Good morning,
Praise the Lord for another day in His Kingdom. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful Wednesday evening gathering for fellowship and study. There was a great time of deep sharing about the our Lord's extravagant love and grace in our lives in the lives of our families. We looked at the way the Lord lavishes His love to both the younger brother and the older brother as it is demonstrated in the Parable of the Prodigal son. According to Dr Tim Keller our God is the most Prodigal God, who demonstrates His love and mercy to the most undeserving as it is recorded even in the Old Testament pages.
One of the most familiar stories that comes from the pages of the Old Testament is the story of Jonah. We are all acquainted with the story of how he was sent by the Lord to Nineveh to call the people there to repentance, but Jonah did not want anything to do with these people. They were the enemies of Israel, terrorists of their day, fierce and cruel warriors. Jonah hated them and wanted them dead, and with good reason. Jonah was afraid of them, but he was also bothered that the Lord would ask him to go to them in order to call them to repent. Jonah thought that God should send fire from heaven to consume them. That seemed the better option for dealing with these pagans who neither loved God nor knew him. Jonah did not want to go to the people of Ninevah on the remote possibility that they might repent and the Lord would have mercy on them. Therefore Jonah ran in the opposite direction of Nineveh, and when he ran away from Ninevah he was running from the Lord as well. We all know the part of the story of him being swallowed by a great fish and being delivered on the shores of Israel by that leviathan of an ocean liner. It was not exactly the best of accommodations.
The surprising part of the story is that Jonah eventually walked through Nineveh, looking freakish after his ride in the fish’s digestive tract. He cried out, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” He did not even ask the people to repent. He gave them no hope and merely announced judgment. He was actually enjoying the thought of their coming destruction. But something amazing happened, and the people repented. They sat in sackcloth and ashes — even covering their animals in sackcloth. Their king took off his royal robes and repented as well. The Bible says, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”
As we read through the Bible we realize that repentance on this scale had never happened among the people of Israel, though and they were supposed to be the chosen people of God. Jonah had spawned a national revival, the likes of which have never been seen before or since. Jonah became the most successful prophet in the history of the world, but Jonah was not happy. He desired the Ninevites to die, not to live. The Bible says, “ But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live’” (Jonah 4:1-3). He was angry with God for being gracious and compassionate.
The whole story would have been shocking to Israel. They could not imagine God loving the people of Nineveh, their pagan enemies. It was totally out of line with their loyalty to their own nation that was tied so closely with their religion. It would have been like trying to tell Americans in the 70’s that God loved atheistic communists and the people of Russia and China. It is like telling people today that God loves Muslims and the people of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Like Jonah, we forget God’s love for all the people of his creation.
Modern day Christians tend to operate out of fear rather than faith. I have lived through times that we were afraid that the communists were going to overtake the world. Today we fear that radical Muslims are going to overtake the world. We are afraid that liberals are going to take over the church, or that atheists are going to take over our schools, and that homosexuals are going to take over the culture. We live out of fear rather than faith.
Despite world events and economic crises, Jesus is risen. Jesus has risen, ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father and will return to claim the world as his own. There is nothing to fear. The most frequent command in the New Testament is, “Do not be afraid!” Jesus told his disciples about the persecution they would soon face. He told them of the coming persecution and said, “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home” (John 16:32). It was the worst possible news they could imagine, but then he said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Do we really believe that Jesus has overcome the world? Are we living in that quiet confidence? If so, then we don’t have to get upset at everything that comes along This is good news. As we study history we see that Christianity has always thrived in times of persecution and in morally decadent cultures that were hostile to it. In those times Christians took their faith seriously and realized the importance of being witnesses by living a transformed life in a culture collapsing under the weight of its own sin. There has never been a time when it is more important to live out the life that Christ has laid out for us than it is today, and it is possible through Christ. We have been forgiven and brought into the kingdom of heaven. We have the Holy Spirit living around us and within us. We have each other. We have the hope of a returning Savior and the promise of eternal life. What could be better?
The Bible makes this promise, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).
