True Contentment: Needs and Fears

Watch

View fullsize

Listen

Read

True Contentment: Needs and Fears

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: True contentment comes as Jesus meets our greatest needs and puts to rest our greatest fears. 

The Oxford American Dictionary Definition

Contentment : A state of happiness and satisfaction Of late Middle English Origin denoting “the payment of a claim”

Ironically, it is daily that we have things making claims on our contentment, primarily in the way of our needs and our fears. 

Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

-2 Kings 2:19-22 

The Scripture

The city was pleasant but the water was bad. 

The water hadn’t always been bad, lest the ancient city could not have grown up around the source.  Something had changed.  

The water was what was used to meet the needs of the land.

The lack of fruitfulness came from the water that was contaminated in some way.

Elisha called for a new bowl. 

The answer was to throw salt in the bowl for the supernatural healing of the water so that the land could be fruitful.

We’re going to come back to this...

Our Greatest Needs

God designed our greatest needs

Relationship, Provision, Purpose.

When we have these things in life, we are truly content.  

A 2018 Psychology Today article by Dr. Suzanne Degges White summarized  our greatest needs to achieve a state of contentment with these highlights: 

1. Human beings need relationships to enjoy optimum well-being and happiness. 

2. Being kind to others is essential to finding a sense of personal happiness. Our human brains are wired so that we feel joy when we behave in altruistic ways. 

3. Acknowledging the abundance of your own life—no matter how austere or extravagant it might be—and experience gratitude for these people, experiences, and things also positively contribute to a sense of well-being.

4. Finding a sense of meaning and purpose in your pursuits in life are necessary to contentment and happiness. Believing that you are contributing to something beyond yourself and being a part of something larger than your individual existence is also necessary to experience a feeling of peace that is a part of happiness.

5. Making healthy lifestyle choices in terms of your basic needs—sleep, nutrition, and exercise—also contribute to your happiness in life.

Source here.

Whether acknowledged or not, all of these insights have their roots in Biblical mandates.

Our Greatest Fears

God knows our greatest fears. 

*When the water is bad, the counterpart to our needs are the fears that our needs won’t be met, choking out our contentment.  

The needs and their counterparts:

Relationship - Loneliness

Provision - Lack

Purpose - Death (the end of all earthly purpose)

The good news is that God gives us a remedy to deal with every need and fear.  

Loneliness

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”

-Mother Teresa

Fear: Am I Going to Be Forgotten?

The cataclysmic shift in our culture: 

If people don’t see what you do, it doesn’t count 

If I’m not seen (on social media, etc.) I don’t matter 

Even as we look forward to being together again in the flesh, embrace virtual community. 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

-Hebrews 10:24-25

Lack

When you have provision, there’s instruction for contentment:

Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

-Luke 3:14

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

-1 Timothy 6:6-12

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

-1 Timothy 6:17-19

When provision is momentarily reduced, there’s equal instruction:

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

-Philippians 4:11-13 

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

-Hebrews 13:5-6

Death

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

-Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus’ gospel is the salt that goes into the bowl to heal the water.

 From the ExploreGod.com website:

“So,” the Apostle Paul wrote, “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”19

C. S. Lewis hinted at this idea when he famously suggested, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”20

What kind of “another world” did Lewis mean? The new world described for us in the book of Revelation:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

-Revelation 21:1,3-5

https://www.exploregod.com/articles/the-importance-of-contentment

Meeting Our Needs and Ending Ours Fears

Our greatest needs are met and our greatest fears are overcome in Jesus Christ. The city is pleasant but the water is bad making the land unfruitful. The water is what we use to meet the needs of the land (our needs)

The lack of fruitfulness comes when the water is bad (fears destroying our contentment) 

Elisha called for a new bowl (new habits and disciplines). 

The answer was to throw the salt (the Word of God, the gospel, holiness) in the bowl for the healing of the water so that the land could be fruitful (contentment)

Out of its contentment, the church has a divine purpose during this time.  Because my needs are met and my fears laid to rest in Christ, I can live this way during this time:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

-Matthew 5:13-1613

The cross of Jesus Christ made this all a possibility for us.  At the cross, Jesus became a substitutionary sacrifice that we might first be reconciled to God.  As turn from our sin and put our faith in Jesus, we’re adopted into the family of God with a Heavenly Father who provides saying that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we have a heavenly home being prepared for us so that death no longer has a sting.  And in these ways, we can live all of our days contented and full of praise.  

Study

Click HERE to download our study guide!

Second City Church - True Contentment - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Famous Last Words: Jesus Provides Healing and Life

Watch

View fullsize

Listen

Read

Famous Last Words: Jesus Provides Healing and Life

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: Jesus provides healing and resurrection life when death has been at your door.  

• Where My Eyes Have Been 

• Death at My Door

• It is Finished (Where My Eyes Will Go)

Where My Eyes Have Been 

My eyes have been fixed on the places where my hopes have been set. 

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

-Numbers 21:4-9

“No person, not even the best one can give your soul all it needs…this cosmic disappointment and disillusionment is there in all of life, but we especially feel it in the things in which we set our hopes. When you finally realize this, there are four things you can do: You can blame the things that are disappointing you and try to move on to better ones (that’s the way of continued idolatry and spiritual addiction), you can blame yourself and beat yourself (that’s the way of self loathing and shame), you can blame the world (that’s how you get hard, cynical, and empty), or you can reorient the entire focus of your life on God.”

