Rev. Dustin ParkerDeacon Don's Sermons
Recently, I lent one of my deacons out to a nearby parish. They had significant problems finding a substitute while their pastor was on vacation. As always, we worked through the sermon together Here is one of Don's sermons- feel free to comment
Do We Belong HERE?!
Grace, Peace and Mercy to you, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN. (TEXT: REVELATION 5:12)
A resort room for $99 per night, minimum 3 nights, with a free upgrade to a King Suite and tickets to the breathtaking aquatic spectacle! Not bad for a run of the mill hotel room in Vegas, huh? But this was one that had just opened on the Strip in December. Maybe some of you have heard of the guy who owns it, Steve Wynn? I admit I was excited about staying at the Encore tower for our business trip! But, when I pulled up to the valet in my 95 Honda Civic, all around me were high end cars and guests on their way to the resort's golf course. The thought slowly crept in. Then walking into the huge lobby through the impressive entrance and staring at all the upscale dining areas and the guests in their designer clothes, with their designer luggage, there I was wearing my jeans, a bowling shirt and pulling my "I got it at Ross" luggage, the thought was now picking up steam. Then as soon as I walked into our room I saw a wall of glass overlooking the Strip at the far end of it. To my left, the giant bathroom with a sunken, whirlpool tub with his and hers robes hanging there. Down the hall, excuse me, foyer, and a little to my left was a king size bed and a big flat screen The thought came to me full bore and so did the reasons why, We're just a start-up company, I only work collections for the courts, I drive a '95 Honda and an '02 Caravan, I'm not a "high roller" … Man! I REALLY don’t belong here!
Could John be thinking the same in the scene from Revelation we just heard? There he is in the middle of an expanding praise and worship service! From the living creatures and elders, increasing with the angels surrounding them and the throne to finally everyone, everything, and everywhere singing praises with ALL that they have! I can hear John now, MAN! I REALLY DON'T BELONG HERE!
Now, some of you may be asking why did I feel this way? The Resort sent me the invitation! Why would John feel this way? He was brought there! But how often do we feel this way? How often do we tell ourselves WE DON'T BELONG! How many of us find ourselves in the words of this song:
Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me
Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west From one scarred hand to the other (Casting Crowns, East to West)
These words are me. Whenever I cannot shield my wife from her everyday battles I hear that voice “You're a failure as a husband". Whenever I cannot prevent any type of harm happening to my children, “You're a terrible dad”. And whenever I step into the pulpit or up to the altar “You don't belong here!”. Bound in the chains of past mistakes, struggling with my sins, I tell myself I don't belong. Maybe your struggles are similar, you battle past mistakes. Maybe you battle daily with addictions, a debilitating sickness or illness. Even stress or despair. We tell ourselves MY situations, issues, problems, MY SINS ARE JUST TOO BIG! We see nothing good in us, only the Adam God found attempting to hide from Him. We focus on our sinfulness and not the forgiveness found in the waters of our baptism. Where we were washed, sanctified and justified. We don't see the cross where we were rescued from captivity to sin, saved from death and ransomed from the devil.
When you are held captive, you are bound and can do nothing but struggle against your bindings on your own. You cannot ransom yourself. You need someone to guarantee your release. A ransom in Merriam-Webster is defined as: a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.
In the Greek it means bought, in the Latin redeemed. What is given as a ransom needs to be deemed worthy of your release from captivity. Since original sin we have been imprisoned by sin. In order to be released from the bindings of sin God demands holiness. Since we continue to sin, we fail and need to pay the ransom, which is death. But if we die without being made holy we are not at the celebration in our passage today. God being just, cannot overlook our sins but being merciful wants us to be there at this celebration. So, Christ comes as our substitute. He lives as we were meant to live, perfect and holy, fulfilling the commands of God. Then He pays our ransom. He voluntarily takes on our sentence and all of humanity's, death. The death that we deserved and He hung on the cross. Being the perfect and final sin and guilt offering, the penalty of sin is now paid in full. With Christ's righteousness in the place of our sinfulness, we are no longer held in captivity to sin. We are free! In his death and resurrection, death is defeated and our guarantee of salvation is secure. The devil has been crushed. Forgotten are the past mistakes, the chains of addictions loosed, you are comforted in your illnesses and deceases and your constant worries and hopelessness. We are once again His and now we can find ourselves in the words of this song:
Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,
From Him no pow'r of evil can sever,
He gave His life to ransom my soul;
Now I belong to Him;
Once I was lost in sin's degradation,
Jesus came down to bring me salvation,
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,
Now I belong to Him;
Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me
His precious blood, He came to redeem,
Now I belong to Him;
Now I belong to Jesus,
Jesus belongs to me,
Not for the years of time alone,
But for eternity. (Now I Belong to Jesus, Norman J. Clayton)
You belong in this celebration because God wants you to be there. He hasn't just invited you! He has paid your way in! He loves you so much that he sent His only Son as ransom. He has redeemed you with a holy, innocent, life restoring blood.