In Christ,
http://youtu.be/7DibkDQbzEo
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 5/25/11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this day. It will be one of the ten best days of this month (at least). We will gather for Mid-Week fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM, using the six week study and discussion series by Dr Tim Keller entitled,"The Prodigal God -- Finding your place at the Table".
Our Lord God is extravagant in His grace, in His love, and in His Salvation towards us. Those who do not know, trust, and serve this amazing Lord, revealed in the Person and works of Jesus Christ, miss out on the abundant, Eternal, life He offers. Those who refuse to trust in Him and serve Him, indulge in themselves. Greed and gluttony become their god.
In June of 2005, Dennis Kozlowski, the former executive of Tyco, walked out of a Manhattan courtroom through a swarm of photographers. He had just been convicted on multiple counts of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from Tyco. Kozlowski’s lifestyle included unbelievable excesses, including a $2.2 million dollar birthday party for his wife, Karen. Kozlowski had been raised in a poor section of Newark, New Jersey, but after working his way through college, he went to work for Tyco. He eventually became CEO and doubled the company’s business. Kozlowski lived in extravagance and self-indulgence — much of it at the company’s expense. Eventually, however, trouble came. The New York State Banking Department tracked a series of unusual bank transfers. New York’s district attorney investigated and it led to Kozlowski’s indictment on charges of corporate corruption. His indulgence literally led to bondage.
What made Kozlowski do this? What makes many people behave the same way, though often on a smaller scale? What makes me want to please and indulge myself? It is the lack of an eternal perspective. It is looking at this world as though this is all there is. It is the lack of a relationship with Jesus the Living Lord, that makes us set up ourselves as gods. When you don’t live for Jesus the Christ, you only live for yourself. When you don’t obey the Lord you obey your own desires, which eventually enslaves you.
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. [And here is the key!] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:25-33).
Paul, the apostle, encouraged us to have an eye on eternity when he wrote: “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who. . . buy something, [should live] as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/xkw3a4raWfg
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Praise the Lord for this day. It will be one of the ten best days of this month (at least). We will gather for Mid-Week fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM, using the six week study and discussion series by Dr Tim Keller entitled,"The Prodigal God -- Finding your place at the Table".
Our Lord God is extravagant in His grace, in His love, and in His Salvation towards us. Those who do not know, trust, and serve this amazing Lord, revealed in the Person and works of Jesus Christ, miss out on the abundant, Eternal, life He offers. Those who refuse to trust in Him and serve Him, indulge in themselves. Greed and gluttony become their god.
In June of 2005, Dennis Kozlowski, the former executive of Tyco, walked out of a Manhattan courtroom through a swarm of photographers. He had just been convicted on multiple counts of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from Tyco. Kozlowski’s lifestyle included unbelievable excesses, including a $2.2 million dollar birthday party for his wife, Karen. Kozlowski had been raised in a poor section of Newark, New Jersey, but after working his way through college, he went to work for Tyco. He eventually became CEO and doubled the company’s business. Kozlowski lived in extravagance and self-indulgence — much of it at the company’s expense. Eventually, however, trouble came. The New York State Banking Department tracked a series of unusual bank transfers. New York’s district attorney investigated and it led to Kozlowski’s indictment on charges of corporate corruption. His indulgence literally led to bondage.
What made Kozlowski do this? What makes many people behave the same way, though often on a smaller scale? What makes me want to please and indulge myself? It is the lack of an eternal perspective. It is looking at this world as though this is all there is. It is the lack of a relationship with Jesus the Living Lord, that makes us set up ourselves as gods. When you don’t live for Jesus the Christ, you only live for yourself. When you don’t obey the Lord you obey your own desires, which eventually enslaves you.
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. [And here is the key!] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:25-33).
Paul, the apostle, encouraged us to have an eye on eternity when he wrote: “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who. . . buy something, [should live] as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/xkw3a4raWfg
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 5-24-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is filled with the splendor and beauty of spring. Praise the Lord. He gave us very blessed weekend that included preparing and serving meals to the needy Saturday noon at the First UMC, Endicott along with the Evening worship Service. It was a great blessing to be in the House of the Lord yesterday to worship and offer praises to Him for His mighty deeds.
