May 27, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Being Covenant Keepers from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

We are a nation, a community and families based on keeping covenants. The nation promises to protect us and govern us justly in return the people give their loyalty. Employers promise good wages in exchange for the employee’s promise to labor diligently. The same is true between husbands and wives and also parents and children. Being faithful to the covenants we make is essential to a functioning society. When covenant order breaks down, God is grieved. He has made covenants to us that He will never break, and given us the picture of marriage as the picture for the relationship between Jesus and the Church. Join us this Sunday at 8:45 as we continue in our study of the Book of Malachi as we look at “Being a Covenant Keeper” in Malachi 2 verses 10 to 16.

Word On Worship – May 27, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 2:16
“I hate divorce,” says the LORD God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the LORD Almighty.
So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

In our study in the Book of Malachi over the last couple of weeks we have looked at how, in application of this Old Testament truth, the church is to function today as a light in this dark world, as salt in this dead earth. But we have also seen, just as the people in Malachi’s day experienced, awful indifference and apathy in the lives of believers today. We live in a day of little passion and even less power among God’s people! Even though we are New Testament priests, we find that we are not living up to the charge that God has given to us. I ask again, in all that we are experiencing in the church today, is God not disciplining us and chastening us, because we have allowed the world in which we live to push us into its mold?

The specific question and application here today is: have we become so like the world in our family life, like those in Malachi’s day, that God’s purpose in choosing and saving us to be a witness has been jeopardized? We need to remember there is a reason why God chose us and saved us and set us apart. If we are following the ways, lifestyle and attitude of the world, there is a very real danger our light won’t shine and our salt won’t work. The reason why we were saved in the first place, to be a witness, has been jeopardized.

This has become abundantly clear in Christian marriages. Today, even believers seem to enter into it with the assumption that there is a get-out clause. God’s express purpose from the beginning is that no marriage would end in divorce. If you’re here today and your marriage is on the rocks, remember all of us have problems, and you’re no any different. As far as is possible, persevere and don’t give up to the spirit of the age. What is the spirit of the age, you ask. The spirit of the age tells us our personal happiness is what determines our willingness to honor the covenants we have made. That’s the spirit of the age. A Christian ought never to start that process prematurely. It has been said that when the doors on a marriage are shut and bolted, and a fire breaks out, all your time and energy goes to putting out the flames.

Are the doors of your marriage bolted and shut as a Christian?  Decide to make your vows before God a covenant in His presence, and stop looking for a fire escape. Decide you will make this work, no matter how difficult things are. If anything, one of the reasons why we have a lukewarmness in the church today is that Christians are too easily running — for every reason — for a divorce. What does it do to the testimony of Jesus Christ? God says: ‘I am the LORD, I change not’ and He still hates divorce.

May 20, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

The Blessing of the Successful Ministry of the Word from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

We have all turned on the TV or opened the internet and heard the news of the latest minister of some church who has morally failed and brought disgrace to the Church and to ministry they have devoted themselves. With each sordid revelation, many, even in the church begin to question the relevancy of the Church and raise questions in their own heart and mind about the whole Christian enterprise. God takes the failure of His ministers very seriously and desires to wake all of us up to the curse of ministerial failure. But the heart of God is for His ministers to find success in His purpose for the ministry of the Word. Join us Sunday as we resume our study in the Book of Malachi and examine the "Successful Ministry of the Word" in our second look at Malachi 2 verses 1 to 9. We look forward to worshiping with you this week.

Word On Worship – May 20, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 2:4-5
“Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.”

 It was no light thing to be a priest in the Old Testament. It was a gracious gift of God through His covenant with Levi. There is no order of priests making sacrifice, in the Old Testament sense, today. Because of grace, this has been done away with and superseded by Jesus Christ. In fact we find in the New Testament that we are the priesthood of all believers, and we are to worship God by bringing spiritual sacrifices to God. We are to bring our body, our substance, our financial giving, and our praise to God as our sacrifice.

In Malachi, we find the priests of Levi have corrupted the covenant God has made with them. God says: ‘This is my judgment upon you: I will curse your blessings’. There was no curse in the blessing God gave to the priests initially, blessings they inherited as descendants of Levi. They brought about the curse by their disobedient ways, which meant the blessings they would make over the people would be cursed also. As they ministered to the people, they would minister a curse! In Deuteronomy 28, God told the people of Israel very clearly what would happen if they didn’t obey His word. Instead of Israel being a light unto the Gentiles and a blessing to the whole world, God said that He would turn their blessings into a curse. I’m asking the question: is it possible that God’s people today, as the church of Jesus Christ, is more of a hindrance to the world around it than a help? Is it possible? Yes, I would say it’s more than possible, it’s probable.

