Alienated

 

This week Pastor Ben preached on Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus and the witness of John the Baptist while in the womb (chapters 1-2). He also covered the main characters in the story. Mary/Joseph, Zachariah/Elizabeth and the shepherds. There are many things that are amazing with this story. Whether is is the Son of God who helped create all things taking on human form to a teen that was a virgin becoming pregnant with the Son of God. Here are some observations that I walked away with. 

  The first one is that God used a bunch of nobodies from the back woods to fulfill His promise of a Messiah. In essence, God took a bunch of outcast to display His glory and to shake the world. Here is the thing, we all want to do something great or to be famous. Whether it’s taking the game winning shot to finding a cure for a dangerous disease. There are even people who want to be YouTube famous and it is usually them either doing something stupid. All that being said, are we being responsible with what God has given us and the situation that He puts us in? If not, why is God going to give us more responsibility when we can’t handle what we are given. The major players in this story were faithful in what they did and worked diligently with the task and talents that God has given them. 

  The shepherds were outcast because of any number of reasons. To put it in modern terms, shepherds would be the people who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, a long criminal record and the only jobs they could get are either the dangerous ones, or the ones no one else wanted to do. So why did God open up the sky and have the angels proclaim the birth of Christ to a bunch of stinky shepherds that no one really cared about? Is because the religious people thought that the coming Messiah would come in to overthrow the Romans and set up the nation of Israel. Instead, God chose to reveal Himself and His plan to a bunch of shepherds because they would check out what they were told. Is our faith like the shepherds and we go out to seek what God has promised and then bow down in worship? Or is our faith like the religious leaders and write it off? When God reveals His promise to Zechariah, he doubted God.  So when God reveals His promise to us, does our faith becomes snark and we laugh at or questions the promise? God still came through with His promise and Zechariah was mute until John was born because of his unbelief 

  To wrap it up, we are all outcast because of our sin. Romans 3:23 that we are all sinners and an outcast. We are separated from God. The only way we can stop being an outcast is accepting Gods free grace and to repent of or sins and to follow God. It doesn’t matter what we have or who we know, because at the end it is how we respond to Gods grace.  I will close with mentioning my favorite Christmas song, Hark the Angels Sing by Charles Wesley. There are three lines in the song that I appreciate and they are

          Born that man no more may die;

           Born to raise the sons of earth,

            Born to give them second birth    

  

When this happens, this means we are valued, loved and no longer an outcast but a part of Gods family.  God loves us so much that He sent His own Son to die for us so that we can be born again and have new life. We become a part of Gods family. When the angels appeared, I often wondered if they were to sing a second verse, they were to sing the message of a new birth. Here are some questions to ponder:

   Are we willing to put in the work on the talents and situations that God has placed us in?

 What do we do when you feel alienated? 

  When presented with great news, do we go out and share it?

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead 

Obedience

     

  This week Pastor Haven continued with the Advent story by preaching out of the first two chapters out of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew gives us the account of Jesus birth and detailing Josephs family tree along with the visit from the Magi, King Herod’s response to Jesus birth and the trip to Egypt. Most importantly, Matthew was showing the unbelieving Jews that Jesus was actually the promised Messiah and not some crazed lunatic. Here are some of my observations from the passage. 

  My first observation is how many of us have actually seen King Herod in the nativity sets that come out this time of year. They have all the other important people except for King Herod. I mentioned this observation once to my mom and her response was that it’s because “he’s crazy.” I’m not going to argue that point, but I’m also guessing why he is missing from the nativity set is the we see a little to much of ourselves in him. Just as Herod lied to the Magi about wanting to meet Jesus, he saw Jesus as a threat to his personal safety and ego. What do we do when we feel threatened or our ego gets bruised? Do we go on the offensive and burn every relationship and good thing to the ground? Or do we run, hide and shut down? The lesson from Herod is that there can only be one king and we are lousy kings when we put ourselves on that pedestal. 

  My second observation is that the Pharisees were busy looking for the Messiah but they missed Him. How often do we keep looking for our misplaced car keys and they are often sitting in plain sight and we keep overlooking them. The Pharisees were that way with Jesus, because He was right there and they didn’t see Him. The Pharisees also had a different idea of what the Messiah was going to look like. They wanted someone to come in, overthrow the Romans and set up Gods kingdom here on earth. Instead, the Messiah came as a baby, grew up, spent three years doing ministry only to be crucified for our sins. With the resurrection, that means Jesus is coming back to not only make things right, but to make all things new

  My third observation is that God often shows up at the most inopportune times for us. Mary was an unmarried teen who was pregnant with the promised Messiah and it was God who got her pregnant. Also, going to Bethlehem eight months pregnant on a donkey is no trip. Joseph was going to be a dad to a kid that wasn’t his, which is never easy. He also plans for him and Marry and he was working on when all this happened. So here are two things to ponder. The first one is when God does show up and changes our plans, do we revolt and say no or do we learn to trust Him and walk in obedience to His will? The second observation is that Joseph had every right under Jewish law to at least divorce Mary, if not stone her publicly. So here is my question, if something is permissible by culture, should we do it?  Are we more concerned with doing what is right by Gods standards or by people standards? Joseph choose to do what was right instead of doing what is acceptable.  Are we willing to do the same as Joseph or do we look to take the easy way out?