-Timothy Keller in Counterfeit Gods

Where have you gotten derailed in your focus?  

Are there pursuits in your life more important to you than the worship of God?

Death at My Door

At some point, sin, Satan and suffering come to every person’s door to strike at those hopes.

“Optimism hopes for the best without any guarantee of its arriving and is often no more than whistling in the dark. Christian hope, by contrast, is faith looking ahead to the fulfillment of the promises of God, as when the Anglican burial service inters the corpse 'in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God's own commitment, that the best is yet to come.”

-J. I. Packer

13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

-John 3:13-18

 

It is Finished (Where My Eyes Will Go)

Looking to Jesus’ finished work on the cross brings healing and resurrection life to what was once dead. 

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said ( to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

-John 19:28-30 

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

-Matthew 27:33,34 

William Lane explains,

According to an old tradition, respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain . . . . When Jesus arrived at Golgotha he was offered . . . wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it, choosing to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him (The Gospel of Mark, p. 564)

Lane comments,

A sour wine vinegar is mentioned in the OT as a refreshing drink (Ruth 2:14), and in Greek and Roman literature as well it is a common beverage appreciated by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more effectively than water and was inexpensive . . . . There are no examples of its use as a hostile gesture. The thought, then, is not of a corrosive vinegar offered as a cruel jest, but of a sour wine of the people. While the words “let us see if Elijah will come” express a doubtful expectation, the offer of the sip of wine was intended to keep Jesus conscious for as long as possible” (Ibid., 573–574).

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

-Luke 24:46-53 

"The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it.”

-N. T. Wright

  

Study

Click HERE to download our study guide!

Second City Church - Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Famous Last Words: Perfect Peace

Watch

View fullsize

Listen

Read

Famous Last Words: Perfect Peace

“Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Palm Sunday is an acknowledgement of Jesus’ authority, coming as the benevolent king to rule over the nations.  Yet in times like these, our world can echo the cry of Jesus on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Focus: We will be kept in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on Jesus.

Perfect Lessons

Jesus’ experience on the cross gives us perfect lessons for our trials. 

Perfect Savior 

Jesus was shown to be a perfect Savior by what His time on the cross accomplished. 

Perfect Peace 

We are kept in perfect peace as we rehearse the reality that temporary tragedies can lead to eternal victories in Jesus.  

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

-Matthew 27:32-54

Perfect Lessons

Jesus’ experience on the cross gives us perfect lessons for our trials. 

"I think that taking life seriously means something such as this: that whatever man does on this planet has to be done in the lived truth of the terror of creation, of the grotesque, of the rumble of panic underneath everything. Otherwise it is false."

-- Ernest Becker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Denial of Death

Lament is a Biblical response while I prayerfully wait for answers.  However, I am commanded not to fear. 

Why?

The Cross You Threw Off Because You Were Forced to Carry it Can Become your Salvation

 “People know instinctively that if Christianity is true they will lose control, and they will not be able to live any way they wish. So they are rooting for it not to be true, and are more than willing to accept any objections to the faith they hear.”

-Timothy Keller

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.

-Matthew 27:32

Like Simon of Cyrene, some of you were forced to carry a faith (cross) that was not your own, so you’ve been tempted to throw it off. You’ve looked for freedom of thought, love and pleasures in all of the wrong places.  However, these detours can leave you damaged and be found wanting. Now is your time to return. God Knows Everything God is not surprised by anything that we experience.  We can trust God’s sovereignty when we look at the prophetic writings of Scripture: Psalm 22 is one of several Messianic Psalms foreshadowing the person and suffering of Jesus on the way to his salvific work on the cross:(King David wrote these words somewhere between 1010 and 970 BC)

Foreshadowed:

they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

-Psalm 22:18

Fulfilled:

 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

-Matthew 27:35

Foreshadowed:

All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

-Psalm 22:7

Fulfilled:

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 

-Matthew 27:39-42

Foreshadowed:

 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

-Psalm 22:8

Fulfilled:

He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

-Matthew 27:43,44

Foreshadowed:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

-Psalm 22:1

Fulfilled:

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

-Matthew 27:45-50

Because God is not surprised by anything, we can be confident of the following, even in the midst of suffering:

“There is no panic in heaven!  God has no problems, only plans.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

The safest place to be is in right relationship with Christ and in his hands. 

There will be times that it seems like God is not doing anything. 

39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

-Matthew 27:39-44

There will even be times where you may feel abandoned by God. 

When you go through health, financial or relational difficulties, it is human to ask the question, Where are you God?  Jesus asked the same question. 

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

-Matthew 27:46

Jesus knew the plan going in.  He spoke about his sacrificial death, burial and resurrection that would lead to the salvation of the world repeatedly throughout his ministry.  Yet in the stress and strain of the moment, our emotions cause our perspective on things to get fuzzy.  When Jesus took on the sin of humanity, and for the first time in his existence experienced separation from His Heavenly Father, he cried out in agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

People misunderstand tragedies.  

They thought that Jesus was calling out to Elijah. 

47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”

-Matthew 27:47-49

The moment that it seems like God is forsaking his people is the very moment when he is working his plan of redemption for the world.   

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

-1 Corinthians 2:7-9

This leads us to the benefits of a perfect Savior.  

