Sermon: Genesis 31;

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Intro: The cracker story!

For all of you who have found yourself on the wrong end of someone’s finger in your chest, or balancing the cracker on their finger while they subtly remind us of the absolute power over they hold over our lives…
For those who maybe have known someone or at some point was someone who thrived on that power, consider
The power we claim over others is a myth!

A power based only on manipulation of truth.
Truth is, Jacob was on a path toward God’s perfect Will for his life- home– in his current situation,the outward circumstances were alerting him to the inward voice of God– pushing him home. Truth is, our lives present themselves as a series of complications searching for a unifying principle of sovereignty. But the Lords promises speak to consistency (28:15; 31:11-13). The power to Jacob real harm was never more than a thought in his own mind! (See John 19:8-12). Interesting insight? People who traffic in their own power are often in actuality, afraid.
An obsession to control what we do not own.

Truth is, the claim upon his children is at odds with the testimony of his daughters, who are convinced that they were never more than a commodity to be traded to satisfy his own greed. Truth is, he has no relationship with God to tout. He is a pagan, bent upon using God, much like he used Jacob, even now if only to negotiate the best way out of a difficult spot.., which is interesting, because as a role model he is worthless but as to his people skills, a couple of take-aways.
But out of mouth of pagans come some truth!

In Laban’s approach, we nonetheless have an object lesson for Jacob
1. Faith secured a better foothold than fear! (Lessons from a RC physician.)
2. Directness wins over scheming every day!

Close
#sermons

The path toward troubles end

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John 14:2-3

The outline for our discussion tonight. Troubles anyone? No, I’ve got plenty of my own!

What to do with troubles? What troubles do we have and what are we to do with them? Retreat? Minimize? 

For us and for Jesus!

What troubled Jesus?

  • He was going away: 7:34; 8:21;12:8,35;13:33
  • Judas’ desertion 
  • Peter’s denial
  • Satan’s work against them:Luke  22:32-33
  • Disciples’desertion: after all, they all fled!

The answer: 

Let not your heart be troubled! Take yourself by the hand, think intentionally about your relationship with Christ, and meditate upon the promises of God.

Trust in God, trust also in me!

Not a soft pedaled casual approach but one which sees the real problems in our life and the value of biblical help for their solution. 

Why we should not be troubled?

  1. Trust Jesus. Why would we not want to trust him? Why is their trust of him so noteworthy? Hint: think resurrection!
  2. A prepared place: Phil.3:17,20; 1 John 3:2-3
  3. A preparer: why does this matter? 
  4. Never to be left behind
  5. Forever with Jesus!

Counsel received or rejected?

MJC 

https://www.facebook.com/mjcongrove

06.19.16 Genesis 11

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A number of years ago my wife, while disciplining a young boy in her preschool class, talked with him about the need to listen to the teachers and to cooperate with the other students in class. After a few seconds the boy replied rather defiantly, I don’t want to “coperate”. That is often our problem; certainly it was the issue with the folks in Genesis 11. The difference was; they didn’t want to cooperate with God.
06.19.16 Genesis 11.pdf
Sent from my iPad

Between the Ends for Sunday to Sunday: June 7, 2016

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THE NEXT BIG THING: WHAT GRADUATES REALLY NEED. Because we’re all in a revolving door called life, we find ourselves confronting new vistas and uncharted worlds, which often bring with them new opportunities and new challenges. In 1976, there I stood as a proud police officer for the 1st MP Co, 716th MP Battalion, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley Ks.

With me were the essentials of my police equipment: weapon, handcuffs, nightstick, and radio. I was ready for the new phase of my life… I think. The truth, probably, not so much…

Your success in life will depend upon certain essentials, especially when your life enters a new phase! I’ve enjoyed several new phases in my life- and whether it was college, the army, marriage, family, seminary, business, church planting, or non-profit, I have faced decisions… And I have discovered: Every decision matters, because they all have consequences.

The Great Noah of the Bible spent just over a year, in transition from what he was before, to what he would become in a brave new world! He was stripped of most everything he owned when he entered the ark. When he emerged from his hibernation there were but a few essentials at his disposal- the same, by the way, that are yours as well.

For starters:

  1. Your own vessel( body): Your body is the only one you’re going to get and God expects it to be exercised in holiness and Holy abandon. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion… For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.” (1Thess.4). “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1Cor.9:24-27). Noah allowed his pre-occupation with alcohol to blur his focus and his judgment! You cannot!
  2. Your time: we are all given 24 hours in a day and each day is to be lived with the recognition that you are accountable to God for everything you do with it! Noah understood this while the ark was under construction; lost sight of it when the crisis had passed. He confused leisure with lasciviousness and woke up to a drunken, mindless stupor. God says, “Redeem the time”, because we live in an evil day! (Ephesians 5:17)
  3. Your relationship with God. Protect it, nourish it and sustain it with the Scriptures. If you have no mission statement for your life, get one… if you’re not in a habit of a daily meditation where you come to the altar of God, then start one. Some of you are entrusting your eternity to some emotional decision you made when you were ten without so much of any biblical evidence, testimony, or growth to confirm you really are a believer. You’re on shaky ground!
  4. Your wisdom: God’s covenant with Noah sustained him, if not instructed him in everything from construction of the ark to the care of his family. But in the crucible of temptation, his wisdom lacked the discernment between what was available and what’s advisable. Alcohol may be allowable in the Scriptures but there’s plenty of support for why it’s not wise for the believer. (all things are lawful… But I will not be mastered by anything: I Cor. 6:12