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

God Became Man

 

  Pastor Fred started off the Advent Season and the birth of Christ in Isaiah 9. Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, the promised Messiah, the Prophet Isaiah foretold of the coming Messiah and that all governments will be on His shoulders and that He would be given names like Almighty God, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father and the greatness of His government will know no end. It will all also be filled with pace and justice and the coming Messiah will reign on David’s throne forever. 

  The season of Advent is really a time of waiting and expecting. Just as parents wait for the birth of their child, the nation of Israel was waiting on the promised Messiah. They were tired of being subjects to kings and foreign powers where they had no rights. Sure they were allowed to worship, but their worship often included rules that God never gave and they also may have had other religions of the day infiltrate their worship. At least they had to contend with people who thought, ate and worshiped differently than they did. It got to the point we’re different Jewish sects were formed to overthrow the current foreign regime so Gods Kingdom could be set up. In essence, Advent is about waiting for the coming of the Messiah in a fallen and broken world. In the twenty first century, we are not waiting for the messiah to be born, but to return as king. How are you preparing for the return of the promised Messiah who is coming to separate the wheat from the chaff? 

   According to John 1:14, Jesus became man and dwelt among us. What does that mean. The first one is that Jesus is all man and still all God. To my knowledge, there are no other world religions that have their gods take on human form while still maintaining their deity. Jesus came so He could not only provide the ultimate sacrifice, but to also reveal God the Father to us. Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus claims that He and the Father are one and if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father. I encourage you to read Philippians 2 this week and ponder what it means for Jesus being equal with God, put on flesh and to serve His creation. 

   The next aspect is that even though Jesus was all man, He still had authority and sovereignty. The demons recognized Jesus and He cast them out. He also healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed the storm. When I was in college, there were times that the professor stopped lecturing and they became a student like us. Whether it was the sharing of a personal story that related to the subject matter, or for a few minutes, treating the class as equals and discussing something important that was related to what they were teaching. I remember having a conversation with some fellow students and a professor in his office about Advent. I thought it was cool and meaningful and I remember the professor validating our conversation while giving us something to think about. We still treated him with the respect he deserved, but we also took the opportunity to have a more personal conversation with him even if what’s for a short timeI also had to realize the next time we were in class, he was the professor and had the authority. The same is with Jesus, even though He became man and dwelt among us, He is still God and we need to remember that

  The last aspect of Jesus we will cover is His divinity. If Jesus wasn’t perfect or divine, we still be lost in our sin and an eternal relationship with God is out of the question. His divinity is what gives Him the authority over death and is what made His sacrifice on the cross valid and applicable. Jesus being divine means that He was perfect and sinless, which this allowed Him to take our sin and punishment. If Jesus wasn’t divine, would He be any different than us?

  To wrap it up, here is my question we could ponder through all of the Advent Season. Who is Jesus and why does that matter to me? On of Jesus famous questions to His disciples was “who do you say that I am?” There are countless answers, but if it doesn’t come down to Lord of all and my personal Savior, we are in trouble. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis wrote once, Jesus is either Lord, Liar or Lunatic and we not only decide which one He is, but live it out and deal with the consequences 

 

Being Thankful

 

  With Thanksgiving this week, Pastor Fred preached on what it means to be thankful. It was a good word to hear, especially during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season with shopping, prepping and trying too coordinate time with family and friends. Here are some of my observations from the message.

  My first observation is that if we are to be continuously thankful, does it mean that we need a heart change? Another way to put it, how often do we need an attitude adjustment? It is way to easy to become a complainer, snarky or down right negative when things don’t go our way or we get stressed. Often the ones we love take the brunt of this and it often changes the dynamics of how they interact with us. Being snarky often creates more snark and could lead to hurt feelings. Sometimes being continuously thankful means we put ourselves in timeout, find out what our issues are and we deal with them. It even means seeking forgiveness when our bitterness has affected other people. 