Perfect Savior 

Jesus was shown to be a perfect Savior by what His time on the cross accomplished. 

What happened as Jesus died?  What was the significance?

The Veil Was Torn

This act was opening the way to God’s presence in the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies. 

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

-Matthew 27:51

The Dead Were Raised 

Because Jesus was crucified, the dead can come out of their graves.  

52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

-Matthew 27:52,53

Those Far Away Came to Saving Faith 

54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

-Matthew 27:54

Perfect Peace

We are kept in perfect peace as we rehearse the reality that temporary tragedies can lead to eternal victories in Jesus.  

The phrase “do not be afraid” is recorded at least 365 times in the Bible.  

“If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. If you look at God you'll be at rest.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. For he has humbled the inhabitants of the height, the lofty city. He lays it low, lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust.

-Isaiah 26:1-5 

Trials can bring us low, and at times, we may not understand what God is doing through them.  Our hearts’ cries can reflect some of the Lord’s final words,“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Yet if we remember the perfect lessons taught to us at the cross, about a perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, we will he kept in perfect peace as our minds are stayed on Him.  Repent of sin today and put your faith in Jesus to make sure that you are walking in that peace.  

  

Study

Click HERE to download our study guide!

Second City Church - Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Famous Last Words: Receiving and Giving His Love

Watch

View fullsize

Listen

Read

Famous Last Words: Receiving and Giving His Love

God wants us to be ready to receive and give his love whenever and however it’s needed.  

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• Where Secularism Fails

• The Love of God in Crisis 

• The Gospel at Just the Right Time

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

-Matthew 25:31-46

Where Secularism Fails

Secularism does not fully provide an answer to the challenges or needs of the day. 

"Each new morn new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face,"

-Macduff in Macbeth, Act IV, William Shakespeare 

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

-Romans 1:21-23 

“Men despise religion (here meaning Christianity). They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.”

-Blaise Pascal 

The Love of God in Crisis 

The love of God is clearly seen in times of challenge and need.  

“The interaction between religious and scientific communities can sometimes be inhibited by a perception that they don’t share the same worldview. But my research shows that scientists often do their work out of a core value to heal the world around them. In my interviews with religious scientists, I’ve found that many of them feel similarly about their work and their goals, sometimes drawing on the concept of Shalom, a Hebrew word that broadly refers to seeking peace, harmony, well-being and prosperity that result from the flourishing of all creation. One immunologist told me not long ago, “I see science as an amazing tool to intervene on the human condition.”

-Source here

“Jesus, properly understood as shalom, coming into the world from the shalom community of the Trinity, is the intention of God’s once-and-for-all mission. That is, the mission of birthing and restoring shalom to the world is in Christ, by Christ, and for the honor of Christ.“

-Randy Woodley, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision

Love has no formula - only the discernible character of Christ. 

The Gospel at Just the Right Time

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the perfect reference for giving love at just the right time, exactly as it is needed.  

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

-Romans 2:4

When secularism falls, inevitably failing to provide solace in the midst of idol crushing trials, the power of God’s gospel is that it meets people presently in their suffering to provide both a present and eternal hope. 

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

-Romans 5:6-11

Never be confused.  You must put your faith in Christ because he is true, not because he is useful, though when you submit to him as true, you will also find the benefits of trust in Him. 

  

Study

Click HERE to download our study guide!

Second City Church - Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Famous Last Words: God expects a return

Watch

View fullsize

Listen

Read

Famous Last Words: God expects a return

God expects a return on everything that He’s entrusted to you.  

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• Different Measures 

• Hidden Talents 

• The Kingdom With Interest 

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

-Matthew 25:14-30

Different Measures 

God has given every individual different measure of talents (resources) to earn and achieve for the Kingdom of Heaven. 

After his sacrificial death on the cross to reconcile sinful humanity to God, Jesus would be the Master who was resurrected and would go on a journey, ascending to the right hand of the Father.  Before leaving, he says he leaves his servants with talents with which to do business until he makes His promised return. 

What was a talent?: 

In New Testament times, a talent was a unit of money worth 6000 drachmas (a common laborers earned about one denarius a day), or 20 years wages.  

*People are given different measures of opportunities and resources, even physical attributes in life.  Regardless of where you begin, Jesus says that everyone has the ability to do business with what’s been trusted to them resulting in the growth of the Kingdom of God.  

*We are to be servants of God.  We must see what we have in terms of intellect, resources, relationships and opportunities as ultimately belonging to Jesus.   Each of these things are components of the Master’s property and we are to be stewards of His property.  We will give an account for it all.  Thus we are to use all that we have the way that the Master would.  

The question is “What has the Master given you?  What are you going to do to multiply it for the Kingdom?”

Hidden Talents

The temptation will be for each of us to waste, misuse or bury our talents.  

This parable begs the question: “Does God expect anything of his people besides moralistic obedience?” 

The answer is unequivocally yes.   Christ is looking for a multiplication of the life of God in you to be produced in others.  It was Jesus who charged his followers for all time with the Great Commission: 

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

-Matthew 28:18-20

*The charge does not change with our circumstances.  As in any business venture, it is incumbent upon those employed to find creative ways to see their business succeed and grow, despite the changing environment and times.  This was the message of the talents.  (It is what we’re doing even in the midst of the virus going online with our community groups.  We’ve already heard the testimony of increased participation from these efforts!)

