A report from Mercy Hill Church, and exposition of Colossians 1:9-14. This message by guest preacher, Rev. Steve Harden was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, April 17, 2011.
How can you pray for us at Mercy Hill?
Gospel of John #22: An exposition of John 8:12-20. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 17, 2011.
Intro:
It was a bold announcement and it made a some folks uncomfortable. They were wondering what they had gotten themselves into. They made a beeline to me immediately after church. “Do you know what your son did?” It was our first Sunday at the church and he was in the nursery! “No, what did he do?” “It was during play time he stood in the middle of the nursery and shouted, ‘Belly up to the bar boys, drinks are on me.’” I apologized and said, “That’s my fault, I shouldn’t take him with me.” Fortunately everyone had a good laugh and I explained he loved watching the Davy Crocket videos and that was a scene from Mike Fink: Riverboat Captain. But ever since I’ve been leery of public statements. They can be inflammatory. They can lead to misunderstanding. Then again they can be a straightforward declaration of eternal truth.
It was during the “Feast of Booths.” He had already made one great pronouncement. Interrupting the water ceremony he declared, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” That pronouncement caused quite a bit of controversy. The religious establishment already sought to arrest him. They were determined to be rid of the trouble-making Galilean. Now, days later, he is at it again. This time he is in the temple treasury which is in the Court of Women. It is here the people come to pay their temple tax. There are 13 large vessels labeled for the various taxes. It was a crowded area especially during this mandatory feast. It was here in the treasury the 2nd great ceremony of the feast took place. It was called, The Illumination of the Temple. The ceremony featured four large candelabra. Every evening the torches would be lit, the temple orchestra would play and righteous men would dance before the flames until dawn. The light from the torches filled the temple and spilled out into the city of Jerusalem. It was a glorious sight. It was meant to symbolize the pillar of fire that led the Israelites during their wilderness wandering. It was here, before the charred candelabra, that Jesus boldly declared, “I am the light of the world.” Our text this morning is found in John’s Gospel chapter 8 beginning at verse 12.
Text: John 8:12-20
Booths or Tabernacles is the most popular of the 3 mandatory feasts.
It was in celebration of the grape and olive harvests but also commemorated the wilderness wandering.
Two rituals were at the heart of the celebration.
The first – drawing water from the Pool of Siloam signified the water from the rock in the wilderness. (Recount the ritual) This symbolized life and God’s gracious provision.
The second was called The Illumination of the Temple which I described earlier.
What is clear from our text is this…
Thesis: Submission to Christ grants the believer spiritual light while the rejection of Christ dooms the unbeliever to spiritual darkness.
Life and death; light and darkness are themes that run throughout John’s Gospel. This statement in verse 12 is unmistakeable. Given the location and context of this statement you would have to work at not understanding it. This is a bold public declaration of deity. The days of “laying low” are over. He had begun his march to the cross. I want to point out just two things as we look at verses 12-20.
Conclusion:
Jesus is the light of the world and you will find light in him or you will not find light at all. To submit to Christ is to enter into light. To reject him is to be plunged into eternal darkness. I plead with you – come to the light.
1 Corinthians #18: An exposition of 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, April 10, 2011.
Intro:
I’m sure it is something that all the fallen children of Adam struggle with, but I think it is a more intense struggle for Western believers especially American Christians. We’re a fairly stubborn, independent bunch. Add to that we are Baptists and it just gets worse. We are big on freedom and not too keen on responsibility. We like to demand our rights but are not always concerned about those whose rights are trampled. Like spoiled children we tend to pout when we don’t get our way. All that is so foreign to what the Scripture demands of us. Yes there is freedom in Christ. A glorious, wonderful freedom but it’s not without limits. We are not free to do as we please. We’ve been granted freedom not license. I’m comforted by the fact we are not the only ones who struggle with what Christian liberty is all about. It’s been a problem within the church from the beginning. Paul’s been talking about it for two and a half chapters already and tonight we will consider the second half of that third chapter. Our text is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1
Paul told the Galatian believers, “It is for the sake of freedom that Christ has set us free.”
He insisted that they not allow themselves to be subject to a yoke of bondage.
But Christian liberty always carries with it responsibility.
In Chapter 8 we are reminded that Christian liberty is limited by love.
In Chapter 9 Paul gives a personal example concerning how he limited his own freedom.
In the first part of chapter 10 Paul warns of the danger of abuse on our own souls.
