Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Despite How It Looks Now, Jesus is in Control

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 31, 2021

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28

In 1970, a KGB agent (the Russian version of our CIA), named Yuri Bezmenov, defected to the West. There is a 1985 YouTube video of him talking about the communist strategy for taking over the U.S. 35 years ago, he said the strategy had been plotted for years and had already begun to undermine our country. He claimed there are 4 steps to a communist takeover of America:

​1.) The 1st is what he called “demoralization.”

He said, “Marxism-Leninism ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of American students, without being challenged or counter-balanced by the basic values of Americanism and American patriotism…The demoralization process in the United States is basically completed already [1985]…Most of it is done by Americans to Americans thanks to lack of moral standards.” This process seems to render facts and truth as irrelevant, because, as Bezmenov asserted, a demoralized person is not capable of ascertaining what is true from what is false. Such a person has no standard by which to discern truth. He went so far as to claim, “Even if I take him [a demoralized American] by force to the Soviet Union and show him a concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it until he is going to receive a kick in his fat bottom. When the military boot crashes him, then he will understand, but not before that.” And then it would be too late.

2.) The 2nd stage is a period of “social chaos,” usually lasting 2-5 years. The media, some politicians, and academia join to incite and downplay chaos. Riots, as we saw this past summer, are redefined as “peaceful protests.” But persons who express outrage against this chaos are redefined as “bigots,” “extremists,” and “insurrectionists.” During this time period, the government will promise all kinds of freebies to American citizens as it becomes bigger and more intrusive.

3.) Stage 3 instigates a crisis leading either to “civil war or “foreign invasion.” This stage is said to last from 2-6 months. Bezmenov maintained that the “useful idiots” who helped bring this crisis about will then become disillusioned and will then either be killed off, imprisoned, or exiled by those in authority.

4.) Bezmenov referred to the final stage as “normalization.” The U.S. will have become communist. Based on the experiences of other countries, like Grenada, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and China, it appears to take about 20 years for the country to accept this as the new norm.

I don’t know about you, but I find his experience and his predictions to be chilling. I started my career path as a high school teacher of US History and US Government. Though I later moved on to become a licensed psychologist and then an ordained pastor, I have never really forgotten my interest in American governance and have continued to observe our cultural trends.

As I considered Bezmenov’s descriptions and predictions, it occured to me that–35 years after his interview—his assessment and predictions appear to be accurate. It looks to me as if we are already in Stage 2 Chaos. As a nation, we have sidelined our moral compass, Jesus Christ. And we are watching those in power currently “restructuring” how we see and do things politically, economically, militarily, and governmentally. This can be both overwhelming and distressing to us.

But in these uncertain and rapidly changing times, we need to pray for our nation and to keep our eyes on–and our faith in–Jesus.This is what our lessons teach us today.
Deuteronomy 18:14-20 Moses is prophesying the coming of a prophet greater than he was. 1st he tells the people to obey the prophets. Why would this be his concern? Because authentic prophets convey messages from God (they are essentially God’s mouth-pieces).

The marks of a true prophet are that what he/she says is consistent with Scripture, and that what he/she foretells actually happens. 2nd, he wants them to get into the habit of listening to the prophets—God will send them a number of good ones—so they will then be prepared to hear the Ultimate Prophet when Jesus arrives. Jesus Christ is the Ultimate Word of God. He is God’s fullest revelation of Himself to us. As the Son of God, He has authentic knowledge of God the Father. He represented the Father openly, honestly, and truthfully. In John 5:30, He says, By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent Me [totally obedient to the Father]. In John 7:16, He makes a similar point, My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent Me [He says what the Father approves]. As the Son of God, He has authentic authority to speak on the Father’s behalf. In John 5: 36-37, He adds, I have a testimony weightier than that of John [the Baptist]. For the very work that the Father has given Me to finish, and which I am doing testifies that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent me has Himself testified concerning Me [The Father voiced His full approval of Jesus at His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration]. He goes on to say in John 11: 37-38, Do not believe Me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe Me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father. Finally, He asserts in John 14:10, Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work.

So Moses is telling the people, before he dies, that Jesus is coming as the greatest of all prophets; and that they need to be prepared to listen to and obey Him.  He will be and is our moral authority.

​Our Gospel lesson, Mark 1:21-28, focuses on Jesus’ authority. 

You may remember that Mark (actually, John Mark) was Peter’s disciple and probably wrote down for Peter what is essentially Peter’s Gospel. Peter wanted to get the Good News out to the Romans, so, this is a Gospel of action. You may notice the words Suddenly and immediately are frequently used in this Gospel. Mark’s (Peter’s) Gospel focuses more on the works of Jesus rather than on the thinking behind Jesus’ works (the Apostles John and Paul tend to focus on the latter). Peter knew he would have to convince Roman soldiers of Jesus’ authority. After all, Caesar called himself, Lord; so, why should they believe Jesus is Lord?

The 1st way a Roman (& we) might come to accept Jesus as Lord is if He has authority over the supernatural. Mark will also go on to demonstrate that Jesus had authority/power over nature (storms at sea; walking on water; feeding 5,000, then 4,000 with next to nothing on hand). Jesus also had authority to heal peoples’ physical bodies (the blind, the deaf, the lame, the palsied, lepers, feverish or hemorrhaging women; even resurrectionsfrom the dead). Finally, He also healed people from dysfunctional emotional conditions.

So, the first miracle Mark reports is of Jesus casting a demon out of a man, in church, on the Sabbath. Jesus teaches at the synagogue in Capernaum because He’s been thrown out of His home town, Nazareth.

He makes Capernaum the base of His operations. The demon(s) in a man in the synagogue call out, What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? [Yes!] I know who you are—the Holy One of God! Notice, the demons recognize Jesus’ true identity as God before the humans do. But Jesus doesn’t want the demons to lead folks to Him. Their agenda is from Satan and is evil. Their agenda is to pull us away from God. He tells the demon(s) to be quiet—the Greek expression He uses is actually, Be muzzled!–and come out of him. He sets the man freefrom demonic oppression. The man may not have known he had a demon in him. He didn’t even ask Jesus for help. By casting the demon(s) out of him, Jesus demonstrates that He both discerns the presence of evil in a person and He has the power to make evil spirits leave. In other words, when He says hush, they have to hush; when He says go, they have to go.

In His first miracle recorded in Mark, Jesus reveals that He has power over the spiritual realm.  He is going to tear down the spiritual walls that separate people from God and from each other.  He is going to war against and defeat dark forces.  The Romans were superstitious, so this would have been astonishing to them.  They believed they had to appease/bribe the gods to keep them on their side.  But here is Jesus, just speaking a word, and vanquishing a foe that only God could command.  This would have stopped most Roman soldiers in their tracks.

Let’s also remember Paul’s teachings in Ephesians 6:12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our battles are not with people per se, but rather with the demonic forces that are behind and drive their hateful, seductive, or destructive behavior.

I think we need to be aware of what is going on currently in our country, but we need not be afraid.  We worship a Jesus who has authority over all things and all events. The political and social turmoil in our country is not beyond Him.Either He will, through our prayers, subdue it; or He will allow it to continue to play out as a prelude to End Time events.  Either way, we can rest in the fact that our Lord is in control.

We also worship a Jesus who is the Voice of Authority, the final authority. He has already defeated the Devil on the Cross. Because of Christ, we can trust that He has things under control, despite how it looks to us. Because of Christ, we can leave fear behind and step out in freedom to do God’s work, in God’s way, in this world. Because of Christ, we can pray with confidence that His will would be done in our country as it is in Heaven. Amen!

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The God of Second Chances

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 24, 2021

Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Ps 62:5-12; 1 Cor7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

         Our culture tends to believe that success is good but failure is bad.  Furthermore, we should avoid failure at all costs.  This can lead, however, to some really bad decisions/actions on our parts.  I read this week about the Darwin Awards.  Very cynically, these are given to people…“who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it—usually doing so in an extraordinarily stupid manner.”  I don’t know who these Darwin folks are, but they scan the news, looking for foolish ways that people accidentally kill themselves.  They have been making these posthumous awards annually since 1994.  One recent winner was a 19 YO male from Houston.  He had bragged to his friends that he could win at Russian Roulette.  His gun was a semi-automatic. Apparently he either didn’t know or didn’t remember that it automatically inserts a bullet in the chamber whenever it’s cocked.  In other words, his chances of surviving pulling the trigger were zero, and he indeed died.  A second recent winner was a Malaysian executioner.  Imagine putting that on your resume:  “From 2001 to 2008, I was an official executioner.”  It seem she wanted a friend to take a picture of him standing on the gallows with a noose around his neck.  However, he hadn’t first checked to see if the trap door was locked in place.  When he stepped on the platform with his head in the noose, the trap door opened and he was hanged!  The Darwin Folks would have us believe these two got what they deserved and we are better off without them.