And every day of your college life, work life, or private life, you will bump up against situations that will challenge these essentials. The expectations for your walk with God don’t change because you’re now an adult, you’re retired, you’re in a tough profession, or you’re suffering under duress.

The point is, that every decision matters, because they all have consequences. Choose wisely!

MJC

Mark J. CongrovePastor, Bethel Baptist church
616.546.0292
Adjunct professor: Cornerstone/ Grace Bible College

A Slow Boat to Nowhere

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One particular Christmas gift stands out as the most unique I ever received. My Uncle Ralph was famous for giving our family stuff we couldn’t use. [Explain] One summer he brought over strawberry wine he had made himself- I Remember my mother disparaging the fact that he ruined 300 quarts of strawberries to produce “the berry de coal yard.”   But on this Christmas in question, unbeknownst to my parents, I awakened to find a black Lab under my tree! What happened next might surprise you!
The Big Idea here! GOD ALWAYS TAKES CARE OF HIS OWN



Does so by giving us gifts that we don’t give back–

BY MAKING FAITH A WAY OF ESCAPE.

Noah’s state: Blamelss and righteous but human and frail

Hebrews 11: Faith is believing God

Faith is the gift of God ( Ephesians 2:8-9)but only becomes operative when it is acted upon. We believe that God is who he says he is and act upon that. Acts 27;

  • We keep hammering
  • We keep sharing truth
  • Trusting God for the results: it means we act in the absence of guarantees offered on the front end.

And then, throughout the trip, wondering, where is God and how did I get here? No record that God talks with him, until God tells him to leave the ark.
BY MAKING “AUTHORITY” A BLESSING IN HIS LIFE

Something liberating about resting under the authority of God. 

BIBLICALLY: The gift of authority brings order to the creation: I Cor 11;- on the contrary, 

HISTORICALLY:

the absence of authority fuels already rapid dissintegration of the culture: Judges: every man, right…

PRACTICALLY:

  1. Imagine a world, where the authority structure is driven by Terror: Boko, Isis, Taliban
  2. An authority structure driven by those who have the most influence/ financial resources.
  3. By someone commanding one the largest armies.
  4. Oh, wait a minute… That’s what we have… How’s that all working out?

BUT GOD!

  • 6:13: I have determined
  • 6:17: I will bring
  • 6:18: I will establish 
  • 7:17: I will shut the door
  • 7:23: I will kill everything
  • 8:1: I will remember you
  • 8:15 I will tell you when to get out.

When we exchange God’s authority for our own,  we surrender our assurance that he will fight for us and security that comes from his perseverance  in our lives.
BY MAKING WORSHIP HIS PERSONAL THANK-YOU CARD

The first altar  mentioned in history! 

With the flood, 

  • God swept paradise away
  • Withdrew the place of his presence
  • Set Up his throne in heaven. Prior to sin’s entrance , God had walked among his people, worship like meeting your most cherished friend on a regular basis…no more Eden! [reviewing our day with the parents]

So you see, the first thought after a year of silence, and over a year of unsettled living was worship!   The privilege of worship is never a chore.  The very first thought that occupies Noah’s mind! 

  • The writer of Proberbs: Eccl. 12:1
  • Prophet Jeremiah: Jer51:50
  • Proper Jonah. Jonah 2:7

The gift that never grows dull or out of style. 

  • It’s the real transformation in your relationship with Jesus, when you realize your worship is driven by the Holy Spirit and not It’s not the cool new song from that Christian band, casually named worship…
  • It’s the real transformation with Jesus, when you realize that without your ark- w/o him,  you would be lost, condemned, damned and hopeless. He who has the Son has life, he who doesn’t! 
  • It’s the real transformation with Jesus- When you realize what your family might look like if Jesus Christ had not redeemed you!   Do you suppose Noah heard the cries and the beating on the doors? And what about his own kids?


APPS!

  1. Take a fresh look at your “faith“. Is it Stagnant or actively growing. Is there a closer walk with Thee? No blaming the pastor or somebody else… More hip music?
  2. Take a fresh look at your leadership paradigm. Who really is in charge? In your daily team meetings, do you really know what he thinks about your life? [my friend, board member.] show up or not?
  3. Take a fresh look at your worship! Anything there that even resembles gratitude toward God. Funny thing about Islam! People will leave productive careers to travel to Turkey to adopt a false religion’s death wish, and believers in the states won’t even travel down the street to worship and pray on a Wednesday night.. Go figure!