Now he comes to sum up his message on freedom.
I would sum up his message in this way…
Thesis: While there is incredible freedom in the Gospel, the mature believer is not enamored with his rights, rather he is captivated by the glory of God.
We are not to be protective of our rights.
We are not to demand our rights.
We are to concern ourselves with God’s glory.
Our goal, our aim is to see the name and fame of our God grow and expand.
It’s not about us – it is about Him.
It’s not our will – but His will that matters.
There are two basic points that sum up Paul’s position on this whole matter.
While there is incredible freedom in the Gospel, the mature believer is not enamored with his rights, rather he is captivated by the glory of God.
Gospel of John #21: An exposition of John 8:1-11. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 10, 2011.
Intro:
I couldn’t help myself. Passion takes over and guys just can’t control themselves. The impulse is just too strong. Little boys throw rocks. I knew it was wrong but it felt so good. I had made a beautiful shot with the first one. I picked up the second and said, “Watch this.” Everyone was gone. Suddenly I felt a tug on my right ear. I can still hear her voice, “Young man you are going to find out what happens to little boys who throw rocks at school!” I was caught. My mind was racing, trying to find some excuse, some rationale but there was nothing. I was caught. The rock was in my hand. I still remember the terror that came over me as I sat outside Mr. Layton’s office. It was documented. Mr. Layton had an electric paddle. No one knew what it looked like. I imagined some sort of harness and a table but I wasn’t sure. Folklore around Robertson Elementary told of kids who went into that office and were never seen or heard from again. But the greatest pain was the shame of being labeled, “Rock Thrower.”
Have you ever been caught? I don’t mean that you were eventually “found out,” I mean caught in the act? Caught. The very word brings embarrassment and shame. Shame is the inevitable result of being caught. When dealing with your children when they have been caught doing something that you’ve told them not to do, you have to say, “Look at me.” The last thing they want to do is look into the face of the one whose law they have just violated. But let’s move beyond a child’s shame and consider what happens when we break the law of the sovereign God and we stand before him, having been “caught in the act.” What happens then? What happens when we as “caught sinners” stand before a holy, righteous, all knowing and all powerful God? The answer may surprise you. To answer the question, I want us to consider the message of John 8:1-11. Here we find a story of failure, abuse, shame and grace.
Text: John 8:1-11
This is a “disputed” text. You may well have a note in your Bible that says something like, “The earliest manuscripts do not include John 7:53-8:11.” In biblical scholarship there are two types of criticisms directed toward the Scripture. There is “higher criticism” which focuses on the content of the Bible and “lower criticism” which seeks to reconstruct the original text of Scripture as accurately as possible. This text is disputed by they second form. The earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of John do not include this section. Further some of the language and structure differs significantly from the rest of the book. Early commentators do not refer to it. However it has long been associated with John’s Gospel. Further everything that happens in this text is consistent with what we know of Jesus and the surrounding circumstances. Thus, while it may not be part of John’s original writing, I believe it is worth dealing with and granting it biblical authority.
In this text we find the drama of redemption. We find sin, failure, wickedness, guilt and forgiveness. The drama plays out in three acts. I want us to look at each act and then draw a conclusion.
What’s the point of all this?
Thesis: The simple truth of the Gospel is that God graciously offers forgiveness and life to helpless sinners caught in the act.
Place yourself in this story.
Are you like the crowd – witnesses of forgiveness but not partakers?
Are you like the religious leaders – sins who walked away never hearing the message of forgiveness?
Are you like the woman – a hopeless, helpless sinner touched by God’s astonishing grace?
1 Corinthians #17: An exposition of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, April 3, 2011.
Intro:
Have you noticed that there is something within each of us that wants to see just how much we can get away with? And it starts so early! Now I have the sweetest, most wonderful grandchild in the world – that is without questions but even sweet miss Em shows signs of depravity! When she moves toward something she’s not supposed to have and you say, “No, Emma.” She stops looks at you. Smiles. Then goes right for it! I will admit when she does it I laugh – not exactly the same reaction as I had to my children when they did the same thing. That’s my depravity showing. My point is it is bred into us to see what we can get away with. How close can we get to it without getting in trouble? The speed limit is 55? Oh, that means they give you 60. “It’s just about quitting time. I leave at 5:00 so I start shutting down at 3:30. When I get “away with it” – it just gets worse.
