Thrive: In Your Inheritance

 
 

Thrive: In Your Inheritance 

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: You will thrive through each season of your life when you look to God for your inheritance.  

  • An Inheritance From the Father

  • Don’t Sell Your Birthright

  • The Inheritance of Christ

An Inheritance From the Father

You have to know that God the Father wants you to thrive and has an Inheritance for you in which you will do so as you remain in him. 

Genesis 25:1-11 

Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.

We need to stay near to God to get the heavenly goods he desires to bestow (including the promise, fellowship and gifts of the Holy Spirit).

Luke 12:32

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. -Jesus

Intimacy with God leads to a sure inheritance in him.  

God entrusts his Kingdom to those who will steward their inheritance well and continue his purposes based on his promises. 

Genesis 25:19-28 

These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham fathered Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Starting later in life does not mean that you missed your inheritance, whether it be with the grace or gifts of God.  

Have faith to pray for the promises of God spoken to you by the Holy Spirit. 

Like Abraham and Isaac, I can look to God to fulfill whatever promise he has made to me, whether in his written Word or by the spoken word of the Holy Spirit.  

This gives me the confidence to not only wait on my inheritance from God, but to guard against that which would look to steal it.  

Don’t Sell Your Birthright

To thrive we must know that which threatens our birthright, and then protect it.  

So what is it that the devil uses to try to steal my birthright?

*The desire for momentary pleasures outside of the will of God come to steal your inheritance.

You don’t want to forsake your eternal reward for your short-term desires being temporarily satisfied.  

Carnal needs come and go. 

The inheritance of Christ is eternal.  

I need to learn to trust the Lord to thrive while suffering in a godly manner when I am in the in-between place.  

*Remember - thriving in God and suffering are not two mutually exclusive conditions.

(Our greatest example is Christ on the cross - Isaiah 53).

Genesis 25:29-34 

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom. ) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

What was the birthright in that culture?

Esau despised his birthright from Isaac and ultimately God by trading it for temporary relief from his hunger.

We will all face times of hunger or want, when we feel like we will die if we do not have some natural need met - whether it be for provision, companionship, a sense of purpose or pleasure. 

Again, Esau sold his birthright to experience relief from his hunger.  

Will you?

Have you?

“The world is not composed of religious and non-religious people. It is composed rather of religious people who have differing ultimate concerns, different gods, and who respond to the Living God in different ways.”

“When any individual or collection of individuals acts in disobedience to the moral order, short-term gratification may be experienced; but such behavior produces an inevitable deterioration of the personality and leads to a long term loss of what is truly worthy.”

-Ronald H. Nash

What you give up for short-term pleasure can not be regained nor can the misplaced hunger  truly ever be satisfied.  

For what have you been willing to sell your birthright?

A relationship?

A one-night stand?

Selling out holiness for a sense of gratification on Instagram or a few extra likes on Tik-tok?

Do not let the temptation to live for immediate gratification have you forsake the inheritance of God. 

 Hebrews 12:14-17

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. 

You will never be able to do what God requires of you in the secret place because you live for the fickle and anemic accolades of men - whether in the workplace, in relationships or on social media.  

You will thrive when your heart learns to truly look to God for its reward.   

Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

What has your walk with God been like this year when people have been separated and no one has been watching  you?

Has it been something that God would look to reward?

Or have you been willing to sell your birthright for momentary pleasures in the name of relief?

If you have sold your birthright, what do you do?

Repent and turn to Christ for redemption and his eternal inheritance.  

“Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.”

-J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walk with God

The Inheritance of Christ

Christ gives an Inheritance that is both satisfying and eternal.  

Hebrews 12:28-29 

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

When God is a consuming fire to us, he causes us to thrive in life despite challenge, loss or hunger.  

God doesn’t want something from us. He simply wants us.”

-C.S. Lewis

I must remember that truly thriving means entering into the resurrection life of Jesus Christ.  

Because of his sinless life, I have a model to follow that will lead me to thrive in God’s eternal plan. 

John 5:21-24 

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Because of Jesus’ substitutionary, sacrificial death on the cross, I can thrive in repentance from my sin.  

Because of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, I don’t have to sell out my birthright for temporary pleasures, because I know in him I have eternal life and a never ending reward.  

Story of the Inheritance and the Son:

Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who, with his devoted young son, shared a passion for art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, adding only the finest art treasures to their collection. Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others adorned the walls of the family estate. The widowed, elder man looked on with satisfaction as his only child became an experienced art collector. The son’s trained eye and sharp business mind caused his father to beam with pride as they dealt with art collectors around the world.

As winter approached, war engulfed the nation, and the young man left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram. His beloved son was missing in action. The art collector anxiously awaited more news, fearing he would never see his son again. Within days, his fears were confirmed. The young man had died while rushing a fellow soldier to a medic.

Distraught and lonely, the old man faced the upcoming Christmas holidays with anguish and sadness. The joy of the season, a season that he and his son had so looked forward to, would visit his house no longer. On Christmas morning, a knock on the door awakened the depressed old man. As he walked to the door, the masterpieces of art on the walls only reminded him that his son was not coming home.

As he opened the door, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package in his hand. He introduced himself to the man by saying, “I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you.” As the two began to talk, the soldier told of how the man’s son had told everyone of his, not to mention his father’s, love of fine art. “I’m an artist,” said the soldier, “and I want to give you this.” As the old man unwrapped the package, the paper gave way to reveal a portrait of the son.

Though the world would never consider it the work of a genius, the painting featured the young man’s face in striking detail. Overcome with emotion, the man thanked the soldier, promising to hang the picture over the fireplace. A few hours later, after the soldier had departed, the old man set about his task.

True to his word, the painting went well above the fireplace, pushing aside thousands of dollars of paintings. And then the man sat in his chair and spent Christmas gazing at the gift he had been given. During the days and weeks that followed, the man realized that even though his son was no longer with him, the boy’s life would live on because of those he had touched. He would soon learn that his son had rescued dozens of wounded soldiers before a bullet stilled his caring heart.

As the stories of his son’s gallantry continued to reach him, fatherly pride and satisfaction began to ease the grief. The painting of his son soon became his most prized possession, far eclipsing any interest in the pieces for which museums around the world clamored. He told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received.

The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. The art world was in anticipation!

Unmindful of the story of the man’s only son, but in his honor, those paintings would be sold at an auction. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be auctioned on Christmas day, the day he had received his greatest gift. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings. Dreams would be fulfilled this day; greatness would be achieved as many claim “I have the greatest collection.” The auction began with a painting that was not on any museum’s list. It was the painting of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent.

“Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked. Minutes passed. No one spoke. From the back of the room came, “Who cares about that painting? It’s just a picture of his son. Let’s forget it and go on to the good stuff.”

More voices echoed in agreement. “No, we have to sell this one first,” replied the auctioneer. “Now, who will take the son?” Finally, a friend of the old man spoke, “Will you take ten dollars for the painting? That’s all I have. I knew the boy, so I’d like to have it.”

“I have ten dollars. Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice. Gone.” The gavel fell, cheers filled the room and someone exclaimed, “Now we can get on with it and we can bid on these treasures!”

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced the auction was over. Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Someone spoke up and asked, “What do you mean it’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. What about all of these paintings? There are millions of dollars of art here! I demand that you explain what’s going on here!” The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son…gets it all.”

Let us therefore draw near to God at the cross through repentance and faith, to honor his Son, Jesus Christ, and thrive in every season as we look to our eternal inheritance in him.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Thrive: Finding Your Ride or Die

 
 
 

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Thrive: Finding Your Ride or Die

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: You will thrive when you allow God to be the author of your relationships.  

  • To Whom You are Hitched

  • Why It Matters

  • Thriving in the Bonds of Christ

To Whom You are Hitched

*You will thrive in life when you allow God to be the Lord of your story.  

Genesis 24:1-9

Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord  had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.” So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

*When you are actively walking with God and still think you are missing something, God is, in fact, protecting you.  

God was the one who inevitably said of Adam, “It is not good for Adam to be alone.”

This applies to marriage, but not only.  

There are some with the gift of celibacy so that they may be fully devoted to the Lord.  

Why It Matters

*To thrive, God wants to be involved in all of your most important and defining relationships in life.  

Genesis 24:42-51 

“I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.’ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.” Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken.”

Why does it matter to whom you are yoked?

*To whom you are yoked will either light a fire under you or attempt to smother the purposes of God in your life.

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

What was a yoke in biblical times?

It was a wooden cross piece that was fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they were to pull.

It is a matter of common values and common worship of the one true God in Christ.  

God means for you to thrive as you are yoked to life-long partners in pursuit of Jesus.  

Think of the Lord saying, “For as long as you are single, I want you all to myself.  I want to use your life in ways that are undisturbed by common marital concerns.  At this time, worrying about how to please someone else will distract you and demand more of your attention than I want you to give.  I want no person before or above me in your life.  I love you and will use your life greatly as you wait.” (I Corinthians 7)

Regardless of marital status, the body of Christ, the family of God, is what God gives you to thrive in relationships.  

The purpose of God-given relationships is eternal.  

God forever has eternal gospel purposes and his Kingdom in mind.   

*How do your relationships reflect the pursuit of these things as their foundation and chief aim?

Tony Stark in Age of Ultron:

"We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but that up there... that's the endgame.  How were you guys planning on beating that?”

Steve Rodgers:

“Together.”

You can not be fully satisfied in life without God-given, eternal Kingdom purpose.  

Your God-given relationships are meant to help you thrive by pulling these purposes out of you.  

2 Samuel 1:25-27 

“How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! “Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!”

Here, David is not speaking about homosexual relationship, but about a covenant bond that was powerful for propelling David into the purposes of the Lord and advancing the Kingdom of God.  

Thriving in the Bonds of Christ

*You will be able to thrive during challenging times when God has been the author of your story during the easier ones. 

 Genesis 24:62-67 

Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

The relationships that God authors for you are for both good times and bad.

God helps you thrive in these bonds by giving you those with whom you enjoy life and those who were built to help you walk through loss or mourning.  

Do not compartmentalize your life into things you do with God’s influence and those you do without.  

True biblical fellowship allows you to thrive by giving you those with whom you share all of life.  

What should you be doing with those whom God has given you?: 

  1. Rejoice with them in triumph.

  2. Stand with and comfort them in pain.

  3. Pursue greater depths of fellowship with them while provoking them to greater intimacy with God.

  4. Fight to stand as witnesses for Jesus while making disciples together in the world around you (Matthew 28:18-20).

What God has done for you, incarnate for others.  

This is what Jesus did for us in his sinless life that he lived for us all the way to the cross.  

Once he bore our sins and burdens there, Jesus was resurrected to life eternal and offered it to those bound to him through repentance and faith.  

This invitation to eternal thriving is offered not only to us, but is to be offered through us to those who are harassed and helpless in the world without God.  

This applies to the rich or the poor, the seemingly successful or obviously destitute - all are in the same place before God without Jesus.  

How am I to treat those who stand opposed to God’s Word and the gospel of Christ?

“We are bound to be just and right towards all men as men, whatever their religious convictions, or irreligious notions. Injustice is no friend to truth. We must not fight God’s battles with the weapons of ill-will. For us to hate those who are in error or talk of them with contempt or wish them ill, or do them wrong, is not according to the Spirit of Christ. You cannot cast out Satan by Satan, nor correct error by violence, nor overcome hate by hate.  The conquering weapon of the Christian is love...”

