The God Who Sustains - Part One of Video

I preached a sermon from Psalm 54:1-4 on Sunday at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Bethlehem, CT. Here is the first part of that sermon.

The Lord is Our Sustainer

Psalm 54:1-4
¹God, save me by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!
² God, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth.
³ For strangers rise up against me, and violent men seek my life. They have no regard for God. Selah
⁴ God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my life.

Introduction:
•          At the time this Psalm was written, King Saul had become jealous of David’s popularity with the people and with the obvious favor of God that rested on David.

•          As a result of that jealousy, King Saul tried to kill David and David fled with some of his loyal followers.
•          Even though they were wrongly pursued, David and his man still endeavored to do what was right and often protected Israelites from raiders, the Philistines, and other enemies.
•          At one point David’s group hid in the forest of Ziph. The entire story is found in 1 Samuel 23.
•          In an effort to gain favor with King Saul, the people of Ziph, betrayed David’s hiding place. Those people should have been grateful for David’s protection, but instead they turned against David in his moment of need.
•          David wrote this Psalm out of the anguish he felt over that experience.

Verse 1 - God, save me by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might!

•          Though David was a man of great abilities, and had a strong fighting force under his command, the very first verse of this Psalm is David’s appeal to God for help.
•          We often become so confident in ourselves and in our own abilities, that we only call upon God after all else has failed. Life would be much less stressful if we called upon God first instead of trusting in our own abilities.
•          Notice that David knew God by name. David did not appeal to some nameless entity off in some distant corner of the universe, but to a God he had come to know as a young boy watching his father’s sheep.
•          Because David knew God personally, the name of God sustained him through the challenges of his life.
•          There is great power in the various names of God. Each name represents a different aspect of God, and therefore we use them at different times in life.
•          Sadly, some people have confused the names of other gods for the many names of the One true God. Sometimes we replace God altogether and start trusting in our own abilities or man-made organizations or politicians.

Verse 2 - God, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth

•          If we hope to bring the name of Christ back to our nation, we must pray.
•          Several websites that I consulted said that the average Christian in America only prays 3-7 minutes a day, and that includes praying for meals.
•          George Barna’s research says that the average PASTOR only prays 5 minutes a day.
•          Though those on the far right like to blame liberals, gays, Democrats and abortionists for our nation’s problems, our nation is not a mess because of the liberals, the gays, the Democrats, or the abortionists. Our nation is a mess because God’s people are not praying! When we can cut through all the labels and pray fervently, our nation will turn around.
•          David asked God to listen to the “words” of his mouth. This is a reference to specific things David was praying for. Though David did not list those specifics in this psalm, since it was meant to be used by a group, when David prayed privately, he prayed specifically.
•          Far too many of us pray such general prayers that lack a specific focus that we would not know if God did answer them. Instead of praying, “Lord, bless the missionaries,” we should be praying for missionaries by name and need. Instead of praying for “the lost to be saved,” we should be praying for our unsaved friends by name and by situation.
•          Perhaps we are vague in our prayers because we lack the faith that God will hear us. God always hears our prayers. He does not always answer in the way we expect, but God does respond in the way that is right.
•          When David prayed this, he was being unjustly pursued through the wilderness and had just been betrayed by people he had protected. It was not the best day of David’s life!
•          Even with all those struggles, David knew that if he prayed, God would listen and respond in ways that would ultimately be for David’s own good.
•          This was not a “name it, claim it” kind of praying, it was a “God, do something before I die!” kind of praying. When we pray with that kind of faith, it is amazing how God answers.

Verse 3 - For strangers rise up against me, and violent men seek my life. They have no regard for God. Selah