               In a similar vein, do youremember France’s Maginot Line of WWII? The French had heavily armed and barricaded the border they shared with Germany, thinking this would save them from a Nazi invasion.  What they failed to consider is that the Nazis would first invade Belgium, then cross into France from that border, breaking into France to the west of and avoiding the Maginot Line altogether.  I’m sure students of military history have decried France’s misplaced trust in this impaired defensive strategy as a huge and costly mistake.

         Currently we are dealing with the “Cancel Culture.”  If the press or social media discover one bad thing you have done in your past, they come after you with no mercy, shaming and embarrassing you in public.  There is no grace and no mercy.

         Cancel Culture, the Darwin Awards, and even the experience of the Maginot Line would have us all believe that it is fatal to make a mistake. Such a belief is both unchristian and totally at odds with our God!  He often views failure/mistakes as a way to bring about good:

         (a) Failure keeps us humble;

         (b) Failure reminds us we are neither perfect nor gods;

         (c) Failure allows God to mold and shape our character;

         (d) Failure helps increase our dependence upon God.  When we see what a mess we have made of our lives, we realize we need God to guide and protect us.

         Two of our Scriptures today reference a godly response to failure.  In our Old Testament lesson, we catch up to Jonah (3:1-5, 10) post whale experience.  You probably remember that God had given the prophet the assignment to evangelize the Assyrians.  But Jonah was horrified at the prospect and immediately ran in the opposite direction.  Maybe he or his family had been victims of Assyrian raids, as they were feared all over the ancient Near East for their ferocity in battle.  The tales told regaling the revolting and brutal things they did to those they fought and defeated would strike terror into the hearts of any listener.  It is said that piles of human skulls sat outside the gates to all their cities.  Perhaps Jonah ran from the missionary task because he instead wanted God to justly punish them (like the Cancel Culture, he wanted to exact revenge on his enemies).  Or perhaps he just couldn’t get his mind around the fact that God meant to show them—even them!–mercy.  Or maybe he was just simply afraid of them!  Whatever his rationale, he headed to Spain, got caught in a violent storm, was thrown off the ship by the crew—who were sure someone on board had offended the gods–and swallowed by a giant fish/whale.

         Our lesson today picks up with Jonah having been miraculously vomited up onto the beach, only to have God again tell him to go to Nineveh, the capitol of Assyria.  And, having learned his lesson—it’s not healthy to defy God—he goes. Archeological digs dating from the 1950’s tell us the city was apparently 27 miles in circumference (2.5 mi. long; 1.33mi. wide).  It was probably like many of our large cities, in that one suburb ran into another in a big urban sprawl.  It apparently was so large that it took Jonah several days to walk through it, proclaiming his message of repentance.

         Now I don’t know about you, but I have often wondered why fierce Ninevites would pay any attention to a lone, bedraggled Israelite.  But imagine how Jonah might have looked after having spent 2-3 days in a whale’s digestive juices.  Other folks who have been recovered from the stomachs of large fish (and some have over the years), have been found to be hairless.  Like persons who have undergone chemotherapy, they lose the hair on their heads, faces (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and their bodies.  Jonah probably didn’t wear a wig, so his totally hairless appearance, and lack of a beard, would have surely grabbed peoples’ attention.  No doubt the stomach acids altered his skin color as well.  He probably looked orange, the original “Orange Man.”  The folks of Nineveh had never seen anyone like him, so they probably stopped to gawk.  While he had their attention, he told them they had 40 days to change their ways or die! Pagan folks (& some Christians too) are often superstitious.  They would have figured Jonah was someone special, so they all—even the king—immediately fell into repentance.  They were profoundly impacted.  Several hundred thousand people came to grief over their sins and desired to know and follow God.  J. Vernon McGee, my favorite Bible commentator, calls this the largest revival in history.

         This story is such a wonderful demonstration of God’s mercy.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward these horrible Assyrians! He gave them a second chance.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward His disobedient prophet! I’m always amazed at how God uses and redeems our rough experiences, when we allow Him.  He even used Jonah’s altered and strange appearance as a means of attracting an audience willing to listen to this wandering Israelite.

         And these are not the only examples of God’s extension of second chances to folks in Scripture:

         (1) Jacob stole his brother’s inheritance, yet God made  him a patriarch of the faith;

         (2) King David committed adultery and murder, and yet God later—following David’s repentance–made him a man after His own heart.

         (3) Peter denied and abandoned Christ when He needed  him most, yet Jesus made him an Apostle and very likely the first Bishop of Rome.

         (4) Saul, who zealously murdered Christians, encounters the Risen Christ, and becomes Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

         (5) In Jesus’ story of the Prodigal This son, who according to ancient Near Eastern tradition, should have probably been snubbed by his offended father, is gladly embraced.  Any on-lookers would have expected the father to kick this money-grubbing, insolent, disrespectful son to the curb, but his father greeted him with  kisses.  Their neighbors would have expected to see the son beaten, but instead his grateful father produces a celebratory banquet.

All of these examples demonstrate that our God is a God of grace and forgiveness.   He patiently waits on us to come to our senses and come to Him.   Unwilling that any of us would miss out on His love and mercy, He offers us a 2nd chance, and sometimes even more!

         Our psalm today is Psalm 62, written by King David in his elder years. As you read it, you may be surprised by David’s themes as he wrote this after having survived a palace coup by his favorite son, Absolom.  Over time, and without David’s knowledge, Absolom had curried the favor of former friends of his father’s, and even a portion of the Israelite army no longer loyal to the King.  Absolom and his cronies entered Jerusalem by one gate, while his elderly and grieved father is forced to flee (with his court, advisors, and army personnel still loyal to him), by another.  So, as David composed this psalm, he is feeling rejected and betrayed by his favorite son, and overcome by grief.

         Yet notice how he focuses not on his pain, but on his relationship with God.  He expresses his trust in God!  Though he has been forced from his capital city in defeat, instead of being caught up in bitterness or a desire for revenge, he expresses optimism and praise to the Lord!

         (1) In v.9 He says he doesn’t put his trust in the fickle mob, not in men, but in God;

         (2) In v.10 He says he doesn’t trust in material things;

         (3) In v.11 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God has the Power!

         (4) In v.12 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God is merciful.

         These are such good lessons for us in these uncertain times, aren’t they?  When wild-eyed and unhinged political zealots are calling for revenge and retribution toward their enemies; when the Covid-19 has morphed and ramped up its killing capacity yet again; when the economic future seems uncertain; when we see our civil rights being challenged and increasingly curtailed by big tech, big business, big media, and big government; and when another caravan of thousands of migrants seems poised to storm our borders; in all of these situations, we need to put our trust in God.

         Like Jonah, we can be obedient and stand back and watch Him do miracles!  Like King David, we can trust in Him despite our circumstances…remembering that God has the power to protect us, remembering that God is merciful.  Unlike the people who give out the Darwin Awards, the Nazis, or the Cancel Culture, our God has shown time and time again that He believes we can change—with His help.  He doesn’t demand that we be perfect (the more I feel pressured to be perfect, the more mistakes I tend to make).  He just wants us, like King David, to trust in Him.  And He wants us, like the prophet Jonah, to obey Him.  Thank you, Lord, for being the God of 2nd chances!  Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The God of Life

Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 17, 2021

Scriptures: 1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalms 139:1-6, 13-18; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20l John 1:43-51

         I was fairly outraged yesterday when I received this bumper sticker in my mail.  It reads, “We Won’t Back Down,” and it’s from Planned Parenthood.  They were soliciting funds and suggested I contribute anywhere from $20-$100 for their cause.  (They must have gotten my name from a list of Florida psychologists; they clearly didn’t realize I am also a pastor.)  I wondered why they are asking for money when Planned Parenthood is already heavily supported by our federal tax dollars.  In fact you may know that some of their local offices qualified for government Covid-19 relief money, claiming they were a “small business.”  They insist they exist to provide quality health care for those unable to afford it.  Using current-day buzz words, they couch their appeal as…a way to address “racial inequity and justice”; and a means of providing nondiscriminatory, “sexual and reproductive healthcare.”  They strongly suggest that they are the primary advocates of those who suffer “systemic discrimination in the health care system.”  Now, to be clear, I have known of women who have gotten low cost mammograms from them.  But what is also true is that they exist primarily to provide abortions. 

