June 29, 2022
Hello Advent Family,
Have you ever noticed that the economy of God is vastly different from ours? We want everyone to get what they deserve except when it comes to us. We want the grace and blessing that God offers us even though we do not deserve it. Jesus tells a parable to illustrate God’s economy to us all in Matthew 20. Let’s look at it together today.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
This doesn’t seem to fit with our sense of fairness. The reality is that a denarius was more than a fair wage for a full day’s work. The workers were not complaining that they didn’t receive fair treatment but that others received more than they deserved. In God’s economy of grace that is the way things work. We all receive far more than we deserve. We deserve punishment and receive the riches of eternal life. Let’s be a people who embrace that grace and share the wealth!
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June 28, 2022
Have you ever noticed that it is times when you are in your greatest need that you lean most heavily on God? We may know that we should lean on Him always and we may even do well at that for a season. Those times when we are at our end we seem to really rely upon God. When we recognize that we are always in great need of God we tend to do better in our relationship with Him and with others. Jesus has an encounter with a man who is interested in God but does not recognize his need for Him. Let’s look at it together today.
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The man’s problem was not his wealth. His problem was that he thought he was good enough for God on his own merit. When Jesus asked him to sell what he had and follow Him it wasn’t about the money. It was about what we rely upon. Do we rely upon our own strength, wealth, power, and success? Jesus’ point is that when we rely upon ourselves and do not recognize our need for God it truly is tough to find Him. May God give us all a fresh sense of our need for Him so that we may rely upon Him every day!
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June 27, 2022
I believe that Matthew 18 is one of the most important passages in scripture for the life of the church. Dealing with conflict is such an important skill and Matthew 18 sets out a precedent for how to do it appropriately. Let’s look at it together today.
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
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June 24, 2022
Hello Advent Family,
I love the story of the transfiguration in Matthew 17. My favorite part is verse 4 and Peter’s ridiculous statement. He had seen Jesus calm storms at His word, feed 5,000 people with a little bread and a few fish, heal people, turn water into wine and so much more. Peter says to Jesus despite all of this that it is good that he is there with Jesus so he can build a shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Let’s look at the story together today.
Pastor Dave
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June 23, 2022
Hello Advent Family,
Have you ever had to give up something you really cared about for something more important? There are always circumstances in life where we have to deny things that we want for things that are even more important. Jesus calls us to this type of a life and talks about it with His disciples in Matthew 16. Let’s look at it together today.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
I remember once being offered 3rd row sideline Miami Heat tickets to a playoff game (during the big 3 era) only to find out it was the day we left for a mission trip. I remember briefly feeling a sense of loss but ultimately knowing what a blessing the trip was going to be. In fact in my life I know that while we are all called to take up our cross for Jesus I have certainly received much more in blessings from my faith journey than loss in “things” I have given up. I have a Pastor friend who always says that if your faith life doesn’t hurt occasionally you aren’t doing it right. Jesus calls us to life of flipping our priorities around. Possessions, power, prestige, job success, wealth… all of those things are fine and good but Jesus is calling us to pursue lives of purpose, love, serving, and telling others about Him. God may bless us with all of the other things along the way but our goal is His goal – to share His love with the world.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
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June 22, 2022
Hello Advent Family,
How do you feel about rules? For the Pharisees, the religious laws and rules were their bread and butter. They loved to hold the rules over others heads and felt superior because they “knew” the law better than anyone else. Jesus came onto the scene and they felt threatened and wanted to trap Him. Jesus didn’t want to get rid of the law He simply wanted to get the the heart of the matter. He also wanted everyone to understand their need for God. For the Pharisees the law was their God. Let’s look at a parable in Matthew 15 He teaches to the disciples and also for the benefit of the Pharisees to teach them this lesson.
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
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June 21, 2022
Sometimes it seems like Peter gets a bad rap. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he certainly puts his foot in his mouth a good bit and definitely makes mistakes. He does at least act though. He never sits back and watches the action, he is always an active participant. Let’s look at one such occasion in Matthew 14 together today.