-Charles Spurgeon

2 Timothy 2:22-26 

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Let’s meet Jesus afresh at the cross today and pray for others to join us there.  

 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Thrive: Abraham’s Test

 
 
 

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Thrive: Thrive: Abraham’s Test 

(Abraham’s Treaty with Abimelech + Abraham’s Test Genesis 21:22-23:19)

God uses TREATIES and TESTS so that we can THRIVE.

 

Location

Beersheba: well of seven OR well of the oath.  The place Abraham and Abimelech settled their differences over a well. This well is where the man of faith made peace and became the southern border of Israel and today is Be’er Sheva.  It is Israel’s 8th most populous city and the center of it’s tech industry.  It’s also referred to as the capitol of the Negev region. 

Scripture

Genesis 21:22-34

https://my.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.21.22-34

“At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.” When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭21:22-34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/gen.21.22-34.esv

- King Abimelech noticed the weening festival of Isaac and fear fell on him. 

- God will make even your enemies to be at peace with you, but this peace does not supplant the promise. 

- Abraham made peace, he thought. But then…

- Abraham paid Abimelech 7 ewe lambs for the well…even after he thought the land had been offered to him.  He did this not because God hadn’t promised to give him this land, but that Abimelech and others may know God’s promise. 

- The two men representing two kingdoms made a covenant of peace. Abimelech should have come under the faith and leadership of Abraham, not just coexist or tolerate God’s promise. 

- Beersheba means ‘well of seven’ or “well of the oath”. 

- Two of them came into agreement so the place got a new name they both knew and could relate to.

- A well and a tree.  A living reminder of God’s promise.  An everlasting God can always keep His promises.  

Genesis 22:1-19

https://my.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.22.1-19

'After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord , because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba. '

- The time of this test was a time of peace and prosperity. (A covenant was just made with Abimelech and Isaac was weened and growing.)

- Isaac is Abraham's special and unique son in whom God’s promise is to be fulfilled. 

- Mt. Moriah is where David stopped the plague with a sacrifice and where Solomon built the temple for worship. 

- The journey was a 3 day journey akin to the time Jesus was dead in the tomb.  To Abraham, because of his commitment to obey God, his son had already been dead for 3 days.

- Even in mourning Abraham speaks in faith that God can bring them both back.  Worship can raise the dead!

- Yet, Abraham was fully prepared to make a sacrifice by bringing the knife and fire.

- Isaac was strong enough to carry the wood, yet a struggle from being bound is not mentioned. 

The account repeats God calling “Abraham!” and Abraham responding immediately “Here I am!”  The second time God calls Abraham's name twice ,”Abraham! Abraham!”. 

*God will stop you if you are genuinely trying to follow him.  

Abraham obeyed they very next morning 

*Delayed obedience is disobedience.

Abraham says “Here I am!” At the call to go and “Here I am!” At the command to stop.

*Do you hear God’s voice so clearly and quickly that God could use you to save a life?  To share the gospel with the person beside you?

NOW God knew he could trust Abraham even though Abraham loved his son, the fulfillment of the promise.

 

Q: Does God still test people today?  Yes he does, because he wants you to thrive eternally. 

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/jas.1.2-4.esv

 

God tests us but does not tempt us. 

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

‭‭James‬ ‭1:12-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/jas.1.12-17.esv

 

Q: What has God promised you that he may be withholding because He can’t trust you with it yet?

We are not owners, just stewards of God’s resources.  The bigger the test of stewardship, the bigger the blessing for us and the whole world. 

 

Supporting Scripture

Hebrews 11:17-19

17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

 

Your faith isn’t just about you.  Your faith is to be passed on so that the next generation might grow and continue in their faith as well.  Not just faith in Jesus, but faith to live by faith.  

Don’t eat the seed of faith. Plant the seed so that you, your generation, and future generations can thrive on God’s provision. 

““And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.””

Mark‬ ‭14:32-42‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/mrk.14.32-42.esv

 

The greatest test in “The Crushing Place”

- Jesus was in anguish the disciples were sleeping

- Jesus brought his three closest friends

- Supernatural strength for the test

- Only the son of God could have passed this test

Jesus Christ the descendant of Abraham of the flesh and son of God passed this test so that the world may be reconciled to God and thrive eternally.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Thrive: Free To Thrive

 
 
 

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July 4th 2021

Thrive: Free To Thrive

 

Happy July 4th!  Happy Independence Day!  Happy Freedom Day!

“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:15-17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/1pe.2.15-17.esv

*We must use our freedom for good, and the ultimate good is God’s purposes.  If we do not, we will lose it. 

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.

Galatians 5:1-3

Quote 

“You won’t get more than you’re living for” 

- Alison Kraus, Too Late To Cry lyric

*Freedom is unto the purpose of righteous living.  Righteous living leads to a thriving life.  Freedom abused unto unrighteous living will actually destroy you, your family, your nation, and the whole earth. 

Last week Pastor Rollan shared about the miraculous birth of Isaac.  

We learned that “We will thrive in every season when we embrace the perfect timing of God”.

Focus:  God wants you FREE so that you can THRIVE

The Thrive Series Goal: 

  • Receiving

  • Becoming

  • Doing

Receiving all that Christ purchased for us to become.

Becoming all that God created us to be.

Doing all that he tells (commands) us to do. 

 

Look into Genesis 21:8-21

*Through faith in God, Abraham was free to thrive.  

When we separate these three: Faith, Freedom, and Thriving we miss the blessing and goal God has for us.  The most work together for each of them to be complete.   

What we need to know as we read the scripture:

Time Period

This was about 14-16 years after Hagar ran away from Sarah due to abuse.  God told Hagar to go back and submit to Sarah.  God also promised to Hagar (that regardless of Sarah) 1) that he sees her and her situation 2) He will bless her Ishmael as she cooperates with God’s big picture plan. 

 

Definitions and Context

  1. Isaac: “he laughs”. Important because the more we look at the situation concerning Isaacs birth and God’s promise to bless the world through him…it can seem a little absurd without the eyes of faith and cause us to ‘laugh’ or ‘mock’.

  2. Weaned: Isaac is probably between 2-4 years old now. He has graduated from needing Sarah’s milk to eating food. Today we see this as a milestone. To the people of their time it was a cause of celebration. There was a high infant mortality rate and Isaac made it! Party time! Plus, all of Abraham’s and Sarah’s “eggs” were in this one “basket” with no other options for a lineage…than possibly Ishmael.

  3. Ishmael: “God listens, God hears, or God obeys”. He was 14 - 16 years old when Isaac was born.

  4. Hagar: She is the Egyptian slave of Sarah who upon duress from Sarah bore Ishmael to Abraham. Hagar dishonored Sarah. Sarah abused Hagar in return, so Hagar ran away. God told Hagar to return and submit to Sarah. Now, the next generation (Ishmael) is laughing in mockery at Sarah’s son Isaac, repeating the same offense.

  5. Sarah: Her name was changed from Sarai to Sarah. Her name means “Princess”. Sarah is Abraham’s wife, Hagar’s boss and Isaac’s mom.

  6. Mt Sinai: This is the location in the desert where the newly formed nation of Israel received the law of God through Moses. This is also where they tested God by crafting and worshipping a golden calf. The laws was meant to guide them and be pursued by faith…but ended up becoming death to them as the pursued it in pride or forsook it all together.

Scripture

Genesis 21:8-21

https://my.bible.com/bible/59/GEN.21.8-21

'And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. '

Isaac is weaned.

Ishmael mocks Isaac. (Generational sin duplicating his Mom Hagar)

Sarah is stirred up and tells Abraham to cast “the slave woman” out with her son. 

Sarah’s request displeases Abraham because of his son Ishmael.

God corrects Abraham saying obey Sarah and do not be displeased about Hagar (the slave woman) and Ishmael (the boy).

God calls Hagar the “slave woman” and not wife though Sarah had given her to Abraham as a wife.  God calls Ishmael ‘the boy’ rather than son.  

*God renews our mind by His word.  Every subtlety matters.  We can hang on His every word.

Abraham must have been confused about the promise of God, regarding where his descendants would come from.  But Sarah, his wife, knew God’s plan. 

Abraham knew God’s heart. 

*You can know the love of God, love God, and have saving faith…yet still be confused about God’s plan to bring about His promise.  

Abraham did know God’s heart of compassion though, just as he had interceded for Lot in Sodom. 

*You can intercede for others showing God’s compassion and always be correct.

HARD TRUTH: Just as the mocker was dismissed from the family of promise, so those today who mock Isaac’s descendant Jesus Christ will be cast out of God’s eternal family as well.   

Yet, God promised to prosper the slave woman’s son (the mocker) into a great nation simply because he was Abraham’s ‘offspring”.  This confirms to Abraham what God had already spoken to Hagar 14 or so years earlier about Ishmael.  

*Compassion is always a part of God’s plan.  This is why like Sarah we speak the truth, and like Abraham we do so in compassionate love. 

*Sometimes God will prosper your mistake, but that doesn’t mean that He is bringing about His promise through that prosperity. Do not be deceived. 

God brings about his promises despite our mistakes, not through our mistakes.  Jesus died because of sin.  Yet, He works all things out for good.  

We are to choose and act on his path to the promise, like Abraham did.

Q: What hard choices are you in the throws of  making right now?  Are they a path to prosperity but not the path to God’s promise of eternal life? (True prosperity and thriving)

Abraham obeyed God and Sarah by sending them away early the next morning.  Abraham sent them with bread and water. (Showing God’s compassion and playing a part in God’s ultimate plan for Ishmael and his descendants: showing them mercy until they one day come to Jesus Christ for eternal life.  This is God’s long game and must be our too when we are given mercy and give mercy)

Abraham had a history of 24 hour obedience.  This is why he the father of faith:  he acted quickly when God spoke.

*Delayed obedience is disobedience. 

Hagar and Ishmael wander aimlessly in the desert of Beersheba.

When the water ran out she put Ishmael (teenager) under a bush and went about 100 yards away to cry about the boys certain death.   Ishmael was about 16 years old and about to die of dehydration wondering in the dessert!

Q:  Parents, is your heart broken for your teenagers search for identity?  Their trials? Your teenager needs you!  Your prayers and intercession matter!  Ishmael was about 16 years old and about to die of dehydration wondering in the dessert!

Though Hagar cried, God listened to the voice of the boy.  

Q: Young people and teenagers: God is there for you!  He hears your cries!  He has a plan for your life…and your parents are a plan of bringing it about.  So listen to them!

God comforted the mother reminding her of His promise to make Ishmael a great nation.  Now she could go and encourage and comfort the boy.

God opened Hagar’s eyes to a whole well full of water!  He didn’t make a well, he showed her a well.  She was so despondent that she could not see the provision available with in eye shot until God encouraged her.

*God opened her eyes to what was already their and that He made available to bring about his plan for her family.  Parents, God has given you what you need.  Let him show you. 

You have to survive on God’s Word before you can thrive on God’s Word. 

God gave them enough bread and water through the compassion of Abraham to last them until intervened and gave them a well. 

From here she gave the boy water and found a way to help him settle in Paran and train as an archer.  She went back to her people in Egypt and found Ishmael a wife. 

 

Supporting Scripture 

*(We use the New Testament to interpret the OT)

Galatians 4:21-31 ESV

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
    break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!  
For the children of the desolate one will be more
 than those of the one who has a husband.”