         What they neglected to mention in the accompanying solicitation letter is that while white women have 37% of abortions annually, black women have 36%.  Since Black women make up only 13% of the American population (vs. non-Hispanic whites at 60%), this puts their number of abortions disproportionally much higher than whites.  At the current rate, there will be more black babies aborted than will be born by 2050. In fact, in 2020, more black babies were aborted in New York City than were born.  Rather than being supportive of racial equity, or racial equality, Planned Parenthood seems to be contributing to eugenics, the eradication of the race.  

         This is Right to Life Sunday, or Sanctity of Life Sunday.  We Christians tend to be pro-life because our God is the author and giver of life. We believe that God created humankind, and called us “very good,” the pinnacle of His creation. He formed humans from the dust and He breathed into us the breath of life.  We are pro-life because our God is pro-life.  Now let’s be clear, we are not against those who have had abortions.  No, not at all.  However, we believe aborting a child is a sin.  So anyone who has had one (or more) need only tell God she is sorry and ask for His forgiveness.  This should put an end to any lingering guilt, and reconcile the woman once again to God.  We are repelled by the sin but love the sinner.

         Let’s examine our Scriptures for today to see what they tell us about God’s attitudes toward human life.

         Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18 affirms that God knows us, each one of us-from “stem to stern,” top to bottom, inside and out….He knows what we think—who else can perceive our thoughts?—regardless of whether or not we express our thoughts verbally.  He knows what we do.  We cannot hide any of our cognitions or our behaviors from Him.  When we face Christ at the Throne of Judgment, there will be no jury of our peers and no defense Attorney using any means possible to plead our case.  Neither spin-doctoring, nor omitting some facts, nor outright lying will do us any good.  Our God is omniscient.  He knows.

         He created us and He knows us intimately—whether we acknowledge that fact or not.  He called us into existence.  We are here because God wanted us to be, whether our folks delighted in us or not!  My stepdad was constantly critical and disapproving of me.  My mother told me she didn’t like women which explained a lot about our troubled relationship.  So, when I first read and understood Psalm 139, I rejoiced because I realized it almost didn’t matter what my earthly parents thought about me.  God Himself called me into existence.  He wanted me.  He wanted you.  I find this very reassuring and hope you do too.

         Given that God knows us so well, it’s also true that He knows in advance how best to use our gifts and talents to advance His Kingdom here on earth:

         (1) Consider 1 Samuel 3:1-20 His mother, Hannah had begged God for a son.  She promised the Lord she would dedicate her son to God’s service if the Lord granted her request.  God did, and so she brought Samuel to Eli, the priest at the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh when he was weaned at 3 years old.

         In our passage today, Samuel (who was probably 12-13 YO by now), is sleeping in the Holy Place to ensure that the eternal flame did not go out. He hears a man’s voice calling him and thinks it’s his mentor, the priest Eli. By the 3rd time Samuel gets up to see what Eli    wants, the old priest realizes it is God who is calling Samuel.  He tells him (vv.9-10) …”Go and lie down, and if He calls you say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’”  So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel!  Samuel!”  Then Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”  Samuel is ready to do whatever God asks of him.  The Lord gives Samuel a word of judgment against Eli, his mentor (& probably his friend).  He is to tell Eli that because he didn’t discipline his two sons, Phinehas and Hophni, his role as chief priest will be taken from him.

Phinehas and Hophni had been taking the best portion of the meat sacrifices—meant for God Himself–for themselves, and they had been seducing women coming to worship.  As per God’s judgment, the two die together, on the same day.  Additionally, Eli has been training Samuel for about 10 years but has not helped Samuel to develop a close relationship with the Lord.  Eli failed God in several significant ways.  Probably realizing this, Eli accepts God’s judgment. God then appoints Samuel to take Eli’s place as priest and prophet of Israel.

         Our God knows who is faithful to Him and who isn’t.  He rewards those like Samuel who are.  Those who aren’t are either punished or killed off (either in this life or the next).  This is a difficult lesson, but a true one.

         (2) In our Gospel lesson (John 1:43-51), Jesus calls His 1st Disciples:

                 (a.) Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist’s, follows Him and 

                 (b.) Brings his brother, (Simon) Peter, telling him Jesus is the                                   longed-for Messiah.

                 (c.) Jesus calls Philip, who declares that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophesies.

                 (d) Then Jesus spots Nathanael.  Nathanael is skeptical at first but correctly discerns—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—that Jesus is the Son of God and the true King of    Israel.

         Jesus says Nathanael is a “true Israelite,” remarking that Nat has “no guile,” unlike Jacob (the patriarch whose name meant “deceiver”).  Jesus thus reveals His prophetic abilities and forecasts that Nathanael will see many miracles as he lives and works with Jesus.

         Jesus references Jacob’s Ladder, the stairway to Heaven, which had appeared to Jacob in a dream as he was fleeing the Holy Land ahead of his murderous twin, Esau.  The dream reassured Jacob that God would be with him as he saw the ladder to heaven and angels rising and descending upon it.  Jesus brings up this ladder because He wants Nathanael (and us) to know that He is the ladder.  Jesus is the ladder or the bridge between God the Father in Heaven and humankind on earth.  Later, in John 14:6, He will make this plain when He says, … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

         Jesus, as God, knows our natures, our thoughts from afar, our abilities and our behaviors.  He knows us.  He loves us.

         (3) Finally, in our New Testament lesson (1 Corinthians 6:12-20), Paul warns us to be careful stewards of our bodies.  The context for this teaching is the Greek philosophy of the day rampant in Corinth, a Greek city.   Unlike the Hebrews–who believed that mind, body, and spirit are all connected and all good–the Greeks believed that only spirit was good, and that our bodies are evil.  This left the Corinthians with two choices:  Punish or deny the evil, sinful body (a tenet of the Stoics);or indulge in any and all sinful desires because what we do with our sinful, corrupt bodies doesn’t matter/isn’t important (a tenet of the opposite philosophy, the Epicureans).

         But Paul says both attitudes are wrong!  He asserts that our bodies, as God’s creations, have dignity (God pronounced them at Creation to be “very good!”).  Paul maintains, additionally, that we are to honor God with our bodies.  YIKES!  This is an astonishing way to think about gluttony and sexual sin, isn’t it?  We may be thinking they are just ways to indulge our sinful desires—who do they hurt but ourselves?  But Paul teaches us that–since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (dwelling places of God)–they are to be kept pure.  Gluttony becomes a means by which we dishonor and hurt God.  Similarly, sexual sin (fornication, adultery, pornography, etc.) becomes a means by which we dishonor and offend God.

         This week, I read an autobiographical account by a biracial man named Ryan Bomberger.  He had been given up for adoption shortly after his birth.  Later on, at 13 years old, he learned that he was the product of his biological mother’s rape.  At first, he reports he was devastated to think he came about due to violence.   Then, he says, “…because I was so loved by my [adoptive] parents, I turned that pain into something very constructive.”  His shock was transformed into gratitude.  Gratitude that his biological mom didn’t abort him; gratitude that God placed him in a loving, Christian family in which he was the 1st of 10 adopted kids; gratitude that God called him into existence and that, despite being the product of a rape, his life had meaning and purpose.  (Again, Psalm 139àGod calls each of us into existence, regardless of the motives of our earthly parents.)

         Ryan and his wife, Bethany, have cofounded the pro-life, nonprofit organization known as “the Radiance Foundation.”  He says he belongs to the 1% that is used to justify abortion 100% of the time.  He is now a brother, a husband, an author, a singer and song-writer, a pro-life speaker, and an Emmy award winning designer.  If his birth-mother had aborted him, we would have lost his influence and his gifts.  Remember, Tim Tebow’s mom, a missionary, was told she should abort him in order to save her own life.  She would not do it.  Praise God because Tim, also, has had such a wonderful impact on people.  Each life is God-given.  Just as we see portrayed in the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when the angel shows the Jimmy Stewart character how each person he values would have been impacted had he not been in their lives, each life has a ripple impact on the social environment.  Who are we to question the purposes of God?

