Blog Posts - Living Hope Bible Church

passover lamb.

9/30/2013

This week in "The Story" has to do with Moses and the escape out of Egypt. I like to think of it more as "God redeeming his people from the bondage of slavery" than a simple exit strategy.

God first revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. Moses answered God's call reluctantly. He and Aaron went into Egypt to face the people he once knew well. God wanted to send a strong message that HE and HE alone was God. So, he sent plague after plague combating the gods of the Egyptians. He turned the Nile into blood. This sent a message to there god and goddess of the Nile [Hapi & Isis]. Only Moses could turn the blood back into water. Each plague challenged one of their gods. Finally God knew that to get his message through he would need to do something that would send his message loud and clear. So, that is when Moses warned him that God would take the first born son of anyone that does not smear the blood of a lamb over the doorpost of their house. Every Israelite did this and the Lord passed over those houses. Ultimately it took the life of Pharaoh's oldest son. Pharaoh's oldest son would someday be heralded a god [just like his dad]. However, Yahweh is the only God.

So, Pharaoh let the Israelite people go. The Passover has been celebrated ever since. This was the redemption of the Jewish people and God reminded them to never ever forget what HE did for them.

So, fast forward to Jesus. Jesus is celebrating Passover with his disciples when he changes the Passover rituals. He said the unleavened bread represented his body and the cup represented his body broken. He is letting them know that the redemption they celebrate through the slaughter of a Passover Lamb is done. He is now the once-for-all Passover Lamb. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." It is that Lamb that took our sins away (Jn 1:29). He also made a similar statement commanding us "This do in remembrance of me".

So, we still remember our redeemer, who redeems us from our slavery to sin every time we take communion.

where we fail, God still prevails.

9/23/2013

Have you noticed that we have this insatiable need for details? We can't function without everything being laid out. I understand this is a generalization for all of society. This isn't completely fair. But, I know the overwhelming part of society struggle with "not knowing". I would assert that Facebook feeds off this desire. It is why Facebook is SO addicting.

But, it is also the case when something bad happens. We have this insatiable need to define the exact cause and fully understand why. Now I am not suggesting not exploring it and learning from it. After all, in manufacturing, I taught the Japenese notion of "Poka-yoke". The idea that you fix something so that it doesn't ever happen again!

But, with life it isn't always that simple. I believe that by living by biblical principles, you set yourself up to succeed. However, sin still exists and evil can still have its way.

Joseph's story in the Bible is a clear example of where faith should enter our lives. Joseph didn't know the Upper Story, God's intentional will for Joseph's life. Joseph just kept his faith in Yahweh and over time, God continued to reveal himself. Pretty soon, it was clear that what his brothers intended for evil, God worked in for good. Joseph's brothers failed, but God still prevailed.

So it is in our life. I fail often [unfortunately], but God still uses me to accomplish his will. My prayer has always been "Lord, let me work where you are working. Let me get out of your way. Use me to be an instrument of your love, grace, and mercy. Amen"

In the end, where I fail, God will INDEED prevail.

faith overcomes.

9/22/2013

When you think of Abraham, you should think about grace and faith. I cringe every time that I read about him taking Isaac up on the mountain! But, this event served several purposes: first, it showed God that Abraham had what it took to lead God's nation! Second, it proved to Abraham that he had the faith to lead. But, this week in my study, it hit me that it is possible that Isaac displayed as much faith! Isaac noticed that his dad did not bring a sacrifice. He could have ran, but didn't. He could have fought when Abraham put him on the altar. But, he didn't.

Remember that God needed the right leaders of his nation. Though the covenant was with Abraham, God still utilized Isaac to build the nation! In Matthew 1, Abraham is the first person listed and then Isaac. The Messiah's lineage stems from Abraham and Isaac fulfilling the covenant.

Abraham was NOT perfect! He decided to take matters into his own hands and have a child with Hagar. This did not please God. BUT, where we fall short, our faith overcomes. We must strive to put our whole heart into where God leads us. Faith will overcome.

God's original intent.

9/19/2013

So we have begun the epic adventure that will last 31 weeks. "The Story" will take us through the major elements of The Bible. It is my intent that everyone reading the book and listen to the sermons will gain a deeper understanding of Scripture.

Our first week was actually about three weeks ago, but I want to get this blog caught up and then I will work diligently to stay up to date! So this post will be from the story of Adam and Eve.

It is important to read in the story of Adam and Eve that God's original intent was the way it was in the Garden of Eden. Think about that for a moment: Everything that Adam touched blossomed and grew! There were no weeds and thistles. Farmers in the heart of Iowa would love to have ground like that. Also, there was no sin. No broken relationships, no hurt, and no pain. The best part? Constant companionship with him. Also, they would live forever. The only stipulation? DO NOT eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. Sounds easy? It must not have been because Adam and Eve ate from the tree.