*The problem of trying to live your best life now is it gets severely interrupted in times like these. More than that, it is a misappropriation of the talents with which you’ve been entrusted.  

Even friendships today sadly suffer the fate of: 

Waste 

Misuse

Being buried in temporal, rather than eternal significance

“True friends don’t spend time gazing into each other’s eyes. They may show great tenderness towards each other but they face in the same direction - toward common projects, goals - above all, towards a common Lord.”

C.S. Lewis

“The very condition of having Friends is that we should want something else besides Friends. Where the truthful answer to the question "Do you see the same truth?" would be "I see nothing and I don't care about the truth; I only want a Friend," no Friendship can arise - though Affection of course may. There would be nothing for the Friendship to be about; and Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travellers.”

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

In times like these, it is easy to want to bury your talent because you are:

1. Thinking about self preservation

1. Afraid to make a mistake

2. You don’t feel like your talent is valuable enough

The paralysis of perfectionism must be swallowed up by an understanding of the grace of God. 

The servant who started and ended with one talent was called wicked and slothful.  This servant thought that his master was an exacting man. He did not know his master well and made excuses for his lack of productivity.  

The worthless servant who buries the talents has the consequence of being thrown out into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  This is imagery referring to hell and eternal damnation in the New Testament, being referenced by Jesus six times in Matthew and once in the gospel of Luke. 

The Kingdom With Interest 

God expects a return on the talents that He’s invested in you. 

Whether it be your intellect, your relationships, your resources, your opportunities or skill, God wants what He’s entrusted to you to result in the advance of the Kingdom of God.  

We can grow in ability.  

What should drive me each morning is to one day hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”. 

Let comparisons die.  You are not responsible for that with which someone else has been entrusted.  The Master said “well done” to the servant with the five talents as well as to the one with the two talents.  What Jesus is looking for is faith and faithfulness until he makes his return.  

The question I should ask daily is: 

“How will my life be used today to advance the Master’s Kingdom purposes?”   How can I invest what He has entrusted to me to see Christ gain the interest of souls won, disciples made, churches planted and the rule of Heaven entering all spheres of society?  God is taking ground each day and your aspiration should be to be a part of what He is doing.  

*Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross as a substitute for the punishment we deserve for our rebellion toward God and rose from the dead three days later to give us the opportunity for eternal life.  Though salvation is the same for all who repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus, it is clear from the parable that the rewards in eternity will be different based on what we do with what God has entrusted to us.  Let’s repent today of the sins of the wicked, slothful servant and turn today to serve the Master who will make his return with his great reward.  

Study

Click HERE to download our study guide!

Second City Church - Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus

Famous Last Words: Parables of Jesus

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we live a life of faith in preparation for Christ’s coming, there is:

• What We Don’t Know

• What We Do Know 

• Our Response in Faith 

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

-Matthew 25:1-13

What We Don’t Know

We don’t know how long trials will last or what form they will take.  We encourage you during this time to develop your prayer life like never before.  (We’ve posted a community guide on the web).  

"Worry is a conversation that you have with yourself about things that you can not change.  Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things that He can change." 

-Unknown author

It is moments like these that God uses to mercifully grab our attention that our oil lamps might be filled.  

What We Do Know

We do know that God commands us to be prepared.  Like the ten wise virgins, we must be prepared with supplies - naturally, medically and spiritually.  Torches required regular refilling.  So do we in Christ.  Do not get isolated during this time. 

“Socially distant doesn’t mean spiritually secluded.”  -TDJ

If there continues to be physical separation, engage with podcasts and points of connection online.  Use Facebook groups, Zoom, etc. to pray and continue life together in community groups. 

Our Response in Faith

God commands us to respond in faith living in the expectation of meeting Him and being used by Him in the world in which we live.  

We are not to live in fear, but in faith.  The understanding of our future destination must shape how we live today.

“If there ever be a time when the mind is sensitive, it is when death is abroad. I recollect, when first I came to London, how anxiously people listened to the gospel, for the cholera was raging terribly. There was little scoffing then.” 

-Charles Spurgeon referring to his time of ministry during the Cholera outbreak of 1854

 

Jesus pointed out that those without oil (Ephesians 2:12) are to go to the dealers - the preachers and teachers of the gospel who can establish you in the Word of God and Kingdom truth. 

When people are gripped by fear, they need those who will point them to wisdom, faith and selfless service, not self-preservation and fear. 

We are the dealers of oil - the gospel and Kingdom truth. 

Jesus remains the hope for both present and eternal life.  If you don’t know Jesus, now is your time to come to repentance and faith.  His sinless life was lived for us. His sacrificial death on the cross was made so that death could not hold us.  His resurrection from the dead means that we have the promise of everlasting life no matter what circumstances we may temporarily face.  Pray for people and share the good news in light of this truth. 

