Truth or Opinion

What is truth?  At the surface it sounds like it should be an easy answer to offer.  But as we see in our world today, truth is becoming increasingly difficult to define. 

Jesus said that the truth will set us free.  Truth is a freeing word.  But yet for a concept that should seem solid there is so much disagreement about truth and who gets to define truth and how truth should even be defined.

When I taught college writing classes I often did an assignment where students would have to identify truth and opinion in writing.  Truth had facts that could not be challenged.  Truth was accepted ideas.  “The earth is the third planet from the sun and has one moon,” is a truth.  We can verify this information.  It is accepted.  On the other hand a statement like “A raging fire is a terrifying thing,” is an opinion.  It may be fact to one person, but to others it may not be.  We can debate this concept, this idea.  We can each have our own interpretation of the fire.

There is a confidence in knowing what is true.  This confidence can translate into confidence for leaders and teachers.  Leaders and teachers want to be people of integrity who live lives of truth.  But in our postmodern world what is truth and what is opinion have become virtually interchanged.  Many people will present opinion as truth.  Leaders and teachers need to know truth.  But with flexibility of truth, leaders and teachers are sometimes left wondering just what is true.

As leaders who follow Christ we are confronted with countless variations on the concept of truth.  In the past people held truth to a specific standard, truth was verifiable, testable, and knowable.  But in the postmodern world truth is being defined by personal view and experiences and understanding of those experience.  A blending of culture, experiences, and personal ideas combine to create a version of truth defined by a specific person.

This flexible variation of truth, based in one’s experiences, is presenting new challenges to leaders who want to follow Christ.  Leading from the truth that is found in God’s Word is not popular with the postmodern person who does not hold to a universal truth found in Scripture.  For these postmodern people, biblical truth is often seen as intolerant.  For the postmodern person personal conviction is the base of postmodern morality.

When teaching the postmodern person, leaders must rely on the Holy Spirit to make Gospel truths understandable and appealing.  For the leader in a postmodern world leaders need to begin with human needs.  But this does not mean watering down the Gospel message.  In teaching, leaders should remain fully committed to the Bible and Scriptural authority.  The message stays the same, but the manner in which it gets communicated differs.

What is exciting today is that postmodern people will go on the journey.  They just won’t accept something because we say it is so.  But the process of going on the journey builds commitment.  As people discover for themselves the truth of God’s Word they internalize it at a level where commitment is built.  We see this commitment reveal itself with strongly held conviction.

If we lead and teach from the truthfulness of Scripture, then there is room and space for the Holy Spirit to convince people that God’s Word is true; that the Word is the truth that will set them free.  The Holy Spirit helps us trust God’s Word as He makes it alive and real to us. 

We can no longer assume that the people we work with, lead, or teach are all working and living from the same worldview.  Today, there has been so much blending and mixing that biblical truth has become intertwined in ways that makes it easy to challenge.  Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit that reveals the authority of Scripture.  When we lead and teach from this place, this foundation, then the timeless truths of Scripture have the power to transform lives.  What is important is to live and work from the truth of Scripture.

Mentorship

Fan Into Flame

Leaders Seek the Holy Spirit

Hello... My Name is Capable

God says that your name is capable.  God says you can.

Sometimes we can be our own worst critic.  We can be our own worst enemy.  We can talk ourselves out of doing something before we have even tried.

Philippians 4:13 (NIV): 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

The Greek for strengthens me is endunamounti which literally means, “who empowers me”.  It is God who empowers us to do what He has called us to do. 

Next to John 3:16 Philippians 4:13 is well quoted.  We often see athletes quote Philippians 4:13 or write it somewhere on themselves when they are about to go on the field and go against a formidable team described as stronger, better, or more talented.  The world may even say that the apparent underdog team is highly successful according to the standards of the game.  But the members of the team may still be unsure about their ability to win the game.  Others may be screaming to get you out of the game.  But God says when we have an attitude that is trusting in Him and aligned with His purpose, we can do all things.

(Please watch the Video clip: Woodlawn: “Bring it In”)

I’ve met many people who are considered highly successful according to the standards of the world.  They rise to positions of leadership, authority, and influence.  They have awards to show their skills.  They have the education to support their position.  Other people often call upon the experience for advice or consultation on projects.  And even with all of these worldly accolades, many of them feel incompetent, insecure, and incapable.  And then there are some other people who talk themselves out of being successful and even sabotage themselves because they believe that they don’t have the skills necessary. 