CLOSE:

The real value of Apollo 13: 

So many things about that movie bears your attention for its similarities!

  • Tiny capsule headed toward certain destruction- they knew it as re-entry, we know it as death and the judgment.
  • Scene toward the end- Unable to proceed without re-entry instructions from ground… An ordered procedure to get them home safe. They at least recognized their predicament, you may very well may not.
  • 3 men, traveling in an Ark of sorts, with only inches, maybe less separating them from the vacuum of deep space- you only inches, moments from breathing your last

Close 

Genesis 5 05.15.16

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Text: Genesis 5
Intro: So, to many reading genealogies is like reading through the obituaries.
But maybe Genesis 5 is more than that…
What if, in death, God illuminates the best part of living. What if, it’s not about the number of years but the impact?
On his deathbed, Jonathan Edwards…called his marriage to wife Sarah, an “uncommon Union and hoped that his departure which left his children fatherless would be an inducement to seek the Father, who will never fail you”
What if Genesis 5 is not leaving us a legacy of death but one of hope!

Genesis 5 05.15.16.pdf

Mark J. CongrovePastor, Bethel Baptist church
616.546.0292
Adjunct professor: Cornerstone/ Grace Bible College

Cain’s Problem is our Problem

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Text: Genesis 4: 17-24
Welcome back!
Many years ago, my kids discovered “Sim City” and enjoyed the opportunity to create their own world….
What my kids were really doing with this game was creating their own way of life based upon their own background, interests, etc
(WE) seek a place, when we really need a person; we seek a connection when we really need a lifeline!. We seek a mortal city, when what we really need is an eternal home! To be sure, We need God!

The fascination with crafting our own world, where we are finally happy and safe! The owner of Tesla, has indicated he will retire…

Why does this seem so familiar? Because soon, a tower will rise from the plains of Babel, and the cry will be we can do this without God! If this sounds all too modern, it’s because- Cain tried it all before: At the core of Cain’s desire, is rebellion, and Cain’s failure to submit to God’s authority leads to:

THE PERIL OF A WANDERING MAN
He has no relationship with God. He is spared, protected, but at what cost? Vengeance will come but only after his death.
He has no home, for murder destroys the home!
He has no sense of real security, for in his sin, he has introduced insecurity into the world, One man writes, “how incurably precarious Cain’s situation is… His Cain who wants a home, and can have none, who is forever the man going somewhere, but where? … Always searching for a place where his need for security might be satisfied.”
But Cain can find no rest. He is condemned to search for a peace with God that he can no longer find.”

THE PLANS OF A WANDERING MAN
Two reactions-
Satisfy his need for eternity: a child, to find life, to live on in eternity through offspring; we all wish to live on through our progeny.
Satisfy his need for security: build a city
The connection between the two is conveyed in the name of the city: here he feels secure, away from the hostile world that he brought about by his murder; here he has a new city, a new Eden, built with his own hands- the city is called Enoch, which means, to initiate, inaugurate. It is here, Cain will begin again. It is here he will create his own world

Jacques Ellul writes, “The city for Cain is first of all the place where he can be himself– his homeland, the one settled spot, in his wandering. Secondly, it is a material sign of his security, he is responsible for himself and for his life.
Cain has built a city– For God’s Eden, he substitutes his own, for the good given to his life by God, he substitutes a goal chosen by himself– just as he substituted his own security for God’s. Such is the act by which Cain takes his destiny on his own shoulders refusing the hand of God in his life!”

What we need is AN IDENTITY that is founded in God’s love; and that’s what I invite you to today! That is why this celebration is life, the reminder that in Jesus we have a name, we’ve been invited to his family, where is an eternity for us and a secure city given us

With this in mind, we can now sit down around the communion table.

Mark J. CongrovePastor, Bethel Baptist church
616.546.0292
Adjunct professor: Cornerstone/ Grace Bible College

Genesis 4 for 4.24.2016

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Virtual Reality

Genesis 4 for 4.24.2016.pdf

Text: Genesis 4:1-16. The players:
THE FRAILTY OF VIRTUAL REALITY
What virtual reality cannot do is solve the complexities and irreconcilables associated with living in a world that has lost its way!

We want answers in real time– we want someone to be in charge, but we detest that God would rule over us

WE MUST EXPERIENCE GOD IN REAL TIME– WE MUST SEE THE WORLD THROUGH HIS EYES, WITH HIS PERSPECTIVE

SO CAN WE DISCOVER HIS PERSPECTIVE?

HOPE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES

HELP ADDS NO BURDEN

HORROR HAS NO LIMITS

I LEAVE YOU WITH APPS
1. Hope in God is the best of things
2. Help is available, to those who call
3. Honesty is necessary to know ourselves

I leave you with The realty of John F…

MJC