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge — no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

-Psalm 91:1-16

Second City Church - Famous Last Words - Parables of Jesus - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

OUT is the new In

Out is the new in

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Guest Speaker Pastor Jim Critcher

“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” 

-Eccl. 11:4-6, NIV

1) Seasons 

Daniel 2:21-22; 1Chron. 12:32; Amos 9:13; Mark 11:12-14 

“Out of season” fruit

- Ezek. 47:12; John 7:37-39

Generations

- 1Tim. 4:12-15; Ps. 92:12-15; 2Kings 4:38-41

2) Seeing differently 

2 Kings 3:17-18

Life in and by the Spirit - Galatians 5:16-26

3) Sowing 

Genesis 26:1-13

Galatians 6:8

“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”

-Hosea 10:12, NIV

Second City Church - Out is the new in - Pastor Jim Critcher 2020

Mercy, Mercy Me Part 2

Mercy, Mercy Me Part 2

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Showing Mercy to Others

The Great Expectation

The Great Realization

The Great Reconciler 

The Great Expectation

The great expectation is that we live a life where we show the mercy of God to others.

Background of Micah

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

-Micah 6:6-8

Another word for mercy is kindness. 

Mercy is not treating someone as their sins deserve.  

We are required to show mercy to others because we are commanded to be imitators of God.  God’s character is described this way:

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

-Psalm 103:6-14 

What we need to understand when offering mercy to others: 

1. Mercy is not at the expense of justice.  However, mercy will always triumph over judgement.  

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

-James 2:13

1. Humility is a prerequisite to walking with God and having lasting, life-giving relationships with others. 

Yet it is so hard to live this way when we are offended, have been violated, overlooked and mistreated time and time again.  

The Great Realization

The great realization is that we are no better than those to whom we need to show mercy. 

We are quick to condemn people for things for which we should be condemned.   

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

-Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

-Leo Tolstoy

When you show mercy to others, you cease being just the victim.  You have become an advocate for another’s soul.  

“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." 

- Gandalf (J. R. R. Tolkein ~ The Hobbit)

The Great Reconciler

We must be transformed by the mercy of the great reconciler to be able to show the mercy of God to others. 

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

-Luke 23:32-34

How do we live a life of showing mercy to others?:

1. Consider that the offending party may not be aware of the wrong they are committing 

2. If they do know, remember that it will take an act of divine intervention to transform a heart marred by the cultural and experiential forces that have shaped them. People are slaves to sin.  Jesus has come to set them free (John 8).

3. Begin to intercede for those to whom you need to show mercy.  This is the pathway to forgiveness that Jesus demonstrated for us while he hung on the cross. 

    4.  When able, communicate the why of the demonstrated mercy, that the offending party may meet Jesus, at the cross, through the gospel, just as you have. 

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

-Luke 23:39-43

There were two criminals on the cross: 

-The justice of God was realized in the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.  

-Jesus offered mercy on the cross to the one who acknowledged his substitutionary sacrifice.  

-Humility was the second robber’s passport into paradise.  

It’s only at the cross of Jesus Christ that we truly receive the mercy that we so desperately need.  By him paying the price for our sins, we are granted the pardon that we do not deserve.  When our souls are flooded with and transformed (we are born-again) by this reality, we are then empowered to offer the pardon that we’ve received to others with the same reconciling mercy. 

Second City Church - Mercy, Mercy Me - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Mercy, Mercy Me Part 1

Mercy, Mercy Me

Associate Pastor Cole Parleir

Part 1: God’s Marvelous Mercy For Me

“Moses said to the Lord, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?" And the Lord said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."

-‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33:12-23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

-‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:1-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

-‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14:22-33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you." And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.”

-‭‭Mark‬ ‭10:46-52‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

‭‭-Luke‬ ‭7:36-50‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

‭‭-Luke‬ ‭18:9-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow, than dismiss the great mercy of God.” - Charles Spurgeon

“When Jesus died on the cross the mercy of God did not become any greater.  It could not become any greater, for it was already infinite.  We get the odd notion that God is showing mercy because Jesus died.  No—Jesus died because God is showing mercy.  It was the mercy of God that gave us Calvary, not Calvary that gave us mercy.  If God had not been merciful there would have been no incarnation, no babe in the manger, no man on a cross and no open tomb.” - A.W. Tozer 

“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence.”

- Saint Augustine

Second City Church - Mercy, Mercy Me - Associate Pastor Cole Parleir 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 6

Amazing Grace: Week 6

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Amazing grace transforms our devotional life

They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain...

-Exodus 19:2-3 

“Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.” 

-Dallas Willard

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

-Hebrews 4:12-16 

Amazing Grace Transforms Us From:

1. Entitlement

2. Apathy

3. Autonomy

4. Timidity

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 5

Amazing Grace: Week 5

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Enriching Grace

How God’s Amazing Grace Transforms Our Finances

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

-2 Corinthians 9:6-11 

Four Postures of Giving:

1. Got to Give 

     •Obligated to give

2. Give to Get

     •Investment 

     •Expecting something in return

3. Get to Give

     •Excited to give

4. Graced to Give 

But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you — see that you excel in this act of grace also.

-2 Corinthians 8:7 

The Grace of Giving Comes Forth in:

1. All Sufficiency (autarkia/contentment) - all contentment 

2. All Times and Things 

3. All Good Works

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 4

Amazing Grace: Week 4

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Amazing Grace Transforms Our Suffering

I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,  a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

-2 Corinthians 12:1-10 

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

-2 Corinthians 11:23-27

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

-Isaiah 14:12-14

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 3

Amazing Grace: Week 3

Pastor Rollan Fisher

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

-Titus 2:11-14

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

-John 14:18-21

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

-John 14:25-26

“There is no justification without sanctification, no forgiveness without the renewal of life, no real faith from which the fruits of new obedience do not grow.”

