Mary did you know

The popular Christmas song asks what did Mary know. We will examine the biblical evidence to see what she knew.

#Mary #christmas #jesuschrist #bible #christian

In Humility

This sermon looks at Paul's attitude of humility in the book of Philippians.

#bible #church #christianity #apostlepaul #salvation

Hard forgiveness

Joseph finally forgave his brothers. How did he do this and what can we learn from it? #forgiveness #bible #salvation #christianchurch

Jealousy

A look at how Joseph's brothers betrayed Joseph and what we can learn from it. #gospel #genesis #bible #Joseph #jealousy #salvation #christianity

The Lord's On Time

God came to Joseph at the right time for Joseph to fulfill God's will. What can we learn from when Joseph interpreted Pharaohs dreams? #bible #genesis #God #Oldtestament #Joseph

Kicking against the Goads

When Jesus confronted Paul before he became a Christian, Jesus asked Paul if it was hard to kick agains the Goads. What did Jesus mean by this and what can we learn from it? #apostlepaul #bookofacts #bible #salvation #grace #christianity #jesuschrist

Baptism Now Saves You

In 1 Peter 3, the Apostle Peter says that baptism now saves us. This is verse many have questions about. This sermon examines this text to seek the answer. #baptism #grace #gospel #bible #christianity

Baptism: Christ Command

Is baptism important? In this sermon, we examine Christ's command in light of the Great Commission. We answer several important questions about baptism. #bible #Jesus #baptism #thiefonthecross #greatcommision #biblicalpreaching #christianchurch #churchesofchrist #salvation #gosple

To Fulfill all Righteousness

This sermon examines Matthew 3 and the baptism of Jesus Christ. Why did Jesus need to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness? We examine Jesus statement in this message. #Jesus #Baptism #Gospels #Bible #biblicalpreaching  #biblicalteaching 

The day is coming

Malachi chapter 4. It examines the prophecy made about John the Baptist and the hope we have in Christ. #Jesus #bible #johnthebaptist

Those who fear the Lord

A continued study in the book of Malachi chapter 3 about our attitude toward God. #fear #god #christianity #faith

Reverence

What does Malachi 2 teach us about our attitude toward our Holy God? #holy #Bible #God #christianity #biblicalpreaching

One More Night With the Frogs

In this sermon we look at Pharoah's attitude toward God and what we can learn from it. #exodus #bible #christinity #church #Jesus #god  #moses 

Mars Hill

What happened when the Apostle Paul arrived at Mars Hill in Athens. What can we learn from it? #bible #christinity #Jesus #church #bookofacts

Consummation

The Bible gives us reasons for our hope in this world. The ultimate hope is that Jesus Christ is coming back for the church. What does that mean? #Jesus #Resurrection #Bible #Heaven

Cross

The cross is the very definition of grace. This is perfectly seen in John's account of the crucifixion. #grace #gospel #god #christinity #christ #bible 

Christ

The book of Hebrews gives unique details about Jesus Christ. This sermon examines the ideas in Hebrews 1 and what they teach us about Jesus Christ. #Hebrews #Jesus #Christ #salvation #Christianity #Bible #Savior

Confusion

Genesis 11 teaches us about the power of God, the need to be faithful, and the problem of human pride to be first. In this sermon, we examine these themes as we read about the Tower of Babel. #god #christinity #bible #gospel #genesis #towerofbabel

Protecting from Catastrophe

How did Noah protect his family from the flood? What does the ark account teach us today about a father's role in their family's salvation? #ark #Noah #Genesis #church #christianity #salvation

Corruption

Genesis 3 records the first sin and the consequences that came from it. How did it happen and what can we learn from it? #genesis #gospel #god #sin #bible #salvation #christinity #christianchurch

Creation

What are the lessons that we can learn from Genesis 1? What does the act of creation teach us about God, mankind, and the created world? #God #Genesis #Jesus #Creation #church #mankind #sinners #gospel

Importance of the Word

What is the Bible, why is it important, and what happens if we doubt it? #bible #gospel #god #church #wordofgod #christianity

Paneled Houses

A look at Haggai 1 and what place we put God in our lives. Does He come first or is He an afterthought? #christianchurch #bible #gospel #jesus #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #god 

