SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11, GODLY JOY IN BEING LIKE CHRIST

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

Godly Joy In Being Like Christ

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4, GODLY JOY IN HUMILITY

PHILIPPIANS 2:3-4

Godly Joy In Humility

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2, GODLY JOY IN UNITY

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2

Godly Joy In Unity

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30, GODLY JOY THROUGH PERSECUTION

PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30

Godly Joy Through Persecution

DO NOT FORGET

Our God is a God who calls us to remember the great things he has done.

In Esther 9 the Jews were to remember the deliverance they experienced from their enemies.  This deliverance was celebrated in the Feast of Purim and every generation after was commanded to celebrate.

Job 36:14 calls the reader to "remember to extol his work, of which men have sung."

In Psalm 105 God's people are to remember the works of God, his miracles and his judgments."  One of the ways they remember the works of God is to pass on the stories of God's awesomeness through song.

In the life of a church, it's extremely important to remember the things God does in our midst.  It was about this time last year that the elders and I began to talk about stepping up and doing more for our junior high and high school students.  Our mid-week youth meeting needed an adrenaline shot to the proverbial arm.  We began to dream a little and envision what a vibrate student ministry would look like.  The idea was proposed that we use the upstairs loft at our old facility as a room for our young people.  We thought we could turn it into a cool place to hang out and disciple them.  As it turned out, city codes and laws prohibited us from doing what we wanted to do. So the idea got pushed back, but not buried or forgotten.  We had to go back to the drawing board but we seemed to be out of paper, so to speak.

Well, a few months later, we found out that we'd be needing to move soon because our old landlord was raising the rent.  So in the back of my mind, I just kept thinking that maybe we'd find a place where could realize our dream.  It wasn't long after this that the few teenagers we had were in need of leadership for their mid-week meeting.  That's when my awesome wife privately said to me, "You should consider leading the students."  I was taken back for a minute because we had refrained from being involved with our students because our daughter was a teen and we wanted other godly men and women to have an influence her life as well. But I listened to my wife and we talked with our daughter and she was cool with it.  So I told the other elders that I wanted to assume full leadership of the student ministry.

It had been 11 years since I had done anything that resembled student ministry, but as I began to dream and pray and envision what a healthy student ministry would look like, my heart was set ablaze and reinvigorated for student ministry.  Not knowing where our church was going to move, I laid out some tentative plans for what our student ministry would look like for discipleship and outreach. This was around March/April of 2018.  And during the first meeting we had with our students I shared with them the dream.  There were about 4 girls in that first meeting, three of which were pastor's kids, plus my wife and Jeff De La Rosa.  I remember sharing the dream and simultaneously thinking, "I bit off more than I can chew.  I should have started with a smaller dream.  I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I'm gonna fail in front of everyone."  Then I remembered what I always knew: that it wasn't about me, but about God's glory. Of course I knew that the whole time, but we were basically started a student ministry from scratch. It's one thing to build a student ministry when you have 30 or 40 students already. It's another thing when no structure or vision has been cast...and you have very few teens to work with.

In a nutshell, the dream was this: to make fully devoted followers and worshippers of Christ.  We would do this by (1). teaching Scripture from a Christ-centered perspective and (2). creating opportunities for our young people to reach their friends with the gospel.   The first part I was confident we would have down because Jeff and I would be doing the teaching.  The second part would take some creativity, vision casting and most of all, help from God. The help from God came in the form of quite a few generous givers outside of the church and some from inside the church.  Christine Evelyn did the hard work of figuring out how to set up accounts with Paypal and GoFundMe so that people who didn't know our church could give with confidence that we were a legitimate non-profit entity. With the funds given, we've been able to start progress on our youth center which seemed like a doomed project about a year ago.  So even though it seemed like a dead-in-the-water-dream about a year ago, God was faithful to provide when we had no place to do this or resources to do such a thing.  So for a moment I want to remember where we were in relation to where we are...and I want to give thanks to God.