         This Right to Life Sunday, let us remember in prayer potential mothers and fathers everywhere.  Let’s pray that they would honor God with their bodies.  Let’s pray that they would be responsible about birth control, prior to pregnancy.  Let’s pray that they would honor the lives of their unborn babies once they learn they have conceived.  Let’s pray that they would trust in God to see them and their unborn child safely through.  And may they all come to believe that our God is the God of life!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Let There Be Light

Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 10, 2021

Scriptures: Gen 1:1-5; Ps 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mk 1:4-11

Genesis 1:1-5 Imagine, for just a moment, that there were no light at all.  We would experience that deep darkness in which, like the blind, we could not see anything around us.  If you have ever visited one of the big underground caverns, you may have experienced them turning off all of the lights.  You would remember that you could not even see your hands in front of your face!  How disorienting!  We wouldn’t be able to see obstacles or dangers, like drops in the floor, dangers, or evil-doers.  We might find ourselves becoming very afraid.   This was exactly the situation before God began His great acts of Creation (but of course, no one but the Trinity was there).

Don’t you wish, however, that God had chosen to share more with us about the Creation events?  His account is remarkably brief…one chapter, 31 verses.  It is an abridged, “Reader’s Digest” version of what transpired.  The story is told that a newspaper editor got onto one of his writers for being too wordy in an article he was preparing.  “Cut it down,” he rumbled to the man.  “After all,” he continued, “the story of the creation was told in Genesis in 282 words.”  The reporter shot back, “Yes, and I’ve always thought we could have been saved a lot of arguments later if someone had just written another couple hundred.”

Nonetheless, God has given us the essentials:

1.) He created all things;

2.) He created them out of nothing (ex nihilo; He used no raw materials);

3.) Because He made all things, He is thus sovereign over, or more powerful than, all things.  Most pagan religions deify nature  (inventing gods of trees, rivers, the sun and moon, etc.).  But these 1st verses of Genesis tell us that all of nature was created by God. 

 4.) Additionally, verse 3 tells us He first created light, but does not reference the sun or the moon and stars.  Those familiar forms of light were not created until the 4th day.  Let There Be Light!  So, what light is He talking about? 

I think Rev. 22:3-5, describing the New Jerusalem, gives us a clue. No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  So, either God shone His light into the darkness; or He may have been creating morality, good vs. evil; or He may have been creating the dawn of enlightenment/knowledge, the beginning of understanding God’s place in the universe as well as our own.  We really don’t know which—until we arrive in Heaven, it will remain what the nuns in my four years of Catholic Girls School referred to as a “holy mystery.”

         Psalm 29 Is a psalm of praise to God written by King David.  In it, David extols the power of God’s voice, which sounds to him like a thunderstorm.  God’s voice is powerful enough to break the cedars of Lebanon (the largest trees of that day, perhaps like our Sequoias).  God’s voice is powerful like lightening.  God’s voice is powerful like an earthquake.  David doesn’t directly say so, but we can certainly begin to comprehend the power contained in God’s voice.  It rumbles like thunder or like the roar of turbulent seas.  We know the Israelites heard God’s voice and were so frightened that they then said to Moses, in effect, “You talk to Him; His voice scares us.”  Certainly his voice would have to be powerful to be able to simply speak creation into existence.  This week a friend, Isabella, told me she had heard God’s voice.  She had made a total mess of her life when she was younger and was very distressed when she asked the Lord, “Are you there?”  (She was worried that He might have abandoned her because she had abandoned Him.)  She said she immediately heard, right by her ear, a soft, “caramel” voice say, “Yes.”  God may often thunder, but He also occasionally speaks softly.

         Because of His great power, God—David assures us in verse 10– …is enthroned as King forever.  He is eternal.  We can ignore Him if we choose, but He will never be replaced, dethroned, declared incompetent, or suffer a coup.  No one will successfully invoke the 23rd amendment against Him. Back in the ‘70’s or ‘80’s, they tried to say He was dead. I remember a Time Magazine cover that proclaimed, “God is dead!”  But they were wrong! We can depend upon Him being very alive and very much available to us.  And, verse 11àWe can depend upon Him to give us strength, and to bless us with His peace—even in the midst of political turmoil, plagues like the Covid, widespread fear and unrest, etc.

         Building on the fact that God is our creator (Genesis 1), and adding in Psalm 29, we can come to Him in faith, no matter our dilemmas; we can depend upon Him to hear and to help; and we can trust that He is both powerful and in charge, no matter what is going on in our families, communities, nation, or even internationally.  He is the Light of the World.  Let There Be Light!

         Acts 19:1-7 Doesn’t appear to fit with the Scriptures just cited.  Paul is evangelizing the city of Ephesus (3rd Mission trip). He had cruised by earlier, as he was winding up his 2nd journey.  But this time, he stays there for 2 years, teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.  When he arrives this second time, he finds some believers.  They had been brought to Christ by the preaching of Apollos.  Apparently Apollos had only learned of John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance, the preparation for Jesus’ coming.  So Paul asks if they have also been baptized into the Holy Spirit.  They didn’t know what this was.   In a sense reminiscent of “we don’t know what we don’t know,” they had not heard of Jesus because Apollos did not yet know of Jesus.  Thus, they were not saved, nor were they “in Christ.  Additionally, they were unaware of the Holy Spirit.  This, then, is where Paul begins with them.  Let There Be Light!  (the Light of Enlightenment).  Paul teaches them and then baptizes them into the Holy Spirit.  Even as “baby Christians,” they begin to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

         We too, if we are in Christ and have been filled with the Holy Spirit, can demonstrate the gifts of the HS.  God has Let There Be Light in and through us.  In other words, our all-powerful God empowers us to strengthen His church.  He empowers us to have a powerful impact on others.  As Scripture says, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine due to His power at work in us. 

This past Tuesday, I had my annual sonogram on my liver done at Shands Hospital in Gainesville.  A radiology tech there told me that benign cysts like mine are with aperson from birth and that they do not reduce in size.  However, my cyst has decreased by about half in the past two years.  She asked me what I had done to reduce it.  I responded that I had done nothing.  The unexpected improvement is due to Jesus acting through your prayers for me.  As an obvious non-believer, she was skeptical, but perhaps God will usemy testimony (my healthier liver) and your prayers to bring her to Christ!  Let There Be Light!

         In our Gospel lesson, Mk 1:4-11, John the Baptist baptizes for repentance from sin, announces Jesus is coming, and then baptizes Jesus.  Notice, he has been heralding the coming of Christ when Jesus shows up.  God thus demonstrates that John the Baptist is a legit prophet. He predicts what will happen, and it happens.  By the power of God, Jesus has taken on human flesh, humbles His sinless self, identifies with our sinfulness, and agrees to be baptized.

         The other two members of the Trinity show up as well:  The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends upon Him.  Then God the Father speaks from heaven His approval of Jesus.  Let There Be Light!  This Jesus is someone really special!  Mark 1:11 records the Father declaringàYou are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.  Our powerful, Creator God has so loved us that (John 3:16)…He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

         This 2021 New Year, let’s not allow our attention to be focused on the events of this world, but praying for the world, let us focus on the power and strength of our God!  Let there be the light of Christ in our lives.  Let His light shine through us so that others catch it.  Lord, Let There Be Light in our dark world!  Let There Be Light!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Change Someone’s Life

Pastor Sherry’s Message for the new year–1/3/21

Scriptures: Jer 31:7-14; Ps 147; Eph 1:3-6. 15-19; Jn 1:1-18

Recently, I listened to a book on CD in which a young woman (June) discovers a list written by a recently deceased friend (Marisa) entitled “21 Things I want to do before I turn 25.”  In a twist on New Years’ resolutions, June decides to honor Marisa by completing her list for her before what would have been the dead woman’s 25th birthday. Imagine finding such a list.  Imagine trying to check off each item in memory of your friend.

Now this was a list designed by a 24 year old who had just lost 100 pounds, and contained such entries as the following:

1. Lose 100 #, check;

2. Kiss a stranger;

3. Change someone’s life;

4. Wear sexy shoes, check (When Marisa died in a car accident, she was found wearing sequined silver heels);

5. Run a 5K;

6. Get on TV;

7. Ride in a helicopter;

8. Pitch an idea at work;

9. Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton;

10. Show my brother how much he means to me;

11. Watch a sunrise;

12. Make a big donation to charity.

The deceased had only accomplished 2 items prior to dying. As the friend, June, embarks on completing Merisa’s list, she discovers much more about Marisa’s character, and that the process of working to check off the items on the list actually changes June’s life, for the good. As you might expect, the items that meant the most to the June were those that made a difference in the lives of others.

Modern psychology confirms, with robust research findings, that doing something good for others is key to developing personal happiness.

Our God has known this for eons!  He has called upon us to love others as He has loved us; and He has not only taught us this precept, but He has demonstrated it for us, over and over again.