We will be changed

A conclusion to 1 Corinthians 15 which examines our salvation and our resurrection. Why do we need God to save us? #Gospel #Bible #Jesus #God #Resurrection #Salvation

Come to your senses

An examination in 1 Corinthians 15 about examining what we do and why we do it. How does Christ's resurrection impact our behavior? #bible #gospel #jesus #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #christianchurch #god #newtestament

The Resurrection and the Gospel

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and why it is essential to the Gospel. #jesus #bible #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #gospel #christianchurch #god

Thomas' struggle

The Apostle Thomas is often called doubting Thomas. Instead of simply focusing on his mistake, this sermon looks at the causes that lead to his mistake. #Jesus #resurrection #gospel #newtestament #Bible #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #christian

The parable of 10 virgins

Jesus' parables are meant to teach us. What did He teach the church in this parable about His return? #bible #god #biblicalteaching #biblicalpreaching #christianchurch #Jesus #gospel #parables

Palm Sunday

What are the lessons we can learn about Palm Sunday by looking at Jesus, the Disciples, the religious leaders and crowd? #palmsunday #bible #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #christianchurch #Jesus #gospel

Jesus' Ministry

This sermon looks at the beginning of Jesus ministry from His baptism of John the Baptist to selecting Peter, James, John, and Andrew as His disciples. There are lessons we can learn as we serve our Lord today. #jesus #ministry #bible #biblicalpreaching #biblicalteaching #Christianity #church

Covenant Faithfulness

In the book of Hosea, God gives Israel a lesson about their covenant relationship using the marriage of a prophet. What can we learn from it? #God #church #Israel #Hosea #Bible #Biblicalpreaching #Christianchurch #churchofchrist #covenant #marriage

Moses Danger

Moses was used by God to rescue Israel and deliver the Law to the world. However, he nearly lost his life before he started his mission. What happened and why was God upset enough to almost take his life? This is what we examine in this sermon. #god #moses #exodus #church #christ #bible #faith #preaching #biblicalpreaching

stand and return

Jude 20-25 examines how the church should help those who have fallen to return to the faith. In this we will examine how the church itself needs to stand and then help those who need help in their faith. #jesus #church #god #bible #biblicalpreaching #jude #faith #returningtofaith

Apostates

The book of Jude warns against false teachers that that blaspheme against God and lead people away from the faith. We need to learn who they are and how to identify them. What can we learn from Jude on this subject? #bible #biblicalpreaching #god #falseteaching #falseteachers #falseprophet #Church #Christianity

Contend for the Faith

Jude warns of false teachers and teaching. He encourages his readers to contend for the faith. What does that mean and what are we to do? #Jude #biblicalteaching #faith #bible #God #Christian #church

everything

True Hope

Restore, Do Not Bash, the Church

There was a man who was deeply hurt by the church. He was rejected by many because of his past, regardless of the work he was currently doing. When he faced opposition by the world, the church added to his misery. He was falsely slandered by many inside the church. He saw a lack of spiritual growth in congregations that knew better. This individual saw sin that even the world would reject. Time and again, he was hurt, disappointed and even frustrated with the church.

            His story would have caused most of use to reject, turn away, or even leave the church. Instead, he loved it. He encouraged it. And he never gave a person an excuse to leave the church. Simply put, the more he was hurt, the more effort he put into the church. You also know this induvial; his name was Paul.

            Despite his pain, why did Paul continue to love the church? First, he recognized that Christ died for the church. Second, he was fully aware of what he was saved from. Third, he understood his calling was from God and not people. Fourth, he had a hope that surpassed this physical world. Finally, he understood the source of the conflict was sin, Satan, and the enemies of God. Therefore, he tried to restore the church to what God wanted and did not bash it, that is being critical without trying to improve the church. 

            Paul had a rather simplistic formal (guided by the Holy Spirit) on how to correct the church’s behavior. First, he would express his heart’s desire for the church. It was either in the form of praying for them, how he longed to be with them, or a good report he heard about them. Sometimes, he would use all methods. Second, Paul would explain the problem. He was not always gentle. Sometimes the correction was harsh. Yet, he explained in detail what was wrong. Third, he taught the right behavior. In other words, he showed them both what was right and what was wrong. Finally, and this is important, he expressed confidence they could overcome.