Even though things are starting off with a bang, we still have a ways to go, believe it or not.  Part of this outreach dream is to provide community students with free music lessons and after school programs.  We aren't there yet, but that is part of the long-term vision of showing love our community students in order to reach them with the gospel. In the future I'll be on the hunt for musicians in the church to volunteer their time to help.  In the future I'll be on the hunt for adults to help with after school tutoring.  For now, we're just trying to help our teens be mindful that we need to reach the lost. So we're starting out with a night on Wednesday in which they are encouraged to bring their non-Christian friends to hear the gospel.  And it is quite possible that we fail at first from outward appearances, but the ultimate goal is to reach the lost and to shape the hearts of our students into those who care about lost souls.  So we are thinking long-term even though we have short-term goals.

But for a moment I really just have to slow down and reflect, recall and remember where we were...and where God has taken us. What exactly has God done?  Well, he's put proper leadership over our church that supports God-glorifying dreams and goals.  He took an old-retired youth pastor and brought him out of retirement.  He provided resources to create an environment where students can interact with their peers and godly leaders.  He sent more leaders our way to help.  He is stirring the hearts of our youth and their parents.  And I'm praying that this all leads to God reaching the lost with the gospel.  He's gotta start with us is that is ever going to happen. I believe and pray that God reaches the youth of this high desert. And if we are willing to obey God, I believe he'll bring in a harvest. 

It's been quite a ride this past year.  From the rough summer of 2017 to a summer that saw the beginnings of what we pray is a vibrant student ministry that pleases God.  You guys are seeing God unfold all of it before your very eyes. Our students are knowing God better and are excited about all that is going on. And I ask that you pray for this part of our church.  Remember with me, please.  Recall what God has done and give praise to him.

And while we are remembering something God has done recently in our church, let us never forget what God has done for all eternity.  He has given us his Son as a redeeming sacrifice for our sins so that we'd be united to God forevermore.  So when we partake of communion every week, we are remembering the Lord's death until the risen Lord comes again. And when we hear the Word of God preaching, we are hearing of the great things God has done...and we are remembering the great things God has promised to do.  So remember...do not forget. Extol his work. Sing of the great things he has done.

MUSIC: CARRY ME HOME

There are times in life when a particular doctrine of Scripture moves from the mind to the heart, from theory to practice, from comprehension to experience. There are also other times in life when one's experience of a particular doctrine just becomes a deeper reality for them. Such was the case for me this past year concerning the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints.

What an amazing reality in Scripture to comprehend: that God not only keeps His children saved but He helps them to persevere in the faith so that they do not break covenant with Him, like Israel did under the old covenant. This is much different from the doctrine of "once saved, always saved."  In a recent sermon I addressed this difference and won't take the time to do it here.

Having been a Christian for 38 years I can say that I've persevered in the faith. I've endured rejection from family and friends for serving my Savior.  I've endured over time as well.  Not only that, but I've never had an enduring moment in my Christian life where I felt like quitting on God or His church.  Now I don't mean to say that I've been a perfect Christian; far from it.  I've had my struggles, doubts and temptations yet through it all I can say that I not only intellectually understand the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, but I know it experientially as well. 

Nevertheless, in recent months, my experience of this doctrine skyrocketed through the roof due to a variety of circumstances this past year.  While I've been able to say that I've persevered in the faith, I can wholeheartedly say that I really sensed God "keeping me saved" this past year.  I have always been aware of my endurance through the years, but more importantly I have recently and more deeply sensed His preservation like never before.

This past year exposed a lot of my humanity, frailty and sinfulness like never before.  There were moments of doubt, moments of frustration, moments of exhaustion, moments of apathy, moments of confusion, moments of bitterness, moments of withdrawal, moment of persistent darkness and moments that I can't even put into words. It was probably the hardest period in my life as far as perseverance is concerned.  For the first time, there were moments where I was tempted to give up and throw in the towel. I don't mind sharing this because pastors are normal people too and for too long we've isolated ourselves and kept our lives private while letting the rest of the sheep share their struggles with us.  It's often lonely being a pastor. Even when there's a plurality of elders it can sometimes feel lonely due to schedules, busyness and ministry duties. And sometimes this isolation can lead to weak moments where inner and outer struggles feel like they're going to overtake us. Life is rough for us just like it is for you, too.

