Tag Archives: religion

God is King; we are His Church [Sermon Notes]

God is King; we are His Church
Series: More Than Words
Dave Bartlett
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

I’m still stuck on Mother’s Day. Even though it was a week ago. I was reflecting, “Why is it so hard to be a mom?” Actually, it’s me and you as kids. We make it hard on moms. I remember a time they were fixing the road in front of our hose. They had put down fresh asphalt and I rode my bike on it! My mom saw me fall in front of the big machine that rolls the concrete flat. She thought I have may been flattened! Dad came home to a crying mom and boys who are laughing. Us boys used to play tag with real bow and arrows. It’s just dawning on me that I was a part of the problem. You gotta realize this. Call your mom again to apologize (Ha!)

Now, this teaching series has given us is a good opportunity to address the “christian words” we use. One guy asked me after a meeting, “What is salt and light? You were talking about that on Sunday and I didn’t know what you were talking about.”

Remember, not everyone knows all the fancy Christian words.

Today, we are going to learn about King and church. We’ll teach about God’s Kingdom. Not simply as a place that you have a ticket to the Kingdom of Heaven when you die. Jesus talked about God’s Kingdom on earth.

Mark 1:15 
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Matthew 3:2
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John 3:3 
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Mark 10:14
But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Jesus teaches with many metaphors of the Kingdom:

Matthew 13:24 
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

Matthew 13:31 
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

Matthew 13:33
He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

Matthew 13:44 
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Dave thinks that OHC takes it’s definition of God’s Kingdom from the Lord’s Prayer. “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Luke 17:20-21
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Definition: God’s Kingdom is where God’s will is done

  • Heaven – The Kingdom is done 100% of the time
  • Earth – There is a battle. Sometimes God’s will is done yet there is also an evil kingdom at war with God’s Kingdom

God’s Kingdom is not just in heaven. We get to be agents of the Kingdom here and now. What a great challenge!

We get to be God’s Kingdom in many ways

  • At your work
  • In your home
  • In your neighborhood
  • In Haiti
  • In Mozambique

Illustration: Larry Novak

  • Larry attended this service on a regular basis
  • He died a couple weeks ago
  • While in ICU, they pulled the plug. He asked Dave to pray with him.
  • His body was broken but his mind was sharp.
  • His wife and three grown children were able to be with him. They prayed together and shared final words.
  • That is a picture of God’s Kingdom at work.

Illustration: Farmers donating resources
The farmers who farm those 100 acres as a service of others is a picture of God’s Kingdom

Illustration: The translator through our sponsor children
The people who sit with the families and translate our letters and prayers is a powerful picture of God’s Kingdom.

Illustration: Babies
We have babies coming in our congregation more than once a week. When you hold the baby, there is something about that moment. That baby will cause a lot of strife for a long time, yet you can feel God’s Kingdom right there.

Illustration: Volunteering with Kids
There are small group leaders right now who are sitting with kids. That’s God’s Kingdom.

One thing about mission trips is the veil between the kingdoms is thin. On the Haiti trip a witch doctor converted to Christianity. We can see that and know the spiritual power in that, without question.
Yet Jeff Mickey tells Dave about a college student who gave up smoking after experiencing a worship service. It’s easy for us to think “Wow, that must have been a good service.” No, it’s the Kingdom at work.

Church.

  • The New Testament word “church” is meant to be all the believers in an area who are following Christ.
  • Not “Orchard Hill Church” but instead “The Church of the Cedar Valley”
  • We have many people attending local congregations this morning and we need to cheer that on.
  • The churches that can cheer on the others are confident and clear about their calling.

We are called to become fully devoted followers of Christ through our five communities. We will do that through faith, families, friends, and service.

When we know what we’re about we can cheer on other congregations who are also making an impact.

God is building a people, it’s called his church. He’s asking those people to build his Kingdom here.

Illustration: Love Cedar Valley

  • 43 local congregations working together to serve
  • There was a closing session at 5 Sullivan Brothers
  • The band leader is a local church leader. The band had seven different churches represented.
  • The pentecostal church was there waving flags
  • There were dancers in the front, worshipping God.
  • Of course, I was in the back standing hands in my pockets worshipping.
  • This was when I thought, “I wonder if this is what heaven will look like…”
  • Get ready for heaven. If this is too wild for ya, you’ve got more coming!
  • The service closed with an artist asking questions about why the world is broken. At the end of the video, she realized that she could be the one to answer questions. “Here am I, Lord.”
  • At the close of the video, there were people who gave a sentence about their personal life and said,, “Here am I, Lord. Use me.”