-Martin Luther

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 2

Amazing Grace:

Pastor Rollan Fisher

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

-Titus 3:3-7

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Amazing Grace: Week 1

Amazing Grace:

Pastor Rollan Fisher

16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.18 Therefore, as one trespass[a] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[b] leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

-Romans 5:16-21

Second City Church - Amazing Grace - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020

Vision 2020: Prophetic word for Second City Church for 2020

Vision 2020: Prophetic word for Second City Church for 2020

Pastor Cole Parleir

“As you let God put your roots down deep, He will send the branches out wide”

(John 15:5-6)

Focus Scripture

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.”

-‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”

‭‭-Proverbs‬ ‭29:18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”

‭‭-Proverbs‬ ‭29:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1. Prophetic vision is revelation of divine guidance into God’s plan. It’s seeing life as it really is according to God’s plan set forth in Jesus Christ.  To know and walk with Jesus Christ, God incarnate, is God’s plan for your life, your family, and the world. To know Christ is to be forgiven, to be blessed,  and have the Holy Spirit enabling us to live God’s way walking with Christ as Lord. To not know Christ is to be under God’s wrath and is the opposite of being blessed. To not know Christ is to cast off restraint of the Holy Spirit who wants to work in, preserve, and increase your life through holy living. To not know Christ is to be discouraged and feel condemned and hopeless as you languish in sin. To not know Christ is to be frustrated, living an unproductive life by running wild chasing fruitless pursuits that dishonored God.  

   1. “Revelation” is the uncovering or revealing of God’s plan. 

1. “Divine guidance” happens when you see and surrender to God's plan in Christ for your life.

2. “No prophetic vision” is not knowing Christ, His forgiveness, and His ways.  Christ is the blessing, the happiness, and the joy our Heaenly Father intends for us. 

   1. “No prophetic vision” is Divine judgment and comes by rejecting Christ as Lord and Savior

      1. “Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. "In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst. Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' and, 'As the Way of Beersheba lives,' they shall fall, and never rise again."

         1. ‭‭Amos‬ ‭8:11-14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

      2. “Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; the young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.”

         1. ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭2:9-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

      3. “We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?”

         1. ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭74:9-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

1. Casting off restraint, running wild, and discouragement are the results of not knowing God’s plan for your life found in Christ Jesus.

   1. “Running wild”

      1. Living your own way, the world’s way, or ultimately Satan’s way.  If we want to build a life that produces something of eternal value we must take up our cross and follow Jesus. 

   2. “Discouraged”

      1. Satan’s plan for the follower of Jesus is to discourage them.  To steal their courage and replace it with fear or frustration.  Abiding in Christ and praying His kingdom come (that our Heavenly Father’s vision come to earth) is how we maintain courage through God’s grace. 

2. Blessing comes when we obey God walking with Christ. Walking with Christ obeying God will make us the happiest and joyful.

   1. Happy 

      1. “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].”

         1. ‭‭MATTHEW‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭AMP‬‬

   2. Joyful

      1. “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”

         1. ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭1:4-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

3. Keeping the law refers to God’s commands as a whole, but can also apply to God’s wisdom and instruction.  Does the God of the universe give suggestions? No, if we’ve heard His voice in His word or our heart on a particular matter we must obey with corresponding grace He gives, and this leads to blessing

   1. Torah

      1. Gods commands

   2. Instruction

      1. Obeying Jesus

In summary

Start this year by recommitting to Christ as Lord and Savior.  Gaze upon His life in the Bible marveling at God’s graciousness and blessing toward those who trust Him.  Let Christ be your prophetic vision and surrender to it. Receive His blessing through abiding in Christ, walking with Him in all of his Holy and perfect ways.  Let God put your roots down deep in Christ so He can send your branches out wide. Amen.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

-‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:12-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

-‭‭John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Second City Church - Pastor Cole Parleir 2020

When God Draws Near: Extraordinary Response

When God Draws Near: Extraordinary Response

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• The Nature of Lordship

• Appropriate Gifts

• Returning a Different Way

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

-Matthew 2:1-18

The Nature of Lordship

When God draws near, it is to benevolently rule our lives. 

*Herod was disturbed because Jesus coming as King would threaten his own rule.  We attempt to seek and destroy those aspects of the commandments of God where our hearts are not submitted to Christ (and anyone who holds us accountable to these things).  What area is that for you?

• Is it how you view your relationships?

• Is it how you use your finances?

• Is it the control you want over your own time?

• These are our treasures. 

“When you find your definitions in God, you find the very purpose for which you were created. Put your hand into God's hand, know His absolutes, demonstrate His love, present His truth, and the message of redemption and transformation will take hold.”

-Ravi Zacharias

Appropriate Gifts

When God draws near, it demands an extraordinary response on our part. 

The wise men traveled with a group to give their gifts and honor Christ.  They knew God’s worth and purposes were greater than their independent plans, so they openly and together gave out of their treasures - what was valuable to them and useful to Christ.  

Don’t be a misanthrope. 

“In community, we discover who we really are and how much transformation we still require. This is why I am irrevocably committed to small groups. Through them, we can accomplish our God-entrusted work to transform human beings.”

-John Ortberg

These gifts would be used to preserve the life of Jesus and his parents when they would go for a period of time to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath. Their financial gifts literally paved the way for the protection of Christ, the fulfillment of his earthly mission and perpetuation of generational gospel work.  Your gifts, tithes and offerings have no less significance today. 