So when I emerged at the end of this dark period in my life, with God's help and your prayers, I was utterly and spiritually shocked into a moment of gratitude to my heavenly Father. I have no other explanation for how I made it through this period of life other than to say that my God did it for me. I didn't have the skill set, personal experience or strength to do it on my own. I know that for a fact. So when I came out on the other side, my heart had no other option but to look up to God and thank Him for not letting me fall away from Him.  I had to praise Him for keeping His promise to me as He had been doing for so long.  I had to reflect on this doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and flip it to a God-centered understanding which focuses on His preservation of the Saints.  You see, perseverance is what I do.  Preservation is what God does.  We persevere only because He preserves us. And this is where God used this past year's experience to really drive home this truth to me.  Oh, how it warmed my heart to God, to His people and to my family.  I felt like I had been pulled from a drowning abyss and set on solid ground after treading water to the point of no longer being able to. I don't know how else to describe it.

It is from this experience and the truth that I know from God's Word that I penned the following words with the help of my very own daughter. A couple months ago I was playing some chord variations on my guitar and Macy passed by and said, "Oooo, I like that."  As I was playing, the phrase, "You will carry me home" just seemed to be something that I wanted to write about. I discussed the idea with Macy and we soon began to sit in our music room to knock out a melody.  I shared my melodic ideas with Macy and she didn't care for them too much.  I said, "Good, cause I don't like them that much anyway! You help me."  Her reply was, "I'm not that good at this sort of this."  I continued, "You are! Just tell me what you hear as I play."  So she told me to "shut up and play" and out came the melody used for this song.  I was instantly in love with the sound of it; we just needed words for the song.  So I went to very familiar Scriptures regarding the perseverance of the saints and began to arrange them as best as I could for the song. 

I used Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:38 and John 10:27-30 as the basis for the lyrics.
Man, was it rough at first.  I brought what I had to Macy and had her try to sing it and she corrected my word flow and forced me to go back to the drawing board.  She told me what she liked and didn't like.  And through the composition of this song I shared with her why it was so important that we teach something like this to our church!  I explained why we need to worship God for what He is doing in us.

In the end we decided to keep it simple and not have a long drawn out chorus. We didn't add a bridge just for the sake of having a longer song.  We just left it like it is without the need to go over the top. Then we introduced it to the music team and filled-out the song. And then we were excited to introduce it to you so that we could collectively sing it to God. 

Church, collectively we know this doctrine, too!  We all went through a rough year together as a congregation. It broke many of our hearts!  And yet, here we are! How are we still standing?  God! He is faithful to carry us home! This song means a lot to me, not because I think it's the best song ever, but because God is the best God ever. He's carrying me and He's carrying you through this life!  If you are a genuine Christian you will make it to the end because God is faithful!

CARRY ME HOME

Faithful God, You will keep me until the end
Pressing on and completing what You began
Oh, I know that You will carry me home

Nothing Lord will remove me from Your love
No height or depth or angel from above
Oh, I know that You will carry me home

In Your hand is where I’ll be forevermore
I’m secure by Your power, oh, holy Lord
Oh, I know that You will carry me home

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 1:18-26, GODLY JOY IN LIFE OR DEATH

PHILIPPIANS 1:18-26

Godly Joy In Life Or Death

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 1:12-18, GODLY JOY IN PREACHING CHRIST

PHILIPPIANS 1:12-18

Godly Joy In Preaching Christ

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 1:7-11, GODLY PRAYER FOR PERSEVERANCE

PHILIPPIANS 1:7-11

Godly Prayer For Perseverance

SERMON: PHILIPPIANS 1:1-6 GODLY JOY FOR PERSEVERANCE

PHILIPPIANS 1:1-6

Godly Joy For Perseverance

AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

I wrote this nearly 10 years ago when I was a "vulture" and still selling cars.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Because Christ has reconciled us to God, we have now become ambassadors for Christ. We ARE ambassadors. We represent the Lord and His glorious gospel. We speak His message and bear His name wherever we go. It's what we have been called to.

I thought about this truth heavily the other night when I was treated rudely by a person who walked onto our car lot. This lady and her husband militantly walked onto our lot. I approached them and greeted them courteously. "Hi folks. Welcome. My name is Josh and you are?" My greeting was met with nothing but silence. I didn't even get a look in my direction. They continued militantly walking through our lot...at a fast pace, too. So I hurried alongside them and said, "Hello folks, is there something I can help you with?" This time I got a glance, but no verbal communication. The body language said, "Leave me alone!" But it's kind of hard to do that. That's like somebody walking around on your front lawn at home...it's only right to say, "Can I help you?" I asked her another question, "Can I point you to a certain vehicle?" And finally I got some response! She said, "Where are your PT Cruisers?" The conversation had started. Whew! I was beginning to think they completely hated salespeople. But their reluctant conversations meant they mostly hated salespeople. Lucky me. I smiled and said, "Oh, they're over this way. Let me show you to them." Boy, do I hate sales sometimes.