God still looks for obedience to bless. I believe the weight of the message is the cry of Malachi to his own priestly people: how do you fare in comparison to your forefathers, Levi and Phinehas? How do we measure up? The priests of Malachi’s day were weighed in the balance and found wanting. I’m asking us today, how do we compare with our forefathers? What have we done with the privileges that we have because of their faithful endurance? They have passed down the charge of the Gospel to us, but what have we done with it?

What’s the solution? It’s found in 1 Corinthians 11:31, Paul said: ‘For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged’. In other words, we are to analyze our hearts, search and see if there are any wicked ways in us. My prayer for myself is that I would see that my life is now dictating, word for word, into Christ’s lips what He is going to say to me on the Day of Judgment! I am writing it now, with my life! It was George Whitefield who rightly said, “O that I could always live for eternity, preach for eternity, pray for eternity and speak for eternity”. May we all live in the light of eternity beginning with today!

May 13, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Mother’s Day 2012: How to Find Your Boaz from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

This Sunday for Mother’s Day we are taking a break in our study in the Book of Malachi to celebrate the women in our lives. Don’t make Mother’s Day the only day you respect and honor the godly women in your life. This Sunday we will see what we the Bible has to say about “Treating Our Women Like Ladies” from the story of Ruth and Boaz in the Book of Ruth. Join us Sunday at 8:45 for a time of honor and fellowship. And FYI, no Sunday School this week. Take the time to honor the women in your lives and treat mom like a lady!

Word On Worship – May 13, 2012 Download / Print

Ruth 3:10-12
“The LORD bless you, my daughter,” Boaz replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character.”

Mother’s Day is when we celebrate the dedicated service by women of noble character who have earned the title Mom. While Mother’s Day is an annual awards banquet for those who are essential to the daily operation of families, I wonder if we have forgotten how to train our children to be women of noble character in order to become mothers worthy of honor and respect. Just as important, young men need to be trained to recognize a woman of noble character and how they need to prepare themselves for marriage with such an honorable woman.

First, understand that the decisions you make before you consider marriage will affect who you do marry. Ruth made the decision before meeting Boaz that following God was the most important decision she could ever make. She decided to follow the God of Israel, which prevented her from staying in her own land where she would only find men who worshipped false gods. Her decision to follow God paved the way for her to meet a righteous mate when the time came.

Second, she strived for godly character in herself and then associated herself with others who shared her passion for godly character. Through her obedience and care for her mother-in-law, Ruth demonstrated her desire for godly character through God’s strength. Godly character is attractive to people who strive for godly character. The quickest shortcut to disaster is for people to choose superficial compatibility with those who enjoy the same pastimes, make a good living, or treat them well when they compromise their holiness. Instead, seek the deepest levels of spiritual compatibility, not compromise. Look for others with a passion for God and His people and make your associations there.

Third, run and don’t walk to the nearest exit when you see the “all about me” mindset in a potential mate. It is never all about another person; it is always about God and the fulfillment of His purposes and promises. Anyone who focuses on their needs to the exclusion of others is destined for despair. When our focus is on His purposes and promises, we are released from being a hostage to performance love, the kind that dictates devotion and affection conditioned on compromise and isolation from the Body of Christ.

Ruth and Boaz are the picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church. Boaz is the provider and the protector of his bride. This allows Ruth to be an example of a woman under the gracious protection and care of the Sovereign God, which will cause her to be a mother worthy of praise and true honor. If this Mother’s Day you have not trusted in the saving work of Jesus Christ on your behalf, I urge you to trust Him today. He paid the price with His blood so that you might be called righteous in Him. Come to Him today.

May 6, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

The Curse of Ministerial Failure from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Do you know what pastor does? Is it just preparing sermons? Visiting the sick? Praying for the needs of people? When the church does not understand pastoral ministry, it can be easy to allow the leadership of the church to stray from their calling and obligation to God and to the church. That what Malachi had to correct, because the priests of Israel had been derelict in their duties and careless in their worship. Join us this Sunday morning as we continue in our study of the Book of Malachi in Malachi 2 verses 1 to 9 as we examine failure in the ministry and how the Church can avoid "The Curse of Ministerial Failure".