So, as we prepare for the foretaste of the feast to come, know you belong "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
And may this bring you peace, peace that is found in Christ Jesus, the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!
AMEN?!?
Do We Belong HERE?!
Grace, Peace and Mercy to you, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. AMEN. (TEXT: REVELATION 5:12)
A resort room for $99 per night, minimum 3 nights, with a free upgrade to a King Suite and tickets to the breathtaking aquatic spectacle! Not bad for a run of the mill hotel room in Vegas, huh? But this was one that had just opened on the Strip in December. Maybe some of you have heard of the guy who owns it, Steve Wynn? I admit I was excited about staying at the Encore tower for our business trip! But, when I pulled up to the valet in my 95 Honda Civic, all around me were high end cars and guests on their way to the resort's golf course. The thought slowly crept in. Then walking into the huge lobby through the impressive entrance and staring at all the upscale dining areas and the guests in their designer clothes, with their designer luggage, there I was wearing my jeans, a bowling shirt and pulling my "I got it at Ross" luggage, the thought was now picking up steam. Then as soon as I walked into our room I saw a wall of glass overlooking the Strip at the far end of it. To my left, the giant bathroom with a sunken, whirlpool tub with his and hers robes hanging there. Down the hall, excuse me, foyer, and a little to my left was a king size bed and a big flat screen The thought came to me full bore and so did the reasons why, We're just a start-up company, I only work collections for the courts, I drive a '95 Honda and an '02 Caravan, I'm not a "high roller" … Man! I REALLY don’t belong here!
Could John be thinking the same in the scene from Revelation we just heard? There he is in the middle of an expanding praise and worship service! From the living creatures and elders, increasing with the angels surrounding them and the throne to finally everyone, everything, and everywhere singing praises with ALL that they have! I can hear John now, MAN! I REALLY DON'T BELONG HERE!
Now, some of you may be asking why did I feel this way? The Resort sent me the invitation! Why would John feel this way? He was brought there! But how often do we feel this way? How often do we tell ourselves WE DON'T BELONG! How many of us find ourselves in the words of this song:
Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way
I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me
Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west From one scarred hand to the other (Casting Crowns, East to West)
These words are me. Whenever I cannot shield my wife from her everyday battles I hear that voice “You're a failure as a husband". Whenever I cannot prevent any type of harm happening to my children, “You're a terrible dad”. And whenever I step into the pulpit or up to the altar “You don't belong here!”. Bound in the chains of past mistakes, struggling with my sins, I tell myself I don't belong. Maybe your struggles are similar, you battle past mistakes. Maybe you battle daily with addictions, a debilitating sickness or illness. Even stress or despair. We tell ourselves MY situations, issues, problems, MY SINS ARE JUST TOO BIG! We see nothing good in us, only the Adam God found attempting to hide from Him. We focus on our sinfulness and not the forgiveness found in the waters of our baptism. Where we were washed, sanctified and justified. We don't see the cross where we were rescued from captivity to sin, saved from death and ransomed from the devil.
When you are held captive, you are bound and can do nothing but struggle against your bindings on your own. You cannot ransom yourself. You need someone to guarantee your release. A ransom in Merriam-Webster is defined as: a consideration paid or demanded for the release of someone or something from captivity.
In the Greek it means bought, in the Latin redeemed. What is given as a ransom needs to be deemed worthy of your release from captivity. Since original sin we have been imprisoned by sin. In order to be released from the bindings of sin God demands holiness. Since we continue to sin, we fail and need to pay the ransom, which is death. But if we die without being made holy we are not at the celebration in our passage today. God being just, cannot overlook our sins but being merciful wants us to be there at this celebration. So, Christ comes as our substitute. He lives as we were meant to live, perfect and holy, fulfilling the commands of God. Then He pays our ransom. He voluntarily takes on our sentence and all of humanity's, death. The death that we deserved and He hung on the cross. Being the perfect and final sin and guilt offering, the penalty of sin is now paid in full. With Christ's righteousness in the place of our sinfulness, we are no longer held in captivity to sin. We are free! In his death and resurrection, death is defeated and our guarantee of salvation is secure. The devil has been crushed. Forgotten are the past mistakes, the chains of addictions loosed, you are comforted in your illnesses and deceases and your constant worries and hopelessness. We are once again His and now we can find ourselves in the words of this song:
Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,
From Him no pow'r of evil can sever,
He gave His life to ransom my soul;
Now I belong to Him;
Once I was lost in sin's degradation,
Jesus came down to bring me salvation,
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,
Now I belong to Him;
Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me
His precious blood, He came to redeem,
Now I belong to Him;
Now I belong to Jesus,
Jesus belongs to me,
Not for the years of time alone,
But for eternity. (Now I Belong to Jesus, Norman J. Clayton)
You belong in this celebration because God wants you to be there. He hasn't just invited you! He has paid your way in! He loves you so much that he sent His only Son as ransom. He has redeemed you with a holy, innocent, life restoring blood.
So, as we prepare for the foretaste of the feast to come, know you belong "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
And may this bring you peace, peace that is found in Christ Jesus, the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!
AMEN?!?