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”29 “Come,” he said.Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter may fall down into the water but I don’t see any of the other disciples getting out of the boat. It’s not like there are 11 other guys standing there next to Jesus on top of the water. They are sitting there afraid of the storm in the security of the boat. What they don’t realize is that it’s safer with Jesus on the water than it is inside the boat. Peter does the right thing by leaving the boat and walking to Jesus. Like many of us Peter sees the “winds” of life and gets afraid and loses sight of Jesus. The thing is the storms of life aren’t nearly as bad when our gaze is fixed on Jesus. It’s when we lose that focus that life can get overwhelming. Jesus reaches out and grabs Peter and steps into the boat and immediately the winds are calmed. We could all use a little more of Peter’s spirit to step out of the boat in faith and fix our gaze on Jesus.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
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June 20, 2022
Matthew 13 is an interesting chapter in the Bible. It is filled with several different parables where Jesus teaches through stories. Perhaps the most famous is the parable of the sower. Let’s look at it together today.
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
I have always been fascinated by the way Jesus teaches. Sometimes He is very straightforward and others He almost seems to hide the message. In this case He comes back around and explains the parable later in the chapter but to me the real message is not the response to to the scattered seed, but rather, the work of the sower. Our job is to scatter the seed. We are told to spread the message of the gospel wherever we go in life. Told to share the love of Jesus with the world. Our job or responsibility is not the response of others. In fact our “success” in our job is not others response. We are simple told to share the message. The results are up to God. This sort of takes the pressure off of us in our role. We want to be faithful and share the message in the best way that we can but the Bible is clear that if we don’t share the message even the rocks will cry out. I think we can all do a better job than a rock! (although if a rock spoke I certainly would listen). Today be encouraged to share the love of Jesus with others and know that He is responsible for the results.
Pastor Dave
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June 17, 2022
Have you ever been in a situation where you were faced with a choice and you had competing values guiding your decision? Maybe you wanted to help someone but that was going to keep you from doing something else important. Often we are faced with a choice where both options seem important based on what we value. Or maybe it’s the other side of the equation you have two choices and don’t like either. We live in a world that can face us with complicated situations often. The Pharisees tried to trick Jesus into several situations like this in order to be able to bring charges against Him. Let’s look at one such situation today in Matthew 12.
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
One of the best things to guide us when we have tough choices with competing values is the idea of first principles. What are the first principles that guide our life that are above all else? Jesus helped us with this when He summed up the law by saying to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That is the first principle that He uses in the above situation. Obviously the Sabbath is important to Jesus. It is one of the 10 Commandments. Yet, loving people is a first principle, one that would reign above Sabbath law. Whenever I am in a situation that seems to have competing values I always try to rely on first principles to decide a path. I have found that to be extremely helpful over time. Thanks to Jesus for His example of how to live that out.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
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June 16, 2022
Have you ever been really tired. Maybe in your college days pulling an all nighter to study for an exam. Perhaps after some very difficult work and you are just drained. Maybe you have been just emotionally exhausted after several tough things. I think, often spiritual and emotional exhaustion can be the most difficult to overcome. When you are tired or physically exhausted you simple get some rest and your body recovers. Emotional and spiritual exhaustion is a little bit different, there is often work that must be done to overcome it. Jesus tells us to “rest” in Him at times like this. Let’s look at His words together in Matthew 11.
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It’s interesting that Jesus’ answer to overcoming weariness is to take on a yoke. A yoke was used to pull incredibly heavy things or plow fields. This means to take on more work in the midst of our weariness. Yet, the work Jesus is describing actually fills our emotional and spiritual tanks. Anyone who has ever been on a short term mission trip can tell you that while they may have worked hard they come home refreshed spiritually not drained. When we find ourselves spiritually weary we should take the advice of Jesus, “rest” in Him and serve others in love. When we do that we just may find that this work actually refreshes us instead of draining us.
In His Grip,
Pastor Dave
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