The Epistle Reading for yesterday was taken from 1 Peter 2. In Peter’s inspired vision, the church is a spiritual house. This spiritual house built from living stones can be understood in two ways. First, it is a dwelling place for a household or family. With God as the Master of the house, we all belong to God’s family through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Second, this spiritual house can be a temple. A temple is a place of God’s presence where the people of God worship. We are that temple. We are that spiritual house. We are the living stones that God intends to build into a glorious structure that brings glory to His Son. We are also the priesthood that serves in God’s house .
A priesthood exists to serve God at the temple, offering sacrifices. In this case, the priesthood includes all Christians, and the sacrifices offered are spiritual ones. We make no offerings for sins, since that offering has been made once for all by our great high priest, Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God are our lives. We can encapsulate what offering our lives to God as spiritual sacrifices means in one word, worship.
In "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren says : "Worship is not part of your life; it is your life. Worship is not just church services…. Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory
and pleasure of God." [pp. 66, 67]
God desires every part of us, not just a portion of our lives. He asks for all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of our time and money. He desires our full devotion, not little just the crumbs or the dregs.
Quoting Isaiah 28:16, the Apostle Peter spoke of a new building being fashioned by God. The first stone, the cornerstone, is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that this stone has been chosen by God and is precious to Him. Moreover, we are also told that "whoever believes in him,” that is, the cornerstone chosen by God, "will not be put to shame." The idea here is that when testing of the judgement of God comes, those who put their full trust in Jesus Christ will be found worthy.
Peter continues in verses 7-8, "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Those who believe in Jesus Christ will share the honor that God has for His Son. For those who will not believe, they will see the crucified Christ that they rejected, who seemed to be abandoned by God and powerless on the cross has in fact been given by God the most prominent place in God’s household. The stone that the builders rejected has been accepted by the architect and used as the cornerstone for the entire edifice. In addition to this, Christ is a stone over which people stumble and He is a rock of offense.
Peter changed subjects in verse 9, shifting from speaking about Christ to speaking about Christ’s followers, saying, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
To the Christians of his day, and to us, Peter said, you are a "chosen race." Just as Jesus Christ is described as the chosen cornerstone, we are described as a chosen race of people. All who belong to God by faith in Jesus Christ are a special people, chosen by God to constitute a new people. God is making a people gathered around His Son into a New Israel.
You are a royal priesthood. A priest is someone who serves God, and a royal priesthood is a group of priests who belong to a king. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was restricted to only one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the New Israel all the members of the church are priests to God who is our king.
You are called to be a holy people. Because we belong to God we are obliged to be holy. We are holy because we have been set apart for God’s service. To be holy is to be morally blameless, and since none of us sinners can be morally blameless, we must rely on God’s mercy.
You are also a people of God’s own possession. We are God’s special property and as such we are recipients of God’s special care. It is only through God’s gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ that we are made worthy to belong to God. We can be assured that Christ will never fail us, never mess up, never forsake us, and never give up, give in, or give out. Christ is the foundation upon which our lives are built. If we stand, we stand in Christ! If in Christ, we shall never ultimately fall. Christ is the alignment factor in our lives. We should measure anything we do and say against our Standard - Christ - not by each other. He is determinative in regard to our priorities, our values, our votes, our goals, our thoughts, our actions, and our words.
Without this cornerstone our lives are out of alignment, out of balance, and of no positive eternal value. If as Christians, we treasure other things more than Him, we are then bound for misery, depression, and a sub-par Christian existence. We will be buried with guilt from not treasuring Him. We will have a difficult time listening to or being led by the Spirit, because of the other things clouding our life. Joy and peace will be stifled as well, because we look for it in the wrong places.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/SUf5v0VySw0
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is filled with the splendor and beauty of spring. Praise the Lord. He gave us very blessed weekend that included preparing and serving meals to the needy Saturday noon at the First UMC, Endicott along with the Evening worship Service. It was a great blessing to be in the House of the Lord yesterday to worship and offer praises to Him for His mighty deeds.
