Welcome to First Baptist this week for Food Pantry on Tuesday, Bible Study on Wednesday, Book Club on Thursday, and Sunday School, Worship Service, and Fellowship Time on Sunday. See the calendar for specific times. Look forward to seeing you soon!
13 June 2021 Sunday Message; “Myths from the Abyss”
Call to Worship; Ezekiel 34:22-24
22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and
my servant David will be prince among them. I
the Lord have spoken.
Invitation, Praises, and Prayer Concerns; Father of Heaven, and Universe beyond, Lord today we humbly say thankyou for all of the blessings you have provided our little band of saints. Lord, we ask you for forgiveness as we seek to forgive other in this faithwalk of ours, and pray that you would equip us for the service we hope to give to our fellow created.
Amen!
Message Readings; Romans 1:16-17 & 2 Timothy 4:3-5
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.
2 Timothy 4:3-5
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Message; “Myths from the Abyss”
Today, I am honored to be able to share a message that God shares with us throughout scripture. Honored because there is nothing especially special about me at all, and yet I get to share God’s word with people I care deeply for and think about a whole lot. That’s kind of the way it works for us in this walk of ours. We share and encourage each other in this walk of ours together.
In times past, the last thing I wanted to talk about would have been feelings, love, or even about Jesus Christ. And that is not bragging, but a sad truth fueled by the social myths of the time. One was instructed through society not to talk about anything that showed weakness and your faithwalk with the Lord was kept a strictly privet endeavor.
This was due to the way many of us were raised back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Not to mention the 20s,30s, and 50s! A guy that talked about that kind of stuff might just get pounded by others, so called friends, colleagues attempting to keep the unwritten code of the tuff and stout. Those guidelines that directed how people in modern society should behave or suffer the consequences, or at least a look of irony from your Dad. No scandalous behavior was to be tolerated in the family!
Perhaps one of the few positive corrections that our ever male effeminized, socially weakened, and structurally embittered culture has provided us is the ability to explore how we feel about things deep down. Of course, this is the tradeoff for ever more narcissism, and even less outward expression permitted that contradicts the sanctioned speech by an ever-changing consensus of taste. If anything, we still self-censor, it’s just that the topics are ever changing.
Self-censored unspoken beliefs coupled with mandatory expressions of wokeness and modernity, are the norm of contemporary myth making, and the rewriting of history. Which leads me to today’s message title “Myths from the Abyss”. I originally thought of using “Tales from the Darkside”, but that was already taken. Plus not all is lost in our hope of sharing light in darkness.
Fact is in the midst of all the confusion, with right turned to wrong, and wrong now considered right in our ever-confused society, we still have refuge in our Lord and in each other. When leaders seem to lead astray, and one unrefined behavioral low-bare is exchanged for an ever-lower standard of vulgarity, the family of God will find refuge.
In fact, we may take heart in the fact that we are not alone. Those times such as these have been in the forefront of concern for the family of God countless times before, and are represented in numerous places in scripture. Case in point, today’s Call to Worship reading from Ezekiel 34:22-24; makes clear that there has been misdirection before, and God knows how to save His family;
22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and
my servant David will be prince among them. I
the Lord have spoken.
After explaining how upset God was with the shepherds of Israel, and why the Lord was upset at their selfishness and unconcern for the people at the beginning of Ezekiel chapter 34, the Lord declares that David (his decedent Jesus Christ) will be their prince. That God will be Israel’s Lord and Shepherd.
In the unfolding of history, God has always been ready to save His family, when they were willing to walk in and with the Lord. Or a quote that I will use from Micah 6:8;
…To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Even when the leaders of God’s people were corrupt in days past, the Lord’s family still had refuge in God, and when the people themselves trusted in the Lord, God has always been available to redeem His people as just mentioned in Ezekiel 34. And is also instructed in Ezekiel 13:10-14;
10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord.
(The walls we build to keep God out)
Whitewashing the flimsy wall of a shallow faithwalk, or a bankrupt relationship with the Lord, only hides the flaws that make up a person’s faith (or lack thereof), or an entire church’s misdirected commitment to God (by serving ourselves), for only so long before those walls implode under their own weight. Then those who lead others into such a whitewashed, bogus, and defunct state of affairs with the Lord will ultimately be addressed and handled by the Lord, and then; we will all know He is God!
But what is the whitewashing of this age that covers all of the malignancy and misdirects the angst of the moment? What are some of the myths that lead us off course and off the mark? Here are a few that quickly come to mind:
- It’s all good; … Only God is good. This saying is used to gloss over all kinds of nonsense in our culture, and when we relativize everything in our society, we kick the can down the road instead of dealing with things head on.
- We must make up for the bad that was done; … How? First off, shouldn’t we address the things we have control over in the here and now? Things like my attitude. The past is the past, you can’t own it, only learn from it and make today a better place, by sharing the light of God. One day at a time by walking humbly in and with God, begins with addressing the plank that is in my eye before I look to broadcast my virtue with things before my time and out of my control.
- I’m a good person; … Big deal. Hell is full of good people who trusted themselves over God to save them from their miserable addictions of and to their selfish selves.
This is what you get when society tries to go it alone, philosophizing and rationalizing without God’s aid in the process. In fact, Myths of the day are being formulated continuously in the moment by people who are unaware that they are adding to the confusion by trying to find meaning for all of the confusion in their lives.
Paul it appears understood this challenge in life and the greater human condition as well. It seems that part of the battle that is being fought for the sole of the people of Rome was the war of Gospel over myth. Rome was one of the churches who Paul instructed later in his evangelical career in this fight for truth. We have part of today’s Message Reading from Romans 1:16-17 where Paul squares off on the notions of the time by giving his personal testimony;
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.
And when we live by faith, pray, study scripture, worship, serve other people, praise, glorify, and magnify God’s holy and precious name, when we really live by faith, … we are equipped to detangle, diffuse, and demystify the Myths of the moment. The “Myths from the Abyss”.
Additionally, when we live by faith, we are prepared for the sound doctrine that comes from the Gospel. From Scripture. Not from me, or someone charismatic, unless we are using God’s Word (scripture). Not from the crowd that seeks to chase itself in a never-ending game of “your it”, and; “look what I can do”. No, it’s this crowd that seems to want to push away from God and His plan in favor of the selfish pursuits of the moment.
This is why Paul instructed Timothy in his young ministry to remain strong in his faith. Again, from today’s Message Reading this time from 2 Timothy 4:3-5;
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
When humanity back then, and society now aimlessly decides to revert to it’s unwholesome past, the People of God must; keep our heads in hard situations, endure hardships, and be the evangelists God has intended (by sharing His good news and service to others), through all the duties of our own individual, and combined ministries.
We are the bulwark for God, one good kind word of encouragement at a time of someone’s duress, one smile, one pat on the back, one prayer for His grace for someone else in the moment. That is what being a Christian of the working day is all about!
And then coming to grips with the fact that the battle we are engaged in, this cosmic battle for good over evil, begins within your own heart. You are housing some of the dirtiest, nastiest, and barbaric battlefields of the war that God is fighting. Humanity always has. Paul alludes to this as we continue to read his instruction to the church in Rome in Romans 1:18-25;
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Paul is saying people deep down know there is a creator. More than a creator, God, but choose to do their own thing. Not thanking God or glorifying Him, but in essence mocking God by worshipping mortal images, and manmade stuff instead. Paul goes on to say that people are without excuse.
There was no excuse in Paul’s day, the times past that he had spoken of, nor is there now in our own time today. This is why our ministries (all of you have one), are so important, because we must be in the business of sharing the good news that a relationship with God is available to all people accepting the invitation, and then living the truth we instruct. That the person someone sees on a Thursday is the same person they saw in Church on Sunday.
But why is any of this important? Why if we are already saved, do we need to worry about all of the junk going on in our sick society? You know the “Myths from the Abyss”! Stuff like;
- What was right is now wrong
- What was wrong is now encouraged
- Fairness applies to only a select group
- Society can perfect the human condition
Well wrong and right as God instructs us in scripture remain the same. Fairness, justice, and mercy apply to all people, and only God can perfect us, not society. And only God affords us free choice where a society that seeks to perfect you will always seek to remove your free choice. It has to, to impose it’s will on those who would rather follow the Lord instead of the world of man-made diversion.
There is nothing new with what we are talking about. This is just another chapter, another skirmish in a seemingly endless battle for the hearts and minds of a people loved by their creator. And we are called to share light in darkness!
Paul goes on to describe what people do when they choose their own paths outside of the Lord’s direction, guidance, and salvation. Romans 1:28-32 is Paul’s diatribe, a venting of frustration written down for our instruction.
As I repeat Paul’s instruction, see if you can see any of what is being depicted relevant to our society today;
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
It reflects a people who listened more to the popularity of the moment, the Myths from the Abyss, than to the sound instruction from the Prophet Micah from 6:8 to; “
…To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
No, the people of the past are very much like the people of today, and Paul’s frustration shines through his writing. So does God’s!
At the same time, hope is not lost. If this has been the ongoing condition of people from the time of the fall of humanity in the Garden with Adam and Eve, then the opportunities also remain for us, in a God who loves us in spite of us.
So how do we deal with all of those Myths from the Abyss, and the untruths of our age? By praying to God for His direction, studying scripture for His Word, alone and with your church family, and then thinking about the big challenges that we face in a spirit of our being equipped to handle this time of opportunity.
This moment is a masterpiece, and you are God’s tools of completeness. Together in our imperfections, we get to serve divine perfection, elegance, and grace. Our Lord remains in control, and we have access to truth over myth every time we reach out to the King of Kings.
Amen!
Benediction; Based on Romans 1:16-17 and Numbers 6:24-26
16 For we are not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.
And
24 The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.