Now the whole world groans because of the choice of these two people! (Romans 8:19)

If I stop there, this would be a downer of a blog. But, it is important to remember a couple of things: first, remember that the idea of grace has always existed. God could have killed the original characters. But, he let them live. He also protected them. This is grace. It was offered to the first people and it is still offered to us today!

Second, God's original intent suddenly became his final intent. Because of love, he gave Adam and Eve the choice. When they failed all subsequent generations, the human race entered into this epic adventure of redemption. God's original intent sure sounds like heaven doesn't it. God's original intent IS His final intent!

studying the Bible is like the development of a garage band.

9/11/2013

I had a prof in seminary (Dr Dongell) that told our class that the continuous learning of the Bible is a little bit like this analogy: you begin to read scripture and it is like you are listening to your favorite garage band. But, then you learn about literary techniques that the writers used and your band begins to add symbols and bass drums to your band. Then you learn about the culture of biblical times and your band begins to add woodwinds. Then you continue to learn maps and geological information of the middle east and your band adds brass. Before you know it your garage band is playing a rich and deep musical score. You had no idea that it could sound so great.

So, it is with the Bible. You can read the Bible and get something from it with little training. Just as the garage band sounded good. However, the more you read and the more you get to know about the Bible and the culture it was written in, the richer and deeper the meaning of the text. The Bible becomes ALIVE. If you don't believe me, just try it!

last words...part two.

4/6/2012

On Tuesday, I read three places in Scripture that had some of Jesus’ last words. In each of those instances, he focused on the needs of others. Today, some of the words he uttered in his last days show his vulnerable side. It is evidence as him being fully human, fully God.

Mark 15:34 records Jesus saying “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” For Jesus’ perfect sacrifice to be complete, God had to abandon the Son. These words remind us that of the agony that Christ faced on the cross because of the wrath he had to face to take our sins upon him. This is sacrifice…Jesus died for our sake, not his. Because he faced that abandonment, we will never have to. He is with us until the very end of the age!

John 19:28 says “I thirst.”

These words of Jesus remind us that again he had a human side. He did all the things that we had to do…including drink water. Though he was the Living Water, he still felt everyting that came at him that week. Whips, nails, and the weight of the cross. He even felt thirst.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46

Jesus is completely surrendering to God. He realizes that the ultimate sacrifice must be done and commits to God’s will. He knew that God’s plan is perfect in every way. So, he surrendered his will completely to God.

“It is Finished” John 19:30

In these words, Jesus spoke into every believers’ heart past, present, and future. He simply said, “It is Finished”. These must have been powerful words because at that same time, the mighty temple curtain, which separated God from man was torn in two. This curtain was more like a barrier than what we think of as a curtain. It was thick. But, when Christ uttered these words, salvation was spoken into the hearts of all those that believe that Christ died and rose. Jesus conquered death…the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God is complete. Salvation has come to all who believe.

Here is our lesson for today: Christ came and suffered a grueling death. God took the form of one man, lived a sinless life, and bore the sins of all who believe triumphing over sin and Satan. Are you praising God this Easter season for the salvation that Jesus brought? We should have such an immense gratitude that worship is a natural flowing from our heart.

last words.

4/6/2012

Have you seen the old western movies that depict vigilante groups or the “New Sheriff” in Town that finally catches up to an armed robber or a man of ill repute? They are prepared to kill the person and they ask him “Do you have any last words?”

This week, I would like to focus on Jesus’ last words. Here we are on a journey to the cross. We are specifically focusing on the last days of Christ in preparing our hearts and minds for Easter. We are to that each Sunday, but annually we choose to commemorate Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection each Easter. So, in anticipation of Easter we want to take a glimpse into Jesus’ life! So, it is, we are focusing on Jesus’ last words.

Jesus knew his death was imminent and soon. He prepared his disciples for the day when the ministry would be left solely up to them. But, let’s examine now some specific words that Jesus spoke:

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

On the cross, Jesus took our sins. He endured the most horrific form of torture and death because of the wrath for our sins and took our guilt upon him. He took our punishment, our guilt: past, present, and future. In these last words, he isn’t thinking about himself…he is thinking about everyone else and forgives them…us.

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

One of my favorite stories is the thief on the cross. There was a person on each side of Jesus each on a cross. Both of them were condemned to die for their mistakes in life. One of them chose to mimic Christ; while the other one recognized him as Christ. He asked for Jesus to remember him when he gets to heaven. So Christ told him “you will be with me”. Isn’t that a beautiful, accurate description of redemption?

“Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother’” John 19:26-27

Jesus witnesses his mother in the midst of grief. He shows her compassion by telling her that the disciples will take care of her. The church will take care of her. So, here Christ was thinking of his own mother in the midst of his own death. Jesus shows this type of compassion to us daily.

Here is the lesson for today: Here were three things Jesus said in his last days. Each of them focused on someone else! It would have been easy to simply focus on himself and his last days, but instead he showed compassion, forgiveness, and assured them of their salvation! He offers that to you today. Are you willing to accept Christ’s compassion, forgiveness and salvation?

choose now whom you will follow.

3/12/2012

Have you ever been following someone that you shouldn’t have been? I lived in a suburb of St Paul, MN for about seven years. My family and I lived in the southeast suburbs and my work was north of the Twin Cities. I had a forty minute commute to get to work. All but about five miles were interstate. The traffic was sporadic, but for the most part, I was on the road before there were any major backups. But, you learn to anticipate the bottlenecks. So, when I got near a typical bottleneck in Maplewood, I just stayed behind a large truck that obviously was caught behind traffic. Yet, the left lane was zooming by me. After many minutes when by following this big truck, I finally decided to try my attempt at passing in rush hour traffic. Only to find out that there was zero traffic ahead of the large truck. I was following something that was setting the pace 15 miles below the speed limit! I couldn’t believe it!

            In winter, we are told not to follow tire tracks, because they could lead you right into the ditch! We are to be careful who we follow in life too! If we follow the wrong thing, we may get lead down the wrong path. When Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:13, he taught us this line “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” This simple verse reminds us to follow Jesus because he is not going to trick us. God isn’t like the stores that practice bait and switch where they lure us in with a sale that sells out quick only to get us to buy something more expensive. God won’t lead us into a ditch…

            God has provided the Bible for us to follow. We are to follow his leading. When you learn to follow Jesus’ teachings, he will deliver you from evil and he will lead you down paths of righteousness. Not for HIS sake, but for yours! That is a beautiful thing. God is not hidden somewhere and you have to find him…NO! He is knocking on the door of your heart and you need to let him in and let him lead you today!

            Here is your lesson for today: Who or what are you following? Is it slowing you down? Is this person going to lead you in the wrong direction? Jesus taught us to pray for God to lead us and deliver us from evil. That should be our prayer today!

Bread of Life.

3/7/2012

Have you ever known someone for a short time, but it felt like you have known them for a lifetime? Somehow they were a missing piece of the puzzle of your life? Then maybe they move or even pass away. They are no longer with you. If you would have known that…maybe you would have changed your conversations. Maybe you wouldn’t have talked about petty things; instead you would have gotten to deep meaningful conversations from the start.

John 6:35 says “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Here Jesus is explaining that HE is very manna from heaven. It took his Jewish listeners back in their history when they were begging God for something to eat and God provided manna (bread) from heaven! Jesus is the only person, the only thing that fill our desires; he is the only one that can quench our thirst. So, now imagine the disciples... Jesus worked with them for three years. Three years really isn’t that long when standing next to a lifetime. So, Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and then pours his life into them. He knew his lifetime would end abruptly, but they didn’t. Since he knew, he didn’t waste his time on petty things. He was intentional about making a lesson out of ordinary things of life. Jesus wanted to change his disciple’s life. I would say he was successful. After all, he is the “Bread of Life”.

Even though Jesus hinted at the fact that he would leave the Earth early, they were still picturing the day that he would establish an earthly kingdom and sit on the royal throne and rule. But, if they would have known that their time was only three years together, would they have done things differently? After all, this was the man that was our very sustenance. Would they have asked more questions? Would they have spent all their time with him? Would they have betrayed him or fallen asleep in Gethsemane or would they have argued over who would sit at his right hand or would they have questioned why allowed perfume to be poured on him? Obviously these questions are rhetorical and we don’t need to bother going in depth trying to find the answer. Rather, we should ask ourselves the same questions.

So, here is the lesson for today: We don’t know how long we have on this earth. Are we spending our time on meaningful things or are we wasting our time on frivolous things? Are we soaking up the teachings of Christ in order to live an abundant life? When we lean on Jesus for our understanding, we can’t go wrong because he is the Bread of Life.

preparations.

3/5/2012

Forty days…what is it about 40 days! Genesis 6-8 records the forty days of rain the flooded the earth. Exodus 24:18 records the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai. Luke 4:1-13 tells of the forty days Jesus lived in the desert being tempted by Satan and subsequently beginning his ministry. Then there is Acts 1:3 that reminds us that Jesus spent 40 days visiting his followers after the resurrection. There is something holy about 40 if no other reason than God seemed to use this number of days to get through to people.

So, it should be no surprise that the church today will often set aside forty days of preparation in order to allow God to do something special inside each of us. So, here we stand looking at Easter about a month away. We could choose to simply wait it out and suddenly be surprised by Easter. Or we could begin a journey to the cross. Some of you may have started that 40 day journey on Ash Wednesday. While not all churches observe Lent, it is a great idea to prepare for one of the most precious holidays on the Christian calendar…Easter.

I want to encourage you today to begin a journey to the cross. Although we are to celebrate Easter every Sunday by worshipping the risen Christ, Easter is once a year that we focus even more on the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. You can either let it come and go or prepare yourself for something great!

The lesson for today is to prepare for Easter. Begin now by praying for God to reveal how you might get closer to him. Get into the word on a regular basis. Take a day to fast from food or media and use that time to spend quietly with God. The more time you spend with God, the more special Easter will become.