Good evening. We would love to be gathered together right
now, overrun by children and youth and ready to gather for our Bible studies
or worship after our meal.
But we are not there yet. That does not mean that we just throw in the
towel on our Wednesday nights.
I want to challenge you with scripture
and messages and I want you to get
Berean. After you have been
challenged, search the scriptures.
Beware that many make claims and
arguments that attempt to twist and subvert scriptures to their own intentions.
How do you know when that’s
happening? You know the scriptures and
you set aside your self and what you want God’s word to say, or that really cool
interpretation that doesn’t quite fit the word of God but makes you unique—you only
have to use the tools of the enemy to make your case. What’s a little twist here and there?
Know your scriptures.
Seek
God and his kingdom and his righteousness.
Draw
near to God and he will draw near to you.
Believe in the one true God and do
not doubt.
Profess Jesus
is Lord.
Believe that God raised him from the
dead.
Know that we are to be
known by our love.
We can know when we are being drawn
off course, so know the voice of the Good Shepherd.
So, stay the course. Continue your Bible study. Let iron
sharpen iron as you engage in your home Bible studies.
I am going to give you a scripture to
meditate upon, especially in our present circumstances, then we will get to John,
Chapter 4.
Many of you have memorized 2
Timothy 1:7 and say it frequently.
The words come in the context of general encouragement to Paul’s protégé
and friend as surely Timothy was not walking the primrose path that some
presume ministry to be.
Paul reminds his friend that he did
not embark upon his ministry lightly and the Lord did not fail to equip him for
this exact time.
For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
I have talked a lot about fear and how
we all deal with it differently. In the Parable
of the Talents, the third
servant’s fear was debilitating.
Fear can suck the life out of you.
If you are afraid, pray. If you are afraid, seek the encouragement
of other believers. If you are afraid,
step forward
in faith.
Ask yourself, what would you do if you
were not afraid. Which leads us to the
rest of the scripture.
God did not give us a spirit of fear,
but he did give us power, love, and a sound mind.
We will save power and love for
another time. We spent a long time on
the subject of love only a couple years ago.
It never gets old. We sing there
is power, power, wonderworking power, in the precious blood of the Lamb.
But for this time, let’s think on being
granted a sound mind.
We don’t simple obey God or human
authority mindlessly. We make
choices. We have the ability to make
sound choices.
We have counsel not to be afraid in
these present circumstances; yet, we have seen so many succumb to fear. As many hoarded an interesting assortment of
supplies because of fear of a pandemic, we wonder what will they do when the
day comes to get back to normal—whatever that turns out to be.
Let’s consider what we will do. First of all, let’s not let fear govern our
decision. This is the time for a sound
mind.
We want to balance our liberty, our
ability to provide for our families, and our safety. We want to protect our families and provide
for them at the same time.
We want to shelter our most vulnerable
yet sustain the way of life we once knew.
Fear can compel us to do things that
we would not normally do. Engaging a
sound mind calls us to ask:
What would I do if I was not afraid?
The answer to that question is
probably the soundest answer you can find.
It’s not that there are not risks and
dangers. There are. Will they cause us to surrender all that we
value or to skillfully engage new challenges?
So, if the state has a date set to get
back to normal or start getting back to normal and your congregation has a date
to resume gathering in some form or fashion, what are you to do?
Engage a sound mind!
Some of you don’t need to be back in
the pew on Day 1. Some don’t need to be
back on Day 101.
Some of you can barely get by another
Sunday without gathering.
Some of you have been working through
the past few weeks practicing whatever procedures your employer implemented.
What are you to do?
Engage a sound mind!
Don’t act out of fear, but don’t act
impulsively. Pray about this. Listen to what God tells you. Implement his directions to the best of your
ability.
If I see you on the first day when
some number of us gather again, I will celebrate.
If I don’t see you on that day or the
next week or the next month because you have engaged the sound mind that God
gave you, I will miss you but won’t judge you.
Who am I to judge another man’s
servant?
Don’t act out fear. Decide what to do based upon the sound mind
that God has given you. The promise is
that if you ask God for wisdom, he will give it without judging how you got
where you are and he will be generous about it.
Don’t ask and doubt. Ask and
receive, then put that wisdom to work.
I will give you a battlefield analogy,
because those have been in short supply in our online mode.
The soldier or Marine advances towards
the enemy even though there is danger.
They overcome fear and complete their mission, but along the way, they
use cover and concealment and supporting fires to improve their chances of
success. They engage a sound mind.
Fear does not debilitate them but that
doesn’t mean they don’t implement their best practices.
I will leave you with this thought.
For God has not
given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Now to our Bible Study. We are reading John, Chapter 4 this
week. I have divided my messages into 4
parts.
Part 1 – The
woman at the well
Part 2 – Jesus
and his disciples
Part 3 – The woman and the people she knows
When this live broadcast concludes
momentarily, either read or watch Parts 1-3.
Use them as provocations to search the scriptures.
Find someone with whom you may discuss
this chapter and these messages. Let
Iron sharpen iron.
Amen.
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