Goodness

After welcoming us, Brad shared the theme that was discussed in Sunday School today, which served as preface for today's message. There's always going be a time when we sense God calling us to do something that demands a sacrifice from us. These are the moments that reveal where we stand with regard to our faith.

Announcements
Semi-annual meeting next week after the service.

Chuck Vanderscheuren began our transition to worship by telling how he had an opportunity to share his testimony in the courthouse this past week.  The worship team then sang several heart-warming songs as sunlight shimmered off the leaves outside. 'What a day, glorious day that will be."

While the tithes and offerings were taken Natalie Brewer shared one her gifts with us, as a dancer, followed by a boisterous applause.

Brooke shared a Mission Moment, essentially outlining a number of outreach actvities our church is involved with, both locally and abroad through Covenant World Relief, which you can follow on Facebook.

This was followed by a time of prayer, and then the message.

Goodness

Brad opened by having a volunteer read Luke 18:18-30, the story of the rich young ruler.

What is the opposite of Good? In Timothy there is an interesting passage that seems to contrast "loving what is good" with "lovers of self." The opposite of good is not necessarily the word bad, but when it comes to making a really good choice, self-interest may hinder us, even if it isn't a "bad" thing we are doing. Sometimes doing something that is good really can be "bad" if it keeps us from something essential.

The story in Luke begins with a conflict in views of the meaning of the word "good."

Jesus then outlines a list of the commandments, and this fellow actually says he kept them all, which may not be surprising in light of our natural tendency to see ourselves as better than we really are.

In Mark's version of the story, Jesus "looked at him and He loved him."

Goodness starts when God gets hold of the heart He is meeting with. Jesus knew exactly what this guy was missing. The young ruler kept the rules, but did God have his heart? His possessions possessed him. He had a self-serving bias that got in the way of what real goodness looks like.

This guy asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Brad said it was the wrong question because an inheritance is a gift. It is not something you do or earn.

Once you receive His goodness, how do you grow it? You want to be part of a community that builds your soul. This is why Jesus Himself went to synagogue each week. You have to put yourself in an environment where God's goodness can be poured into you, whether small group or devotional community.

This kind of life may inconvenience you and Brad listed examples of ways that following Christ might result in our being inconvenienced. He noted that the end results may surprise us.

As it is written in Acts 20:35  "There is more happiness in giving than receiving."

And in Galatians 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good."

Brad closed with this familiar passage from Matthew 25

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

The kid who made fun of you at school? That's Jesus. The unwashed homeless person who smells like a mixture of urine and whisky, that's Jesus. The person dying alone in a nursing home. That's Jesus. That neighbor woman who lost the love of her life. That's Jesus. The person who walks in here asking questions, wondering if there's a God. That's Jesus. The dying, the crippled, the unwanted...

When we see the world as He sees, there is plenty of opportunity to do good, and be with Jesus.

Goodness Gracious

It's Mother's Day here in the Northland and the morning began with a breakfast, waffles with an assortment of add-ons, prepared for the women of the church by many of the men of the church. The food was rich and the fellowship even richer.

The service began with Pastor Brad greeting us and offering a clue to today's theme. The opposite of good is not bad, he said. Rather, it is selfishness. The sermon was to elaborate.

The Quartet opened our service with a bit of lively singing and then ushered us into a time of worship.

The announcements were two in number. First, that Bob Nading has taken it upon himself to manage a Saginaw version of the Cash for Clunkers program. In this case, vehicles would be donated for sale to help raise money for the New Life Covenant Building Fund. (Contact Bob for details.) The second announcement pertained to a baby shower next week after the service for Shylee Smith, Shyanne McGregor and Kim Frye.

After the offering, Leonard read the familiar story that took place on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-35. Brad then took the pulpit to lead us in prayer and to present the message.

Goodness Gracious

Brad began with a game show flair, having us shout back words that meant the opposite of what he shouted. Beginning with words like Black, Big, Short, and Republican he came to the word of the day, Good. Many would say bad was the opposite of good, but Brad challenged this notion, citing a passage from II Timothy, chapter 3. "In the last days there will be terrible times... people will be lovers of themselves, not lovers of the good." Brad proposed that the opposite of good is selfishness.

The sermon centered on the account of the rich young ruler, Luke 18:18ff.

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

This guy was an affluent, high achiever. Brad said he could picture the guy in his Armani toga, Italian leather sandals, driving a 4-wheel drive chariot, with Brad Pitt looks, abs of steel, and a bronze tan.

There must have been something inside the guy that still wondered how good he really was, though. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

It's a decent question. We all have these questions at times in our lives. But Jesus' reply is something of a kicker. "Why do you call Me good? Only God is good."

Right off we see that Jesus uses the word "good" in a different manner than the rest of us. Apart from God the whole concept of good has a huge problem, because ultimately only God is good.

Well, Jesus continues to talk with this affluent fellow to help him understand how good or not so good he is. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’"

The rich young ruler replied, "I'm straight A's on this stuff. I've done all this since I was a boy."

Hmmm. Brad said it reminded him of a certain trait that psychologists call "Self-Serving Bias." Self-serving bias is our tendency to attribute our successes to personal qualities, and blame our failures to factors beyond our control... parents, circumstances, a bad teacher, etc. We have an idealized view of ourselves. Even prisoners see themselves as nice guys who had a bad break.