  My second observation of being continuously thankful, we are to embrace Ephesians 5:18, which is that we are not to be drunk, but we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For those of us who grew up or spent time in a Holiness Church, this verse would be used to be anti drinking of any alcohol. I think the verse is adding alcohol and any activity that takes us away from God. What are those things that is all consuming and takes our focus off of God. When we get that focused, we tend not to make Godly decisions and something else becomes our god. Being thankful is making sure that God is the center of our lives and that all good gifts are from Him and we use those gifts to worship Him and not ourselves. 

  My third observation is are we thankful in spite of our circumstances. We all know that one person who always seems to be getting suckered punch by life, but they still are praising God. I knew a guy that way in college. No matter what, Denny always had a smile on his face and trusted God. So here is a question that I have, do we trust God because of our circumstances or in spite of them? Is our faith big enough to trust God in every situation and realize that He sees the picture when we don’t. In essence being thankful is a daily choice and there are days where it is a lot harder than others to be thankful 

  My final observation is when we are not thankful. In Romans 1:18-32, the crux of Paul’s message is that He revealed Himself through creation and we choose not to be thankful. In response, God washed His hands and gave us over to our selfish desires and sin. In essence God is saying “have at it kids.” This happens when we either are not thankful and ore greedy and we deserve every thing we get because we worked for it. In essence it is the unbiblical theology of karma, where we get stuff based on our actions, mo matter if it is good or bad. When we are not thankful, we often become conceded and eventually God will let go and let us suffer the consequences of our speech and actions.

  In conclusion, being thankful is a choice and a lifestyle. Throughout his letters, Paul consistently writes how He is thankful for Gods grace and for other people doing the will of the Father. This is a guy who was abandoned, shipwrecked, and beaten for his faith. Paul put God first in everything he did. I will close with Colossians 3:17 which in essence is no matter what we say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father through Him

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead 

Questions: 

  What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

  When we are not thankful, what are some causes to it? 

   How do we live a life of thankfulness?

Rest

   

  This weekend Pastor Ben talked about rest and how after six days of creating, God took the seventh and rested. One might ask how can a God that is all powerful, need a day of rest? I think that is a legitimate question, but I also think that we need to redefine what rest is. Here are some of my observations about rest and how we can redefine it. 

  My first observation is that we have to decipher between what is being lazy and it means to be restful. Laziness usually means a lack of ambition, no drive and has no real sense of purpose. We can be lazy and busy at the same time if we don’t have a clear goal and or purpose/plan to get something done. True rest is that we are intentional about doing it. It is carving out time to spend with God took be renewed by Him and to foster a relationship with Him. This happens through the study of Scripture, prayer, worship and the gathering of believers. One of the ways I find ways to rest and connect with God is by grabbing my camera and head to a state park to take pictures, walk and to commune with God. Holy rest takes us out of the ordinary and our comfort zone to be more aware of God and to communicate with Him. 

  My second observation is that rest is that we are relying on God. In the Old Testament, there is a thing called the Year of Jubilee. It happened every seven years where the fields go unworked, debts are forgiven and slaves are made free. This is really radical because it forced Gods people to rely on God and be in communication with Him. In a culture that almost relies on either relying on ourselves to get stuff done or relying one someone else to it without much effort or participation from us. To sum it up, it is having that peace that we don’t need to do it all. Psalms 50:10 proclaims that every beast in the woods is Gods along with the cattle on a thousand hills. God is able and willing to provide for all of our needs.

   My third observation our beliefs come out in not what we say, but what we do. We can say we are going to loose that extra ten pounds, or work on communicating with those important to us. If we don’t put in the work   to it, what we say is pointless. Godly rest helps us to not only find out what is important but to develop the faith and relationship with God to put our words into action.

  My final observation is twofold. The first one do we not holy rest because it requires change either in thought, action, speech or location. How often do we stay in our disfunction because we either enjoy it, because it gives a right to do nothing but complain or it takes work.  In essence we are comfortable with the sin in our lives and we don’t mind being held in bondage by it. In essence we don’t want to do the work that God is calling us to so we would rather be a slave to sin. The other part is that God is more concerned about our character, because it affects everything we do and our relationships. Our we more concerned with God forming our character and us abiding in Him, or do rather do our own thing?

  So here are a couple of questions to ponder;

    What are those things that steal our joy and our Holy rest? 

     If Gods grace is free and unmerited, does it still need a response from God?

  What does it mean to abide? 