The Epistle Reading for yesterday was taken from 1 Peter 2. In Peter’s inspired vision, the church is a spiritual house. This spiritual house built from living stones can be understood in two ways. First, it is a dwelling place for a household or family. With God as the Master of the house, we all belong to God’s family through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Second, this spiritual house can be a temple. A temple is a place of God’s presence where the people of God worship. We are that temple. We are that spiritual house. We are the living stones that God intends to build into a glorious structure that brings glory to His Son. We are also the priesthood that serves in God’s house .
A priesthood exists to serve God at the temple, offering sacrifices. In this case, the priesthood includes all Christians, and the sacrifices offered are spiritual ones. We make no offerings for sins, since that offering has been made once for all by our great high priest, Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God are our lives. We can encapsulate what offering our lives to God as spiritual sacrifices means in one word, worship.
In "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren says : "Worship is not part of your life; it is your life. Worship is not just church services…. Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory
and pleasure of God." [pp. 66, 67]
God desires every part of us, not just a portion of our lives. He asks for all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of our time and money. He desires our full devotion, not little just the crumbs or the dregs.
Quoting Isaiah 28:16, the Apostle Peter spoke of a new building being fashioned by God. The first stone, the cornerstone, is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that this stone has been chosen by God and is precious to Him. Moreover, we are also told that "whoever believes in him,” that is, the cornerstone chosen by God, "will not be put to shame." The idea here is that when testing of the judgement of God comes, those who put their full trust in Jesus Christ will be found worthy.
Peter continues in verses 7-8, "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Those who believe in Jesus Christ will share the honor that God has for His Son. For those who will not believe, they will see the crucified Christ that they rejected, who seemed to be abandoned by God and powerless on the cross has in fact been given by God the most prominent place in God’s household. The stone that the builders rejected has been accepted by the architect and used as the cornerstone for the entire edifice. In addition to this, Christ is a stone over which people stumble and He is a rock of offense.
Peter changed subjects in verse 9, shifting from speaking about Christ to speaking about Christ’s followers, saying, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
To the Christians of his day, and to us, Peter said, you are a "chosen race." Just as Jesus Christ is described as the chosen cornerstone, we are described as a chosen race of people. All who belong to God by faith in Jesus Christ are a special people, chosen by God to constitute a new people. God is making a people gathered around His Son into a New Israel.
You are a royal priesthood. A priest is someone who serves God, and a royal priesthood is a group of priests who belong to a king. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was restricted to only one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the New Israel all the members of the church are priests to God who is our king.
You are called to be a holy people. Because we belong to God we are obliged to be holy. We are holy because we have been set apart for God’s service. To be holy is to be morally blameless, and since none of us sinners can be morally blameless, we must rely on God’s mercy.
You are also a people of God’s own possession. We are God’s special property and as such we are recipients of God’s special care. It is only through God’s gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ that we are made worthy to belong to God. We can be assured that Christ will never fail us, never mess up, never forsake us, and never give up, give in, or give out. Christ is the foundation upon which our lives are built. If we stand, we stand in Christ! If in Christ, we shall never ultimately fall. Christ is the alignment factor in our lives. We should measure anything we do and say against our Standard - Christ - not by each other. He is determinative in regard to our priorities, our values, our votes, our goals, our thoughts, our actions, and our words.
Without this cornerstone our lives are out of alignment, out of balance, and of no positive eternal value. If as Christians, we treasure other things more than Him, we are then bound for misery, depression, and a sub-par Christian existence. We will be buried with guilt from not treasuring Him. We will have a difficult time listening to or being led by the Spirit, because of the other things clouding our life. Joy and peace will be stifled as well, because we look for it in the wrong places.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/SUf5v0VySw0
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Monday, May 23, 2011
Brown's Daily Word 5-23-11
Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is filled with the splendor and beauty of spring. Praise the Lord. He gave us very blessed weekend that included preparing and serving meals to the needy Saturday noon at the First UMC, Endicott along with the Evening worship Service. It was a great blessing to be in the House of the Lord yesterday to worship and offer praises to Him for His mighty deeds.