Let’s see what our Scripture passages today have to tell us about God’s desire to change someone’s life—change all of our lives—for the better.

Our Old Testament lesson comes from Jeremiah 31:7-14.  Its context is a dark time in the history of Judah/Jerusalem (around 587 BC).

The King, Zedekiah, is a wicked nonbeliever.  Worse yet, he is a puppet who had been installed by Judah’s enemy, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  By this time, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) has already been destroyed and dispersed by the Assyrians (722BC).  As the chapter opens, King Nebuchadnezzar is engaged in a 30 month siege to overtake Jerusalem, due to Zedekiah’s foolish defiance.  Jerusalem had a water source, but cutting off food supplies led to horrible deprivation within the city.  Eventually the Babylonian dictator breaches the walls, destroys the city and the Temple, and—after killing the ill, the elderly, and those too young to survive the trip to Babylon—carts off the able-bodied survivors, leaving the city desolate, destroyed, and abandoned.

That is what is going to happen.  But Jeremiah is prophesying beyond this horrible event to reassure the people of God’s love for them.  Yes, their idolatry (spiritual adultery) brought on God’s just punishment.  But God wants them to know He will (used 15 times in this chapter) gather them up again and return them to “the Holy Land.”  Embedded in this message of comfort are indications of both Jesus’ First and Second Comings.  God will punish them, but He still loves them and will not abandon them. 

The Apostle John tells us in John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down his life for His friends.  In Jeremiah 31:13, the prophet asserts that God…will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.  This passage assures us that God does not give up on us!  God does not abandon us!  He will send Jesus Christ, who will change their lives for the better.  He has sent Jesus Christ, who has changed our lives for the better.

Psalm 147 is a hymn of praise to God, the Creator, for His special grace extended to Israel (and applied to us as well).  It affirms that God controls the universe and all that is in it.  It reaffirms that He loves Israel, His Chosen People.  A time is coming (2nd Advent of Christ) when God will again visit His people.  He will then bless them with peace, plenty, and protection/safety.  These actions will certainly change their lives for the better.

Our New Testament lesson is from Ephesians 1:2-6, 14-19.  Paul prays for this church out of his love for them (which he models for us).  He wants the Holy Spirit to strengthen them (and us) internally, spiritually, so that they might be rooted and grounded in Christ, and rooted and grounded in love.  He wants this for them so that they never doubt God’s love for them.  Finally he prays that they (and we) might be (v.19) filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  If they—and we—are internally strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, rooted in Christ and grounded in love, as well as filled with the fullness of God, we are going to be radically different, phenomenally better persons!  Furthermore, the impact we will then have on others will also generate positive changes in them.

Our Gospel comes from John 1:1-18.  The Apostle John wants us to be assured that Jesus Christ was not just present at Creation, but that He spoke Creation into existence.  He wants us to know that Jesus both brings forth life and is Himself light.  John admits that not everyone—then or now–will believe in Jesus, but for those of us who do, we will become/we are children of God.  We will have seen God the Father in the face and actions of Jesus, His Son.  Finally, by implication, this faith of ours in Jesus will change our lives for the better.

George’s sermon last week, a “Hail and Farewell” to 2020, was very well written.  As we say goodbye to 2020 and embark on what will unfold in 2021, let’s be intentional about changing someone’s life for the better.  We can do so by being more loving, or by being more generous with affection, time, gratitude, oreven with money. 

Working Marisa’s list effected all of these changes in June. June became more confident; more other-centered and less me-centered; and she learned that doing good things for others made her life more worthwhile.  The novel was a secular one, so no mention was made of the redemptive love of Jesus. Nevertheless it revealed the tremendous impact one person can have when we resolve to make a positive difference in the life of another.

In 2021, we have the same opportunity as June.  Because we know and love Jesus, we can make an even greater impact on the people with whom we interact.  Our God has taught us to love others, and He Himself demonstrated time and again how to go about it.If we resolve anything at all this new year (if we even write a list of New Years’ resolutions), let’s try to change someone’s life for the good. Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Birth Announcements

Pastor Sherry’s Message for Christmas Eve

Scriptures: Isa 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20

I ask you to think tonight about birth announcements.

Remember when we used to get a small card in an envelope, telling us of a birth?  It would have a cute motif (bunnies, chicks, teddys, pink for a girl, blue for a boy); the baby’s name; his/her birthdate, length, birth-weight; and the tired but proud parents’ names.  Nowadays, the news appears in a more dramatic style:  Typically there is a picture of the newborn, or perhaps one of the baby and mom, or of the parents with the newborn.  My personal favorite was of a mom tenderly holding the baby’s tiny hand in her own.

Again, we are given all of the pertinent info, and we celebrate with the family who has brought a new little one into the world.

Now, contrast this with Jesus’ day, when they lacked cell phones that could take pictures, Shutterfly to reproduce them as cards, or even other kinds of cameras with which to capture a birth.  Scripture has only words with which to mark for us the sacred and phenomenally important event of Jesus’ birth—and yet, we get the point and are moved, aren’t we?

All of our Scripture passages tonight either foretell or describe Jesus’ Coming/Advent; but I am going to focus on two:  Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-20.

Isa 9:2-7 was written between 700-750 years before Jesus’ actual birth.  In it, the prophet predicts who Jesus will be/what He will accomplish.  Notice, he doesn’t mention anything about his weight or length.  Our Luke passage tells us His earthly parents are young, poor, and homeless.  Since Joseph was taking them to his place of birth, Bethlehem, we might assume he had some kinfolk there.  But apparently he did not (Perhaps they had died or moved away).  Not one family member was present to provide shelter for them in a guest room.  They had to make do in a shed/stable.

Isaiah focuses instead on the fact that Jesus (later known as the “Light of the World”) will bring light to a spiritually dark region, Galilee of the Gentiles.  The area around Nazareth was known for belief in a large variety of pagan gods.  As J. Vernon McGee (my favorite Bible commentator) says, “They had a lot of religion, but they never had Christ” (Luke, p.94).

Then Isaiah jumps ahead to Christ’s Second Coming, telling us the characteristics and the roles Jesus will demonstrate when He comes again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords: 

(Verse 6), and the government will be on His shoulders.  This tells us that Jesus will be strong.  He will have the strength, intelligence, and leadership ability to rule/govern the whole earth.  Wow!

He will be called Wonderful….  We will call Him Wonderful because, like His heavenly Father, He performs wonders.  He healed the sick and the broken-hearted.  He paid the penalty for our sins.  He restored  (reconciled) us to a good and an intimate relationship with His Father.  These are all significant because we could not have accomplished these things on our own.

(He will be called) Counselor….  He never said to His guys, “Fellows, what do you think I should do now?”  He did not need the counsel of another, because He was/is exceedingly wise.

(He will be called) Mighty God….  Like the Father, He is known as El Gibbor.  This means He is omnipotent, all powerful.

(He will be called) Everlasting Father….  He did not give birth to children from His own flesh.  But, again, like the Father, He is known as Avi adàthe Father of Eternity.  He is the creator of all things, even time, and events far off.  The Apostle John tells us in John 1:3, Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. AndPaul adds in Colossians 1:16, For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things were created by Him and for Him.  Like a Father, He loves, provides, protects, and disciplines us.

(He will be called) Prince of Peace….In the Hebrew, He is called Sar-Shalohim. He will initiate peace and He will sustain peace.  Truly, there can be no peace, no lasting peace, until Jesus rules the earth.  When Jesus comes again, He will accomplish extraordinary things!

Luke’s passage (2:1-20) then records the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth event.  While we celebrate Jesus’ birth in toasty, comfortable homes, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph huddled in humble, uninsulated animalhousing.  While the future King of Kings and Lord of Lords should havehad the comforts of an opulent and warm palace, his quiet, humble arrival was nevertheless celebrated in a most spectacular way!  First one angel appeared to provide a spectacular birth announcement!  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.  Next, the angel invited the shepherds to come and see the One who would become Our Great Shepherd.  Then suddenly, loads more angels show up!  They form a heavenly chorus and proceed to praise God and sing…Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men [and women] on who His favor rests.

What a birthday celebration!  The shepherds do trek off to see the newborn Christ.  They are delighted with His birth!  After worshipping Him, they go tell everyone they know (quicker than a mailed announcement)–spreading the word that Messiah had come.