Word On Worship – May 6, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 2:1-2
“And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.”

The prophet Malachi brought to the people of Israel the symptoms of spiritual bankruptcy from God’s perspective. Malachi was the messenger but God was stating His case directly to the people. The Israelite’s insensitivity to God’s love and carelessness in worship had made them lukewarm in their faith. The power had left their relationship with the Lord to such an extent they believed they were pulling the wool over the eyes of God with impunity. They could offer God their leftovers and He was some how obligated to continue to bless them because of His covenants.

Malachi referred them back to the time Israel was on the verge of entering the Promised Land. The Canaanite kings turned to Balaam, offering him tremendous wealth if he would only curse the people of Israel. Balaam agreed to the request with the one caveat, that he could only do what the Lord allowed him to do. Three times Balaam approached the Lord as to what he would be allowed to do. And each time the curse he wanted to proclaim came out as a blessing for Israel leaving Balack the king of Moab to tell him in Numbers 23:11-12 “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them!” Balaam answered, “Must I not speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

It is a wonderful thing to know that God can turn the curses of an enemy into blessings for His people. But have we given any consideration that God, considering how His people behave, can turn their blessings into curses? Nothing in God’s Word fails, not one smallest letter or stroke until all has been accomplished. There are many blessings the Church has inherited which are gifts from God. But God can also take those blessings when His people forsake Him and turn them into curses to discipline His people. We need to understand when we show contempt for God, especially we who should know better; the punishment will fit the crime.

God still looks for obedience to bless. But the thing which has pierced my heart is how do I measure up? It is easy to see the failure of obedience in others; the priests in Malachi’s day were weighed in the balance and found wanting. But how do we compare? We accept the sacrifice made by those who came before us because we are better off for their faithfulness. Yet the price we have paid for our comfortable Christianity is far smaller than the price they paid for their faithfulness. Would we recognize we have lost God’s smile or are we too blind to see it?

April 29, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

The Curse of Careless Worship from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

What do you do to prepare for your day? Do you prepare for a business meeting you have on your schedule? Take time to check you appearance in the mirror? Pay attention to the TV show you are watching so you can discuss it with your friends around the water cooler? Take time to study for that test that is coming up? We all do things to prepare for the events of our day. So what did you do to prepare for church? Did you read the passage ahead of time? Did you show up on time to worship? Were you spending more time thinking about what you would do after the service than what you were doing in the service? Join us in our heart challenging study in the Book of Malachi as we continue in chapter 1 verses 6 to 14 and examine “The Curse of Careless Worship”. May our time cause us to rethink how we enter into worship.

Word On Worship – April 29, 2012 Download / Print

April 22, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Think of your own life…. when did you ask the question (because we all do at some time in our lives), "How have you loved me?" Was it after you got bad news from the doctor, or when you were let go from a job, or even today as you look at your life situation? "God, how have you loved me?" God was asked that question by Israel as they had become complacent and self sufficient. God's answer to Israel was something they never expected, and something we don't expect either unless we are willing to RESET our hearts. Join us Sunday morning as we continue our study in the Book of Malachi as we look at Malachi 1 verses 1 to 5 in "How Deep the Father's Love for Us"

Word On Worship – April 22, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 1:2-3
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” the LORD says. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Every one of us asks the question in our heart at some point. It is not necessarily a statement of anger or resentment; usually it is a heart question so deep inside we are afraid to admit even to ourselves: God, how have you loved me? I believe there is more than a little of that in all of us. You may be here this morning and your life is in such disarray that you stand with the Israelites and ask: “How have you loved me God?”

God has loved you with an unconditional love. God’s love for Israel is the same as His love for us — an act of pure grace. “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers.” (Deut 7:7-8). We, too, are a rebellious and a hard people, yet He loves them because He chose to love them and He loves us because He chose to love us. Jacob had done nothing to prove he was more worthy of the love God when God elected to love him over Esau. With no one to twist God’s arm, God decided of His own sovereign will to love the people He made his covenant.

And God has loved you with an everlasting love. “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” (Jer 31:3) In Isaiah 49:16 God tells the people of Israel, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” God tells Israel that only when the sun ceases to rise and the moon and stars cease to shine by night will He forget His covenant of love with Israel. God made a covenant of love with Abraham, and confirmed that covenant with Isaac and with Jacob out of grace — and purposed it for eternity.