The Epistle Reading for yesterday was taken from 1 Peter 2. In Peter’s inspired vision, the church is a spiritual house. This spiritual house built from living stones can be understood in two ways. First, it is a dwelling place for a household or family. With God as the Master of the house, we all belong to God’s family through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Second, this spiritual house can be a temple. A temple is a place of God’s presence where the people of God worship. We are that temple. We are that spiritual house. We are the living stones that God intends to build into a glorious structure that brings glory to His Son. We are also the priesthood that serves in God’s house .
A priesthood exists to serve God at the temple, offering sacrifices. In this case, the priesthood includes all Christians, and the sacrifices offered are spiritual ones. We make no offerings for sins, since that offering has been made once for all by our great high priest, Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God are our lives. We can encapsulate what offering our lives to God as spiritual sacrifices means in one word, worship.
In "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren says : "Worship is not part of your life; it is your life. Worship is not just church services…. Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory
and pleasure of God." [pp. 66, 67]
God desires every part of us, not just a portion of our lives. He asks for all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of our time and money. He desires our full devotion, not little just the crumbs or the dregs.
Quoting Isaiah 28:16, the Apostle Peter spoke of a new building being fashioned by God. The first stone, the cornerstone, is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that this stone has been chosen by God and is precious to Him. Moreover, we are also told that "whoever believes in him,” that is, the cornerstone chosen by God, "will not be put to shame." The idea here is that when testing of the judgement of God comes, those who put their full trust in Jesus Christ will be found worthy.
Peter continues in verses 7-8, "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Those who believe in Jesus Christ will share the honor that God has for His Son. For those who will not believe, they will see the crucified Christ that they rejected, who seemed to be abandoned by God and powerless on the cross has in fact been given by God the most prominent place in God’s household. The stone that the builders rejected has been accepted by the architect and used as the cornerstone for the entire edifice. In addition to this, Christ is a stone over which people stumble and He is a rock of offense.
Peter changed subjects in verse 9, shifting from speaking about Christ to speaking about Christ’s followers, saying, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
To the Christians of his day, and to us, Peter said, you are a "chosen race." Just as Jesus Christ is described as the chosen cornerstone, we are described as a chosen race of people. All who belong to God by faith in Jesus Christ are a special people, chosen by God to constitute a new people. God is making a people gathered around His Son into a New Israel.
You are a royal priesthood. A priest is someone who serves God, and a royal priesthood is a group of priests who belong to a king. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was restricted to only one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the New Israel all the members of the church are priests to God who is our king.
You are called to be a holy people. Because we belong to God we are obliged to be holy. We are holy because we have been set apart for God’s service. To be holy is to be morally blameless, and since none of us sinners can be morally blameless, we must rely on God’s mercy.
You are also a people of God’s own possession. We are God’s special property and as such we are recipients of God’s special care. It is only through God’s gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ that we are made worthy to belong to God. We can be assured that Christ will never fail us, never mess up, never forsake us, and never give up, give in, or give out. Christ is the foundation upon which our lives are built. If we stand, we stand in Christ! If in Christ, we shall never ultimately fall. Christ is the alignment factor in our lives. We should measure anything we do and say against our Standard - Christ - not by each other. He is determinative in regard to our priorities, our values, our votes, our goals, our thoughts, our actions, and our words.
Without this cornerstone our lives are out of alignment, out of balance, and of no positive eternal value. If as Christians, we treasure other things more than Him, we are then bound for misery, depression, and a sub-par Christian existence. We will be buried with guilt from not treasuring Him. We will have a difficult time listening to or being led by the Spirit, because of the other things clouding our life. Joy and peace will be stifled as well, because we look for it in the wrong places.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/SUf5v0VySw0
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
Praise the Lord for this new day. It is filled with the splendor and beauty of spring. Praise the Lord. He gave us very blessed weekend that included preparing and serving meals to the needy Saturday noon at the First UMC, Endicott along with the Evening worship Service. It was a great blessing to be in the House of the Lord yesterday to worship and offer praises to Him for His mighty deeds.