Returning a Different Way

When God draws near, we are expected to leave different than when we came.  

The issue is transformation. 

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.“

-Napoleon Hill

And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord , who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

-Isaiah 49:5-7

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.

-Isaiah 60:1-6

“Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.”

-Rick Warren

Second City Church -When God Draws Near - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019

When God Draws Near: It Will Be Just Like He Said

When God Draws Near: It Will Be Just Like He Said

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• Just Like He Said 

• Peace Among Those With Whom He is Pleased

• Marked by Jesus 

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

-Luke 2:1-21 

Just Like He Said 

God drawing near will be just as he said it would be. 

In the first advent, the Messiah would be:

• Born of a Virgin (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6,7)

• Of the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9-12)

• In the town of Bethlehem 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

-Micah 5:2

It will be the same for us as for the shepherds.  As we follow the instructions of the Lord, we will find Jesus in his second advent just as the messengers of Scripture have spoken about him - the resurrected King who makes his return to save those who are waiting for him in the world. 

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

-Matthew 24:3-14,21-31 

“Bible teaching about the Second Coming of Christ was thought of as “doomsday” preaching. But not anymore. It is the only ray of hope that shines as an ever brightening beam in a darkening world.”

-Billy Graham, Billy Graham in Quotes

Peace Among Those With Whom He is Pleased

Since this is our hope, we make it our ambition to please him in every way.  We want God’s peace to be upon us as we are those with whom he is pleased.  Faith is how we please him, demonstrated in obedience to his commands in all areas of life. 

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

-John 14:21-24

Marked by Jesus 

Your life needs to be marked by Jesus To live this way, you must make what is said about Jesus the treasure and meditation of your heart, just as it was Mary’s.  Why don’t I have a heart to worship? I don’t need to procrastinate.  I need to in haste, make moves towards God, lest my heart be hardened and dull. Can you imagine if the shepherd’s got this news and then stayed put where they were simply discussing Jesus’ birth? 

True worship will be the result when you not only hear the good news about Christ, but in haste do everything in your power to meet with him, see him as he is.  The shepherds had to make an effort to leave their daily affairs and go to the place where they could meet with Christ.  Then you will go your way rejoicing like the shepherds did because you will experience that everything that was said about Jesus is true.  

The Shepherds Became Marked by the Life of Jesus

There’s no getting around this reality - just as in any other relationship, the more you share this good news as the shepherds did, the more real in your life Christ becomes because you invite his life to define yours.  

In many traditions, the fourth Sunday of Advent celebrates LOVE.  In no greater way was this expressed in the fact that Jesus in his first Advent was literally born to die for the sins of the world - yours and mine. 

“If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus' fist, but by His nail-pierced hands; not by muscle but by love; not by vengeance but by forgiveness; not by force but by sacrifice. Jesus Christ our Lord surrendered in order that He might win; He destroyed His enemies by dying for them and conquered death by allowing death to conquer Him.”

-A.W. Tozer, Preparing for Jesus' Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope

This Advent Season, let us take great confidence in the fact that the Second Coming of Christ will be just as the first was, as he said it would be.  Therefore come to the cross in repentance and faith that you might live a life pleasing to him.  Receive the great joy of his salvation that is for all the people.  Let the worship of Jesus, this risen King, be upon your lips and mark your life forevermore.  

Second City Church -When God Draws Near - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019

When God Draws Near: Intentional Preparation

When God Draws Near: Intentional Preparation

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• Why Hedonism Doesn’t Work

• Where True Joy is Found

• Preparing for the Coming of the Lord

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

-Isaiah 40:1-11

Why Hedonism Doesn’t Work

Though we are redeemed believers, we still live with the reality of the sinful nature that we must put off daily. Though God have us all things for our enjoyment, if we only live for that enjoyment, we will be unfulfilled and disappointed.

The problem with hedonism is it keeps you from being useful in the hand of God because you’re always living for pleasure rather than appropriate sacrifice.

*The challenge is the longevity of devotion

To combat this, God told the Israelites to prepare for the first coming of the Messiah. The Scripture continually talks about the Second Coming of Christ the Messiah not to die for sins again on the cross, but to save those who’ve been waiting for Him. We must live prepared for this.

Where True Joy is Found

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

-Luke 1:5-17

We have joy because, in Christ, no matter what comes from here, I’m good and it gets better if I’m right with God. I have no reason to fear the future, death, lack or his coming if I’m building my life around him now.

“The second coming of Christ will be so revolutionary that it will change every aspect of life on this planet. Christ will reign in righteousness. Disease will be arrested. Death will be modified. War will be abolished. Nature will be changed. Man will live as it was originally intended he should live.”

-Billy Graham, Billy Graham in Quotes

It will be joy for those who are waiting, distress for the unprepared.

Preparing for the Coming of the Lord

“When He returns is not as important as the fact that we are ready for Him when He does return.“

-A.W. Tozer, Preparing for Jesus' Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope

“Let us be alert to the season in which we are living. It is the season of the Blessed Hope, calling for us to cut our ties with the world and build ourselves on this One who will soon appear. He is our hope—a Blessed Hope enabling us to rise above our times and fix our gaze upon Him.”