Tonight (Christmas Eve) and tomorrow (Christmas Day), let’s be aware of what we are celebrating–the birth of Jesus, our Messiah.  Over and over, God had his prophets foretell His coming.  Then, finally, (drum roll, please!) He arrives in the wee dark hours of Christmas morning.  Christ is the reason for the season.  Come, let us adore Him!

©Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 2020

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Can’t Outgive God

Pastor Sherry’s Message for December 20, 2020

Scriptures: 2 Sam 7:1-11, 16; Ps89:1-4, 19-26; Lk 1:26-38

How many of you are aware of the Jan Karon series about the town of Mitford, in western North Carolina, and the pastor there named Father (Fr.) Timothy Kavanaugh?  Karon has now published 14 books in this series.  They are “clean,” Christ-centered, and heart-warming stories. In seminary, many of us hoped to serve at a parish like Mitford (the church there is called “Lord’s Chapel”).  We would have done much better, however, had we hoped we would be more like Fr. Tim himself.  Karon’s Fr. Tim is modest and self-effacing.  He is honest but also tactful.  He is inordinately patient with the elderly, children, and even unruly pets.  He displays a great sense of humor.  He has a pastor’s heart for his people, and he clearly loves Almighty God!

I recently read the 12th book in the series titled Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, and what I found to be most noteworthy is Fr. Tim’s remarkable prayer life.  Fr. Tim frequently lifts up the needs of his parishioners.  He prays with them, he prays for them while engaged in other activities, and his favorite come-back for a prayer request is, “Consider it done!”  A Bible-believing Episcopal priest, he has memorized many of his denomination’s beautiful prayers called “Collects.”  Quite a few were written by Archbishop Cranmer following the Protestant Reformation in the mid-1500’s.  Fr. Tim wakes up and ends his days reciting them.  He praises God when things go well.  He often prays what he calls the prayer that never fails: Lord, thy will be done….

Isn’t it true that most of us pray for help when our world is looking grim?  Or we pray to know God’s will when facing a big decision.  We may even remember to thank and praise Him for the wonderful moments, the miraculous events, the blessings in our lives.  But do we ever think to ask Him what He’d have us to do bless Him?  “Lord, how can we give back to You?”  Or, “What could we do that would please You?”

Today’s Old Testament lesson (2 Sam 7:1-11+16) sheds some light on what tends to happen when someone wants to gift God.

We are presented with King David, who lived about 1,000 years before the 1st Coming of Jesus.  Though he was a member of the tribe of Judah, he united all12 tribes to form the nation of Israel.  He also established Jerusalem as his capital.  With God’s help, he subdued all of Israel’s enemies and, at the time of this passage, is experiencing an unprecedented period of peace.  Furthermore, he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and danced before it, worshipping God as it entered the city.  He composed some great worship music, many examples of which are preserved for us as Psalms.  As you can imagine, our passage finds him very grateful to God for having blessed him in all of these ways.

My favorite Bible Commentator, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, suggests it might have been on a rare stormy or rainy day that the king spent some time and energy comparing his situation in his palace with that of God’s in the Ark.  He may have fretted, “Here I am sitting in this lovely cedar-lined palace, dry and warm, while God’s Ark sits out in the rain.  That is hardly right.  Why don’t I build God a house?”  Truly, the “tent” which held the Ark was not covered.  Nevertheless, David doesn’t pause to ask God if this is something that will please or bless Him.  He just assumes it will.  To King David, it probably seemed like a slam-dunk.

Even the prophet, Nathan, agreed with the idea, saying essentially, “Great concept!  Run with it!”  But God grabs ahold of Nathan and says, Go back!  Tell David I said “no.”  Furthermore, God adds, whoever said I needed a house?  For years, God had lived in a tent!  It has the advantages of being mobile, flexible, and portable (Other people groups in that day believed their local gods were confined to one geographic area; but the Hebrew God went all over the place).  God is saying, essentially, I appreciate the thought, but I will not be contained by humankind.

Afterall, He’d manifested as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night.  When He gave directions for them to build the “Tent of Meeting”—in which He met with and spoke to Moses and Joshua– He was present but not confined by the tent.  All of this was so until God allowed David’s son, Solomon, to build His Temple; and until informs us in John 1:14–The Word became flesh and dwelt (tented; pitched His tent) among us–a tent of flesh!

God denied the gesture but honored David’s intention.  He then proceeds to give David more than he could have asked for or imagined.

  1. First, He calls David “Servant.”  This is actually a Biblical term of endearment indicating a special relationship between a person and the Lord.  Typically it is used only with some patriarchs, the prophets, the nation of Israel, and Jesus.
  2. Next he tells Nathan, “Tell David I will build him a house” (dynasty).  David already has a luxurious palace.  The word House is bayith in Hebrew.  It has 3 meanings:  (1) David’s palace (vv.1-2); (2)Yahweh’s Temple (vv. 5-7, 13); and (3)David’s dynasty (vv.11, 16, 18, 19, 25-27, 2 times in 29).  This is the only royal house that the Lord would ever sanction in perpetuity.
  3. God then sets out the terms of His Covenant with David.  God promises:

    1.) I will make your name great (famous/renoun)

   2.) I will provide a place for My people;

  3.) I will give you rest from your enemies;

4.) I will raise up offspring to succeed you;

5.) I will establish the throne of your kingdom forever.  This means that God would not allow anyone to usurp David’s throne from him.  It also means that while the dynasty may fade, it will not disappear completely.

6.) I will be his Father/He will be My son.  God will father Solomon after David passes away.  And later, God will be/is still the Father of Jesus.                         

7.) I will discipline Him….God allows David’s wicked descendants to be taken out by the Assyrians or the Babylonians.  And much late–though He was without sin–Jesus is flogged and crucified.

 8.) But I will always love him!

9.) Your throne will be established forever:  In Luke 1:32–Gabriel says to Mary, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of his father David.

         This 2 Samuel 7 passage is a very important section in the Old Testament as it expresses the Messianic Hope!  Our God is a Promise-Keeping God.  He placed the scepter (symbol of kingly power and rule) in the tribe of Judah way back in Genesis 49:10.  This Messianic Hope is reiterated time and time again in the Old Testament: 4 times in Isaiah; 3 times in Jeremiah; 2 times in Ezekiel; and once each in Hosea, Amos, and Zechariah.

Additionally, this passage shapes our Christian understanding of Jesus Christ:

  1. He is a son of (descendant of) David;
  2. One who will rise up from the dead;
  3. He is the capstone or cornerstone of the House of GodàJohn 2:19–Destroy this Temple (His body) and I (Jesus) will raise it again in 3 days.
  4. He is the possessor of a throneàRevelation 3:21–To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne…
  5. He rules over an eternal Kingdom:
  6. Jn 18:36–Jesus said, My Kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, My servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But My kingdom is from another place.
  7. Matt 28:28–And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
  8. He is the Son of God:
  9. Mark 1:1–The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
  10. Acts 9:20–At once [Paul] began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.
  11. He is also the product of an “immaculate,” miraculous
  12. conception since God is His Father.
 

Now what does this mean to us today?  For one thing, our God keeps His promises, both to David and to us!  Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is descended from King David’s line.  He thus fulfills all of the Old Testament prophesies about His identity.  Just as He was the hope for David (and for many down through the ages), He is our hope, right now!  He has made us for relationship with Himself.  He loves us with a steadfast and loyal love. He is faithful and true.  He will never leave or forsake us.

For another, we can never out-give God.  Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from the penalty for our sins.  The great temple built by Solomon (later rebuilt by Herod the Great) is gone (destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, and not yet to this day rebuilt.)  The point of that is thatGod’s house is not a building!  Now, it’s us.  By the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit, our bodies are God’s temple.

I think the literary character, Fr. Tim Kavanaugh, truly demonstrates how to live and pray in a way that honors God.  As we approach Christmas this week, let’s come to God with grateful hearts.  Like dear, humble Mary, let’s seek to do God’s will at all times.  And, while we can’t out-give God, let’s ask Him how we might bless Him this Christmas.  Amen.

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

More Than Anything Else

Pastor Sherry’s Message for December 13, 2020

Scriptures: Isa 61:1-4, 8-11; Ps 126; 1 Thess 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

At a little less than 2 weeks until Christmas, how many of you have finished your Christmas shopping?  The story is told of a man who, at this point in the Christmas season, has purchased zero gifts. In fact, he has not yet gotten around to purchasing an acceptable gift for his wife for last Christmas. He did give her something last year, but he could tell by her reaction to it that she had not been dreaming of getting a car emergency kit, even though it was the deluxe model with booster cables and an air compressor. Clearly this gift violated an important rule, but the man had no idea what this rule was, and his wife was too upset to tell him.