Do you have the courage to ask that question? That is the challenge for today. We can be agents of the Kingdom.

The kingdom of Heaven is a pearl of great value. When we believe the gospel and become a follower of Jesus Christ, we not only get an eternity with God in heaven, we get to begin eternal life right now and be used by God to bring His kingdom to earth.

Here I am, Lord. Use me to…

God gives grace; we are forgiving [Sermon Notes]

God Gives Grace; We are Forgiving
Series: More Than Words
Doug Tensen
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

Grace is one of my wife’s favorite words. She likes it so much, she even named one of our dogs “Grace.” We have great memories of grace.

Illustration: Puppy

  • Came home late one night, Grace was gated
  • Typically, the dogs greet us when we get home
  • Not this time. We realized we didn’t put the gate up preventing the dogs from going upstairs
  • They found out that Grace had eaten the cheese crackers that were stashed in his son’s room. She had the bag on her head and couldn’t get it off!
  • She knocked the door shut and was trying to find her way out
  • Found the dog in the back of the closet, on top of a box, in the corner, with a bag on her head
  • Funny! How could you be made about that.
  • Grace, the dog, was a good teacher about grace over the years.

Grace is one of those “tough concepts” of the Christian life. Forgiveness as well.

Philip Yancey gives us this idea of grace by contrasting it with justice and mercy:

Justice
When you get what you deserve

Mercy 
When you don’t get what you deserve

Grace 
When you get what you don’t deserve

Illustration: Mailing money

  • Every week, a young man named Kevin mails a dollar.
  • Kevin was sued for over $1 million, but settled for $936 mailed one dollar at a time.
  • At 17, Kevin killed an 18 year-old girl in a drunk driving accident.
  • Kevin mails a $1 check every Friday.
  • Has gone to jail for missing the payment.
  • It’s not about the money. The family wants justice.
  • This haunts Kevin.
  • Do you think this family has a right to be angry? Do you think it’s right that the guilty are punished?
  • But is 936 payments enough? When the family gets their final payment, will it have been enough?
  • How much is enough? How many payments would/do you require?

None of us make it through life without getting hurt. Someone somewhere has hurt you. At sometime you have been a victim. So we almost decide, “How many payments will I demand?”

It may not be a check. But there are other ways: Silence, distance, carefully chosen words, messing up moments, etc.

“Justice is served… until I’m reminded about it and then I demand it again.”

“Hurt becomes hate, and hate becomes rage as we become junkies unable to make it through the day without mainlining on bitterness.”
-Max Lucado

In the book of Matthew, Peter asked Jesus this type of question:

Matthew 18:21-34  
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

Peter is worried about Jesus being over-forgiving.

If you measure your grace then you’re not about being gracious. Jesus points out that you’re always to be about grace.

We’re not all that different than the servant who owed an un-payable debt.

Luke 7:47
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

God’s grace isn’t little, our faith tends to be. We don’t realize how much we’ve been forgiven!

The servant must have felt like he was still in debt. Why else would he act that way? Why would he squeeze the other man to pay the money? The servant

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled

When we miss the grace of God, the potential for bitterness is great.
Where we catch God’s grace, the potential for forgiveness is great.

2 Timothy 2:1
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus

Paul could have told Timothy many other things, yet he focused on being strong in the grace that is Jesus.

Do not miss the grace of God.

The further we step into the pool of grace, the more likely we are to give grace. This is important for us to understand. Could that actually help us with some of our anger management? Could that be the secret that would free us to be enslaved to un-forgiveness?

The key to forgiveness is to focus on what God did for you. Quit focusing on what they did to you and focus on what God did for you.

“Someone must pay” may still be on your mind, preventing you to forgive. Well, someone did pay. Jesus.

Un-forgiveness always leaves us in prison. Prisons of anger, guilt, and depression. God doesn’t throw us in jail, we throw ourselves in.

Job 21:23-25
One dies in his full vigor,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his pails full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of prosperity.

Illustration: “The Liar’s Club”

  • A man in Texas stayed married to his wife but didn’t speak to her for 40+ years because of a dispute over sugar
  • One day he cut the house in half
  • The husband and wife lived out the rest of their days in half houses in either end of the property
  • That is what hatred does. Isolates and imprisons.

