The Father's House

Sermon at Beecher Island Church

Luke 2: 41-52

January 6, 2018

by Hunter Irvine

+   Open in prayer

#    Luke 2: 41-52 reading

+   I had the dream for many years of studying at Colorado Christian University because my favorite preacher of all time is Dr. David Beckman.  Dr. Beckman was a mentor and a friend, and he had much influence on me.  At CCU Dr. Beckman had a colleague and friend, Dr. Woody Northcutt.  Dr. Northcutt served CCU students for nearly four decades, and he loved students.  Also, Dr. Northcutt served at my grandma’s church for five years between 2001 and 2006.  Once when I heard him preach, he told this story: 
   When Dr. Northcutt’s children were young, his family went to church one typical Sunday.  Their one young boy fell asleep during the sermon, but they let him sleep since the family had been so active the day before.  After church, the family talked with some friends in the sanctuary, but they soon left for home.  Driving in the car, they were nearly home when they came to realize one of their children was not with them.  They had left their youngest boy at church.  Frantically driving back to the church, they rushed in the sanctuary.  Lying in the pew right where they had sat during the worship was their son, still curled up and sound asleep.

   In this passage, Jesus is left behind in Jerusalem.  His parents traveled for an entire day towards Nazareth before realizing He was not with them.

   Were Joseph and Mary downright negligent??

First, children around the age of 12 were given more responsibility than children are often given today.  In fact the NIV states that Jesus “stayed” behind.  He knew what He was doing by not departing the group.

Second, Jesus was surely their “model” child ☺   He was probably the last child they would have expected not to show up for the departure.

Third, Joseph and Mary had at least six children besides Jesus during their marriage as is told in Matthew 13: 55-56.  They had at least four other boys and some girls.  A few children may not have been born yet, but most probably were.  Thus there were definitely a number of other young children Mary and Joseph needed to be concerned with, including possibly an infant.

Fourth, Joseph and Mary were in a large caravan of family and friends.  Though traveling was safer within the territory of the Roman Empire, traveling always had an element of danger.  Thus many Jewish people would travel to Jerusalem in large groups.

But I am not making excuses for them.  His parents were careless!
   When I was a youth pastor, I always did head counts when we were going from point A to point B, and I did not even have large youth groups.  I wanted to make one hundred percent sure no one was left behind.

   Joseph and Mary figured out Jesus was not with them the first evening.  They left the caravan and walked back to Jerusalem.  This would mean they would have to take the risk of journeying home without group protection.

They looked for Jesus for three days!  That is a long time.
There would have been thousands and thousands of Jewish visitors therein Jerusalem from other countries who had come for the Feasts.

After three days, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple courts.  Jesus was there having discussions with Jewish teachers.  He did not even express remorse to His parents.
Jesus simply asked Mary, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

   How could Jesus be so casual about being missing for four days?

First, regarding this first pilgrimage of the year, the Mosaic Law required all Jewish people to attend both the Passover Feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread!
Everyone was supposed to stay in Jerusalem for a full week!

(Scriptures which give details on requirements include Exodus 12:18 and Leviticus 23:5-8.)

Second, I think Joseph and Mary failed to stay for the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread.

A key word in this Scripture passage is “custom.”  Some Israelites followed the “custom” of participating in the Passover Feast, but then they did not stay for the full week as was required by the Mosaic Law.

Luke 2:43 states Joseph and Mary left after the Feast of the Passover was over.  Now some people surely called the entire week the Feast of the Passover, but the fact Scripture states nothing about the Feast of Unleavened Bread gives a clue that Joseph and Mary left early.  (I looked at an interlinear Bible to double check details.)  We do not know for sure, since Scripture does not say they left early, yet I think they did.

Third, Jesus did not leave early!!  He obeyed the Mosaic Law.

Obeying your parents is good, and in this passage it states how Jesus obeyed His parents, yet such obedience is always secondary to obeying God.

Speaking of Dr. Woody Northcutt, when I first studied this passage in 2002 or 2003 and came up with this thesis, I wrote a letter about it to Dr. Woody Northcutt.  He said my idea was excellent and he agreed with me.

+   So the message is - Jesus obeyed the Father.

+   And the personal message for us is - we should obey the Father!

How do you obey your Father?
                                                    By following Jesus!

John 14: 6-7 “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

That is because Jesus and the Father are One!

+   That 12 year old boy who was mixing it up with teachers of the Law in the temple courts, a place where animal sacrifices were done day after day, would one day be the perfect sacrifice for the consequence of sins.
Even as a 12 year old, He was God, and as a 12 year old, He knew that one day He would suffer death as the everlasting atonement for sins.
Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

+   If you have never opened your heart to Jesus, I invite you to do so this very day.  Jesus is One with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Jesus is God the Son.  If you believe in Him, you will be saved.

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!!

Scripture Love Blog

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 h-ll.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved, and you will have eternal life in heaven with our Holy God.

Scripture Love Blog