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

To be free and to thrive, is to be free from sin and made alive by faith in Jesus Christ, who is Isaac’s descendant according to the flesh, and God’s son according to the promise.   Like Abraham, we must put all our eggs in the basket of the promise.

Romans 9:6-9 ESV

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Today, by faith, you can become a child of God through his promise to break the power of sin in your life, forgive you of sin now and when needed in the future, and give you eternal life through repentance and faith in his son Jesus.  

 

The Gospel is this:

Stop trusting in your self or anything else for thriving, for eternal life. 

Jesus, the Son of God, lived the perfect life for you.

Jesus died the death that your sin demanded of you; for you.

Jesus rose from dead by the power of God as a proof that his payment for your sin is complete and that he can fulfill his promise to give you eternal life. 

 

Pray with me today. 

 

*Don’t’ eat the seed that God gave you to plant and tend so that the next generation can thrive.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Thrive: In God’s Perfect Timing

 
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Thrive: In God’s Perfect Timing

Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

 

  • Has the last year and a half been a waste, simply a bust?

  • Have we lost a sense of the call of God?

  • Is there a way to get back on track to once again thrive in the life and purposes of God? 

We’re going to answer these questions today as we look at the life of Abraham on the verge of receiving his son Isaac, digging into a few words that Jesus expressed about his Kingdom and the understanding it gave the Apostle Paul in regards to this Kingdom. 

Focus: We will thrive in every season when we embrace the perfect timing of God.

  • Lost Time

  • You Have Not Missed It

  • The Perfect Timing of God

Lost Time

We will begin to thrive when we realize that time we thought lost was actually useful to God.

Abraham had a promise from God that he received at the age of seventy-five.  

Yet in between that promise being given and where we pick up in the story today, Abraham could have had moments of questioning God’s sovereignty. 

Despite his many detours, Abraham would come to find that God’s Word remained true that:

Romans 11:29 

“…the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Genesis 21:1-7

The Lord  visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 

Preparing to thrive begins with thanking God for what he has already given you rather than what you do not have.

Abraham was blessed financially and societally, but still lacked one of the deepest needs for the human soul to be fulfilled - the need to build a family.  

*God was letting Abraham know that to truly thrive God would give Abraham and Sarah a family that the Lord himself would build.

This same blessing continues today as God builds his spiritual household in Christ.

You are never wasting time when you are building God’s family in Christ.

Everyone who belongs to Jesus is a part of that family and a lineage that far proceeds and will far exceed them.

It is not that you can not survive without a strong attachment to family.  

It is that you will not thrive as Christ intends bereft of the fundamental need that God has given you for family (both naturally and spiritually) to define you, shape you, strengthen you and bring you into the multi-generational purposes of God.

Family is God given - both naturally and spiritually.  

What you feel like you are missing naturally, God will always exceedingly provide with spiritual family in Christ (Psalm 27:9,10 ; Matthew 19:27-30).

The first (natural family) is your base and has all the benefits and potential failings of Adam. 

The second (which should include the first) should be an expression of the second man, Christ, and be intentionally reflective of his redemptive gospel purposes.  

Isaac is the bridge between Abraham and Jacob - the link between hearing the promise of God and seeing its first-fruits (Christ).  

Isaac would represent the stage between taking the first steps of faith towards God’s promise and seeing the manifest momentum of that promise. 

For years, Abraham and Sarah were marked by the cultural stigma regarding what they did not have, rather than what they did.

God made them a promise with it’s foundation in his purposes to bring salvation to the world through Jesus Christ.  

Abraham received the promise to have Isaac at seventy-five years old (Genesis 12:4).  

Sarah, his wife, conceived at age ninety (Genesis 17:15-17) by the supernatural intervention of God.  

Isaac was finally born when Abraham was one hundred years old (Genesis 21:5).  

What this tells us is that whether a child of destiny like Isaac or feeling past your prime like Abraham and Sarah, you have a call in God to fulfill today!

What you are doing now matters. 

You are where you are, at the stage of life you are, doing what you are doing with whom you are doing it for God to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit through you!

Just as Isaac’s birth was a miraculous testimony to everyone who surrounded Abraham and Sarah, you are where you are in the stage of life you are to reach the people who surround you with the good news of Jesus Christ. 

As Isaac was born, we see that God’s promise to make Abraham a mighty nation through which all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12) was evidence to Abraham that though many years of unfulfilled longing had passed, he had not missed the purposes of God.

With twenty-twenty hindsight, how can you see that God has been using time that you thought lost?

You Have Not Missed It

We will begin to thrive when we begin to recognize what God is doing in our period of waiting.

As you love Jesus and obey his commands, God is with you in the waiting.

What did Abraham and Sarah learn during their time of waiting?

  1. The call of God on their lives was more than just about their personal comfort, fulfillment or dreams.

  2. The promise of God in their lives was to reveal their son, and by lineage, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, to the nations.

  3. The purpose of God’s delay in their lives was to demonstrate his miraculous power.

In our modern cultures, we are often too self-focused. 

Abraham’s life was lived in humble devotion as he worked his business, led his family and sought the face of God.  

Don’t miss the will of God because of a romanticized picture of your destiny.  

As Abraham intentionally walked with God, he did not miss the purposes of God for his life or family, though nothing visibly ostentatious came from it for seventy-five recorded years.

And you are not missing it where you are if you are faithfully seeking Jesus, loving your family, church and community, making disciples with the opportunities where you find yourself today. 

God used all of that time to prepare for the nation of Israel, the coming of the Messiah and eventually the birth of the church of Jesus Christ. 

God uses our waiting to develop the character, perseverance and strength of Christ in us.

If you are looking at what you don’t have, you will miss God’s program for utilizing what you do have.

***What you have the opportunity to do TODAY is the will of God.

****You are not missing life or your destiny if you are faithful to live a godly life, seek the Lord and make disciples today.

The opportunity that you have right now IS the place, will and call of God for you.

***How faithful you are with these daily opportunities determines the measure to which God opens up others for you. 

Do not forsake your future harvest by despising what God has given you to cultivate today.

 

Proverbs 28:19

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

 

God here is referring to the land that you have today, not that which you hope to inherit at some point in the future.

The internet, boasting of social media and our entertainment fill us with fantasies, devoid of the posture of devotion to God, hard work and perseverance required to attain such things.  

That is what some of you feel like after this past year.

Whether it be in regards to marriage, parenting, your career or ministry calling, you have not missed anything God intended for you if you remain in step with him.

What God is doing in the waiting is building perseverance and strength to fulfill the call in his people.

“Behind every strong person is a story that gave them no other choice.”

-Anonymous 

Jesus as the Son of God would not begin his ministry until after thirty years of obscurity working faithfully in a tiny town of Nazareth in the small nation of Israel.

It is from this place and in the perfect timing of the Father, at a time that the world had been connected in new and significant ways through the Roman Empire, that Jesus would begin his worldwide discipleship campaign to save the nations.

Every fulfilled work of God begins with a seed.  

After years of barrenness, Abraham had to continue to sow seeds of faith with his wife Sarah for Isaac to be born.

That is where many of you are today - needing to learn to sow seeds of faith to see the first-fruits of the promises of God manifest. 

The priorities and focus of your life need to be that seed offered in sacrifice to God.

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

 

Many times God is teaching us through circumstance that we need to die to ourselves and our selfishness before we can truly live.

Jesus clearly expressed over and over again that the Kingdom of God is the only thing that truly endures.

We begin to truly thrive when we anchor ourselves in eternal rather than temporary things.  

*Many of us need to rehabilitate from the social anxiety produced over this past year to relate in healthy manners with the world again.

Yet even as we do, we must acknowledge that what is constant is that circumstances change.

Life is finite. 

Loves will be lost as people inevitably age and pass away.

What God is trying to give you is eternal, that which can not be shaken, stolen or faded.

When we embrace the fact that God will lovingly use all things to press us into a healthy dependence on him and a focus on his eternal Kingdom, we will interpret our times correctly and continue to thrive.

The Perfect Timing of God

We will thrive in our lives when we acknowledge that God’s perfect timing is meant to reveal and form Christ in us.

Galatians 4:1-7

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

God is always perfect in his timing to accomplish his Kingdom purposes.

“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.”

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine

Just as Abraham and Sarah had to the reach the limits of their physical capacities’ to truly enter into the miracle life of God, so let us meet Jesus at the cross today, so that by repentance and faith in his God’s perfect timing, we might thrive as we submit to God’s greater Kingdom purposes in Christ.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

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 Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Forgiveness: Love Your Enemies

 
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Forgiveness: Love Your Enemies

Focus: We will prove to be disciples of Jesus Christ when we move beyond forgiving our enemies to loving our enemies. 

  1. Love WHO?!

  2. What’s in your lap?

  3. Can the blind lead the blind?

What have we learned so far about forgiveness?

  • We have already seen in Jesus’ encounter with the paralytic that he claims to be God, forgives sins, and heals us.  

  • Forgiveness of sin is our foundational need and healing.  Sin cripples us. 

  • We learned from the parable of the unmerciful servant that everyone needs forgiveness and God makes it available for everyone. 

  • We learned that those who have been forgiven little love little, while those that have been forgiven much love much. 

God’s Word Luke 6:27-42

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.  37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” 39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye

Love WHO!? (vs 27-36)

  • When we learn to not only forgive like Jesus does, but love our enemies like He does, we prove ourselves as his disciples becoming useful in His mission of seeking and saving the lost.

  • Jesus promised that his followers who obey his teaching will have enemies.  These enemies persecute them just because they obey Him.  

  • The word “love” in Greek is ‘agape’.  It means to “unselfishly seek the best or higher good for” others.  God promises a great reward in heaven when we love our enemies.  This expectation of reward from God allows us to freely love our enemies here. 

  • An enemy by definition is someone who hates you and actively seeks your harm through insults, slander, humiliation, theft, lawsuits, exclusion, and physical harm. 

  • Love goes beyond a feeling.  It is doing good, speaking blessing, lending and praying for our enemies. (vs 35)

  • When we love and show mercy to the ungrateful and wicked we are allowing the light of Christ to shine through us proving our identity as children of God. (vs 34-36)


What’s in your lap? (vs 37-38)

  • The picture of a ‘full lap’ represents our heart and life. To have a heart full of God’s peace we must have first received forgiveness from Him and then freely given it to others.  We can not keep what we do not give. 

  • The measure and standard we use in judging, condemning, and forgiving others will be that which is used toward us.  We must use God’s standard and not our self-righteous standard  to judge ourselves and others.

  • God’s standard is holy perfection defined by himself.  Only one person has measured up: Jesus Christ.  

  • If we know, live, and judge by God’s standard in Christ Jesus we will walk humbly, be holy, and show mercy to ourselves as well as our enemies. 


Can the blind lead the blind? (vs 39-42)

  • A blind person walking alone is dangerous.   A blind guide leading a blind follower is foolish and prideful.

  • All have sinned and fallen short of God’s holy standard, blinded by Satan and their own rebellion.  

  • Jesus has come as the light in the darkness exposing Satan’s schemes and our hearts.  Only Jesus can heal our blindness, reveal our need for forgiveness, and remove the logs in our eyes so that we may lovingly help others find healing in Him.


Consequently, Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery. We ought to hate them. But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the person should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere they can be cured.

- C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity


Second City Church - Pastor Cole Parleir 2021

Forgiveness: Self Awareness and the Cross

 
 
 

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Forgiveness: Self Awareness and the Cross

Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: We will finally have the freedom to love Jesus and others when we realize how much forgiveness is offered at the cross. 