The apostle Paul is talking about “freedom.” Specifically our freedom in Christ. But Christian liberty is not without limits. It is not the freedom to do as you please. According to 1 Corinthians 8 I limit my freedom out of love. My love and concern for others and their spiritual health causes me to set aside my freedom if it causes them to stumble. I will not enjoy my freedom at the expense of damaging their spiritual development. The example used in chapter 8 is that of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Now, the mature in Christ know that and idol is nothing. It is a piece of word or stoned fashioned by a man and it has no power but I’m not going to use my knowledge if it harms those who are less mature. If my eating meat causes them to suffer spiritual I’ll never eat meat again. In chapter 9 the apostle gives a personal example of how he sets aside his rights in order to further the work of the Gospel. Then in chapter 10 he attempts to show how our use of freedom might damage our own spiritual growth. Our text this evening is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
As we work our way through this text we will discover that:
Thesis: The mature believer guards against his faith in God degenerating into presumption upon God.
Israel serves a great example.
They are a reminder to us (10:6) – so that we do not repeat their mistakes.
What we have in this passage is a solemn warning.
I want to call your attention to three principles:
Gospel of John #20: An exposition of John 7:1-38. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 3, 2011.
Intro:
It was a time of great joy and celebration. The city was teeming with people. It is late September or early October. It is the “Festival of Booths,” the most popular of the three mandatory feasts of the Jews. It was a celebration of the grape and olive harvest and a way of commemorating God’s miraculous provision for His people during their wilderness wandering. All Jewish males living within a 15 mile radius of Jerusalem were required to attend the 7 day celebration. While attending they lived in “booths” or “tabernacles” built with branches. The local residents even built shelters on their rooftops or courtyards as a means of joining the festival. At the center of this celebration was a daily ritual. Each morning the priest, accompanied by the celebrants, would make his way to the Pool of Siloam from which he drew water with a golden pitcher. As the people followed, they carried a piece of fruit in their left hand (a reminder that God led them to a fruitful land) and branches from a palm tree, a willow and a myrtle (emblematic of the stages of their wilderness journey) in their right. The crowd followed the priest waving their branches and chanting various Psalms as they journeyed. As the priest dipped the pitcher into the waters of the Pool they recited Isaiah 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation!” Then the parade marched back to Jerusalem, through the Water Gate to the blast of trumpets. The priest circled the altar once and then ascended the altar and poured the water into the silver basin beside the altar to the cheers of the crowd as they shouted their praise to God.
This ritual was repeated every day with increasing excitement and drama. On the final day emotions ran high. On the 7th and final day the priest circled the altar 7 times. The shouts of the people grew more intense with each round. Finally he ascended the altar and lifted the golden pitcher. The crowd shouted, “Higher!” He lifted it higher. As he turned the pitcher to pour out the water – a man steps out from the crowd and shouts, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
A bold, dramatic, unmistakable declaration by the Lord Jesus. It begins His march to the cross and it is found in the 7th chapter of John’s Gospel.
Text: John 7:1-38
This marks a turning point in John’s Gospel.
Jesus moves his base of operations from Galilee to Judea.
The conflict and hostility intensifies.
Within 6 months He will be nailed to the cross.
We are going to look at three scenes from this chapter, each teaching us something essential about the Lord Jesus. I find it very common that people around here “believe in Jesus.” That’s great but the real question is, “Which Jesus?” When you say you believe in Jesus are you believing in the Jesus who reveals himself in Scripture? Are you believing in the Jesus of the Gospels or a Jesus of your own making?
In a day of “easy believism” and shallow, moralistic theology, we desperately need to recover these basic truths about the Jesus of the Gospels.
I want to call your attention to 3 facts from our text.
Gospel of John #19: An exposition of John 6:60-71. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, March 27, 2011.
Intro:
When I was a student at OBU I used to love to watch the Sunday afternoon program sponsored by All Souls Unitarian Church here in Tulsa. I always found the show interesting as I listened to Dr. Wolf discuss various theological topics. One show in particular stands out. I watched and listened as the learned doctor systematically picked apart every orthodox doctrine related to salvation. He scoffed at the notion of penal, substitutionary atonement. He found the notion of Jesus dying as a bloody sacrifice on the cross for our sin a repulsive idea. Of course the doctrine of Hell was nothing more than scare tactics dreamed up by medieval theologians to keep the ignorant masses in line. The notion of a bodily resurrection was pure fiction. The fascinating thing was this. After “destroying” the orthodox teaching of the church related to salvation the host asked, “But I’ve heard you speak of salvation. How do you preach salvation?” “Why, I preach it right out of the book!” The good doctor was postmodern before it was cool!