(Video clip: Facing the Giants: “Narrow Way”)

Success isn’t always about the outward symbols.  Those who understand what Scripture says find the success that God has planned for them.  Those who are willing to play by God’s rules find His rewards and blessings on their lives.

Sometimes our challenges seem too big.  But when we think that there is not a way, God will provide a way.  Our ability to do what God desires and has planned for us comes not from our own ability, ingenuity, or spirituality, but from His enabling power.

(Please watch the Video clip: Woodlawn: “On this Day”)

Philippians 4:13 (NIV): 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Closing

God calls you capable.  When the odds seem against you… when all hope appears lost… this is just the time when God is able to do more than we can ever imagine and it is all for His glory.  It is about leaning in on Christ who gives us strength.  We can endure and achieve all things that Christ intends for us as we rely on His presence, power, and purposes.

Paul, the writer of Philippians maintained a right and positive attitude on any day, regardless of how it was going.  Paul was an apostle who practiced what he preached and taught.

Conclusion

But God says that we have value, we have worth.  God says we are forgivable.  God calls us capable.  We have the skills and talents to do the work that we have been called to do.  We all need to stop believing the lies that the enemy would use to undermine our worth.  We need to start believing the promises of God.  God will never leave us.  God’s plans are to prosper us and make us successful.  He will give us the strength we need to do what needs to be done.

No matter what garbage people in your past have heaped on you, God will take that and create beauty.  God gives us beauty for ashes.  Take a step and start praying and declaring over yourself that you are valuable; you are loveable; you are capable; you are forgivable; and that you are a child of God.

Believe what God has promised about you and for you.  Believe that God says, “Yes you can!”.

Hello... My Name is Forgivable

We are going to explore that in Christ we are forgivable.  From the very beginning God had the plan for forgiveness and reconciliation.   

Many times the tendency is to think that we have somehow "let God down." That we could have done something that was so horrible that even He is unable to forgive us.  Last week we even talked about thinking that we were not able to receive the gift of salvation offered in Christ because we have done the unthinkable.  And this myth is often a reason why some people will not even come to Church.  That they cannot enter a church until they get their lives in order.

But God says that there is nothing so bad that He will ever keep His love and forgiveness from you. 

Ephesians 1:4-7 (NIV): 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

God promises to forgive us.  So we are going to cover three points.

• -      We are forgivable
• -      We need to repent
• -      We get a fresh start

We are Forgivable

There is nothing so bad that we could ever do.  Remember God knows the condition of the human heart.  To claim the promise of forgiveness we need to trust God.  In Isaiah 43:25 we have a great promise from the Lord.

Isaiah 43:25 (NIV): 25“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

In Christ, God calls us forgivable.  God forgives sin completely.  We should direct all glory to God alone for our salvation that He vows to us through His one and only Son Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5: 18 – 19 (NIV): 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

When we believe that Christ has completed the atoning work for us on the cross and that in Him we have salvation and eternal life we claim the promise of being forgiven for our sins.

We need to Repent

We have the promise of God’s forgiveness.  There is something that we must do and that is to repent, or turn away, from the sinful life we are living and turn to God.

Acts 3:19 (NIV): 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Those who repent (turn away from their sin and turn to God) and ask for forgiveness will be forgiven. 

Psalm 51: 3-4 (NIV): 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  4Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

We first recognize that we have sinned; that we have done wrong.  All of us have sinned and need to examine our hearts for any areas that are not pleasing to God.  A time of examination is a perfect time to get right with God in any way needed.  The repentance will be characterized by a changed life and attitude, not just by sorrow or emotional feelings of regret.  Repentance requires a change in action and direction.

When we have wholeheartedly repented for our sins and we believe in our heart that Jesus Christ died and rose for the forgiveness of sins we must never doubt that we are indeed forgiven and that God has remembered no more those sins.  We cannot pick those sins up again.  What has been confessed and forgiven is not to be taken back up.  We must have fullness of faith in the forgiveness.

We Get A Fresh Start

When we are forgiven for our sins (and believe in fullness of faith) we receive absolution.  In other words, in our faith in Christ we are given a fresh start. Each day God’s mercy is new and fresh.   