  • Comparisons

  • Self Awareness and the Cross

  • Forgiven Much to Love Much

Luke 7:36-50

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.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 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. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47

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.”

Comparisons

Comparisons can be good for godly motivation or destructive separation. 

Comparisons provide godly motivation when they propel you to a greater love for Jesus and others.  

Comparisons are destructive when they produce judgments towards others giving you a false sense of superiority, value or worth.  

Jesus was providing godly motivation for the Pharisees by comparing their love to the gratitude of the sinful woman.  

He allowed no mention of the woman’s sin being greater than that of the Pharisees’.  

Christ is our standard for righteousness. 

The only person to whom we should ever compare ourselves is Jesus, who will be our ultimate judge (John 5:22, 23).  

In this we are both humbled and liberated knowing that Christ has come to be our glorious Savior.  

This allows us to relate with those who were formerly natural enemies and covenant with those who have been likewise redeemed, living now under the Lordship of Christ. 

You are Closer than You Think

“The reason there are so many exhortations in the New Testament for Christians to love other Christians is because . . . the church itself is not made up of natural “friends.” It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together not because they form a natural collocation, but because they have all been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance. In this light we are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake. That is the only reason why John 13:34–35 makes sense when Jesus says: “A new command I give you—Love one another as I have loved you.”’ . . . Christian love will stand out and bear witness to Jesus because it is a display, for Jesus’ sake, of mutual love among social incompatibles.“

-Don Carson

So again, it does not matter another’s income, education or achievement level - if you think yourself morally superior, then you’ve become their judge, and the poisoning of your relationship ultimately follows.

Beware the trap of the Pharisees. 

The Pharisees were religious, but their comparisons drove people away from God rather than towards him.  

So what can come against such a supernatural testimony and display to which Don Carson refers?

A lack of self awareness. 

Self-Awareness and the Cross

We all need a dose of self-awareness realizing that the cross of Christ is the great leveling agent of humanity.  

The self awareness that Jesus was bringing to the Pharisees was to result in a greater love for God and others on whom they would naturally place judgment. 

In the woman’s case above, Jesus was clearly placing a premium on humility, self-awareness and an indebted sense of devotion to God.  

We all need to have a greater awareness of our own sin. 

When we are truly walking in the revelation of the forgiveness of Jesus, an awareness of our own sin does not lead to further condemnation, but a greater sense of liberty and desire for obedience because of God’s grace towards us.  

As with the sinful woman, the kindness shown to us is what provokes us to love Jesus and others more out of great gratitude towards God.  

A greater awareness of our sin keeps the cross of Christ at the center of our thoughts and the joy of our salvation in our hearts.  

No one is too high and no one is too low to lack the need of the cross of Christ. 

Without an awareness of our common need for forgiveness, divisions abound in relationships and society at large. 

“Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans even as I exclude myself from the community of sinners. But no one can be in the presence of the God of the crucified Messiah for long without overcoming this double exclusion—without transposing the enemy from the sphere of monstrous inhumanity into the sphere of shared humanity and herself from the sphere of proud innocence into the sphere of common sinfulness. When one knows that the torturer will not eternally triumph over the victim, one is free to rediscover that person’s humanity and imitate God’s love for him. And when one knows that God’s love is greater than all sin, one is free to see oneself . . . and so rediscover one’s own sinfulness.”

-Miroslav Volf

Don’t forget yourself. 

The opposite of humility is self-righteousness. 

Remembering others’ sin but not our own is pride.

Self-righteousness is a sin which sets your internal estimation of yourself in superiority to those who surround you.

It leads to a vitriolic condemnation of others and cuts off our ability to appeal to them on the basis of the gospel of Christ.  

Never exalt singular issues or agendas over the gospel of Christ (I Corinthians 15). 

The reality is that we live in a fallen world and people will sin.  

The hope for the nations is to change hearts and not just policies. 

Our job is to remain in Christ and in a posture to love sinners, build bridges and bring them home to God through repentance and faith in Jesus.  

The Pharisees' lack of self-awareness prevented them from doing so with the sinful woman.  

So again, beware the trap of the Pharisees. 

The Pharisees were religious, but their lack of self-awareness built divisions rather than bridges between themselves and others.    

Forgiven Much to Love Much

We will love Jesus and others fervently when we realize that God has treated us undeservedly.  

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 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!’ 14 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.”

We are to fight the battles of the Lord, but realize that in any contest of ideas, both parties need to be taken to not only the judgment seat, but also the cross of Christ for an opportunity to find mercy through repentance. 

When I am emptied of self-righteousness, I can be filled with the love needed to lead others to such faith in Jesus.   

This love provides me the ability to speak the truth with Christ’s and others interests in mind, knowing that God will look out for and exalt me as I do so.  

I know that if I humble myself before God and in my treatment towards others, God himself will work on the behalf of righteousness in my situation.  

If I am godless or self-righteous in my treatment towards others, God will humble me and frustrate my cause.  

Proverbs 24:17-18

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

Again, beware the trap of the Pharisees. 

The above Pharisee was religious, but his self-righteousness brought the displeasure of God rather than his approval.  

There is a difference between confidence and arrogance.  

We should have great strength produced from our confidence in God.  

However, we want to forever make our boasts in Christ alone (I Corinthians 1).  

The closer you get to God, his purity and his holiness, the greater awareness you have of your own shortcomings and sin.  

Self-righteousness is a tell-tale indicator of one’s true proximity to God.  

We have the ability to walk in the freedom of forgiveness even when we don’t see eye to eye with others.  

Living a life of forgiveness does not mean that you agree about everything, but that you learn to live graciously and lovingly towards one another. 

When God has clearly spoken in his word, he demands obedience. 

Where there is Biblical silence, there is room for discussion based on the character, ways and heart of God so that we might be led by the Holy Spirit and find the mind of Christ.  

The only agreement that is imperative is agreeing with God and his word.  

And in this word we are commanded to be reconciled with God and one another through the cross of Jesus Christ.  

Why?

Because as Martin Luther King wrote, 

“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power of love. . . .We can never say, ‘I will forgive you, but I won’t have anything further to do with you.’ Forgiveness means reconciliation, and coming together again.”

So let’s pursue love of both Christ and one another today being humbled by the cross and strengthened by God’s great forgiveness offered to us. 

 

 Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Forgiveness: The Healing of Paralysis

 
 
 

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Forgiveness: The Healing of Paralysis 

Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: We will be healed from that which cripples us when we experience and express the forgiveness of Christ. 

Sin that Cripples

Forgiveness as the Real Need

Jesus the True Friend
 

Mark 2:1-12 

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. 

And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. 

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 

And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” —he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Sin that Cripples

The importance of forgiveness:

“There were centuries and centuries . . . in which the Christian notion of forgiveness was not a part of anybody’s culture — the unconditional starting afresh, forgiving, forgetting, and how that practice ought to work. . . . But I think it’s the only way civil society really hangs together. If we continually deny people the opportunity to have an identity apart from their punish-identity, then you’re inviting them to . . . permanently inhabit that failure. 

In other words, not to change. And even if they do change because they are good-hearted, they will not be able to reconcile with anyone as long as they are presented with an identity that is attached to their failure.”

-The New York Times columnist Elizabeth Bruenig

Forgiveness as the Real Need

“Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one single deed from which we could never recover; we would remain the victims of its consequences forever, not unlike the sorcerer’s apprentice who lacked the magic formula to break the spell.”

-Hannah Arendt, a Jewish political philosopher writing after the Holocaust

Who do you need to forgive today for your own healing?

Jesus the True Friend

Though these friends brought the paralytic to Jesus to be healed of his paralysis, Jesus is the true friend who brings us to the Heavenly Father to be absolved of our sin.

At the cross, Jesus tore a hole is the cosmic roof separating you from God.

The idolatry of self keeps us from moving forward in God.

When we are more consumed with our own estimations of ourselves than what God says about us, we are paralyzed with self-loathing, fear and despair.

It often comes down to esteeming an image of yourself greater than the one 

“When people say, "I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself," they mean that they have failed an idol, whose approval is more important than God's.”

― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

 

You can be that type of friend to others, helping them come to the cross of Jesus to find healing from their sin and paralysis in life.

 Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Forgiveness: The Great Debtor Society

 
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Forgiveness: The Great Debtor Society

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: We will be expressions of the grace of God when we remember the great debt that Jesus Christ paid for us.

  • The Great Debtor Society

  • Who Has the Greater Debt?

  • Fully Paid

Matthew 18:21-35  

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 

24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 

25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 

28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 

29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 

30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 

31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 

33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The Great Debtor Society

We are all great debtors to whom others also owe debts.

When we think of debt, we think of it at something that we owe someone financially, or some  honor that they are due from us for good that they’ve loaned us to literally save or make our existence better, or to literally save them.

We are in debt to God when we sin against him by breaking his commands, mishandling the relationships, opportunities and resources that he’s give us to use for his glory.

We are in debt to others when we’ve sinned against them in some way.

Forgiveness is the mercy of God absolving us of the debt that we can never pay to make things right with him.

Our good works would continually fall short of his perfection and our motivations are like filthy rags used to clean our stains.

Who Has the Greater Debt?

We are rough with others when we forget our own debt before God. 

At the heart of the gospel, Jesus Christ, who alone was completely innocent, proactively pursued reconciliation, offering forgiveness and healing to those who would falsely accuse and murder him.

Without a Biblical orientation regarding forgiveness, cries for righteousness and justice turn into cycles of vindictiveness rather than healing. 

The damaging cycle of vindictiveness: 

“When a society rejects the Christian account of who we are, it doesn’t become less moralistic but far more so, because it retains an inchoate sense of justice but has no means of offering and receiving forgiveness. The great moral crisis of our time is not, as many of my fellow Christians believe, sexual licentiousness, but rather vindictiveness. Social media serve as crack for moralists: there’s no high like the high you get from punishing malefactors. But like every addiction, this one suffers from the inexorable law of diminishing returns. The mania for punishment will therefore get worse before it gets better.”

-Alan Jacobs

The results of such vindictiveness:

We’ve served in some way and others have not pulled their weight.

*The relationships that we so desperately need will be cut off if we are full of judgment and offense towards others. 

 

*This is a truth we must embrace:

If you continually hold people in your debt because of what they’ve done to you or how they’ve failed you, God will hold you accountable for the debt that you have before him (v. 31-35).  

*We are most irritable, isolated and lonely when we focus on other people’s sin rather than our own.  

*We are most healthy in relationships when we focus on the pity Christ expressed towards us and the great effort he made to reconcile great offenders to himself through the cross.  

Forgiveness will always begin with a choice followed by a feeling. 

Forgiveness begins with the humility to acknowledge that found in similar circumstances, but for the grace of God, we have done or might have done similar things to those who have sinned against us. 

Even if you can not fathom the sin of others, reflecting on your own debt before God makes you merciful towards others.  

We create our own prisons when we fail to forgive. 

There is no moving forward in relationships in life without forgiveness. 

Who do we need to pursue for reconciliation, forgiveness and healing?

Fully Paid

Because of Christ, your debts and the debts of those who owe you can be fully paid at the cross. 

Now we spend our lives working off that debt in love toward others showing them the same grace that God himself has shown us. 

When we look to the cross, we are able to treat others with the same grace that we ourselves hope to receive from Jesus. 