•          David was in a situation where the men of Ziph, who he had protected from a distance, but did not know in a personal way, betrayed him. They were strangers to him, yet they sought to destroy him in order to gain favor with King Saul.
•          How many times in our lives have people who barely know us hurt us?
•          Think about what happened in Newtown, CT. A mentally unstable young man killed 26 strangers in ten minutes of violence that still leaves us numb to think about. Though Newtown is an extreme example of violence from strangers, many of us have had things done to us by strangers that hurt us.
•          And sadly, many of us have also been hurt by those we thought were friends, or by relatives we thought we could trust. Whether strangers, or friends, the actions of others can be extremely painful to us.
•          We often ask how people can do such hurtful things to others; David’s answer reminds us that they had no regard for God.
•          This does not necessarily mean they were atheists, but it means that serving God was not the primary motivation of their lives when they took those actions.
•          In this particular situation, their primary motivation was to gain favor with King Saul.
•          Think of all the pain that is caused because people are trying to be popular, or manipulate some situation to their advantage. When we leave God out of any situation, the result is never positive.
•          Do not miss the word Selah. The word “Selah” occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms, and also is found 3 times in Habakkuk. The exact meaning of the word is unknown, but it is believed by many scholars to be a musical term that means pause, or reflect.
•          David was asking us to pause and reflect on this truth.
•          We must realize that this kind of behavior, which leaves God out of various situations, is a constant reality in our sin cursed world. We will never overcome it by rules, regulations, legislation or any other man made system. We need God’s help when we face these kinds of situations.
•          All the rules in the world will not change the human heart. Only a relationship with the true God of heaven, through His Son Jesus Christ, can change the human heart. We must acknowledge this great truth in our lives and place all of our hope in Christ alone.

Verse 4 - God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my life.
•          When we understand this great truth, then God becomes our helper and if God is for us, no one can stand against us. But God is more than just a helper, He is our sustainer.
•          The Hebrew word for sustainer is the bə·sō·mə·ḵê       or     בְּ ֽסֹמְכֵ֥י.
•          It only occurs twice in scripture. In this Psalm and in Ruth 4:15 where it says that God would sustain Naomi in her old age.
•          We do not have time to look at the whole story of Naomi, but the short version is that her husband and sons died, leaving her in a strange land with no money, no job and no one to stand up for her rights. In that day and time, a woman in such circumstances was destitute and often either starved or was taken advantage of by a man. Naomi had no other source of sustenance. Therefore, she had to rely on God. But God was there for Naomi and took care of her. Her story has one of those “lived happily ever after” endings.
•          Likewise, God was there for David. And God is here for us.
•          When we cast all our hope on Him, He will sustain us even in the most difficult experiences of life. When God is all we have left, then we can be sure that He will be enough to get us through whatever this sin cursed world throws at us.

A closing illustration about Connecticut

•          Since I am in the process of moving from Vermont to Connecticut, I have been studying Connecticut history. When Europeans first settled in Connecticut, they were quite the religious group and their favorite prayer came from Psalm 54:4. That prayer was, “He who transplanted still sustains.” Incidentally, that remains the official state motto for Connecticut.
•          But we have forgotten our rich Christian heritage. For example, Hartford saw ten new mosques built in the last decade but only one new evangelical church. Things that were once sinful are now the law of the land in Connecticut. If we do not soon turn back to the One who put us here, things will get worse instead of better. We still need the One who transplanted us to sustain us.

Conclusion:

•          We must know God personally and cast all our hope on Him.
•          We must pray fervently and specifically, trusting God to always do what is right.
•          When treated wrongly, our response should bring God’s presence back into the situation because He is the only one who can sustain us.

Does the Fear of Judgment Lead to Judgment?

It seems that the one unpardonable sin in our current culture is judgment. Having grown up in a fairly judgmental religious system, I can understand why it is such a powerful negative influence on our thinking processes. But lately, it seems that our culture has allowed our fear of being judging to become an excuse for continuing poor behavior.

Let’s be honest, we all make mistakes (Romans 3:23). None of us are perfect (Romans 3:10) and those who pretend to be are liars (1 John 1:10). Though our culture pretends that there is nothing really worthy of judgment, deep inside we all know we have a few things in our lives that are worthy of judgment (Romans 2:14-16).

The big question becomes, how do we deal with those behaviors, thoughts, attitudes or feelings that we wish were not present in our lives? In the past, when our culture was based on more religion, the church told us what to do. Often, whether we agreed or not, we just did it. There were some advantages to this, because some less desirable behaviors were less prominent in our society than they are now. But there were also some real disadvantages because different people have different ways of looking at certain things. Those that looked at them in ways that might not fit the “majority” opinion of the church based culture faced significant pressure to conform to something they may not even believe in. And it was easy to jump to conclusions about people without knowing the full details, which is always a dangerous situation. The way many people in our culture responded was to drop out of the organized church.

The fear of being judged by the organized church led many people to abandon the organized church. The problem with this approach is that that does nothing to address the behavior that brought out the negative feelings to begin with. If we have things in our lives that we know should not be there, simply avoiding people who may point those things out will not solve our problem. It is much like a person with a heart condition refusing to go to the doctor out of fear of what the doctor may say. If the condition goes on long enough without treatment, the result is not going to be positive and the treatment for the condition will be much more invasive than what could have been done if it had been addressed earlier. The same is true when we have poor behavior in our lives that we have not yet addressed. Eventually we will reap the consequences of that behavior. By the time all those consequences finally hit us, it may cost us far more than we ever intended to pay. In essence, our fear of minor judgment will cause us to experience major judgment.

Perhaps it is time to try a different approach. Perhaps it is time to start exploring church again. Obviously there are some overly judgmental types of churches that may not help us become healthy again. But there are many churches that understand that in our human weakness we made bad choices and now we are trying to fix those issues. Those churches will walk with us through the journey until we get where we need to be. They will not tell us that all of our behavior is acceptable, but we already know that. But they will remind us that God loves us in spite of our behavior and that He will help us become the person we always wanted to be. It is time for us to overcome our fear of judgment and start dealing with the baggage in our lives and we are going to need the help of other people to do that. That is what church is all about. It is a group of sinners encouraging each other to do better as we see the return of Christ approach (Hebrews 10:25). There may be some painful moments in the short term, but the joy over the long term will be worth it.

For more devotionals like this one, consider Touching the Footprints of Jesus. 

Reaching the Next Generation for Christ

Churches in small towns and rural areas are finding that their communities are rapidly changing because of an influx of urbanites and progressive ideas that increased use of technology have brought. 

Those churches are discovering that these changes make it more difficult to reach their communities for Christ. To reach the postmodern people who now live in their communities, many churches are facing critical changes in their thinking and practices.

Some of those changes will be relatively easy to implement and will cause little discomfort to current members. Those relatively easy changes can help small churches regain their role as the social and ceremonial centers of their communities. 

Those changes can also help the next generation view the church building as a place for community events that may not be directly connected to the church but are helpful in building bridges to the unchurched. Many small churches will be able to make these types of adjustments once they take the time to prayerfully consider them.

Other changes will be more significant and will bring a higher level of tension. Churches that choose to engage the culture philosophically will take a huge leap forward to reach the next generation, but it will not be easy. The challenge will be in learning how to engage the culture without adopting the culture.  These bigger changes may require an investment of time and energy as the church’s members venture outside the walls of the church building to serve the community. 

They may also push some churches to change their view of evangelism from an event to a process. That change in viewpoint will be a struggle for many.

Churches seeking to help a generation in pain will learn to take risks because it is much easier to recognize deep pain than it is to implement ministries that seek to join God in healing that pain.

Churches that desire to help nonbelievers discover the pathway toward God as part of a logical journey undertake a huge task.

Church leaders who seek to create a worship experience that speaks to postmodern young adults in ways they can understand, without driving off current church members, will spend significant time in prayer. Such changes will most likely require a release of some traditions, as well as an embrace of modern technology and music, along with a rediscovery of ancient liturgical and experiential worship styles.

None of these are easy steps to take. None should be rushed into.

None should be forced on a congregation that is unwilling to make these adjustments. But churches that are willing and ready to reach the world with the gospel will find the next generation is responsive because of their desperate spiritual need.

If your church wants to reach the next generation effectively, consider buying Dr. Dorsett’s book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church, published by CrossBooks, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources. The book expands on each of the above ideas in practical ways. Dr. Dorsett believes we can engage the postmodern culture that surrounds us without actually adopting that culture that is so often opposed to biblical values.

 

Do not be surprised by your "brother's" reaction - Guest Post by Stan Albright

If you spend much time talking with me, you will find out quickly that I am a huge history buff. I am extremely interested in the American Revolution and the American Civil War. Mention either of these subjects to me and you will be in for a lengthy and passionate conversation.

A Revolutionary War character that has always enchanted me is Major General Benedict Arnold. He was a soldier that lived out two lives, one as a hero and one as a traitor. It was once said of Arnold that, "As an American officer no general was more imaginative, no field officer more daring, no soldier more courageous." You can find a "boot" monument at the Saratoga National Military Park with the following inscription, "In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army, who was desperately wounded on this spot, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of Major General." Yet, no mention of the name for who it was erected . . . it was Benedict Arnold.

Three years after the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold would be leading devastating attacks against the nation for which he had valiantly fought. Why, you may ask? That question may be best answered by James Henretta when he wrote, "In the end, Benedict Arnold's moral failure lay not in his disenchantment with the American cause for many other officers returned to civilian life disgusted with the decline in republican virtue and angry over their failure to win a guaranteed pension from Congress. Nor did his infamy stem from his transfer of allegiance to the British side, for other Patriots chose to become Loyalists, sometimes out of principle but just as often for personal gain. Arnold's perfidy lay in the abuse of his position of authority and trust: he would betray West Point and its garrison, and if necessary, the entire American war effort to secure his own success. His treason was not that of a principled man but that of a selfish one . . ."

Those last words of Henretta, "His treason was not that of a principled man but that of a selfish one," send chills in my soul. How many times have we allowed our own personal selfishness to lead us down a path of disobedience and ultimate failure? Such was the case in the life of a man named, Eliab.

In 1 Samuel 17:28, we are introduced to David's oldest brother. Eliab was a man, by means of his birth order, who was in line to receive the "king's portion" of his father's inheritance. Yet, with this privilege came huge responsibility. He was to be the first to stand up and defend his family, and his nation, if anyone would dare to threaten. Eliab was to be a living example to his younger siblings. They were to learn from his experience, courage, and wisdom. He was to be like a second father to them. So, when David (the youngest brother) spoke boldly and defiantly to the soldiers of Israel concerning their responsibility to defend their nation against this "uncircumcised Philistine," a role that was Eliab's responsibility, it caused his fury to burn against his little brother . . . a fury born, "not of a principled faith, but that of selfish pride!"

Why are we surprised by Eliab's reaction to his younger brother, David? Is it not human nature to defend our actions, or lack thereof, when someone holds us accountable? Do we not seek for excuses to explain away our disobedience, fear, or complacency? What about today's church? What happens when someone takes a stand for Christ in your church calling us to faithfulness , or to courageous action, and to be unashamed witnesses for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Does everyone agree with such an action? Do they all in one accord accept the "call to action," repent of their sinfulness, and march boldly against the forces of hell?! I would hope so, but I think not. Do not be surprised if you find yourself standing alone.

Too many "Christians" today have created a religion for themselves that includes compromise . . . compromise of their faith . . . compromise of their integrity & character . . . compromise of their authenticity. It is a religion that is more associated with outward appearance instead of the truth of the heart. I love the scripture passage of when the prophet Samuel traveled to the home of Jesse to find God's chosen to replace disobedient King Saul. Jesse marched each of his sons by Samuel for God to show him the one God had chosen. Each time Samuel would remark about how "this one" is surely the one God would choose only to have them rejected. Finally, God spoke to Samuel and said, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

Therefore, do not be surprised when others will not stand with you; not even the one who may call himself your "brother in Christ." Remember, our calling is not one of this world, but one where we are to be found faithful in our walk with Christ. It is Christ's acceptance that we need, not the world's applause.

Stan Albright is the National Director of Associations at the North American Mission Board.

Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere in the Church

Churches that desire to reach the next generation must work hard at letting all know they are welcome to attend any church services or activities regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. A church must help the members of the community know they are welcome to attend church services and activities even if they are not yet sure if they believe in God. Churches often unintentionally portray their membership requirements as attendance requirements.

While churches will obviously limit who may officially join the church to those who agree with the church’s doctrine and religious practices, anyone should be welcome to attend a church’s worship services. Even those whom the church considers the worse sinners in the community should be welcomed at church, otherwise how will they ever hear the gospel and be converted. Creating an atmosphere that makes everyone feel welcome in the worship service is important.

There are many ways to make people feel welcome, such as having greeters at the door or having parking spaces reserved for guests. But making people feel welcome often starts before they show up. Something as simple as putting the words, “Everyone welcome regardless of religious affiliation” on every flyer, poster and advertisement the church produces communicates something important to the entire community. Some churches have chosen not to put the name of their denomination in the name of their church. While that is not the right choice in every situation, in some environments, it can be very useful. Each church needs to spend time thinking about how to make outsiders feel welcome. Churches that neglect to consider this issue are probably a lot less welcoming than they think they are. Young adults have little tolerance for churches that appear closed to outsiders, so one key to reaching them it to eliminate that barrier when possible.

Adapted from Dr. Dorsett’s book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church, published by CrossBooks, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources.

 

Reaching the Next Generation Through Effective Preaching

Young adults are drawn to passionate preaching that is relevant to daily life. Some churches think they can only attract younger adults by watering down the sermon. We demonstrated in an earlier post why watering down the gospel message actually produces the opposite result because postmodernists believe there is no point in going to church if nothing the church believes has substance anyway. Other churches have attempted to force the gospel message on those who attend. This has not worked either because young adults do not simply accept what they are told; they want to discover it for themselves.

That is why they are drawn to passionate preaching that is relevant to daily life. They do not just want a passionate communicator; they also need that communicator to connect whatever is being said to real-life experiences.

Many churches have discovered several keys to relevant, passionate preaching. One of those keys is to base the sermon on a single passage of Scripture. Postmodern people expect something in a sermon other than the pastor’s opinion or some pop psychology thinly disguised as a sermon. Therefore, the entire lesson should be wrapped around a single Scripture passage if at all possible. Using a large number of additional verses that are not part of the main text is often counterproductive because most postmodern people are biblically illiterate. They do not know all the Bible stories or where the books of the Bible can be found. Jumping around from passage to passage is very confusing to them. Since most young adults do not know the stories in the Bible, if we do refer to biblical stories as illustrations, we are going to have to take the time to tell that story to the audience. We simply cannot assume they already know it. Since we can only hold the attention of our listeners for a certain amount of time, we have to choose carefully how many of those stories we might tell in one sermon. The same would be true about using various words that may convey significant meaning to a churchgoing audience but that have no meaning whatsoever to a non-churched listener. If we want to use words such as grace, trinity, mercy, redemption, or born again, they will have to be defined. Otherwise a postmodern audience will have no idea what we are talking about.

In addition to using Scripture effectively, be prepared to discuss deep and complex issues with relevant application. If young adults have made the effort to come church, they want to wrestle with the tough questions about life and discover deep answers to life’s perplexing problems. They want to know why evil exists and why there is suffering in the world. They want to know why God lets bad things happen to good people if God really is so powerful. Based on extensive research, Lifeway Christian Resources has discovered that “young adults are allowing these questions to change the way they shop, educate themselves, read, and even listen to music.” Lifeway concludes, “It’s a mystery to many young adults, both inside and outside of church life, why more Christians don’t take their responsibilities [about such issues] more seriously.”  Effective pastors, teachers, and Christian leaders spend time studying the deep issues and are prepared to incorporate them into their sermons because the next generation wrestles with these issues on a regular basis.

As the sermon draws to a close, it is important to challenge postmodernists to consider how the truth of the Scriptures just taught can be applied to their daily lives. Though it is unlikely that postmodernists will make any spiritual commitment instantly, they should be challenged to think deeply for a period of time and then act on their reflective conclusion at some later point. This is in no way a suggestion that we should no longer give invitations or offer people an opportunity to trust Christ; it is simply a realization that the next generation is going to need more time than may be allotted in a typical closing song of a church service. Inviting them to a prayer room to talk with someone further about the implications of the sermon or giving them an email address or phone number they can text with questions about the sermon may be more effective. Young adults need to be challenged to reflectively contemplate biblical truth and make a commitment to that truth, but only after they have come to a well-considered conclusion. In my own ministry, I often tell students in advance of certain dates when we will be having a baptism or some other spiritual milestone and ask them to come see me before that date if they are ready to make some type of spiritual commitment. That allows them time to consider making a spiritual decision but does not force them to decide without having thought it through completely. When we get frustrated with how long it takes for young adults to move to a place of commitment, we must remind ourselves of that wonderful biblical truth that says no one comes to the Father unless the Spirit draws him or her. Let us teach and preach the Word, filled with His Spirit, and patiently await the Father to draw the next generation to Himself.

Adapted from Dr. Dorsett’s book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church, published by CrossBooks, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources.