gospel – Pastor Dave Daye

Who was in the Manger?

December 7, 2011 No Comments

Who was in the manger on Christmas morning? Who is this baby of whom we sing about and celebrate? Jesus is not just a cute baby in a manger. He is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:24). This means that the hand that gripped Mary’s finger from the manger was the same hand of which we are told, “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:4-5). The eyes that sparkled from the manger are the eyes of God that “are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). The voice that cried from the manger is the same voice that sustains “all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3). This is the baby in the manger, but there is more…

The hands of this baby are the same hands that had nails driven through them to hold him on the cross where he paid the price for our sins. The eyes of this baby are the same eyes that looked down from the cross at the crowd that gathered to watch him die. The voice of this baby in the manger is the same voice that cried out from the cross, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing!” and then cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” as our sins – your sins and mine – were put on him. He died on the cross for our sins. This is the baby in the manger, but there is more…
Those eyes, that voice, and those hands rose from the dead! The baby in the manger conquered sin and death and promises eternal life to all who believe! This is the baby who is in the manger. This is GOD WITH US! One day that baby stood before his followers, after he had risen from the dead, and he sent you and me on a mission to go and tell the whole world about this baby in the manger. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, left us with these words: “And surely I am with you always!” The baby in the manger, Jesus Christ, is still “God with us”, and this makes all the difference in the world.

photo by Flickr user blahmni

the Church and the Word

Power of the Gospel

October 12, 2011 3 Comments

The Mission Statement of Orchard Community Church is “We exist to make and become fully devoted followers of Christ through the renewing and transforming power of the gospel for the glory of God.”

This is the last of three posts on the Mission Statement of Orchard Community Church. The first was about the Glory of God and the second was about being Fully Devoted Followers of Christ. This week I want to look at the idea of the “renewing and transforming power of the gospel.”

In Romans, Paul writes “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Do we really believe this today? There are a lot of Christian books out there on how to improve yourself, your marriage, your job, your church, and your children. Many contain very helpful advice. Often pastors preach sermons about these things as well. My fear is that maybe, just maybe, underlying all of these ideas is the basic (and very wrong) assumption that we must change ourselves. Sometimes I get the feeling that believers in Jesus Christ have lost the idea that the gospel is powerful to change us and have instead assumed that we must rely on our own good intentions, programs, and efforts. We seem to scratch and claw our way to small changes on our own instead of relying on the monumental power that is available in the gospel.

How powerful is the gospel? Like Paul said in Romans 1:16 – it is the power of God. Ephesians 1:19-20 explains that this is “his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead…” Did you catch that? The power of the gospel is the same power that raised Christ from the dead! If you are a believer in Christ, that is the power that is at work IN YOU! The difference this power makes is the difference between life and death – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As a church we are not worried about having the best programs or techniques. Our worship services won’t wow you and our use of technology certainly won’t blow you away. Our coffee is OK and the preaching is probably average. But what we have is greater than anything you will ever find in the world – the power of the gospel. Our teaching isn’t about improving ourselves – it is about dying to self and accepting the new life that is only available through the gospel.

The power of the gospel renews us. It is an ongoing recreation of who God made us to be in the first place. It is a hope and a strength beyond any situation in this life. It is a renewing of strength not by improving us, but by substituting God’s strength in the place of our weakness.

The power of the gospel transforms us. No one can come to Jesus Christ and accept the gospel (the good news of His death, burial, and resurrection in our place for our salvation) without being changed. You cannot add Jesus on to your life like installing an app on your phone or adding him to the already crowded list of priorities in your life. Transformation is a total change – a complete tear down and rebuilding of who you are. After all, minor improvements on a condemned building might make it look better, but it is still destined to fall apart. This transformation comes as the gospel redirects our lives, redefines our priorities, and renews our will to conform with God’s perfect will.

As a church, we will trust in the power of the gospel in everything that we do. I believe this will make us better parents, employees, leaders, stewards of our money, and everything else in our lives, but not because we are simply improving ourselves in small ways. It will be because God is at work in us through the power of the gospel for the glory of God.

How have you seen the power of the gospel at work in your life? How can we continue to demonstrate the power of the gospel in our individual lives and together as the Church?

photo by flickr user Shane Woodson

Sermon Reflection

Turbulence and the Gospel Mission – Monday’s Reflection on Sunday’s Sermon

September 26, 2011 No Comments

My goal for each Monday is to post a reflection on the sermon from the day before. It might be a summary, information I was unable to include in the sermon, or even correcting something I said wrong (it does happen!). I hope these Monday posts help us to continue throughout the week the conversation with God that is started on Sunday mornings.

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Edit: this sermon now available for listening online (10/26/11)

Yesterday at Orchard Community Church I preached from Acts 3:1 – 4:31 and 5:17-42. These passages speak about the early church facing turbulence. The apostles are arrested for healing a man in the name of Jesus and then proclaiming to the crowd that Jesus is the way of salvation. As they stand trial, the apostles don’t fight for their rights and file a lawsuit. They don’t form a coalition and set up a boycott. Their response to the turbulence is to keep proclaiming the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ – right there in the trial, in front of the very leaders who sent Jesus to the cross. No whining, no protest about discrimination – just the gospel.

The response of the other believers in Acts 4:23-31 is equally amazing. In their prayer to God they reference the stories of persecution from the Old Testament and also what happened to Jesus. They realize that every time God’s people bring God’s message into the world there is TURBULENCE – hardships and persecution. Their witness to us today is that we should expect turbulence on this Gospel Mission rather than see it as something abnormal! Then they ask God for something – something to help them as they face this turbulence. They don’t ask for the persecution to stop. Instead, they ask God to give them boldness to keep sharing the gospel even as they are being persecuted!

When the apostles are arrested a second time they declare – “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29). They say that they will never stop proclaiming the gospel of Jesus no matter what. This time they are flogged (severely beaten) and again warned to stop. What is their response this time? “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42).

This passage made me think of two questions about facing turbulence on the gospel mission.

1. What spills when you are shaken? When a cup is shaken, it is what is inside the cup that comes out. If you are drinking a cup of grape juice on an airplane that goes through turbulence, you may wish that water spilled out instead, but it just doesn’t work that way! Why would it work this way in our lives? When we face turbulence, it is what is inside us that will spill over. When the apostles and the early church were shaken, it was the gospel that spilled over in each situation! Why? Because that was what was inside them – that was what saturated their lives! What do we spill when we are shaken?

2. What is your seat belt? When passengers on an airplane are in their seats they are supposed to keep their seat belts fastened because the plane could encounter turbulence at any time. When we go through hardships and/or persecution, we look to something to hold us secure. What is it we are trusting to hold us as a Church? Is it a privileged place in society? Is it the traditions of our church? The flashiness of our programs or our shining new technology? What about as individual believers? Are we counting on a certain relationship? A place of honor or prestige within the church? Maybe our bank account? Maybe when all is stripped away we are simply counting on ourselves to hold us secure. We think we are our own seat belt, but a seat belt that is only attached to the thing it is supposed to be holding will never be secure. It must have a firm anchor! The early church knew it was held secure by the very thing that was taking them through the turbulence in the first place. The Gospel. What are you trusting in to hold you secure?

Finally, one last question. We will go through difficult times for many different reasons. This world is full of disappointments and trials that have nothing to do with the gospel. The question I have after studying these passages in Acts is this: As believers in Jesus Christ, are we experiencing turbulence because of the gospel? The other types of difficulties will come, but that’s not what this passage is about. If we are truly on the gospel mission, then there will be turbulence because of the gospel. We don’t seek it or cause it, but we should be ready to endure it and to proclaim the gospel in the turbulence. In order to do this, we must be people who are saturated by the gospel and live this out in everything we do.

So my hope for this week is that we (like the early followers of Christ before us) are saturated with the gospel because turbulence is to be expected, but when we are held secure by the gospel then the turbulence is just another opportunity for the gospel to spill over for others to see.