The truth of the Bible tells us that you will never be called upon to give anyone more grace than God has given you.

Forgiveness is an act of faith. Forgiveness means you’re trusting that God is better at justice than you are. You leave the scales of Mercy and Justice in God’s hands.

Forgiveness is hard, not fair, and unnatural.

“Lord, if you can’t make me thin, then make my friends look fat.”
-Erma Bombeck

Forgiveness is holy stuff. It is made up of heaven. It terrifies us but at the same time it gives us hope. It is the way to grace.

Grace is the story of the Bible. It’s the story of Christmas, it’s the story of Easter.

Today is Mother’s Day. Truth is, some family gatherings bring pain and hurt. Things left unforgiven. The prayer today is that God’s power of grace may come through us.

Why forgive?
God forgave us.

Ephesians 4:32 
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

God is spirit and truth; we are to obey [Sermon Notes]

God is spirit and truth; we are to obey
Series: More Than Words
Ed Baker
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

Ed knows the frustration of being someplace where you don’t understand the words being used. Sometimes we use theological jargon that people don’t understand. That’s why we have this series.

Illustration: Words I don’t understand

  • Anything “handyman” related is troublesome for me
  • I should not buy anything that says “Some assembly required.”
  • I also struggle with any technological stuff
  • Everyday my computer does something to let me know it’s demon possessed
  • Now, I have a smartphone…
  • “You have an email from Dan.”
  • I don’t know how to control it!
  • Then our tech guy, Scott, helps me out.
  • Within 5-seconds, he has it resolved
  • …but I want to know how he did it.
  • He tries telling me…
  • It always ends in one of two ways, I either want to cry or punch Scott

What we’re trying to do in this series is deal with those words that are basics to the Christian faith.

Today’s statement:
God is Spirit and truth, and we are to obey as a response of our love.

God is Spirit 
This can be tough for us to understand because our world is so physical. We see/touch/taste things. Yet God as a spirit can be unknown.

Nicodemus was a rabbi in the Jewish Counsel. He met with Jesus because he wanted to know more about him and what it takes to make the switch from the physical to the spiritual.

John 3:5-8 
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

To become a follower of God, you need a radical change in your life. Stop thinking only physically and start thinking spiritually
- God is not physical
- God is not material
- God does not have a body. Bodies wear out, it would be limiting to God!

God is ubiquitous. Everywhere!
- God the Father
- God the Son
- God the Holy Spirit

God is able to be these three persons because he is not limited to a body. These persons are separate, but one.

There are stories in the Bible when God takes on a great human appearance. One story is Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

When God the Son became Jesus the man, the Son actually became a human being.

Summarizing:

  • God exists as a Spirit
  • He created a physical world AND a spiritual world
  • We are most often unaware of the spiritual world
  • Angels are a part of the spiritual world
  • We are created in the image of God meaning that we also have a spirit

God is Truth
Not, “Knows the truth, or has the truth.” God is the truth.

Truth Defined: How something corresponds to reality

Illustration: Defining things

  • Anything we call “good” is it’s degree to how it corresponds to God
  • God is the reference point for what is good/true
  • We don’t say what is good or evil based on a vote. It’s how it corresponds to our Holy God.
  • Holy is TOTALLY good.

God exists eternally as a spiritual being.
God is the standard by which all physical things are measured.

We are to obey as a response of our love

If you are a follower of Jesus, why do you obey God? Why do you choose to do the things God tells you to do and to not do the things you’re not to do?

Three levels of this:

1 – We obey God out of fear

  • This is the lowest level
  • We are afraid of the consequences
  • Often how children react
  • Consequences to behaviors
  • Afraid of hell

2 – Pragmatic (it works)

  • The rules of God make life work
  • God’s rules make life better
  • Ed believes that every rule, law, or commandment in the Bible is for our good not for God’s benefit
  • Following God’s rules helps life to work out
  • Our lives are richer and fuller when we understand that God is holy
  • God gives us rules not because he needs us but because we need to do it.
  • Our lives are richer, better, and fuller for obeying God

3 – An expression of our love

  • How do you show God that you love him? How does a child show a parent their love for them?
  • Obey.
  • We can show God our love for him by the things we do.
  • Jesus tells us this:

John 14:15-17
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

For Adam and Eve, it wasn’t about the tree. If God didn’t want them to eat of the tree then he wouldn’t have put it there. The tree was a way for Adam and Eve to show their love and devotion to God.