-A.W. Tozer, Preparing for Jesus' Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope

Second City Church -When God Draws Near - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019

When God Draws Near: Unusual Mission

When God Draws Near: Unusual Mission

Pastor Rollan Fisher

• The Complexity of Purpose

• Recognizing that which is of the Holy Spirit

• Serving Immanuel

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

-Matthew 1:18-25

The Complexity of Purpose

You need to realize that God’s plans may not be your plans.

Through the Eyes of Joseph

When you have a day like Joseph’s, receiving the news of Mary’s pregnancy, sometimes, platitudes like the following are not enough:

“The attitude you bring to the day is what the day will bring to you. Great attitude, great day.”

-unknown

Joseph’s entire concept of purpose was being shaken. We live in a culture where our sense of significance is attached to our feeling of individual achievement and purpose. It was expressed well in the existential musings of Saul Bellow’s Dangling Man:

“Of course, we suffer from bottomless avidity. Our lives are so precious to us, we are so watchful of waste. Or perhaps a better name for it would be the Sense of personal Destiny. Yes, I think that is better than avidity. Shall my life by one-thousandth of an inch fall short of its ultimate possibility? It is a different thing to value oneself, and to prize oneself crazily. And then there are our plans, idealizations. These are dangerous, too. They can consume us like parasites, eat us, drink us, and leave us lifelessly prostrate. And yet we are always inviting the parasite as if we were eager to he drained and eaten.

It is because we have been taught there is no limit to what we can do. Six hundred years ago, a man was what he was born to be. Satan and the Church, representing God, did battle over him. He, by reason of his choice, partially decided the outcome. But whether, after life, he went to hell or to heaven, his place among other men was given. It could not he contested. But, since, the stage has been reset and human beings only walk on it, and, under this revision, we have, instead, history to answer to. We were important enough then for our souls to be fought over. Now, each of us is responsible for his own salvation, which is in his greatness. And that, that greatness, is the rock our hearts are abraded on. Great minds, great beauties, great lovers and criminals surround us. From the great sadness and desperation of Werthers and Don Juans we went to the great ruling images of Napoleons; from these to murderers who had that right over victims because they were greater than the victims; to men who felt privileged to approach others with a whip; to schoolboys and clerks who roared like revolutionary lions, to those pimps and subway creatures, debaters in midnight cafeterias who believed they could he great in treachery and catch the throats of those they felt were sound and well in the lassos of their morbidity; to dreams of greatly beautiful shadows embracing on a flawless screen. Because of these things we hate immoderately and punish ourselves and one another immoderately. The fear of lagging pursues and maddens us. The fear lies in us like a cloud. It makes an inner climate of darkness. And occasionally there is a storm and hate and wounding rain out of us.”

-Saul Bellow, Dangling Man

Joseph was moving dutifully through the seemingly uninspired, but good, life responsibilities thrust upon every man of his day. He was making use of his skills of stone masonry for work, had an impending marriage and was preparing a home for a simple Jewish family.

*However, Joseph almost missed the call of God because the immaculate conception didn’t fit into his life plan and offended his sensibilities of how things ought to be done. Joseph could have said to himself, “It is not my plan to married to a woman who claims pregnancy by supernatural, undefined means. Nor do I plan on supporting this child that is not my own. It would definitely take a deep level of trust in God and those he’s put in my path for me to do this. I don’t want to deal with the ridicule of what it will mean to be associated with such a faith that will be misunderstood.”

We find ourselves in similar circumstances. Do you have ideas of how you should best spend your time - what type of experiences should fill the Instagram feeds of your life? What about your idea of what relationships you will or will not allow to be prioritized in your life? What about that to which your resources will go to supporting?

Recognizing that which is of the Holy Spirit

You need to be able to recognize that which is being birthed by the Holy Spirit.

The demands of faith are really answering the question, “How will I recognize that which God is trying to birth by the Holy Spirit in, around and through my life?”

You do this, in part, by responding to the relationships that will bring you into the unusual mission of God’s redemptive story.

What was significant about Joseph’s submitting to that which the Holy Spirit conceived:

1. It came through God’s unusual interaction with his betrothed. The immaculate conception seemingly sucked Joseph into God’s story indirectly, but his role became of vital importance.

1. The call to be the surrogate father of Jesus, the Son of God, rubbed his natural sensibilities. He had to overcome doubts and reasonable suspicion towards Mary.

1. What was conceived of the Holy Spirit was confirmed by God through his messenger (the angel). Who has been your messenger of confirmation calling you up into the purposes of God?

Serving Immanuel

Like Joseph, you need to realize that your life is ultimately about glorifying Jesus and supporting the story of Immanuel - how God draws near to both judge and save the world through His Christ.

The entire meta-narrative of creation is ultimately HiStory - His Story. This means it’s all about God the Father, sending his Son Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit to save a world broken and estranged from him. In many traditions, the second Sunday of Advent represents PEACE. Submitting to this reality is where you find true fulfillment and peace.

The sooner, like Joseph, we recognize that our purpose is to find our place in God’s redemptive storyline, the sooner we’ll stop trying to live for ourselves. Instead, we’ll come to the cross in repentance to receive forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, burial, and resurrection from the dead. We’ll accept our place in serving God’s ultimate ends as we’re entrusted with the unusual mission of serving Immanuel.

Second City Church -When God Draws Near - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2019