The Epistle Reading for yesterday was taken from 1 Peter 2. In Peter’s inspired vision, the church is a spiritual house. This spiritual house built from living stones can be understood in two ways. First, it is a dwelling place for a household or family. With God as the Master of the house, we all belong to God’s family through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Second, this spiritual house can be a temple. A temple is a place of God’s presence where the people of God worship. We are that temple. We are that spiritual house. We are the living stones that God intends to build into a glorious structure that brings glory to His Son. We are also the priesthood that serves in God’s house .
A priesthood exists to serve God at the temple, offering sacrifices. In this case, the priesthood includes all Christians, and the sacrifices offered are spiritual ones. We make no offerings for sins, since that offering has been made once for all by our great high priest, Jesus Christ. The spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God are our lives. We can encapsulate what offering our lives to God as spiritual sacrifices means in one word, worship.
In "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren says : "Worship is not part of your life; it is your life. Worship is not just church services…. Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory
and pleasure of God." [pp. 66, 67]
God desires every part of us, not just a portion of our lives. He asks for all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of our time and money. He desires our full devotion, not little just the crumbs or the dregs.
Quoting Isaiah 28:16, the Apostle Peter spoke of a new building being fashioned by God. The first stone, the cornerstone, is our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that this stone has been chosen by God and is precious to Him. Moreover, we are also told that "whoever believes in him,” that is, the cornerstone chosen by God, "will not be put to shame." The idea here is that when testing of the judgement of God comes, those who put their full trust in Jesus Christ will be found worthy.
Peter continues in verses 7-8, "So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Those who believe in Jesus Christ will share the honor that God has for His Son. For those who will not believe, they will see the crucified Christ that they rejected, who seemed to be abandoned by God and powerless on the cross has in fact been given by God the most prominent place in God’s household. The stone that the builders rejected has been accepted by the architect and used as the cornerstone for the entire edifice. In addition to this, Christ is a stone over which people stumble and He is a rock of offense.
Peter changed subjects in verse 9, shifting from speaking about Christ to speaking about Christ’s followers, saying, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
To the Christians of his day, and to us, Peter said, you are a "chosen race." Just as Jesus Christ is described as the chosen cornerstone, we are described as a chosen race of people. All who belong to God by faith in Jesus Christ are a special people, chosen by God to constitute a new people. God is making a people gathered around His Son into a New Israel.
You are a royal priesthood. A priest is someone who serves God, and a royal priesthood is a group of priests who belong to a king. In the Old Testament, the priesthood was restricted to only one of the twelve tribes of Israel. In the New Israel all the members of the church are priests to God who is our king.
You are called to be a holy people. Because we belong to God we are obliged to be holy. We are holy because we have been set apart for God’s service. To be holy is to be morally blameless, and since none of us sinners can be morally blameless, we must rely on God’s mercy.
You are also a people of God’s own possession. We are God’s special property and as such we are recipients of God’s special care. It is only through God’s gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ that we are made worthy to belong to God. We can be assured that Christ will never fail us, never mess up, never forsake us, and never give up, give in, or give out. Christ is the foundation upon which our lives are built. If we stand, we stand in Christ! If in Christ, we shall never ultimately fall. Christ is the alignment factor in our lives. We should measure anything we do and say against our Standard - Christ - not by each other. He is determinative in regard to our priorities, our values, our votes, our goals, our thoughts, our actions, and our words.
Without this cornerstone our lives are out of alignment, out of balance, and of no positive eternal value. If as Christians, we treasure other things more than Him, we are then bound for misery, depression, and a sub-par Christian existence. We will be buried with guilt from not treasuring Him. We will have a difficult time listening to or being led by the Spirit, because of the other things clouding our life. Joy and peace will be stifled as well, because we look for it in the wrong places.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/SUf5v0VySw0
Saturday evening worship service.
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenu
Endicott
Sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128, Maple Drive, Endicott
Saturday, May 28, 2011
6 PM Coffee Fellowship( First UMC Enicott, )
6:30 PM Worship Service Worship Music: Ruth Gent and worship Team.
Speaker: Rev Earle Cowden
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