Grace and Peace

Tom Boustead

Gods Faithfulness

 

  Just a quick reminder that Pastor Fred preached on Gods faithfulness this weekend. Fred started off by diving into Lamentations 3. I will start with a question. How many of us has that one friend who tells it like it is and that tact is not in the top ten of their spiritual giftings? They will stick with you through the thick and thin, but warm fuzzies aren’t their thing. I feel that the Old Testament prophets are those type of friends, because they deliver Gods message to His people no matter the consequences. Jeremiah, the author of the book of Lamentations is one of those type of friends. In the book, he is lamenting how the people of God are in exile, Jerusalem is in ruins and the few people that do remain have no place to worship. Jeremiah is venting about the condition of everything around him, but in chapter 3 of Lamentations he declares that God is faithful and that His mercies are new every morning. So what can we meditate on about Gods faithfulness and goodness, especially with Thanksgiving right around the corner. 

  The first thing that Gods faithfulness is that it is not fickle. His faithfulness is at the very core of who He is. If God wasn’t faithful, that means water wouldn’t be wet. God is always there giving out grace and love  even went we are not faithful to Him. In the famous hymn come thou fount of every blessing there is the famous line of: 

              Prone to wondering, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love

 Even though we get on rabbit trails or develop a squirrel mentality, God doesn’t. We can always go back and find God with a repentant and He will take us back with open arms like what the father did with the Prodical Son. 

  My second observation is that Gods faithfulness is not ment for one person or a group of people. Every person is created in Gods image and that means His faithfulness is for all of us. John 3:16 tells us that. Also we can’t earn Gods grace or faithfulness because He gives it freely. But here is the kicker, Gods faithfulness demands and even requires a response. We all have a choice to either accept Gods grace and faithfulness or we can choose something else. It maybe cool in the short term but eventually the chickens will come home to roost and we will have to deal with those consequences, but God will be there because His faithfulness is not dependent on us and if it was, He would be God

  Finally, at some point in our lives we will go through that valley where we feel that we are alone and nothing is going right. It could be because that there is a strain in the relationships we hold dear, we received some not so great news from our boss or doctor, or we could be at a point where we can’t find God no matter what we do. Hang in there and God is still there. Take time to pray, read Scripture and find a friend that can be honest with you. A part of that is to have that friend listen and to hold you up in prayer and accountability. I heard a quote somewhere that we “got to know when to keep bang on the situation and when to let it go.” Having faith is knowing when to keep on banging and when to let it go. One last illustration. One time I was in that valley and I had a friend go Old Testament prophet on me in a good way and told me as much as we want that mountain top experience, the oxygen one the nutritional grass is in the valley. This is where we grow and where God ultimately provides His faithfulness in the daily care for us and for us to rely on Him because we seek His face above all else 

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead

Dwelling among us

 

  As we are going through the attributes of God, Pastor Fred talked about the transcendence and the immanence of God. As a reminder, transcendence is where God sits outside of creation and how He is above and greater than creation. Immanence is where God dwells among His creation and is among us. This reminds me of John 1:14 where the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. If we were to take a deep dive into the Greek, this verse has a meaning of God came and He set up a tent so He could live among is and be known to His creation. It kind of has a camping feel to it where we pitch a tent out in nature so we can get away and connect with God through what He has created. This leads me to a couple of thoughts. 

  The first one is that are there times when God shows up and we don’t recognize Him. For whatever reason we don’t realize that He is in our midst. Could it be because we are not mature enough to recognize it, or that we are so distracted with our own things that we don’t realize when He speaks. Or do we pull a Jonah and we run the other direction. It’s because He has either asked or could ask us to do something we don’t want to do. In my experience, when this happens, there is some tension in the relationship and something that is causing the relationship to go haywire. It could be because we aren’t on the same page or that I have an attitude and sin problem and I don’t want to properly deal with it. 

  My second observation is when God healed the blind man with the mud and when he went to the temple to tell the priest and they ask who done the miracle the guy didn’t know. We could be like

that guy, realizing something happened, but, who, why or how is pretty unexplainable. Do we go out to find Jesus to thank Him or are we grateful the miracle happened and then go about our life. When God shows up, it’s more than just so He can do cool party tricks, but for Him to have a relationship with His creation. 

  My final observation is that as God dwells among us, it does that mean we or the rest of creation is equal to Him. In college there were a few times where my professors “let down there hair” and became a little more vulnerable and I learned a lot during these conversations, but when they put the professor hat back on, our relationship changed and I needed to be reminded of that. Pastor Haven often tells us youth leaders that we aren’t the kids friends, but we are there mentors and there is a difference and it often comes with boundaries. As cool as it is that we are created in Gods image and that the Creator wants a relationship with His creation and dwells among us, He is still Holy, sinless and God. As much as God can be our friend, He is still God and has authority over all. For those parents who acted more as friends to their kids growing up than parents, how well did the kids turn out and did they ever struggle with boundaries or authority. 

 To close out, in Jeremiah 29, God states that we are to be His people and He our God. Also God can and wants to be found, we have to be committed to searching Him out and not sticking our heads in the sand