We can show our love for God by what we do.

John 4:19-24 
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped onthis mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 

God is Righteous; We are Sinners [Sermon Notes]

God is Righteous; We are Sinners
Series: More Than Words
Tim Boettger
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

Illustration: King David

  • Famous for conquering Goliath
  • Anointed to be the second king if Israel
  • God didn’t have kings for Israel until the people requested a human king
  • Saul was the first King
  • David was the second, after Saul had been disqualified
  • The Bible tells us that David became a man after God’s own heart.
  • Deemed to be a great leader. But he did have an “Incident”
  • 2 Samuel 11 – David and Bathsheba
  • Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, a soldier in David’s army
  • David tried covering up that he had gotten Bathsheba pregnant
  • Thought he had done so, but God sent the prophet Nathan
  • 1 Samuel 12 - Nathan rebukes David
  • “David, you are the man!”
  • 2 Samuel 12:13 – “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Sin is one of those “Christian words” we use.

Other words:

  • Christian
  • Glory
  • Holy
  • Kingdom of God

Sometimes we don’t communicate well when we use these words without explaining them.

Illustration: The Smartphone

  • Tim’s mother-in-law got a smartphone
  • Starting using the “text talk” when texting the grandkids
  • “Have a great day. LOL.” was a text.
  • “Good luck on the test LOL” was another text she’d send the kids.
  • They asked her why she thought that was funny.
  • She actually meant “Lots of Love.”
  • Sometimes what we say is not received with the same meaning.

God is RIGHTEOUS and we are SINNERS.

Definition: Sinner
“Sin” is the base of this word.
A person whose very nature is morally flawed and falls short of God’s original intent.

Illustration: Archery

  • First arrow = Bullseye
  • Second arrow = Splits the second arrow for another bullseye
  • Third arrow = Misses the target
  • That third arrow could be said to be a “sin.”
  • Sin = Misses the intent

David said he sinned against the Lord because he knows the moral playing field of The Lord. He knew he had gone outside the bounds of God’s intent for him.

When we do these things, our world is filled with pain. That’s what sin brings. Hurt and heartache.

Sin is doing something God did not intend for us to do when he created us.

Worry misses God’s intent.
Anxiety misses God’s intent.
Sometimes we sin out of omission – Not doing what God calls us to do
Sometimes we sin out of commission – Doing what God does not call us to

Sin is a deep problem.

Psalm 51 – The Psalm from David after being confronted by Nathan

David asks for mercy because he understands the righteous nature of God.
He acknowledges that he was a sinner from birth

Definition: Righteous
Morally flawless, perfect.

Out of God’s righteousness flows a perfect and pure justice

Acknowledging yourself as a sinner is not a popular thing for people.

Spectrum: Sinner ———————————– Good
- Some people have an “I’m not that bad” mentality

Your frame of reference must be God. Not others. God. And when you follow Christ you acknowledge that you are by nature a sinner.

God can do miracles in the hearts of his followers and change perspective for a person. Jesus can do something in our nature and, by the power of his spirit, change it.

Politics can’t change your nature.
Business can’t change your nature.
Jesus can change your nature.

Romans 5:8 
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:19 
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Romans 4:24-25 
but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Do you get that?

Illustration: Describing faith

  • How do you describe your faith to others?
  • Take a sheet of paper, create two columns
  • Put your name on one side, and Jesus’ name on the other.
  • List the things you have done wrong.
  • Now list the things Jesus has done wrong.
  • “There, ya see it?” (Yes)
  • “Now, erase your name and put Jesus’ there. And erase Jesus’ name and put yours there.”
  • When you put your faith in the Lord, he will CREDIT righteousness to you.

The hope of the world is that humans respond to the Gospel of Jesus by faith and become empowered with the righteousness of God.

To be right with God you simply live by faith in his Word.

Galatians: Free to be Free [Sermon Notes]

Galatians: Free to be Free
Series: Galatians
Dave Bartlett
Orchard Hill Church
Listen to this teaching online

Today, we’re focusing on Galatians 5 and 6.
Palm Sunday is a good week to cover the message of Galatians 5 and 6. It fits well.

One of Dave’s spiritual heroes: His wife, Lin
- She understands Gal. 5 & 6
- She has spiritual influence with her kids, grandkids, and moms in our church

Three stories about how Lin has been an example of Gal. 5 & 6:

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