The Unifying Power of the Grace of Christ

“Our community with one another [in Christ] consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. Christian brotherhood is a spiritual and not a human reality. In this it differs from all other communities.”

-Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Forgiveness does not mean you do not address sin. 

2 Timothy 2:19 

But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

 

Yet there is a life altering difference between building your life on seeking forgiveness and building it on seeking revenge.  

There is a healing power in forgiveness, both for you and the recipient of your forgiveness. 

Supernatural examples of the grace of God through forgiveness:

  • Shootings in Charleston, South Carolina June, 2015

  • Shootings in the Amish community in Pennsylvania - 2006

 

Let’s meet Jesus at the cross today to both receive and be empowered to give such grace.  

 Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Looking For The Living Among The Dead

 
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Looking For The Living Among The Dead

Associate Pastor Cole Parleir 

Focus: When we stop ‘looking for the living among the dead’ we will encounter the resurrected Jesus.

  • The Resurrection

  • The Road

  • The Return

Scripture (Luke 24:1-35)

'But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 

 And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 

But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 

And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” 

So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. '

The Resurrection

Life is too short and eternity too long to look for the living among the dead.

Like the women mourning the crucified Jesus, we too should mourn the results of sin in our lives and the lives of others.  We must do this by going to the tombs made for that which was lost.  This is part of true repentance.  

Like the women mourning who brought prepared spices we, too should be willing to make amends and bring comfort to those we’ve sinned against.  This is part of true restitution.

But…the gospel does not stop at the crucifixion and tomb.  It’s only the valley on the way to resurrection.  

This is where the truth becomes perplexing to the human mind. Heaven must intervene to speak directly to our spirit.  Heaven’s messengers (The Holy Spirit, angels, and preachers of the gospel) do for us what the world cannot do: deliverer a message of eternal hope, full redemption, and indestructible life

Angels are sent by God to minister to those who are to inherit salvation.

“Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”

Hebrews 1:7, 14 ESV

“WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?”

We do this all the time.  We say we believe in God and yet, as a result of our unbelief in what He has said, we seek the living Jesus among the dead.

Where do we seek the living among the dead in our lives?  Here’s a few disappointing “tombs” I return to find my self searching for the living God:

  • False Religion

  • Ungodly Relationships

  • Pleasing people for their benefit rather than God’s glory in Jesus

  • Romantic Fantasy (yes, even in marraige)

  • Success at work, sports, or things I put my energy into

  • More security to insulate against hardship

When we realize these tombs are empty, we also realize our hearts are empty. Only when we experience this kind of disappointment is there room to hear what God is speaking.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you….”

They remembered the prophecy that Jesus said this would happen.  Then they returned to the gathering of disciples and  witnessed to the forming church.

Life is too short and eternity too long to not investigate the gospel like Peter did by running the tomb.   The others did not believe…but Peter was inspired to investigate.

Life is too short and eternity too long to not marvel all the way home.

The Road (to Emmaus)

When our hope is in Christ, we are never walking alone.  He is with us. 

Cleopas and the other disciple  were talking about all these things that had happened…and then Jesus drew near. Yet they did not recognize Him.  

“What happened?  What things?”  - Jesus is the master of lead in questions! He doesn’t need your information, just your attention. 

Jesus broke the bread in communion fashion.  “Do this in remembrance of me.”  Their eyes were opened.  

(Acts 2:42)

Their hearts burned as they talked with Jesus not knowing it was Him. This the impact of the Spirit of Truths at work.

Q: Do you know who you’re talking to?  If Truth is being shared, God is talking to you whether you recognize Him or not.  Be humble.

The Return (of the wandering)

Do you see the empty tomb?  The human heart is empty like that tomb.  The fact the tomb was empty was that Jesus had risen leaving a void.   If your heart is empty like the tomb, this also means that Jesus is alive, and you were made for Him and to be communing with Him..  

They rose the same hour they recognized Jesus and returned to the community of worshippers.

  • They invited Jesus to stay and prepared the meal…but the guest blessed it!!

  • those on the road thought they were making progress, but when they realized what REALLY happened and who they were REALLY talking to, they turned around and began to make real progress by returning to Jesus Word and His Church.

“While they were perplexed…as they were frightened…remember how He told you…return from the tomb and tell the rest” - Luke 24:1-12

 

Psalm 84

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah 

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. 

They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 

Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”

Psalm 84:1-12 ESV

https://www.bible.com/59/psa.84.1-12.esv

 

Blessed are those who dwell in God’s house (The Gathered Church)

Blessed are those whose strength is in God and delight (highway of the heart) in Him and His people. 

The path to the house may include weeping (carrying your cross as a disciple of Christ doing what is not easy or normal), but He uses the tears accrued in this process to turn barren valleys into places of fruitfulness.   (The process will bless you and those around you)

 

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them. 

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.””

Matthew 18:18-20 ESV

 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (Among His people)

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

 

Take the next step. Go back to church. 

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it's pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We're on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.” 

― C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

During life's trials we tend to think God is dead and we, like the disciples heading to Emmaus, are walking alone, or at best, with other people discussing life’s challenges.  Truth be told, in our hardest moments Jesus is with us and carrying us though we do not recognize him.  Jesus is alive. 

 

Footprints In The Sand Poem

One night I dreamed a dream.

As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,

especially at the very lowest and saddest times,

there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,

You'd walk with me all the way.

But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,

there was only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you

Never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."

 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Reemerge: A Return To Faithfulness

 
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Reemerge: A Return to Faithfulness

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher 

Focus: You will reemerge with Christ when you understand him as the God of all faithfulness. 

  • A Cry for Faithfulness

  • Our Need

  • God’s Faithfulness

A Cry for Faithfulness

There is a desperate cry for faithful, Christ-centered relationships that will shape a generation for Jesus.  

2 Timothy 1:1-18 

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. 

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 

You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Our Need

Our needs were exposed by our lack in this past year, yet Christ’s solution to that need remains the same.  

Former surgeon general Vivek Murthy speaks of a social recession and the health impacts of loneliness. 

Starbucks and the great human reconnection 

As more and more people are getting vaccinated and returning to post-pandemic life, we are all in a sort of social rehab for life outside the home.  

We are learning how to allow Christ to redefine the six basic needs that every human being has which are difficult to live without  - meaning, satisfaction, hope, identity, freedom and justice.  

Waiting for ideal circumstances to begin what you should is not God’s plan.  

We must begin addressing those needs in God now.  

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

- Chinese proverb

God’s Faithfulness

We are able to endure and reemerge after our trials because of God’s faithfulness to us.  

Psalm 138:1-8 

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord . For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

God’s love and faithfulness were most clearly expressed at the cross of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus faithfully lived the sinless life that we should have lived, and at the cross, died the sacrificial death that we should have died, in our place.  

In his faithfulness, God the Father was true to his word to raise Christ from the dead to give forgiveness of sins and new life to those who would turn to Jesus in a reciprocal faithfulness. 

God models faithfulness for us and expects us to emulate that faithfulness in relationship with others. 

Acts 2:42-47 

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Faithfulness is the foundation of all Christian devotion.  

In essence, we have a pact with Jesus, made at the cross. 

Yet any pact is a two way street. 

The pact that we have with Jesus is the vehicle through which we put selfish, self-centered living to death and by which God’s Kingdom advances.  

P.A.C.T.

*GOD’S COVENANT IS BASED ON: 

  • THE PROMISES OF GOD TOWARDS HIS PEOPLE

  • THE ALLEGIANCE WE PLEDGE BACK TO JESUS

  • THE COMMITMENTS THAT WE MAKE TO ONE ANOTHER

  • THE TIME, Talent and Treasure you devote to the person and cause of Christ.

I am most unfulfilled when I put the idea of worldly success above God-ordained relationships. 

At the end of the day, what remains will be those relationships - the one that I have with God and those to whom he unites me in Jesus.  

Come to the cross today in repentance from sin and faith in Jesus’ substitutionary work to experience God’s faithfulness towards you.  

 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Reemerge: A Return to Vision

 
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Reemerge: A Return to Vision

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Proverbs 29:18 

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

Focus: You will reemerge with Christ when you allow him to realign you with his eternal vision. 

  • Strangled Vision

  • An Encounter With Jesus

  • A New Vision

Strangled Vision

The trials through which we pass can strangle the vision and thus distort the image of God in our lives.  

Mark 5:1-20 

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

In what ways do we need to reemerge?

Many have experienced atrophied muscles socially, relationally and spiritually this past year, all of from which we need to reeemerge.  

The prolonged shutdown broke many spirits, smothering both personal and Kingdom ambitions. 

Just as there is a real God with angels who do his bidding, there is a real devil and demons who reflect Satan’s.  

One of the things demons look to do as we go through times of trial is drive us into isolation.   

It is in this place that demons look to strangle the image and vision of God in our lives. 

*If you lack healthy love and acceptance from God ordained sources, the temptation is to receive these things from the wrong voices that will distort the image of God in your life.  

How did the demons strangle the vision of the man with the unclean spirit?

1. They drove him into isolation 

2. They gave him a supernatural strength to resist those who would try to help him. 

3. They drove the man to inflict self-harm. 

 

The world has fundamentally changed.  

We all need to reengage atrophied muscles of loving interaction, faith and ministry to address the isolation, depression and fear that have marked our world. 

Coming out of the pandemic, we all need to learn to walk again through an encounter with Jesus.  

An Encounter With Jesus

Jesus comes to restore our God-given image and vision. 

The demons began to identify the man more than his remembrance of his own name or the image that he bore of God.  

* Do not defend that which God wants to heal.  

You may have become comfortable with the demonic forces with which you have been identified and tormented, but God has a different vision for your life.  

Jesus comes not to torment you, but to set you free through the change that he brings.  

The ultimate goal of the demons was to not only destroy the man’s vision, but his life.  

This was reflected in what the demons did to the pigs when they were driven out.  

In the world, those who usually thrive after periods of trial are those who have the vision, resiliency and ability to reinvent themselves. 

It is a wonderful time “to reinvent yourself” in Christ. 

You must know that when Jesus invades your situation, he does so speaking a word of peace to you.

Yet you must meet Jesus in death at the cross before you can truly experience his resurrection life.

Repentance and faith are God’s incubator for healing.

A New Vision

When you encounter Jesus, he gives you a new vision which includes testifying to his deliverance, healing and peace.  

The gospel demands that you come to realize what needs to die that you might truly live.

*Several times throughout life we are presented with scenarios that evoke existential crises pushing us to ask the big questions in life:

  • What does it all mean?

  • What am I here for?

  • Why do things happen the way they do?

This is what the man could have undoubtedly questioned but knew that all great longings of the heart and soul could ultimately be satisfied as he was with Jesus who had healed him. 

Jesus gave him that peace and an even greater vision. 

The man would be a witness for the power, love and mercy of God that had transformed his life. 

The Scripture would later testify to a revival in the Decapolis that would break out when Jesus arrived for which this man’s testimony paved the way.  

May our lives be used in a similar fashion as we encounter Jesus and reemerge with Christ’s eternal vision for our lives!

 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Reemerge: Returning What the Locusts Have Eaten

 
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Reemerge: Returning What the Locusts Have Eaten

 Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Focus: We will reemerge with Christ when we understand him as the God of restoration. 

  • What the Locusts Have Eaten

  • Restored Years

  • Restored Dreams

What the Locusts Have Eaten 

God wants to restore for his people what the locusts have eaten. 

