See You in the Funny Pages

I read a select though small catalog of comic strips in the daily paper.  I learned this from my father way back in the '40s when he told me, "The only things you can believe in the newspaper are the funnies."

Sadly, things have not improved in that regard.  I still rely on the comics.  A recent example in Scott Adams' "Dilbert."

Asok:  I can't tell  if you are wise or lazy.

Wally:  I know.  It took me years to find that sweet spot.

That They May Be One

or, How to get along and keep the main thing the main thing.
 
Continuing with the prayer of Jesus, John 17:20-23 in which the Lord presents His petition to the Father for unity of believers with one another, with Himself, and with the Father

• Christian unity is based on our shared life in Jesus Christ.
• Christian unity is based on our shared life through faith in Christ through the apostolic witness to Him.
• Christian unity is important because it is a major factor in our witness to the world.
• Christian unity is expressed by believers' common love and common mission.

 With 40,000 denominations and innumerable non- and inter- denominational bodies it is critical that Christians act in unity to promote the gospel message.

• God did not get a prize when he took me.  He didn't get one when he took you, either.

We must pray for one another and pray, as Jesus did, for the bond of unity in Christ.

We must not compromise the essential elements of the gospel.  They are belief in

• the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
•  the total divinity and the total humanity of Jesus Christ
• the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus
• the Second Coming of Christ
• salvation only by God's grace through faith.

These define the Christian, his membership in the body of Christ.  We should act in unity with all who believe and teach these principles.  Other differences are unimportant.

Man has done his best to thwart Christ's prayer.  The Christian must pray as He did, follow in his footsteps.

• We should be praying for unity in the Body of Christ.
• Pray for individuals and organizations who are stepping out and doing what God commanded in terms of unity without compromising essential biblical truth.
•  Pray for other believers in your world who are living for Christ in their world. 
• Finally, ask God to use you as a vessel in your local church, in your family, and in your world to be a person who builds unity rather than dissension.  

We tend to be blind, and to be blind to our blindness.

Think others have quills? You have quills, too.

Guest speaker Rob Cochrane

Sunday morning

Small engines and Big governments

If it is running a little rough, dismantle it.  If you can't put it back together, oh, well, it wasn't running right anyway.

Hungry for Truth

 This Sunday's lesson continues our study of the Prayer of Jesus.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.  For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.  John 17:17-19 (NIV)

The Word of Truth restores purity.

Sanctified: Dedicated to God; He unifies us to Himself.  We are set apart to His  service in an evil and chaotic world.

The Word of Truth gives purpose.

Jesus immersed himself in the world, His own creation, so that He could know our grief, our sorrows, our temptations.   Find your purpose?  NO!  Find God's purpose for your life. 

The Word of Truth calls us to action.

It is not enough to talk about God's plan, or pray about His plan.  We must act.  Christ carried out God's plan.  We are to do the same.

KNOW GOD AND MAKE HIM KNOWN.

God's truth does not vary from culture to culture, from age to age.

To know the truth we must be saturated in the Word.

The Bible is one of the channels through which God pours out his grace.

To be saturated in the Word:

1.  Repetition  We internalize the Word.

2  Concentration  Distraction is the order of this day and age.  Discipline ourselves.

3.  Comprehension   Thus we build knowledge of the truth.

4.  Reflection  See things from God's perspective.  Approach the word as a student, not a teacher.

Saturate so that we may bear the Word to the world.

May God's Word make clear to us the places He has called us.

May his Word, Truth, set us apart.  (Sanctify)

The religion God honors is one of action.  

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Ring! Ring!

Wife's cell phone rings.  I normally don't answer it, but it was lying right beside me on the end table.

I:  Hello!

(Silence)

I: (louder) Hello!

Moron:  This is not McDonald's, is it?

I:  You got that right.

Moron: You don't have to yell.  You are a (adjectival expletive) (expletive).

I: You are an idiot, ya know that?  A complete idiot.