            If you want the church to improve and become what Christ wants it to be, then this is your formal. Otherwise, you are doing it very wrong. The trend I see today is that the world complains that the church is doing X. In order to join with the complainers to help persuade them, many leaders just echo their complaint. First, this is not entirely wrong. If the complaint is legitimate and there is real pain, echoing the complaint can be useful if it is done correctly. The problem often is, we do that without steps 1, 3 and 4 in Paul’s methodology. This is neither helping the church nor is it helping those outside the church. Instead, it is just being negative to the church, reinforcing the stereotype, and leaving both the individual and the church in sin. Not helpful.

            Why does this happen? Dealing with people is stressful and exhausting. We see a problem and we want to fix it. However, many they do not understand the difference between criticism and a complaint.  John Gottman is an author of many books on marriage. I believe that his work on marriage is also true in many relationships in the church. In fact, even though he is not a Christian author, I do recommend his work a lot. In his book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work on page 27, he states:

A complaint only addresses the specific action at which your spouse failed. A criticism is more global-it adds on negative words about your mate’s character or personality.

 

            When we are addressing church problems, are we attacking the problem or the character? If people are not listening to you, it may feel like an uncaring attack. Too often people will ignore the truth. Therefore, we have to work at presenting it where people will hear it.

            Encouragement was a key method that Paul used to overcome this. He used it to help them believe it is possible to do better regardless of why the negative action happened. In fact, Paul taught Timothy to do this. In 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul wrote: ² Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. We often highlight rebuke, we often ignore correcting and encouraging. Paul also said to do this with great patience, meaning it takes time. And, he said to do this with teaching which requires telling the truth about the Word. Encouragement is not the enemy of rebuking, it is one-third of the way we change behavior.

            In his work, Gottman also teaches a 5 to 1 ratio of negativity to positive for a healthy marriage. What that means is, for every one negative statement you make toward your spouse, it takes five positives to keep a healthy marriage. In Paul’s methodology, we see a balance of negative (you are doing wrong) with the positive (you can do better). This is needed.

            I also believe that a second reason it happens is that leaders have to deal with their negative experience before they can help with others. Every leader carries with them some form of emotional baggage in their ministry. We all get hurt at some point. In some ways, that hurt helps us in ministry. Joseph is a great example. He was hurt by his brothers that beat him and sold him in slavery only to be put in a position to help them. More than we like to admit, we sometimes go through pain in order to help others. However, pain can do one of two things: help you help others or be destructive. The difference: those who are destructive do so because they have not completely healed. This is human and their criticism is their hurt showing. When we have been hit hard, we need to take the appropriate steps to heal or we should step aside until we can.

            Finally, people criticize because they are trying to turn the church into what they want instead of what the Scripture teaches. I have been in ministry for over 20 years and have never been in a church that is completely what I want. The church can be 100% the opposite of what you like but still be a fully committed New Testament church. Comparing the church to what the world says instead of what the Bible says is very destructive. The church may not worship the way you want, reach a certain group you want, or even function the way that you want. But, if they are worshiping according the New Testament standard, evangelizing in their community, have biblical leadership and support the work of the kingdom as a whole, it is not wrong. 

In my own work on examining church splits, one of the leading causes of church split was changing a culture against its will. It was actually the fact that the leader and church were not a good match. The church does not have to fit your comfort level to be biblical. Know the difference between cultural atmosphere and biblical submissiveness. Your criticism may not be valid and you may do more wrong.

Ultimately, we need more shepherds today who know how to lead their flocks by correcting, rebuking, and encouraging with patience and teaching. We need less leaders who are hurting the church with unfair criticisms that tear down instead of build up.

 

Works cited

Gottman, John The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work Orion books, 2000. 

Joseph

Joseph is a central part of the account of Jesus' birth. What makes him so important that God stopped him from leaving Mary. #jesus #christianity #JosephandMary #joseph #bible #biblicalpreaching #church #christmas

Do not be afraid