Joel 2:18-27 

Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, 

“Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. 

“I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things. 

“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. 

“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. 

“The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. 

“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

 

At its core, restoration means:

  • Turning pain into victory, loss into strength.

“The reality is, the modern church created an entire culture around Bible McNuggets and assumed they were nutritious.”

-Phillip Yancey

Restored Years 

God is able to turn years of loss into greater strength as we learn the lessons of the cross. 

Restoring the year(s) the locusts have eaten means:

  • Returning to the health and fruitfulness that you had prior to the time of trial with greater strength and lessons learned.

If you are hearing this simply as a means to gratify the desire for personal blessing, you are off and have missed the message of the cross.

In Jesus, those who want to save their lives (in the mere pursuit of pleasure, wealth, worldly security, etc.) will lose them, while those who lose their lives for his sake and the gospel will find life.  

Mark 8:34-38 

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Restored Dreams

The dreams that the old men dream in the following passage are not self-centered, but God-centered dreams, and therefore re-emerge with the backing of Heaven. 

“There is nothing more irreligious than self-absorbed religion.”

-J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Joel 2:28-32 

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

This is all gospel language that the apostle Peter would reiterate on the day of Pentecost.

After Jesus’ suffering, burial and resurrection, he would exhort the church to re-emerge in the power of the Holy Spirit for the purposes of God.  

If God is so good and wants all people to come into this restoration, why won’t everyone be saved?

“If you were to force people to do something against their free choice, you would be dehumanizing them. The option of forcing everyone to go to heaven is immoral, because it's dehumanizing; it strips them of the dignity of making their own decision; it denies them their freedom of choice; and it treats them as a means to an end. When God allows people to say 'no' to him, he actually respects and dignifies them.”

-J.P. Moreland

 

Why the does the Scripture in Joel sound so familiar and what should we do with it? 

Acts 2:37-41 

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Come to Jesus for restoration.  

Through your repentance from self-absorbed living, let him restore the years of damaged relationships, health and provision that the locusts have eaten. 

Find resurrection life in the cross of Christ today and rejoin God’s people in the pursuit of his Kingdom purposes and blessing.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Reemerge: A Return to Right Lenses

 
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Reemerge: A Return to Right Lenses

Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Reemerge: A Return To Promise

 
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Reemerge: A Return To Promise

Lead Pastor: Rollan Fisher

  1. There is a Promise Of Return

  2. When we return with all of our heart and all of our soul

  3. God returns us too His promises

Focus Point: We will reemerge with Christ when we cling to God’s Word for His promises


A reiteration of the law of God given in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  

Deuteronomy 30:1-10

' “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. '

Moses is preparing the people to come out of their wanderings and into the promised land.  

  1. There is a promise of return

    1. They did not believe the promises of God

    2. They did not obey the commands of God

    3. They wanted to return to the familiar slavery in Egypt

    4. Only Joshua and Caleb in there generation went into the promised land

      1. Even Moses didn’t enter the promised land

    5. Deut 28-29 God gave commands accompanied by blessing and cursing

      1. Obey and be blessed (God’s favor)

      2. Disobey and be cursed (God’s resistance)

    6. Deut 30 God knows our tendency to stray and drift in forgetfulness, bringing about cursing.  

    7. One of those curses was being scattered among the nations (diaspora)

  2. When we return with all of our heart and all of our soul (vs 3)

    1. Promise of returning from scattering.

    2. Promise of mercy.

    3. Promise of restored fortunes.

      1. Israelites: A physical land

      2. Us in Christ: Freedom from sin, fear, lack, and more. 

      3. No matter how far we’ve been scattered He can bring us back.  (vs 4)

        1. Separated in heart, mind

    4. We are blessed when we obey God fully.

    5. Heart and soul (will, emotions), mind (thoughts).  

    6. Vs 6- God will cut away attachments to things destroying us and killing us.  Generational sins and habits he will deliver us from.  When we come back with all our heart he will do a work in our families multi-generationally.

    7. Vs 7 - God puts the curse on the demonic forces oppressing us.  God will be an enemy to our enemies.  

    8. Vs 8 - Freedom to obey and become prosperous in our soul and then the work of our hands, the fruit of our womb and the ground. God DELIGHTS in prospering his people. 

  3. God returns us to his promises

This is a prescription for changing seasons.  For emerging.  

The Great Physician’s prescription: Love Me, turn to Me, and commit to obeying my Word with all your heart and soul.

Heart means ‘affection’.

Q: Survey your affections.  Where do they lie?  Have you given your heart and affections to Christ?  Your mind and thoughts to Christ?  Your emotions?  Are you committed to obeying ALL of God’s commands?  Have you been scattered, how?  

Pray: God, forgive me of not loving you by trusting and obeying you wholeheartedly.  Help me to take you at your perfect Word.  Help me to obey Your Word, believe Your promise, and give you my whole heart.  Thank you Jesus for making a way for me to start again by your sacrifice for me on the cross.  Help me Holy Spirit live in wholehearted devotion to Jesus Christ all my days.  In Jesus name, Amen.  

Action: Ask God to show you where you’ve been scattered in your mind, heart, and soul.  Repent of where you missed the mark.   Commit to God’s grace in Jesus Christ to help you obey His Word that He may bring you back into his favor.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

Life after Death: Truly Triumphant (Palm Sunday)

 
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 Life after Death: Truly Triumphant (Palm Sunday)

Associate Pastor: Cole Parleir

What is Palm Sunday?

According to Crosswalk, “Palm Sunday was the first day of Holy Week leading up to the Jewish holiday of Passover. Jesus rode on a donkey through the town of Jerusalem on His way to conquer death and bring us life through His sacrifice on the cross.” 

—Emma Danzey

What does God want to do for us at 2CC? 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:1-2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/59/rom.12.1-2.esv

God wants to renew our minds regarding what it means to be truly “obedient”, blessed”, and “triumphant”. 

PRAY 

Focus: When we embrace Jesus as the suffering Messiah, we too can be truly obedient, truly blessed and truly triumph over sin and death. 

  • Truly Obedient

  • Truly Blessed

  • Truly Triumphant

God is going to do this as we focus on the account the Bible calls the ‘Triumphal Entry”.   

Scriptures: Luke 19:28-48

“And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, 

“Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”  

So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives— the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 

“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, 

“It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” 

And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:28-48‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/59/luk.19.28-48.esv

Truly Obedient

 

Obeying God’s Word is what it means to be truly obedient.

Obeying my idea or peer pressure of what it means to be godly is NOT true obedience.

We must know God’s Word to obey God’s Word.  

As we read the account of Jesus entering into Jerusalem we see him obeying the commands of God as they had been written.  

God had made his command for the promised Messiah known  through the prophet Zechariah where we read:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭9:9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/59/zec.9.9.esv

Jesus fulfilled this command in the obtainment and riding of the donkey colt.  

Jesus could have chosen to enter Jerusalem in a much more convenient manner.  Instead, he chose the inconvenient route of fulfilling the prophetic word spoken of God’s chosen Messiah.  

Jesus did this to confirm his calling and identity as the Messiah by 

TRULY obeying God’s Word rather than the expectation of the crowd.  

Let’s talk about expectations.

Jesus already had a 3 year reputation as a miracle worker and preacher with rumors of his miraculous birth floating around I’m sure. Now he is fulfilling Messianic scripture ridding on a donkey into ‘The City of The Great King’.  

Riding in a  donkey meant different things to the crowd members.  The Israelites looking for the Messiah would have recognized the donkey as fulfilled prophecy and grown in their faith. 

They celebrated Jesus’ entry with palm branches signaling their expectation of a military deliverer from Roman occupation.   

Yet they didn’t see the whole picture.  God had such bigger plans!

Even though they didn’t see the whole picture they still laid down their branches and cloaks in an act of submission.

 

“Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.””

‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭9:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/2ki.9.13.esv

 

The Romans didn’t recognize what was happening because if they knew Jesus was being welcomed as king they would have intervened.  

It was imperative for Jesus to truly obey God’s Word In order for God’s plan of saving us from sin and death to come to pass.  If Jesus had compromised by taking up a sword and a war horse he may have mustered an army to overthrow Roman oppression for a while, but the sinful human heart would have still prevailed in the end. 

You and I have visions and ideas of what it looks like for us to please and serve God.  

The truth is that God has revealed what pleases Him in His Word, the Bible.

Jesus was confirming his God chosen identity as the Messiah through truly observing and fulfilling God’s Word concerning the Messiah.   

In the same way you and I also confirm our calling as children of God as we truly obey God’s Word and rely on His promises.

 

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:3-11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/2pe.1.3-11.esv

 

As children of God we have a shared calling to a holy life here and now in preparation of the Kingdom.   

Jesus has called his disciples to obey all He commanded and to teach others to obey his commands as well. This is our shared calling that confirms our shared salvation and entrance into God’s eternal kingdom. 

Jesus had a unique calling as the Messiah that would save the world from sin and earth. You and I also have a unique calling to bring about God‘s purposes in the earth.

In order to bring about God‘s purposes that were prepared in advance for you to fulfill you must truly obey God‘s commands that are specific for your life and calling. Jesus has set you free from the power of sin so that you can walk with him.

When you choose to truly and fully obey God‘s commands you will know what it means to be truly blessed. 

Truly Blessed

 

To be blessed is to be like God.  

What do I mean?  You and I were created in the image of God.  

This is our destiny. This is why Jesus came. So that you and I could could be forgiven of our sins, reconciled to God, and empowered to walk in righteousness.

Jesus is God in the flesh.  Jesus is the righteous one.  Jesus is the one whom God the Father says “with you I am well pleased”.   Jesus is truly blessed.  He is the one we are to obey and imitate as his disciples. 

This is who Jesus calls blessed:

““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:3-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/mat.5.3-12.esv

 

Let me ask you: are you blessed? Do you want to be blessed? 

Jesus exemplified all of these for us. To be his disciple is to share in his suffering so that the world may know his salvation.  

To embrace this kind of blessing and suffering as we walk with Jesus is what it means to be truly triumphant.  

Truly Triumphant

 

Why was Jesus’ entry ‘triumphant”?  

Despite the amiss expectations of the crowd and even the disciples, he marched intentionally and adamantly toward the cross for the salvation of those who would believe in him later.

As the son of God Jesus had all authority over legions of angels. 

He could have stopped the suffering and crucifixion at any moment.  Instead, He chose to love us by becoming a sacrifice for us.

By loving us in this way he has truly triumphed over mankind‘s biggest enemy: sin and Satan.  

He has truly triumphed over mankind‘s biggest fear: death.

This is why in the kingdom of God every tear will be wiped away. 

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭2:14-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/59/2co.2.14-16.esv

Will you except Jesus’ triumphant victory at the cross in your place today? If so please pray with me.

 

Second City Church - Associate Pastor: Cole Parleir 2021

Life After Death: Truly Alive

 
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Life After Death: Truly Alive

Pastor Rollan Fisher

 

Focus: There is true life after death when you put your trust in Jesus.

  • Behind Closed Doors

  • Help Believing

  • True Life after Death

Behind Closed Doors

Jesus comes behind our closed doors to strengthen us in our hour and areas of need.

John 20:19-31 

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 

“Peace be with you.” 

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, 

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,  

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” 

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 

“Peace be with you.” 

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, 

“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

The disciples locked themselves behind closed doors for fear of the repercussions for the years they had spent associated with the now crucified Jesus.

We don’t need to hide our discouragements, pain or struggles from God.  

Jesus enters into our weakness to strengthen us and deliver us from our fears.

How so?

Publicly, Thomas would have seemed to have it all together.

He was one of Jesus’ hand-selected twelve apostles, had seen and performed signs, wonders and miracles while leading others to faith in Christ.

Yet behind closed doors, Thomas had doubts with which he needed to deal, which left unchecked could derail the rest of his life and ministry in the Lord.

Thomas’ struggle was unbelief.

Yours may be something else.

This is important because...

*What we do behind closed doors is who we truly are.

“People will eventually begin to relate with you as they do behind closed doors.”

-Rollan Fisher

 

*In what area of your life have you been closed off to or hiding from God?

If you’ve been wandering, now is your time to come back!

Help Believing

God grants aid to those who need help believing the good news of Jesus.  

Jesus came to remind Thomas that what we see on the surface is not the whole story of what God is doing.

We don’t see it all, but the word of God gives us a picture of what God is doing behind the scenes.

Give it some time.

*If it seems like something is dead, wait three days and see what God is doing.   

We can always start by receiving encouragement from the testimony of others.

You don’t have to have yet experienced something for it to be true.  

The Bible records Thomas receiving the affirmation of being able to touch the wounds within Jesus’ resurrected body.  

Yet are there reasons for us to believe today?

First, you need to know there are reasons to believe the Biblically recorded, historic testimony, of Jesus Christ’s sinless life, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection from the dead.

“The Old Testament records the preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The Gospels record the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord. The book of Acts records the propagation of the gospel (the good news) concerning Jesus Christ. The Epistles (letters) explain the gospel and its implications for our lives. The book of Revelation anticipates and describes the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His eternal kingdom. From beginning to end, the Bible glorifies Jesus Christ and centers on Him. Its Christ-centeredness is one of its wonderful features.”

-Josh McDowell

 

Thus we don’t need to be rash in our decision making regarding if there is a God and, if so, who he is and what he is up to without first looking into these historic facts.

Why?

Because in the testimony of the Bible, we see that....

“there is an important difference between the apostle martyrs and those who die for their beliefs today. Modern martyrs act solely out of their trust in beliefs that others have taught them. The apostles died for holding to their own testimony that they had personally seen the risen Jesus. Contemporary martyrs die for what they believe to be true. The disciples of Jesus died for what they knew to be either true or false.”

-Gary R. Habermas, The Case For The Resurrection Of Jesus

 

“Historians employ a number of common-sense principles in assessing the strength of a testimony. Here are five of those principles:

1. Testimony attested to by multiple independent witnesses is usually considered stronger than the testimony of one witness.

2. Affirmation by a neutral or hostile source is usually considered stronger than affirmation from a friendly source, since bias in favor of the person or position is absent.

3. People usually don't make up details regarding a story that would tend to weaken their position.

4. Eyewitness testimony is usually considered stronger than testimony heard from a second- or thirdhand source.

5. An early testimony from very close to the event in question is usually considered more reliable than one received years after the event.”

-Gary R. Habermas, The Case For The Resurrection Of Jesus         

 

Thus these truths need to anchor us:

1. He’s working.  God is still working behind the scenes even when death has been pronounced. 

2. Wait for it.  I need to remember what Jesus said and wait for his appearance. 

3. Why?  Resurrection life is always the result when we look to Jesus. 

True Life after Death

There can be true life after death for those who actively put their trust in Christ.

Part of our faith is believing the truth of who Jesus is.

The other is believing that we can be different because of that truth.

This is the power of the resurrection.

Jesus ministered this way:

Mark 1:14-15 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Just as Jesus lived in resurrection life with the nail holes in his hands and side, so we can live in the resurrection life of Christ despite our scars.

No matter what you’ve experienced, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, that which was your sin and shame has been paid for. 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that God continually brings dead things to life. 

John 20:30,31

Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

The clear lesson of Easter is that Jesus proved with power that He is the unique Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

“Many people entertain the idea that Christianity, like almost any other religion, is basically a system of beliefs - you know, a set of doctrines or a code of behavior, a philosophy, an ideology.

But that's a myth.

Christianity is not at all like Buddhism or Islam or Confucianism. 

The founders of those religions said (in effect), 'Here is what I teach. Believe my teachings. Follow my philosophy.' Jesus said, 'Follow me' (Matthew 9:9).

Leaders of the world's religions said, 'What do you think about what I teach?' Jesus said, 'Who do you say I am?' (Luke 9:20).”

-Josh McDowell, Don't Check Your Brains At The Door

 

Believe the good news of Christ’s resurrection today and experience true life after death.

 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

The Big Ten: Enough’s Enough

 
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 The Big Ten: Enough’s Enough

Pastor Rollan Fisher

 

Focus: You will experience greater joy when you obey the commands of God.

  • No Need to Lie

  • No Need to Keep Up

  • Everything You Need is Found in Jesus

  • PRAY

No Need to Lie

You do not need to lie to get ahead in the world.  

Commandment #9:

Exodus 20:16

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

This is a pretty self-evident command but let’s dig a bit and find modern application.

Be truthful, not spiteful, regarding your neighbors.

In our world it seems that people will do anything to get ahead or to press their agendas.

However, you don’t need to lie about yourself to push yourself forward or tear others down falsely to get where God is going to take you. 

This means do not lie about anyone, whether maliciously or merely for your personal benefit.  

Bearing false witness against someone is an assault on their reputation and future interactions with the world.  

This is especially true in the world of cyber-bullying, cancel culture and online defamation.

God commands that we steward the reputation of others carefully and never let out in impetuous anger that which we can not take back.

In fact Jesus said this:

Matthew 12:36-37 

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Tell the truth. 

When you tell the truth about someone or a situation, you are able to experience the joy of knowing you can sleep well at night.

Choosing not to lie is freeing because you do not have to keep up with what you said or remember to whom you said it, because what you communicated was simply true.

When the truth is communicated in love, you equally know that while you are not involved, the seeds that you’ve sown are still working for your neighbor’s good.

You are free from having to cover your tracks and conversations because your integrity allows you to say the same thing about people when they are in front of you as when they are absent. 

We’ve all had enough frienemies.  

In friendships, on social media, in the workplace and in the home, we should be those who are looking to build others up, not tear them down.

Don’t buckle to the pressure of self-preservation, selling others out to save your own skin when telling the truth may cost you something.

God will back the man or woman of integrity.

Proverbs 28:18

Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

Be faithful, not fearful, as you testify about God.

Proverbs 29:25

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

It cost Jesus to come and bear truthful witnesses about his Heavenly Father, the state of the world before him, the consequences of sin and the judgment to come.

In doing so, however, it led to our faith, forgiveness and freedom.

We need to do the same for others when testifying about the cross of Jesus Christ and the redemption of God.

When we are truthful about God by faith, not only does it lead to others’ salvation, but God is able to supernaturally back us with his favor (Hebrews 11).

No Need to Keep Up

You do not need to have what others do to experience true joy. 

Commandment #10:

Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Remember, in each of these commandments, God is trying to set you free.

God does not owe you a particular sized home, spouse with certain measurements, type of career or number of checks on your bucket list. 

God is always more concerned with saving a man or woman’s eternal soul than fulfilling their modern, entitled vision of manifest destiny promoted in our media.

God does, however, enjoy blessing his children as they obey His commandments so that they can enjoy his goodness and be a blessing to others (Genesis 12). 

What I’ve noticed in our world is that we need to be both sensitive and aware during challenging times.

People need to make sure that their disdain for others’ successes are not covetousness disguised as righteous indignation.

How can you tell the difference?

*If you would be happy if you were in someone else’s shoes, but are unhappy that someone else is now enjoying what you desire for yourself, then that is envy, not justice for which you long.  

Carnal jealousy and ungodly rivalries always produce a wanton soul (Galatians 5:20).  

Selfish ambition breeds discontent that will never allow you to rest in the life of promise that God intends for you.  

What causes coveting?

Beyond greed, it is our modern battle with the idea of self - derived not from God but from society’s value placed on self-actualization. 

The daily frustration and disappointment that people feel comes from an imagined sense of who they thought they should be, what they should do or what they should accomplish.  

Yet who told you these things?

If it was not God, it can actually lead to slavery.  

And in the quest to fulfill a self-created dream, we can reject the everyday life, relationships and opportunities that fulfill God’s 

Kingdom narrative for us with Christ, rather than ourselves, at the center. 

This type of “keeping up with the Joneses” can enslave us and distort our lives.  

As Dr. Timothy Keller continues to relate in his book, Counterfeit Gods,

“...counterfeit gods come in clusters, making the idolatry structure of the heart complex...Sin in our hearts affects our basic motivational drives so they become idolatrous, “deep idols.” Some people are strongly motivated by a desire for influence and power, while others are more excited by approval and appreciation.  Some want emotional and physical comfort more than anything else, while still others want security, the control of their environment.  People with the deep idol of power do not mind being unpopular in order to gain influence.  People who are most motivated by approval are the opposite - they will gladly lose power and control as long as everyone thinks well of them.  Each deep idol - power, approval, comfort, or control - generates a different set of fears and a different set of hopes.  

“Surface idols” are things such as money, our spouse, or children, through which our deep idols seek fulfillment.  We are often superficial in our analysis of our idol structures.  For example, money can be a surface idol that serves to satisfy more foundational impulses.  Some people want lots of money as a way to control their world and life.  Such people usually don’t spend much money and live very modestly.  They keep it all safely saved and invested, so they can feel completely secure in the world.  Others want money for access to social circles and to make themselves beautiful and attractive.  These people do spend their money on themselves in lavish ways.  

Other people want money because it gives them so much power over others.  In every case, money functions as an idol and yet, because of various deep idols, it results in very different patterns of behavior.   

The person using money to serve a deep idol of control will often feel superior to people using money to attain power or social approval.  In every case, however, money-idolatry enslaves and distorts lives.”

-Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters (page 64-65)

 

The Bible reminds us, however, that on the other side of God’s commandments, including, “do not covet”, are His blessings and freedom.  

How is this so?

We are filled with joy when we are able to “rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15).

When I can congratulate someone else for their success and be content to fulfill my stewardship before the Lord, I am truly free.  

*I do not need to covet when I know that God will take care of me.

The beauty of God is that his principles work for everyone who would believe his good news and employ his principles.  

It does not mean there will not be obstacles because of the sin and fallenness of our world, but it does mean that God’s favor and blessing are stronger.  

 

Let’s get practical.

This is the hope that we have in God:

Proverbs 14:23

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Remember that Jesus is the God who opens doors that no man can shut and shuts doors that no man can open (Revelation 3:8). 

God will give me the exact measure I need so that my heart might maintain worship and fulfill his purposes.

 

This is why Agur son of Jakeh wrote by the Holy Spirit:

Proverbs 30:7-9 

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

 

Joy is a product of thankfulness.  

When we are ungrateful or feel entitled to something that we did not receive, we are soured in our souls.

Nothing pleasant happening to or for us ever fills the void.

When we maintain God’s perspective that what we ultimately deserve is punishment for our sins, death and hell, then everything that we receive is a cherry on top and a product of grace.

This transforms every good thing in my life to a gift for which I am truly grateful.

It is in this way that I am freed of coveting and am content to ENJOY everything that the Lord has graciously given me, whether it be a gift, or the product of my own labors.

I know that it all comes from the Lord and I don’t need what another man or woman has to be happy.

Everything You Need is Found in Jesus

You will experience true joy when you begin to embrace all that you’ve been given In Jesus.  

John 6:25-35 

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Everything that you need for abundant life and godliness is truly found in Jesus. 

God wants to give us joy in that which he’s entrusted to us. 

Choosing to be content is freeing because it allows us to finally rest in the truth that we can actually be happy in what God had lovingly given us.  

True joy begins and ends with the Lord.  

God allows life to show us that no experience, no lover, no number in your bank account, no title, no measure of power or control will ever be able to substitute for the joy that is found satisfied in a relationship with Jesus. 

We can learn now or later, but we will learn. 

*When we learn that Jesus is our great reward, we are free to accumulate in life to be a blessing, not to be happy. 

This is the great justification of the call to worship Jesus alone, our champion.

He is the one who stood in proxy for fallen humanity to do battle at the cross against sin and death at the cross and so save all who would come to the judge through the merits of Christ’s sinful life alone.  

  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021

The Big Ten: Love the One You’re With

 
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The Big Ten: Love the One You’re With

Pastor Rollan Fisher

 

  • The commandments of God remind us that God is a consuming fire, burning up what is detrimental and lighting a flame for what will be eternally life-giving to us.

  • God’s Word is ALWAYS SUPERNATURALLY DERIVED, with PRACTICAL APPLICATION.

  • This means that God’s commands are the every day ways to love and worship Him while looking out for the benefit of others, as well as your own.

  • More than a means to simply cross your will, God’s commands lead to the created world’s, humanity’s and your personal good.

  • Both commandments seven and eight have to do with how much we feel like we have vs. how much we think we need to be satisfied.

  • This is, in effect, God starting to get into your stuff.

  • Remember, in each of these commandments, God is trying to set you free.

Focus: You will experience greater satisfaction when you obey the commands of God.

  • Partner

  • Possessions

  • Perfect Satisfaction in Christ

Partner

God wants to be at the center of your desires. 

Commandment #7:

Exodus 20:14

“You shall not commit adultery.”

We realize that many of the commands of God now seem counter-cultural. 

However, Jesus gave this clear instruction:

Matthew 5:17-20 

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now let’s speak about adultery.

According to Jesus, adultery is not just a physical interaction, but it begins in the heart.  

*It is closer to home and involves the trappings of what is offered as every day entertainment. 

Can there be adultery in singleness?

Matthew 5:27-30

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

What does it mean to gouge out our eyes or cut off our hands?

It means to cut off your access to any habit or relationship that would cause you to sin.

A good Lenten goal may be abstaining from some of the normal entertainment, social media or otherwise and see how your pipes get cleaned.  

King David, the Second king of Israel who had his own failings with adultery, said this:

Psalm 101:1-4 

I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music. I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.

It is when he did not practice this command that he inevitably fell with Bathsheba. 

Do not sacrifice God’s convictions for the sake of entertainment.  

We know that it is a struggle when you are inundated with a culture bent against Biblical purity. 

However, God is holy and will fight for you and strengthen you to walk in the freedom of holiness.  

God makes a good promise when he says this:

1 Corinthians 10:12-14 

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

In God, our many spiritual and physical infidelities can be redeemed, so that there is hope for marriages and psyches that have been damaged by sin.  

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Singleness of devotion to God frees you from the entrapments of the world that spring from trying to please others (I Corinthians 7).  

*Purity is freeing because it allows us to focus on cultivating the very relationships that God is looking to bless. 

Adultery in marriage 

We have compassion for those who’ve been through the pain of adultery and a message of hope for those who've been involved in such sin. 

We know that it is a serious matter since marital unfaithfulness is the only legitimate justification that Jesus sites as a reason for divorce (Matthew 19:1-12 - though things like abuse are a further discussion).  

If that is the case, why do people commit adultery?

Amongst many reasons, people often site dissatisfaction in their relationships.  

Because of the relational dynamics with their significant other, those who commit adultery feel like they are withering from some form of neglect or missing something that they feel like they are due.

When those in this situation feel like cultivating their present field won’t work, they look for easier pastures. 

This too, however, can be a form of idolatry, where we have chosen the promise of an emotional or physical savior over our devotion to God and our spouses.

Yet idols are deceiving since the devil, who is the father of lies (John 8:44) is making empty promises through them.

*Always remember it is easier to love people at a distance and those that you don’t really know. 

Think about the club scene. 

The great tragedy is we idealize people we see only on social media, or with whom we have minimal interactions. 

We neglect and villanize the people we actually do life with, those that we live around and those in our own homes. 

It is easier to think well of someone when you don’t have to interact with them regularly. 

It will always be the case that when you do, you see their shortcomings and their imperfections - their sins. 

Think about a vanity mirror. 

The only reason you think so well of people you put on pedestals is because you are not close enough to them. 

And in this distortion, you place judgment on, criticize and become dissatisfied with those with whom you actually have the opportunity to have relationship. 

This is the great trap of the devil - the greener pasture syndrome. 

It happens in marriages, friendships, churches and workplaces all of the time. 

You have too many options and convince yourself you have connections that you simply do not.

In the meantime, you end up neglecting the land God’s actually given you. 

This is not love. 

It is fantasy. 

In the case of marriage, adultery, having “a little something on the side”, seems like a viable way out - but should you take it?

“An idolatrous attachment can lead you to break any promise, rationalize any indiscretion, or betray any other allegiance, in order to hold on to it. It may drive you to violate all good and proper boundaries. To practice idolatry is to be a slave.”

-Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

 

Let’s talk about sex 

Too many people feel dissatisfied with their intimate lives because of what they watch online, thinking their lives are supposed to simulate the fabricated portrayals that they see on the screen.  

People grab for greater highs that can never be satisfied until a violation of some sort occurs.  

God wants to protect you from this while blessing you with holy fulfillment.  

It is not your spouse’s responsibility to keep you from sin.  

If you are married, your body is not your own, though is to be treated by your spouse with respect, gentleness, consideration and honor (I Corinthians 7). 

Your intimacy should not be limited to sex, but it is given by God in marriage for procreation, our pleasure (Song of Solomon) and protection. 

It is the responsibility of the spouse to love God and not commit adultery, even if the other is in the sin of withholding sexually.  

Sin is not condoned as a response to sin. 

There will be different seasons of ups and downs in life, times that you feel closer or less connected to your spouse.  

However, in every season, God has given marriage to be a place of safety, security, encouragement and protection as you are passing through these varied times. 

Deeming your relationship unsatisfying emotionally, sexually or even financially does not give you permission to look outside of the covenant to have your needs met.  

The first place we go in all things is to God in his Word and prayer to have our soul (mind, will and emotions) filled in Him. 

From that place of renewed strength we have hope to cultivate our marriages for the good, even as there may be suffering as you wait on that change.  

This, too, is participating in the sufferings of Christ.  

Times of infirmity are an example of why you need self control. 

 

But is there prolonged hope?

*Enjoying the life within which you’ve found yourself can be realized when you learn to patiently and persistently cultivate that which God has entrusted to you.

There is hope for you in your marriage - that you’ll be able to thrive in your communication, intimacy and purpose together as you submit all three of these things to Jesus.  

When you meet God in each of these areas, it fills you to understand that your fidelity to your spouse who you can see is to be a reflection of your faithfulness to the Lord who you can not see.  

 

Fidelity is about loving God before and even above you love your spouse.  

By loving God who is unchanging, you gain a deeper appreciation for your spouse who will forever be changing (whether spiritually as they become more like Christ, physically or mentally as they age). 

Adultery is quenched by the fear of the Lord and an active cultivation of the relationship that you have with your spouse.   

Possessions

You don’t have to steal that which God wants to provide. 

Commandment #8:

Exodus 20:15

“You shall not steal.”

In the very real and no judgment event that you’ve fallen on hard times, please do not feel like you need to steal to meet your needs.  

If you or someone you know is dealing with food scarcity or basic needs of clothing and shelter not being met, there are various loving church ministries with whom we partner throughout the city that can help meet those practical needs while you look to get back on your feet.  

Please reach out and let us know.  

*People often steal when they are convinced that they do not have enough (or there is no help for their situation).

We don’t want to steal from other people or from God.   

When you understand God as your provider, you know that every need will be met as you are diligent to follow His commands, working hard and stewarding his resources according to his commands.  

When God is your source, you will not steal because you know that you can not ultimately keep that which God does not bless.  

We want to first make sure that we are not robbing God.  

In the book of Malachi, God shared a curious Scripture when he said:

Malachi 3:7-12 

From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

This is explained well when we understand our New Testament dynamic in Christ:

“‘I’ll tell you why you don’t see the tithing requirement laid out clearly in the New Testament. Think. Have we received more of God’s revelation, truth, and grace than the Old Testament believers, or less?’ Usually there is uncomfortable silence. ‘Are we more ‘debtors to grace’ than they were, or less? Did Jesus ‘tithe’ his life and blood to save us or did he give it all?’ Tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers. We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them.”

-Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods, Hodder and Stoughton, 2009, pg 62.

Dr. Keller went on to say:

“Jesus warns people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it.”

-Timothy Keller

The Old and New Testaments have about 800 Scriptures combined regarding wealth, including verses on savings, investments, income, tithing, offering, spending, running a business, family budgets, etc.  

Jesus spoke about money about 25% of the time because it has and will always be such a big issue in your life. 

Jesus' teaching ultimately comes down to your perspective regarding money, its source, and whether or not you trust God to instruct you about what to do with it.

Yet it is not just about our giving, it is also about how we execute our work.

Especially in things like the remote pandemic work, “do not steal” means making sure that you are in integrity, working the hours for which you are being paid and not undercutting from your employer.  

It means remembering that you are working for the Lord, not people and your reward will come from God.  

This also allows you to achieve while reinforcing the proper boundaries of placing God and his commands first. 

Colossians 3:22-25

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

 

God knows our needs and there are so many promises regarding his provision in the Scripture.  

When you have God as your source, you have greater faith, encouragement and ingenuity for righteous provision because you know that it is the Lord who gives you the power to produce wealth when you do things His way.  

Deuteronomy 8:18

You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

 

*Giving God and others what they are due is freeing because we know that we have God’s backing to bless that which we entrust to him. 

We do not have to steal because we have an inheritance from the Lord as a reward for obeying his commands. 

Perfect Satisfaction in Christ

 

You can live a truly satisfying life with Jesus at the center. 

In Jesus, not only was the wrath of God satisfied for our sins against our holy God, but he became the existential solution to our souls’ need for satisfaction.  

Because everything into which I sow for Jesus will last forever, I know that my greatest loves will endure and my soul will be eternally satisfied in Christ. 

Perfect Satisfaction in Christ regarding:

  • Relationships - eternal, ever-living family (Mark 10:28-31)

  • Health - eternal vitality (I Corinthians 15)

  • Provision - eternal treasure (Matthew 6:19-24)

  • Purpose - eternal responsibility and reward (Revelation 1-3)

  • Pleasure - eternal joy (Psalm 16:11)

  • Soul Gratifying Worship - eternal life, intimate knowledge of and fellowship with God (John 17:3)

 

And so the cross of Jesus becomes a beautiful thing to me because in it, not only did he fully satisfy the wrath of God, but he opened the door to which all true needs can also ultimately be satisfied in me when I obey his commands, whether now or in the life to come.

 




Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2021