Brad illustrated by telling a story about a serial killer on death row who was convicted of brutal murders of sixteen men. When a book was published about his life and deeds, he sued the author and publisher for 60 million dollars damages because he said it smeared his good name and unjustly portrayed him as a sick twisted man, thus ruining his chances for future employment.

So the question in light of this tendency toward seeing ourselves as better than we are, how do we get past our self-deception?

One problem we have is that we think heaven is a reward for good behavior. It's actually a gift of God's love for us, not earned but received. In the Mark account of this same story there is an additional sentence: "Jesus looked at him and loved him."

Goodness begins in us when God has our hearts. Eternal life is not something you earn. But this man's heart was possessed by his possessions. And here, Brad shared The Materialist's Prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray my Cuisinart to keep
I pray my stocks are on the rise
And that my analyst is wise
That all the wine I sip is white
And that my hot tub is watertight
That racquetball won’t get too tough
That all my sushi’s fresh enough
I pray my cordless phone still works
That my career won’t lose its perks
My microwave won’t radiate
My condo won’t depreciate
I pray my health club doesn’t close
And that my money market grows
If I go broke before I wake
I pray my Volvo they won’t take.

So, how do we become good? We need to put ourselves in soul-building environments. You pursue spiritual goals. And as Galatians 5:22 states, when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness.

To be good though is not a static thing. It is to be good-for-something. Where do you find the happiest people? Volunteering, mentoring, prison ministry, helping the needy. As Luke wrote in Acts 20:35, "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’"

It's good to be pushed beyond our comfort zones, Brad said. Doing good, real good, will raise conflicts in us, will challenge us. But consider these words from Jesus when we help those who are needy...

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Mother Teresa understood this. Using your time, talents, resources for the less fortunate is an opportunity to serve Jesus.

When the Market Crashes

“I’m glad you’re here today,” Pastor Brad Shannon said as he welcomed us this morning. As has been his custom he briefly summarized the message he would be sharing this morning. “We’re going to talk about money.” In particular, some of the perils of money.

Announcements included an invitation to all to have a pork loin dinner at the Swamp Sisters on November 2 after the service. The free will offering will go toward the church building fund. Also, on Wednesday November 5 everyone is invited to the church for Operation Christmas Child, in which shoe boxes will be decorated and assembled for needy children. In addition, on November 16 the conference superintendent will be joining us.

Darlene played a loving, delicate interpretation of Fairest Lord Jesus to begin the service. After a time of worship, Pastor Brad gave a children’s talk about money noting that our worth as people is not based on how much money we have.

The Scripture readings were from Psalm 99 and Matthew 22:15-22, which was followed by a time of prayer, a hymn and our practical pointed message.

When the Market Crashes

The way we handle our money is a spiritual issue, Pastor Brad began. To a large degree our lives revolve around money to some extent. Money plays a key role in our lives, and the Bible is realistic about it.

Half of Jesus’ parables deal with money. And there are nearly 2000 verses in Scripture that deal with every facet of money, from how to earn it and spend it to how we can abuse it, or share it.

Many people look for money to save them from pain, but no amount of money can insulate you from trouble. This message today was about the perils of money, drawn from I Timothy 6:6-10.

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The first peril is lack of contentment. “But godliness with contentment is great gain,” wrote Paul to Timothy. Contentment is an inward disposition unrelated to external circumstances. You don’t need anything outside of your self to make you happy.

Columnist John Rosemond once wrote about boredom amongst affluent suburban kids. He stated that the typical kid these days has 250 toys by age five, an average of nearly one a week.

Does contentment for you come from having more “toys” and more clothes, etc. Seeking contentment in that manner can never be achieved, because how many or how much is enough? Contentment comes from within.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, noted that he had found the secret of contentment. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

In other words, trust Jesus with your life as Savior and Lord, that is forgiver and leader.

For Paul, contentment was a learned disposition. He had learned the habit of gratitude.

It is also important to stop teasing yourself by going to malls, paging through catalogs. The world will always push your to need more, bigger or newer things.

A second peril of money, Brad noted, is the serious issue of loving money. The love of money is a root of evil. If our favorite indoor sport is shopping, we’re in trouble.

Money loving leads to sin, he said, including lying for money, shading the truth for personal advantage on our taxes, coveting (One of the Big Ten, as in Commandments), becoming angry or hateful due to money, spending too much, working too hard to have more things. Many sins can be traced to love for money.

Paul pointed out that many sins can be traced to love for money. As verse nine puts it, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.” And in verse ten he warns, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

The story of the rich young ruler is a case in point. In Mark 10 a rich young ruler came to Jesus, and Jesus knew what ruled this man’s heart. He was told to choose, money or Jesus. In this tragic instance, the man turned his back on the freedom and joy set before him, and chose instead his designer clothes.

In another passage Jesus pointed out to His disciples that you can gain the whole world and lose your own soul.

In Paul’s admonition money is a sword of sadness that pierces us through with many griefs. Actually the word “pierced” that Paul uses is akin to a spike or spit upon which a pig is roasted over a fire. It’s a graphic image.

Debt, workaholism, foolish investments and get rich quick schemes, gambling are just a few of the troubles we are roasted by when we pursue our love for money.

Years ago Brad saw a list of ten reasons why Christians don’t give. Number two was that they can’t. Too much debt.

What can we do? There are two things Brad cited. First, get serious about it. It’s a serious matter. Second, get help from others if you need help with financial management and money related matters.

Don’t let the perils of money put you on the spit and roast you. Ask yourself the question, “How can I do things God’s way?”

It is a practical message. God cares about our practical needs.