1 Peter 1: 3-4 (NIV): 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

Peter reminds us in these verses that because Christ died and rose from the dead, we have been given a fresh start.  In Christ we have the promise of a new life, forgiven of our sins.  God is to be praised for saving us.  This hope of salvation is a rock solid promise of God. Our redemption and eternal life with the inheritance are guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV): 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

All of our life, both physical and spiritual, comes from God.  We are alive because of Christ.  It is all because of Jesus that we are alive.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV): 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

God has forgiven (redeemed and restored) the believer into a new way of existence.  This new life is as a person of faith in Jesus Christ who desires to live for Him alone.  When we are in Christ, when we find our identity in Christ, the old sinful nature, the sinful flesh, dies and the believer is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Ephesians 4: 22 – 24 (NIV): 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

In baptism our old sinful life is drowned and we are given a new life.  Through daily repentance we fight to keep the old sinful nature from resurfacing.  

Hello, My Name is…: Valuable and Lovable

Hello, My Name is…: Valuable and Lovable

Introduction

From the beginning God has considered His creation good.  This is a promise we can believe in and a promise we can take to the bank.  The enemy will try to tell you that you do not matter.  That you are not valuable.  That you deserve no respect.  That you are not lovable. No matter what you have done.  No matter what mistakes you have made.  No matter what anyone else says about you… God believes that you are valuable and lovable. 

He believes this so much so that He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ to die for us so that we may have eternal life with Him.  God will never forsake any of us.  He loves you with a love that only He can offer.  He believes in your value.  We need to believe this promise so that we can love others and express our love for God the Father.

Tonight we are going to cover:

-       You Are Valuable

-       You Are Respectable

-       You Are Lovable

God desires that we are successful.  In our success we bring God glory, honor, and praise.  To be successful we need to realize that in Christ we are valuable, respectable, and lovable.   When we rightfully bring God these in worship and thanksgiving we point others to the greatness of God. 

(1)  You Are Valuable

What makes something valuable?  Is it something that is rare?  Is it something that is precious?  Is it something that we cannot do without?  Just what does make something valuable?  Who determines whether something is valuable?

Luke 12:24 (NIV): 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

God desires that we are free from worry and anxiety.  God will make sure that we have everything that we need.  Now this is not to be confused with those things that we desire as wants.  God will give us those things that are good for us.  He will never give us what will not be good for us.  Jesus tells the disciples here that we are to trust God.  If God will provide for the birds, then we can rest in the promise that He will provide for our needs as well. 

God believes that we are valuable.  To God we are priceless. 

(2)  You Are Respectable

What does “esteem” mean?  When we hear about being esteemed what are we talking about?  We are talking about respect.  There are many people though who do not feel that they deserve this respect.  But Scripture reminds us that we are worthy of respect.  Daniel writes something about the angels that is not found anywhere else in Scripture.  The good angels do battle with evil angels in defense of men.

Daniel 10:19 (NIV): 19“Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong.”

Earlier in this 10^th chapter of Daniel we hear that Daniel has no strength.  Daniel repeatedly spoke of his weakness and prayed for his need to be strengthened.  There are times when we feel weak and God loves us so much that He provides strength in those times we feel weakest and lacking respect. 

(3)  You Are Lovable

God loves us.  God’s love is constant.  It is not today I love you and tomorrow I don’t.  It is not conditional love based on what you do.  God’s love is unconditional and constant.  God’s love is consistent. 

Isaiah 54:10 (NIV): 10Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Here mountains are talking about the world.  The world may fall apart.  The hills may come down.  But God’s love and His promises are permanent.  We are redeemed, forgiven, and accounted righteous by Christ’s sacrifice.

Conclusion

God desires that we come to Him and bring Him glory, praise, and honor.  There is rejoicing in heaven every time a person repents and turns to God and believes in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son and our Lord and Savior.  In God’s promises all throughout Scripture we are reminded that we are valuable because He loves all of us and He has accepted you in Christ.  In Christ we are free to live as God intended us to live. 

Why does God love us in this way?  Because He finds the value in each and every one of us as His children.  God will always love us with a love that honestly we do not deserve.  God loves us so much that as recorded in John 3:16, He sent His only son to save us by a death on a cross to pay a price that we could not pay.  There is nothing that we can do to earn the love except receive the gift of faith through God’s grace and love.  We can never “do” enough to earn this type of unconditional love.  That is why we need Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

God surrounds us with His love.  His love which is constant, unfailing, and not dependent on what we do or do not do.  In God’s eyes in Christ we are valuable and we are lovable no matter what we have done.

Prayer

Heavenly Father.  Your everlasting and permanent Word promises that we are Your children.  Let your Holy Word remind us that in Christ You see each of us as valuable and lovable.  Let us be reminded that Your love is never ending, always abounding, and never changing.  Your love is not based on what we do.  Amen!