(End of conversation)

In the day in which I grew up and during most of my adult life when one dialed a wrong number he simply said, Sorry, I got the wrong number.  And the person who was disturbed by a call not intended for him might say, That's all right.

But what a day and age we now occupy.

And people wonder at old coots who express longings for "the good old days."

Q & A

Q:  What is wrong with this picture?  

A:  The sack is empty.  😭            

Joy!

The Jesus joy is the answer to all your problems.

The joy of Jesus Christ goes deeper than any emotion, any circumstance.

How do I get that type of joy?
     It is found in unlikely places.  Ir is never found in any external thing.
     It is found in places you would never go alone.  It is found in places you would not go at all.

You must be willing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus!

 Joy is found in these unlikely places:
1) Submission; 2) Suffering; 3) Consecration.

1) Joy is found in submission to the Father's will.
     John 15:9-11  Obey "that your joy may be complete.

     Find joy in aligning yourself with the Father's will.  Following Christ may be difficult, but it always results in joy.  Walk willfully in the will of God.

2) Joy is found in suffering.
     John 16:20-22 Pain gives way to joy.   Christ used the illustration of the joy supplanting the pain suffered in childbirth.  Pastor expanded on, emphasized this analogy.
Jesus was "a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief."  Yet he had such joy!
Sow in tears, reap in joy, a joy the world cannot take away.

3) Joy is found in being set apart, consecrated.
    Jesus prayed not that we would be taken from the world, but that the Father would protect us while we are in the world.  Allow Him to set a mark upon you which separates you from the world.  Be set apart to His purpose; we do not belong here.

In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) Jesus tells us faithful followers will be despised, rejected, abused by the world.  When this happens, He said, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven."

Joy is found in an unwavering relationship with God.

Resolve to carry out the Father's will. 

Notes on sermon by

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Protect Us from the Evil One

Today's scripture: John 17: 9-15.

Preface
     Man has always wrestled with the problem of good and evil.  Here are some theories, or notiions that have been put forward from time to time.

1  We live in a random world; stuff happens.  But there are times when a very active force is at work.

2.  Evil and suffering are all in the mind.  But tell that to someone who is hurting or in pain.

3.  These evils are deserved; punishment for all the wrong things we do.  But bad things happen to good people.

4.   God is not sovereign.  His own creation is out of control.

5.  There are two warring deities, a good one vs. an evil one.  No, there is one God only.

6.  Evil is God's will.  God is love; He is just.  To say that God perpetuates evil is blasphemy.

The message:

1.  Our world does not fully understand the concept of evil, and what makes that dangerous for us is that we have grossly underestimated it.

2.  The problem of evil is real and it is near.  Pain and trouble exist; they are all around us.

3.  John Wesley referred to the devil as the one who reigns in this realm (earth).  The devil is an adversary, on the prowl; he is a pretender, feigning harmlessness. He is a thief, a murderer, and the father of lies.

4.  Jesus knows about the evil in this world.  He prayed about the issue of evil we would face.

5  Jesus prayed for our protection from the evil one.  Jesus is concerned for the safety and well-being of our soul.  He taught his disciples to pray, "deliver us from evil."

6.  Jesus gave us a promise when He said, "I told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble, but take heart!  I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33)

We are in the world but not overcome by it.
We are to be the Good News to the world.  Must carry the Light into darkness.
Do we carry the Good News? 

The enemy of your soul is out to get you.

Jesus's prayer is not for the world, but for those given to Him by the Father. (v. 9) He prays for our protection from the evil one!

From notes on the message by

Pastor Johnnie Blair

Sunday morning

Aging Gracefully

Watching 40-year old sitcoms on Antenna TV.  (Baby, it's cold outside!)

Unique Home Solutions commercial, advertising their roofing system:

"How old will you be in fifty years?"

"A hundred thirty-three!" I shout with glee.  What a pick-me up, what a future!

How on Earth. . .

do the meteorologists on tv manage to turn such a small amount of information into interminable minutes of blather?  Puzzles me.