So anyway, she was walking so fast that I was unable to pass her up and lead her to some cars. I almost had to do the Olympic speed walk that somewhat resembles the Ace Ventura stroll. Know what I mean? But my hips can't move that fast so I followed behind, somewhat prancing along to keep up. But in trailing behind her I noticed that her windbreaker said on the back, "Harbor Welcome Team!" It took about .5 nanoseconds to register in my head that she was probably the member of the greeting team at her church. The joy of irony! Ouch! I just got dirted by what seemed to be a Christian greeter. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was a pastor, so I mischievously asked her what her jacket meant...cause I'm like that.  She retorted, "That's my church," and she kept going.

Anyway, I have to say that this was probably one of the rudest guests I've had in a long time. I'm so glad that she didn't run into an unbeliever that night. What a bad ambassador that would have been! How credible does the gospel appear to be from kingdom representatives like that. Yet, I must stop and look at my own life and say, "Is there anything that misrepresents my Lord and Savior?" And the answer is "yes." I, too, fall short of Christ's glory and that is why I need His salvation. And though I sin greatly, my Savior is greater and I am therefore compelled to be a better ambassador for Him. The greater I understand my sin to be, the greater my Savior appears to me, the better ambassador I will be for Him.

Christ has reconciled us to God, not counting our sin against us. Now be an ambassador to the world and ask the Lord for the ability to represent and speak for Him well. Help bring people to the one who can save them. And for the sake of God's glory, be nice to unbelievers...even if they are in car sales.

THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING A FATHER

This post was written about 9 years ago when Macy was just 6 years old.  I found it in my archives and thought I'd share it with you. What a blessing it is to see God's faithfulness almost a decade later.


Today I again had the privilege of reading my daughter the Scriptures. We read the story of the Samaritan woman who met Jesus as Jacob's well. In examining the Scriptures I asked her, "Why do we drink water?" Her six-year-old reply was, "Because if we don't drink water then after a certain time we will die. We need it to live."

I said, "Wow, you're right." I explained the Scripture in which Jesus said that there was a such thing as living water which will cause us to live eternally. So I asked some questions to help her figure out what Jesus was saying.

I asked, "What is it that makes us live forever with God?" She replied, "Believing in Jesus...that Jesus died for our sin and rose again to life."

"So Jesus makes us to live eternally," I replied. My next question was, "What then do you think it means to drink living water and live forever?" She said, "Believing in Jesus."

"Yes!" I said. "But not just believing in Jesus, but believing the truth about Jesus." I went on to explain the rest of the story to her and how it is God who gives us spiritual life so that we can worship Him in spirit and it truth. She was in shock when I told her that there were people who didn't love God and didn't believe the truth about Jesus. She said, "That's crazy that God made this place and they don't believe in Him." I said, "Yeah, they even hate God." It was a blast see her connect with God and His truth.

When we were done, it was time for her to hit the sack. So she hopped up in her bunk bed and it was time to pray. She always asks me to help her pray so I gave her a ton of things that she could pray for and I told her that I'd pray for anything she forgot. Her words were more precious to me than anything I've heard in a long time.

"Jesus, help us to believe the truth about you. Please protect those who get hurt for believing the truth about you."

I don't want to forget moments like these. My memory stinks. So this post is to remind me of the grace of God at work in my child's life.


Lord, save my little girl! Regenerate her litte heart if you have not already done so. Make her an outspoken and unashamed mouthpiece of the gospel. Let her live for Your glory. And when the time comes, let her die in a way that glorifies You. Thank You, Father, for the privilege of raising her. Though I fall radically short of being the perfect dad, work out Your good will in her life and let her always find her highest joy in knowing You. I may fail at a number of things, but let me not fail in leading her to know You. As Your child, Father, I ask these things for my child, for the sake of Your glory!