The poor guy in the story has no clue, does he?  We don’t buy what we would want—or even what we believe the gift receiver needs–but what the gift recipient believes they need or would love to have.  Effective gift giving requires that we observe the other and watch and listen for what’s on their heart.  And there tend to be plenty of hints floating around, if we are tuned in. Our God is certainly very tuned into what we need more than anything else.

Let’s review our Scripture passages today to verify just how tuned in God is to giving us that gift that we need more than anything else:

Our Gospel lesson (John 1:6-8, 19-28) introduces us to John the Baptist.  The Apostle John began his account of Jesus by establishing that He was both present at creation,and spoke it into existence.  He inserts into his account the existence and mission of John the Baptist (vv.6-8)–He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.  He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

Then John goes on to describe (vv.19-28) a dialogue between John the Baptist and some Priests, Levites, and Pharisees regarding his (JtB’s) identity.  They wondered if he were Elijah, come back to earth.  They surmised he was the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18: 15 & 18…a successor to Moses–though all the prophets from Moses until John the Baptist were successors to Moses.  JtB freely admits he is not the Messiah/the Christ.  He denies he is any of the others they suggest.  Then he quotes Isa 40:3—which we read last week—and admits he is the forerunner to Jesus–The voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”

This should have clued them in that God’s Greatest Gift was coming soon—but they apparently didn’t believe him.  JtB told them they needed to repent.  They needed to make their hearts ready to receive Jesus as their Savior.

Paul suggests a number of ways we can make our hearts ready to receive Jesus, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24.  Instead of putting up our tree, baking cookies, or wrappingpresents—though there is nothing wrong with doing these things–the Apostle wants us to demonstrate some

Christmassy attitudes:

  1. Can we be joyful?  Search out and name things for which we are thankful.
  2. How about adopting an attitude of prayer?  Remember those from our fellowship who especially need our prayers; and consider that we can pray while driving, walking, working, cooking or cleaning.
  3. Let’s give thanks in all circumstances, even when we feel defeated or despondent.
  4. Paul admonishes us to always do the will of God (not quench the Holy Spirit).
  5. He also urges us not to be indifferent to God’s Word or to prophesy.  We can recognize a true prophet because what he or she says is always consistent with Scripture and it later always comes true.  (It may take us some time to see if the latter happens.)
  6. We are to hold to what is true and genuine and not to be gullible or taken in by frauds or scam artists.
  7. We are to abstain from even the appearance of evil.
  8. And finally, we should trust we can depend upon our God.   

How do we know that Jesus is God’s greatest gift?  Our Old Testament lesson (Isa 61:1-4) reveals the reasons to us.  Jesus came the 1st time to…

  1. Preach Good News to the poor (in spirit and economically)—the Gospel.  He brought comfort.  By paying for our sins, He brought blessed assurance.
  2. He also came to bind up or heal the broken-hearted.
  3. He proclaimed freedom for captives (those who have been captured and harmed by the sins of others);
  4. And release for prisoners (those whose own sins have put them in bondage).

We can also trust with faith that He will accomplish the prophesy about what is yet to be when He returns a 2nd time:  He will judge between the good and the evil-doers.  He will put down rebellion.  He will eradicate evil.  He will provide peace and comfort to all those whomourn or grieve,exchanging their pain and grief for beauty,gladness, and praise.  He will sostrengthen them that they will stand as strong as oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.  They will also rebuild the ancient ruins…and renew the ruined cities….  In other words,He will greatly bless those who love Him,materially, physically, and spiritually.

Our Psalm (126) encourages us to begin to praise Jesus now for what He is going to do.  It is a “Psalm of Ascent,” sung by pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem as they walked up to the hills, then up to the Temple.  They sang, praising God for delivering them from Exile in Babylon.

But we can appropriate it for what Jesus has done and will do for us. Our Lord Jesus is the perfect gift!  He is what we need more than anything else.  He has made us right with God the Father, satisfying the penalty for our sins, and ensuring for us eternal life.

When we get to know Him intimately, He meets the deep desires of our hearts.  He is always “in season,” in good taste, and His one size fits all.  And He is a far better gift than a car emergency kit!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Hate To Wait.

Pastor Sherry’s message from December 6, 2020.

Scriptures: Isa 40:1-11; PS 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Pet 3:8-15a; Mk 1:1-8

WE hate to wait, don’t we?  We are used to fast food, fast times in the ER,  ATM’s that work quickly, vending machines that pop out a soda or water in seconds, and rapid computer start-ups.   And we can get very impatient if things take longer than we expect them to.

But God doesn’t appear to mind having us wait.   First of all, He operates out of KYROS –God’s time, not KRONOS —our time, chronological time.

Secondly, God has things to teach us while we wait.

Our Scriptures today all have something to tell us about waiting:

In 2 Peter 3:8-15a, Peter reminds us that God himself is patient.  He calculates time differently than we do–vv.8-9–With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

It may seem like He is slow to keep His promises (a day is like 1000 years); but, even so, He patiently delays because He wants to give us time.  He wants everyone possible to come to a saving faith in His Son, Jesus.  Consider what God told Abraham about the Canaanites:  He said Abraham’s numerous descendants would sojourn as captives in Egypt for 400 years, until the time of the Canaanites had come to an end.  Apparently God was informing these pagans about Himself during that interval and they rejected Him.  He gave them 400 years to come to Him and they apparently refused.  So, when the Israelites came into the Land of Promise, God told them to wipe out all the tribes of nonbelievers who were there.  If you want to stop smoking, you don’t hang out with smokers.  If you want to quit drinking, you don’t hang around drinkers.  God wanted His chosen people to remain faithful to Him and not adopt pagan ways.  The Israelites were disobedient.  They fraternized with the non-believers then let live and became idolaters, bringing upon them God’s punishment.

On the other hand, when God takes action, the swiftness with which He moves will blow your hair back!  He’ll move when you least expect it, v.10–But the day of the LORD will come like a thief.  We’ll all be shocked at how quickly He acts then.  So, we need to be prepared, to be ready.  The season of Advent reminds us to prepare our hearts to celebrate His first coming, and to anticipate His second coming, His triumphant return in majesty and authority.  Thus, we might be able to better bear up under waiting if we can remind ourselves that God Himself is patient.

Our Old Testament reading is from Isaiah 40:1-11.  These famous words are sung in arias in Handel’s Messiah.  1st, the Lord speaks a word of reassurance:  verse 1–Comfort, comfort my people; speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

The double comfort is an emphatic reassurance of God’s tenderness and goodness.  God is announcing, through the prophet, that their 70 year captivity in Babylon is ended.  The people have paid for their sins, and God is about to engineer their release and return to Jerusalem.

Verses 3-5 explain that John the Baptist is going to show up and point out the Messiah.  Our Gospel (Mark 1:1-8) lesson echoes this passage and identifies John the Baptist as the long prophesied forerunner of Christ.  Mark quotes from Malachi 3:1–“See. I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.  Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.  Then Mark recites Isaiah 40:3—A voice of one calling [John] in the desert, prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

            In verses 6-8–God reminds us of how short our lives are compared to the eternal value of God’s Word—His Word written, the Bible; and His Word made flesh, Jesus.  You may recognize verses 9-11 as another of the arias in Handel’s “Messiah.”  The prophet tells us that Jesus will come with power at His 2nd Coming; but He will be a tender and gentle shepherd during His 1st Coming.  In other words, we can wait patiently because wonderful things are sure to happen!  And did you notice that our God loves to comfort us!

            The portions of Psalm 85 we read today, remind us that God keeps His promises to His people:  Messiah is coming.  When He comes again, He will bring a world-wide peace.  Furthermore, the psalmist speaks of several qualities as if they were living beings, saying thatlove and faithfulness will meet at Jesus’ return;  righteousness and peace will kiss each other;faithfulness will spring forth from the earth;and righteousness will look down from heaven.  In other words,Jesus will arrive with these four attributes:  love for us;faithfulness to God’s direction;righteousness, or right living; and God’s deep shalom Peace.

Jesus is coming, John the Baptist will prepare folks for His arrival, and Christ will demonstrate peace, love, holiness, and faith.

We hate to wait, so what thoughts might help us wait with grace?  It has been said that we can bear any how if we know the why.

First, I believe we need to understand that waiting can reveal to us our true motives.  Waiting requires that we are committed enough to take some time for things to unfold.  If we cannot wait, we might just have to ask ourselves how committed we are to God or to someone else we are waiting upon.  If we are so “me focused” that we are impatient, we may lack that commitment and perhaps are unwilling to postpone our own gratification.

