Good day dear friends. What a wonderful worship time we had. It was so awesome to see Zane Childress in church and the great standing ovation given to him was a blessing. We pray for his complete recovery from his wounds. It was great seeing so many come out to wish Kimberly Burke well as she leaves us to go minister with the people of Buda, TX. We thank God for His presence with us.
Yesterday's sermon was based on John 3. I called it Nick at Nite referencing Nicodemus' visit to Jesus. The point of that whole visit was to share with Nick the need to have a spiritual rebirth to better understand all the things of God. We can only see so much and appreciate so much if we're only religious and do not have a relationship with God. A prime example was John Wesley and his whole faith journey. Tomorrow, by the way, is the anniversary of his Aldersgate experience when Wesley felt his heart "strangely warm" and realized all that Christ had done for him. Many call this Wesley's spiritual birth.
Here is our study guide for today:
Monday: In the Book of Numbers 21:8-9, we find the reference Jesus made to Moses and a serpent. Read that passage. What were the people required to do to receive what they needed? Do you have that type of faith to do all that was requested of them?
Here is that passage: "8 And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live."
During their time in the desert, the people of God encountered all that comes with being in the desert; thirst, hunger, heat, and poisonous snakes. God's solution was to give Moses the instructions we read above that for him to make a representation of the snakes and to set it on a pole and whoever was bitten by a snake need only look at that pole and they would live. That this was a test of faith, it was. If you're like me, there's only one kind of snake and that's a dead one. My scouting days are way behind me; those were the days when I could identify a snake by its color and determine if it was poisonous or not. Today I let the garden hoe determine whether it will live or not. I must confess that I haven't killed a snake in years! The other day I got a frantic call from home that a snake was slithering around our back yard. Mom and Carli were out there with a rake, scared and screaming into the cell phone and I left the office and hurriedly drove over to see what was going on. I parked in the garage and found the hoe and went back there and no one was there. I expected to find a headless carcass, but nothing. When I came in the house they said, "It got away!" Good. But to be bitten by a snake would throw one into panic, and to be calm and to be led to the place where the pole held the representative serpent was something else.
Would you have that kind of faith? Would you be calms and say, "Oh darn, I was bitten by a snake, please lead me to the pole where I may look on it and live"?
Nick is being told this so that he could truly understand that event that was coming in Jesus' life. Like the serpent on the pole, his body would be lifted so those who looked at it could live. Jesus' death brought to us life and fullness of life, through faith. The whole point of Nick's visit at night was to find a deeper faith and Jesus gave him the answer: Be born spiritually and you'll understand and accept. And that same answer is for us today. There are so many events and blessings that come into our lives that we could fully understand if we could see them in a spiritual light. And that only comes through being "born anew" or being "born again."
A spiritual rebirth is a free gift of God through faith to all who ask. I jokingly said that as UMs we think those verses belong exclusively to the Southern Baptists. They don't. They're ours as well. Our whole existence as a denomination of strength in this country came as a result of people's willingness to flee from the "coming wrath of God," and desire to answer positively to the question, "how is it with your soul."
How is it with your soul? Do you have the life-giving relationship you need with Jesus Christ? Have you accepted a new life in Christ?
PRAYER: Grant us deep abiding faith, dear God who seeks a relationship with us. Let us turn to you with faith and accept the newness you offer to us. Let us look to Christ as He who was raised up to bring us life. We pray in His name. Amen.
Have a blessed day!
e.v.