But Israel asked how had God loved them? If you love us God, prove it! Where is the evidence? How easy is it for us to fall into the same trap? Malachi’s oracle speaks to our easy going, nominal Christianity just as it spoke to Israel in his day. You may be here this morning thinking God has neglected you, forgotten you in your turmoil and depression. Maybe the enemy is whispering in your ear about the disaster your life has become and raising the issue of where are the promises of God now? Today God is calling to you for renewal, to reset your heart and refresh your relationship with Him. Immerse yourself in the eternal, never-changing love of God for you. God chose you by grace, and shed the precious blood of His own Son to redeem you. The ball is in your court. So how will you respond to the question of God’s love?

April 15, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Why Study Malachi? from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

RESET your heart
REBOOT your worship
REFRESH your relationship with the Lord
Join us this Sunday as we begin our study in the Book of Malachi, a message from God to His people to RESET, REBOOT and REFRESH their hearts and pursue their God with excellence.

Word On Worship – April 15, 2012 Download / Print

Malachi 1:1-2a
“An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the LORD …”

Though Malachi is only four short chapters long — in the Hebrew Bible it’s only three chapters — it has much to say to the social, political, and religious compromise in both Malachi’s age and our time today. Originally written some 2,500 years ago, the message for us now is contemporary and equally convicting.

Malachi simply means my messenger. Other scholars prefer to translate it as my angel, but of course the word for angel and messenger are the same. What I find interesting is that we don’t find the name Malachi anywhere in scripture outside of this book of prophecy. Some believe it’s even the surname of one particular prophet. In fact, Malachi at the beginning of this book doesn’t name his father, which many other prophets do, to give us an idea where he came from and who he is. For that reason, some scholars believe that Malachi is not a proper name at all, rather a descriptive term. Nevertheless, I think it will be clear as we go through this study that Malachi was an individual person. Although he is not considered the last Old Testament prophet — John the Baptist was the last — Malachi is the last prophet to write Old Testament scripture.

I think what the Holy Spirit is really telling us is simply that God wants to communicate the most important thing, the message, and not the messenger. It would do us all well to remember that Malachi’s chief concern was his faithfulness delivering God’s message rather than his personal fame.

As we study this little book, in the weeks ahead, let us receive what the Lord is saying to our hearts as His people in this age. As Israel had lost touch with God, Malachi’s message was simply this: whatever changes in the world, whatever changes among His people, whether they be Israel or the New Testament church, whatever changes in your transitory life, God never changes!

April 8, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

He’s Alive! Resurrection Sunday 2012 from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

The end of the Gospel of Mark is not a favorite passage for Easter services. It raises many questions among believers. So is the case to ignore the resurrection account in Mark air tight? I don’t think so. Mark may not have the ending you expected, but there is much for us to consider. Join our Resurrection Sunday service in Mark 16.

Word On Worship – April 8, 2012 Download / Print

John 20:17-18
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.'” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that He had said these things to her.

The resurrection is the testimony of when the impossible meets the God of the universe to whom all things are possible. It looked impossible to be able to secure the body from the Roman government to prepare it for burial. It looked impossible to find a burial place for Jesus before the sun went down. And once the body of our Lord was discovered missing, there seemed to be no possible way to recover it. For John, there was only one unavoidable conclusion — God raised Jesus from the dead. Every detail was orchestrated by God, at just the right time, and in just the right way, so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled.

This was not a conclusion based on the Lord’s prophecies, which John and the other disciples had forgotten. John believed in the resurrection of Jesus because there was no other explanation. The disciples believed because the evidence was compelling, and that is the way God wanted it to be. The open and empty tomb was compelling evidence. No longer was there a large stone sealing the tomb, gone was the Roman seal upon the stone and the Roman guard at the tomb scattered in fear at the sight of angels. The vacant tomb was proof that the claim of our Lord to be the Messiah, the King of the Jews was true.

The resurrection is the foundation of Christianity. If Jesus was not raised from the dead then we are deceived beyond everyone else. Saving faith is resurrection faith. As Christians, we do not believe in the resurrection because we feel obligated to do so. We believe in the resurrection because it is true, and there is no other reasonable explanation for the events which we find described in the Gospels or in the rest of the Bible. This event turned the disciples sorrow to joy, their weakness to strength, and the fears into boldness and courage. That is the power of the resurrection.

The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves us from our sins and the penalty of death. Have you trusted in Him, in His death on the cross of Calvary for your sins, and His resurrection from the dead, so that you may have eternal life? Let me invite you to do so this very minute. May the truth of the resurrection be a turning point in your life, to His glory and your eternal gain!

April 1, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

Dealing with Life’s Thorns from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

Pain. No four letter word causes so many questions about the love of God and His plans for our lives. Every one of knows it is a part of life and every one of us will experience it at some time in our life. But the question that hides behind the word pain is “why”? Join us Sunday as we look at “Dealing with the Thorns of Life” and see what the Bible has to say about dealing with pain in our lives as we look at 2 Corinthians 12 verses 2 to 10.

Word On Worship – April 1, 2012 Download / Print

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I am often asked why some godly Christians are not blessed by God for their righteousness as He promised. There are several answers to this question, but there is a clear answer Paul provides in this passage: if God were to bless us according to our works, the blessings would not be very impressive. But when we are weak, God deals with us on the basis of grace. Grace deals abundantly in our lives, according to God’s generosity, rather than in response to our merit.

Many will promise God’s blessings now based on your righteous acts and even more often on your giving. True servants of Jesus are willing to suffer now for Christ’s sake and patiently wait for God to deal with them graciously in their time of weakness. Those who measure blessing with the ruler of self righteous acts hate grace because for them it is a form of charity, something which is not flattering to the one who is blessed. Grace gives the one blessed no grounds for boasting, other than Christ, the source of all blessings.

So then is prayer the answer? If we get enough people to pray for us or come to God with enough faith as we pray, can we get God to remove the “thorn” from our flesh? I think Paul would give us a different answer. Paul does not demand Satan be bound or that the devil depart from him. He pleads with the Lord to remove the thorn and when that petition is declined, Paul accepts God’s promise of grace. God’s grace is sufficient, and His power is perfected in Paul’s weakness. Our prayer life is truly the outward measure of our sense of self-sufficiency, apart from God’s grace and power. In prayer we see just how dependent we are on God’s grace,

So what is your thorn in the flesh? Each one of us has at least one. It may be that the very thing you most want to be rid of in your life is what God wants you to have. It may be that the trial you see as an excuse for ministry actually is the key to the ministry God wants you to have. I urge you to take inventory of your life and consider the thorns in your flesh. And then ask God to use those thorns in your life to manifest His grace and power, to His glory and for your good.

March 25, 2012 – Read the Word on Worship

The Good Life from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

What is the “Good Life”? It is having a home? Going on vacation? Having a credit car not already maxed out? Everyone has a different idea what makes the good life the good life. But there is one person who is uniquely qualified to tell us what makes life good. He is the one who had it all, did it all, and tried it all- Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. Join us Sunday morning for a look at various texts from the book of Ecclesiastes as we look at “The Good Life” as God intended it to be,

Word On Worship – March 25, 2012 Download / Print

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
“Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him — for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.”

Any discussion of what is “the good life” has to be understood in terms of our worldview. Let me try to explain the distinction between the Christian and the secular worldview by giving you a concrete example. Cathy Christian and Steve Secular are friends and co-workers, but they hold very different views of the world. Cathy believes there is a God and He exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Cathy believes we can know God because He has revealed Himself through His creation, through Scripture, and most of all in the person of Jesus Christ. Steve believes that if there is a God, there is no way to know if God is involved in the world. For Steve, the idea of “God” is speculation.

The implications for both worldviews are infinite, since their assumptions determine how Cathy and Steve will live their lives and determine what in their estimation is right and what is wrong. For Cathy Christian, absolute right and absolute wrong are knowable through the Bible. For Steve Secular what is right and wrong are relative to each person and situation. Now this does not mean Steve has no sense of morality or personal value system to base and evaluate his decisions. It simply means for Steve the “rightness” of a behavior or a decision is not determined in the Bible but from personal interpretation relative to his experience and core values.

These distinctions between Cathy and Steve illustrate a person’s worldview: the nature of God, of the world around them and the connection between the two. There may even be some overlap in their perspective on what is “good” and what is “bad.” They can both agree stealing is wrong because that conclusion agrees with Cathy’s Biblical worldview and Steve’s humanistic world view. And they will agree on many other things as well. But the central point of world views is this: if we want to influence the people around us, we need to know what drives our opinions and decisions and what does not. Is our world view based on what God has revealed in Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ — or is our world view based on something else? In that way we can live the exhortation of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3:15 “Always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”