Second, waiting builds the spiritual fruit of patience.  The old saw goes, Don’t pray for patience.  If you do, God will put you in a situation that requires that you develop it.  God will and does answer that prayer, but you may wish He had taught you that virtue another way.

Third, waiting builds anticipation, so that we better appreciate those things that did not come to us immediately.  One Christmas, my daughter located all of her gifts that I had hidden away prior to wrapping them.  On Christmas morning, she asked where a purse was that I had gotten her.  I had forgotten it and even where I had put it.  She knew where it was and that gave her secret away.  I asked her if it had been worth it to have found everything ahead of time.  She was sorry that she had spoiled her surprises. Similarly I think when we have to work hard for something and wait to gain it, we tend to value it more when it comes to us.

Fourth, waiting builds intimacy with and dependence upon God.  As we wait, we either come to believe that God is not answering our prayers and lose heart—or even get angry with Him—or we deepen our faith in Him.  As we see Him then resolve what we had asked Him for, we become more dependent on Him, more surrendered to His will.

Finally, we want to remember that waiting is the crucible of the saints!  Waiting is a grand Biblical tradition:

  1. Abram waited 25 years for Isaac; (his descendants waited 440 years to inherit the Land).

2. Jacob, Abraham’s  grandson, worked for his shifty Uncle Laban 21 years                                before returning to “the Promised Land” as Israel.

3.  Moses waited 40 years + 40 more years (in the back of beyond as a

shepherd) before he led the Israelites out of their Egyptian bondage.

4. King David was anointed by Samuel, then waited 20 years to actually become king.          

5.  Even Jesus waited.  He could have been teaching and preaching from age 12, but God sent Him back to Nazareth to grow in stature with God and humans before beginning His ministry at age 30.

Waiting molds and shapes our character.  God uses it to train us (to help us learn to trust him and to persevere in doing the right thing).  God uses the time to burn off such impurities as impatience, pride, lust, greed, etc.   God uses waiting to make us dependent upon Himself.  The prophet Isaiah extolls the value of waiting in Isaiah 40:31àThose who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.  The psalmist of Psalm 27:18 writes—O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure; be strong and He shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord.

We have a God who keeps His promises, and who often requires us to wait!

Let us wait in faith.   Let us not grow anxious or weary, but, instead, let’s trust in God’s goodness and loving kindness towards us, and in His perfect timing!  Amen and Amen!

©2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Be grateful for Jesus, our Shepherd King

Pastor Sherry’s message from November 22, 2020

Scriptures: Eze 34:11-16, 20-24; Ps 100; Eph 1:15-23; Matt 25:31-46

I love funny signs, don’t you?  I found some this week that made me laugh out loud:

Signs on property fence lines:

​​​1. No hunting; No fishing; No nothing!  Go home!

2. No trespassing! Violator will be shot; survivors will be shot again!

​​​3. No trespassing!  We’re tired of hiding the bodies. 

Signs of warning:

1. High voltage. Do not touch. Not only will this kill you, It will hurt the whole time you are dying.

2. Warning. If the help desk thinks your question is stupid, we will set you on fire!

3. Unattended children will be given an energy drink and a free puppy.

​​​4. No dumping cats!  $750 fine and/or 90 days in jail.

5. My personal favorite: Warning! If you think you can run across this pasture in 10 seconds, Don’t! The bull can do it in 9.

As we approach Thanksgiving this week, I think one thing we can all be thankful for is humor. We began our service today with an opportunity for each of us to express our gratitude to God. As you may have noticed as they were read, today’s Scripture passages all focus on reasons we can and should be grateful to God.

Additionally, our Bible passages today all relate to the Kingship of Jesus Christ.

In the Ezekiel passage (34:11-16, 20-24), God is essentially firing the religious leaders of Israel. He is fed up with their ineptitude, their failures to protect His sheep, and their outright abuse of them. Instead, He shares His resolve to send a new, improved, better shepherd to watch over, teach, and guide His people: Jesus.

So, among the many things we have to be grateful for, we can thank God for sending Jesus to be our perfect Shepherd.  He has redeemed us from our bondage to sin and death; and He saved us from the penalty for our sins.  We can also thank God that Jesus, as Christ the King, is coming again.  When He does return, He will dispense true justice.  He will also establish lasting peace on the earth.  And He will gather to Himself those who love Him.

Psalm 100 is a song of praise to Christ as King. During my time at seminary, I worked my way through by directing a college counseling center. The college was “Reformed Presbyterian,” which meant, among other things, that they did not use musical instruments in church or chapel. Instead, they sang the psalms only, with no accompaniment, but in 4-5 part harmony. This psalm they called “Ole 100.” Hearing it sung in 5 parts, acapella, was both spectacular and very moving.

Verse 3 tells us that the LORD is God. He is our Creator, our Redeemer; and He is the Shepherd of Israel and of the Church. V.4 reveals what J. Vernon McGee3 calls “the password to worship: Thanksgiving! [We] Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. This is how we worship God in spirit and in truth. We express our thanks to Him. We praise Him for His goodness, grace, and loving-kindness towards us. After you have memorized Psalm 23 as well as Psalm 51, you may want to put Ole 100 to memory too, as it’s a beaut!

In our Ephesians passage (1:15-23), Paul expresses thanks to God for the faith and love he sees demonstrated by this church.

When I was ordained, my Bishop gave me a devotional that takes a person through the Bible in two years. It’s meant for a pastor’s quiet time daily with the LORD. The Bishop signed it for me, inscribing it with these verses. It was as though he was saying, “I will be praying for you just as Paul was praying for those Corinthians.” Paul was delighted that they loved Jesus, loved Paul, their pastor, and loved God’s Word. He tells them they are on his prayer list. He doesn’t pray for material blessings for them, but rather for spiritual blessings:

1. He wants them to have wisdom and discernment, especially as they meditate on Scripture. He wants the Holy Spirit to continue to lead and guide them. In 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, he wrote, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him; but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

2. He wants them to be people of hope.

3. He wants them to be aware of the endless energy and the boundless strength of Christ that can and will be used for their good. Jesus runs the universe; He also rules the Church. He is no pasty-faced, skinny, 98 pound weakling, but He is both robust and powerful enough to resurrect and to ascend to Heaven. When Scripture asks if anything is impossible for the LORD, the answer is no because He holds the power to do and to act.

In our Gospel (Matt. 25:31-46), Jesus reminds us that, at His 2nd Coming, He will separate out sheep from goats.  The sheep– true believers–will be set on His right side.  These are those of us with faith in Jesus.  Our faith will be evident in the way we lived our lives.  Our charitable works on the behalf on others don’t earn us salvation; only our faith in Christ does.  But because we love Jesus, we try to love others by serving them in loving ways.  Our charitable works come from a generous heart, a trusting spirit.  And we try to be humble…Lord, when did we….Our reward will be to hear Jesus say to us, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you….

The goats—unbelievers—will be sent to His left. These are the ones who have discounted Christ, blown Him off, refused to believe in Him during their life time. They will be condemned. They will hear Jesus tell them, Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The goats will be shocked and horrified. They will react with self-righteousness…When did we not….

What’s so alarming about this teaching is its permanence. Jesus is warning us—like some of those goofy signs I shared earlier—(v.46) [the wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but be grateful for Jesus, our Shepherd King the righteous to eternal life. He is serious. The results of our choice—with or without Christ—is forever, changeless and without end. What’s so wonderful, however, is that we are free to make the choice. I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful that loving Jesus sets me up to be awarded an eternal place among only righteous persons. I’m so grateful that by loving Jesus, I avoid being consigned to that place where only evil-doers will dwell. I have often thought it would be horrible to be in prison, not just due to your lack of freedom. But consider who your neighbors are there. You would be confined to the company of murderers, thugs, rapists, and robbers. How would one be able to sleep at night? Hell will be so much worse!

So let’s think—as we approach Thanksgiving day—of what all of us has to be thankful or grateful for:

1. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, came to save us.

2. Jesus, our Great Shepherd King, will come again to establish justice and bring us to Himself.

3. That gratitude/thanksgiving is our password into God’s gates; the threshold into true worship.

4. Paul and other intercessors pray for us by name.

5. That Jesus calls us to give ourselves away—using our gifts and talents—in love and service to others.

6. And aren’t we just so grateful, too, for a little humor while we await our heavenly reward?

C 2020 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams