Feeding the Sheep the Word: Read & Proclaimed

Is God Testing Us or We Him? (Deut 6:16-19, Matt 4:5-7)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:13:00 +0000

Deuteronomy 6:16-19 and Matthew 4:5-7 tell us that we should not put God to the test. One way that we commonly do test God is to ask Him to prove His love and concern for us through miraculous signs like healing. Another way is to seek our will rather than His will in our prayers even if we sound religious by quoting Scripture promises. And a third way we test God is by grumbling. Jesus passed the test for us and so whenever we encounter temptation we should not test God.

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Living by All of God's Word (Deut 8, Matt 4:1-4)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:02:00 +0000

Deuteronomy 8 and Matthew 4:1-4 show us what it means to live by all of God's word and not by bread alone. As you listen, may it not make you physically but Spiritually hungry and may you be driven to seek out more of God's word. The temptations are a traditional Lenten text, we will look at the next two from Matthew in the coming Sundays.

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Good Works Are Worth It (Titus 3)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:14:00 +0000

Titus 3 is written to Christians and shows Christians why good works are worth it. They are not worth it for what we will get can out of them. We cannot save ourselves by doing good works. In fact, for an unbeliever to do good works might even be detrimental because they then may fail to see their need for Jesus' righteousness. But for those who believe good works are worth it because there is nothing in it for us. They allow us to give thanks to God for His mercy by showing mercy to others. And they are worth it because there is something in it for others -- because they benefit others, they profit others.

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How Attractive Is Your Lifestyle? (Titus 2)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:59:00 +0000

Titus 2 shows us what a Spiritually healthy and attractive lifestyle looks like. This way of life can be characterized as respectable living, respecting one another, and doing works demanding respect. Life is a quest for godliness among those who know Jesus Christ. And others whom we evangelize should find this something that they want for themselves because they see it in us.

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How Healthy Is Your Faith? (Titus 1)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:12:00 +0000

Titus 1 tells us about a sound (that is, healthy) church. Such a church has a healthy leadership and members who submit to them. Such a church has healthy teaching and teaches it with their words and deeds. Such a church has healthy living that flows out of that teaching. Thus one thing all healthy churches have in common is the word of God publicly proclaimed and privately pondered. This message will improve your Spiritual health if you take the medicine it prescribes.

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Boaz and Mr. So & So (Ruth 4)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:04:00 +0000

Ruth 4 shows us what is in a name, a Scripture allusion, and a genealogy. For us the answer to all of these questions is Christ. A name is to be remembered -- remembered is resurrection language -- in other words, it is only important for us to be remembered by God in Christ Jesus. A Scripture allusion points us to God's story, which is the story of Jesus. And our genealogy to memorize is quite simple -- God the Father is our Father, Jesus is our elder brother, and we who are in Christ are brothers and sisters in Him. Do you know if your name is in the book of life? Are the stories of Scripture your story? Are you a part of the family?

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Midnight Madness (Ruth 3)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:49:00 +0000

Ruth 3 is a midnight madness situation. Naomi told Ruth to do something that was more than just very risky but downright dangerous. The passage has all kinds of sexual overtones so that we will not miss how messy this could have been. But thankfully because Ruth was a worthy woman and Boaz a righteous man they acted right in the middle of this mess. The passage does teach us something about dating and about dating the church. Most importantly it shows us Boaz taking an oath that he will redeem Ruth if others will not step up. Christ took an oath to redeem you His bride and He has done it.

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Do You Make Others Feel Lucky? (Ruth 2)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:11:00 +0000

Ruth 2 introduces Boaz who makes Ruth feel lucky. She was lucky to come to his part of the field because he did not make excuses to turn a blind eye but saw her and had compassion upon her. She was lucky to come to his part of the field because he not only satisfied the letter of the law, narrowly interpreted, but went far above and beyond that. Actually there is no such thing as luck, it was the providence of God that brought her to the worshiping congregation where she could feel lucky, whereas in another field she might have been assaulted.

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Your People Shall Be My People (Ruth 1)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:38:00 +0000

Ruth 1 leads us to reflect on this snowy day on the radical commitment of church membership -- a radical commitment to one another. The passage shows many contrasts. Bethlehem means "House of Bread" and Moab is the people who would not give Israel any bread when they came out of Egypt. The church is where we feast on the bread of life. Ruth and Orpha are another contrast. Here is where we see the text as a challenge to radical commitment -- marriage like commitment to one another. And then Ruth and Naomi are contrasts as well. Ruth as a type of Gentiles coming to Christ and Naomi as a type of the Jews coming to Christ. Both Jews and Gentiles coming together to form one church.

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The Cost of Christmas (Matt 2:1-12)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Matthew 2:1-12 shows us the cost of Christmas. Usually we mean this negatively -- what is Christmas going to cost me? There is a dark side to Christmas as Herod kills the infant children in the region of Bethlehem. But the cost of Christmas we tend to think of is money. Instead, I propose that the "cost" (if we even want to call it that, though it would be considered a cost to unbelievers) of Christmas is rejoicing exceedingly with great joy whenever someone sees the path to Christ, falling down and worshiping Him and nothing else, and giving our treasures to Him. All of these are gifts we give to God. God wants us for Christmas.

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Miracle on Your Street (Luke 2:8-20)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:56:00 +0000

Luke 2:8-20 shows us that a miracle on your street can transform you to not fear the judgment of God, to glorify and praise God, make peace with one another, and treasure up the word of God and ponder His word in your hearts. Thanks be to God. Merry Christmas.

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Do Not Disturb (topical, Isaiah 7:10-17, Luke 2:1-7)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Isaiah 7:10-17 and Luke 2:1-7 are the inspiration for these thoughts entitled "Do Not Disturb." In the former, Ahaz wickedly says that God has a Do Not Disturb policy. In the latter, we see that the Bethlehem Inn had no vacancy. This is part of a larger pattern of Christ's rejection by His people. People often declare to God "Do Not Disturb" there is "No Vacancy" through attempts to obstruct His plans, a failure to seek Him, and a failure to repent and lead others to repent. May God disturb us.

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Mary, the Worthy Wife (topical, Luke 1:39-56)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:44:00 +0000

Luke 1:39-56 is the inspiration for these reflections on the blessed Mary. She was a worthy wife for Joseph, made worthy by God through faith in His word. We do not elevate her to a status of divinity or even some sort of mediator role. But we call her blessed and imitate her faith. The idea of the worthy wife arises from the poem ending Proverbs and from Ruth 3:11. Mary, like Ruth and the Worthy Wife of Proverbs, is characterized by the fear of God (we call faith).

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Pro-Life Eternal (Luke 1:26-45)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:44:00 +0000

The account of the unborn children in Luke 1:26-45 was the starting point for this reflection on the coming of the Christ, the Son of God, who became man at His conception in the virgin Mary. The application of this truth is anything that promotes life and life everlasting.

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Armor Worth Wearing (Eph 6:10-24)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Ephesians 6:10-24 tells us to put on the whole armor of God. Some of us may be parts of the leg, arm, etc. but we have the put on the armor together as one body of Christ. We are not just trying the armor on, like trying on snow boots or a Santa suit, to see how comfortable they feel but we are putting them on to stand against the schemes of the devil and to be able to stand when Jesus returns. Having this whole armor available, the power of prayer, and the encouragement of one another should motivate us to stand firm in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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The Spirit-Filled Home (Eph 5:15-6:9)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Ephesians 5:15-6:9 is a third installment of lessons in the school of Christ. We see what the Spirit-filled household looks (or better yet, sounds) like. In one, the people are (1) addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all their heart, (2) giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and (3) submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Thus we get to hear what submitting to one another in our music sounds like and how we should give thanks for one another rather than complain about our preferences not being met.

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Keeping Christ in Thanksgiving (Colossians 3:12-17)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Colossians 3:12-17 shows us to keep Christ in all our thanksgiving. On this Thanksgiving Day, we gathered to give thanks to God in Christ. It is appropriate that we do this no matter what our circumstances might be.

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Learning to Talk & Dirty Jokes (Eph 5:1-14)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Ephesians 5:1-14 is training for the Christian's conscience in how to talk again. When we are born again, we have to learn how to walk and talk again. We have to learn how to speak the gospel -- how to speak words of grace. The world tries to train our conscience through words that tear people down and through dirty jokes. This is a second installment of the school of Christ. The two main lessons being that words of thanks to God should replace trash talk and words that expose works of darkness should replace words excusing or approving of bad behavior.

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The School of Christ (Eph 4:17-32)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Ephesians 4:17-32 offers us an introduction to the school of Christ. Some of the lessons for Christians include that honest labor leading to sharing replaces stealing, speaking the truth in love to build one another up replaces speaking the lie to tear one another down, and forgiveness and kindness replace anger. This is training for our conscience. The world would rather train our consciences to be desensitized to sin. But in the church we want to continue to learn these lessons with one another in practice. We do not master them in this life but as we learn them we grow in our maturity.

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Growing Up (Eph 4:1-16)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Ephesians 4:1-16 highlights the metaphor of a body growing up to describe the church. The church is a called people who have received a gift. The church is the saints who do the work of ministry. The church builds up one another. This message spells out the role of the equipping pastor (teaching shepherd) and how that relates to the roles of the other parts of the body of Christ in building one another up. Josiah was a visual aid for this message.

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A Purpose for Preaching and Praying (Eph 3:1-21)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:04:00 +0000

Ephesians 3 says that Paul has a reason for preaching that you (those who believe) have the Spirit and praying that you would be filled with the Spirit. The reason for doing so is found in the previous section of Ephesians: that Christ is our peace, has made peace between us and God and between Jews and Gentiles, and has preached peace through the apostles. That you have the Spirit is the content of much of my preaching and that you would be filled with the Spirit is the content of much of my praying. My purpose in preaching Ephesians first is that it is all about the church and it briefly hits on most of the major themes of faithful preaching and prayer.

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Prince of Peace (Eph 2:11-22)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Ephesians 2:11-22 interprets many of the common passages we hear around Christmas and Easter in the light of Christ. The point is that Jesus is our peace, that He has made peace between us and God (and thus also made peace between Jews and Gentiles), and that He published peace through the apostles. We looked first at the Gentile Christians and then at the Jewish Christians and then saw that Paul's point was there is one new man. In fact, we are not Christians separately but only together. Likewise, we are not members of the youth group first or members of this organzation or that committee, we are not young or old first, we are not adult converts or children of the covenant first: we are Christians first.

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Preparing to Jump (Eph 2:1-10)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Ephesians 2:1-10 and Deuteronomy 7:1-8 both show the theme of election in Christ for good works. Deuteronomy points to the final judgment ahead of time. Thus the message began with a model sharing the law to drive people to Christ because we all need to be ready to jump at the final judgment. This is one way we can find those that God loves but are not yet a part of the church. Indeed spreading the good news is a natural reaction to Paul's words reminding us of the way things were, moving us with the riches of God's mercy and grace, and sending us to do good works that God prepared beforehand for us.

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The Way Things Really Are (Eph 1:15-23)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Ephesians 1:15-23, like Joshua 5:13-15, shows us the way things really are. This sermon attempts to help you see God's interpretation of you and your world, which is one reason for Sunday worship. We see here reasons for offering a prayer of thanksgiving and thus for praying that you would have a Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of God are so that you would know God's riches, power, and hope. You are not worthless, you are God's rich inheritance. You are not powerless, Jesus is Lord. You are not hopeless, you have a certain hope for your inheritance of the new heavens and earth.

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Give Praise to God (Ephesians 1:1-14)

revmarple@hotmail.com (revmarple) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Ephesians 1:1-14 models passing the peace (1:2) and a prayer of adoration (1:3-14). Thus I reflected upon worship and how prayer is an essential element of worship and the passing of the peace is appropriate too. All worship is according to the pattern revealed in the word of God just as all prayer should be according to the pattern revealed in the word of God. The model and summary of right prayer is the Lord's Prayer and expanding on its first three petitions we have here a model prayer of adoration. It is a prayer blessing the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ because of election and adoption in Christ, redemption and reconciliation in Christ, and for the assurance of our inheritance. God tells us these things not only to give His people assurance but also so that all of the glory would go to Him alone.

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