may have been a few Jewish people who were able to remain in 722 B.C., but moreso, a few centuries before the time of Christ, some Jewish people were able to return to their homeland in Israel, in addition to all of the Jewish people who continued to return to Judea from Babylon.
And as the Roman Empire expanded, the roads made travel easier, and people were able to more easily move.  Some Jewish people who had been dispersed all over the place returned to their native land.

Thus in the region of Galilee, you had both Jewish people and Gentiles.
Yet this Scripture lets us know the area was dominated by “Gentiles.”

A religious mess:

Now Gentiles were any people who were not Jewish.  This sounds rather racist to be segregating people by such terms.  However, the Biblical distinction was concerned not with ethnicity, rather with false religion versus the one true God.

The ancient world was filled with devotion to a plethora of false gods.  I learned in my Western Civilization class at CCU that most people in the ancient world were polytheistic, meaning they believed in the existence of many gods.  Monotheism, the belief in a sole God, was an attribute which set the beliefs of the Israelites apart from other people of other nations.  (There was one ancient Egyptian king who advocated monotheism, which really set him apart in history.)

God wanted the Jewish people to be set apart from the people of other nations in order to preserve their relationship with Himself, Yahweh, the true God!

But rather than devotion to Yahweh in Galilee, besides a minority of people who were Jewish, the region was filled with a whole bunch of people with devotion to a whole bunch of false gods.  And all this was under the Roman Empire, which had its own pantheon of false gods, most of which were false Greek gods with different names.

It was a religious mess.

Jesus offered heaven:

And in the midst of the religious mess, Jesus started preaching about heaven.

Heaven is the offer of Jesus!

Yes God wants good things for us in this world, and He has made other promises to us, such as He will be with His children up to the end of the age.  Yet His primary offer is heaven!

In the Sermon on the Mount, in parables, and in other places, Jesus taught about heaven!!

Heaven is His offer to us!


Memorial services:

Being a person called to vocational ministry, I have known many people who have died.
And I have been to many memorial services.
Once in a church, we had three members die in a period of only a few months.  It was a rough time for our church family.

Yet what a blessing to know all of those people who turned to Jesus are now in heaven.

Heaven is for real, made possible by Jesus Christ!


+ The Gospel

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.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with Him in heaven.

+ Invitation

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I invite you today to give your heart to Jesus.  You can receive Him by simply believing.  Believe in Jesus, and you will spend eternity in heaven.

Jesus loves you!!!