Just this past week a new book has hit the market written by a man who is considered one of the leading voices in the Evangelical church. In his book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived pastor Rob Bell raises some good and necessary questions. I’ve not read the book so I cannot draw any conclusions other than to say it is clear pastor Bell is calling into question the orthodox view of salvation. From all indications if he has not embraced a “universalist” view he is at least suggesting that there will be opportunities after death for the unbeliever to come to faith in Christ.
Add to this, the fact that the vast number of folks in our country believe there is a heaven and they are confident they are going there. Which seems to contradict the Words of Jesus who said the gate to life is narrow with few who find it while the gate to destruction is wide and many travel that path. With such divergent views, widespread confusion, and with a multitude voices it is imperative that we, as the church, speak with a clear voice the true Gospel entrusted to the church, kept safe by the power of the Spirit, anointed to bring life to those dead in trespass and sin.
After facing hostility in Judea Jesus and His followers left Judea for Galilee.
In Galilee Jesus again experienced success.
Due to His miracles great crowds once again followed, hanging on His every word.
Everywhere He went huge crowds followed.
He was the “toast of the town.”
However – as His message came clearer into focus the mood shifted.
When the crowd understood what Jesus was saying, and understood the implications…
The crowd turned ugly.
The pattern in Judea was repeated in Galilee.
In short order that crowd of 5000-15000 was down to 12!
There went the conference deals.
There would be no book contract.
Our text this morning is found in John’s Gospel, chapter 6 beginning with verse 60.
Text: John 6:60-71
As we seek to make sense of what happened in Galilee and how it relates to us today here is what I want us to remember…
Thesis: The lateness of the hour and the gravity of the subject demands that we preach the biblical doctrine of salvation.
There are things about the biblical doctrine of salvation that are not comfortable. There are things you may not like. But that does not change the truth. There are three truths related to salvation that we need to recognize in this text.
Conclusion:
Time is of the essence. The stakes are too high. We must clearly, boldly, and passionately declare the biblical doctrine of salvation. Understanding that it will give offense; yet knowing there is no alternative; and trusting if the power of the Spirit of God to convince, convict and to convert.
An exposition of Genesis 48:21. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Wednesday evening, March 9, 2011.
This Wednesday-evening Bible study by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on March 2, 2011. (My apologies for the long wait. pwh)
Sunday PM
1 Corinthians #16: An exposition of 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, March 13, 2011.
Intro:
It seems to me it is pretty clear from even a casual reading of the Scripture that we, as the church, are not called to live in isolation. We are not called to cower in a “holy huddle” and bide our time until the Lord takes us home. Our Lord commanded that we be “salt” and “light.” Both images demand that we understand our role as one that impacts the world. Light illumines and gives understanding. Salt acts as a preservative – not overturning decay but slowing it. The call is to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel” not “get your stuff and go set in the corner!” But how do we go about it? How do we accomplish the task assigned? What is to be our attitude toward the culture? Are we to battle the culture? Are we to transform the culture? Are we to ignore it? Should the church in China look like the church in Turley? Should believers in the Sudan worship the same as those in West Tulsa? The new word is “missional.” We are to be “missional Christians.” There’s even a workshop this month sponsored by our state convention on being a missional church. What does that mean? To be missional means to think and act like a missionary. When a missionary goes to a different country they spend time learning the language and observing the culture. If they are going to effectively communicate the message of the Gospel they have to know how the people of that region think. They have to be able to speak their language. They must build a bridge of understanding before they can bring the Gospel to them. We no longer live in a monolithic culture. The world has gotten much “smaller.” The world has come to us. I don’t know if you know this but Tulsa is a very multicultural city. We’ve got a large number of identifiable people groups from around the world right here. That’s one of the reasons why Tulsa is a “test city” for many new products. Because a marketing company can get a great cross-section of people from a concentrated sampling right here. Just look around you every day. Take note at school, in the grocery store, the mall wherever you are you will find a mosaic of people. Mosaic is the proper word. America used to be called a “melting pot.” People came from all over the world and they became “Americans.” There was a blending of people. Now we have hyphenated Americans. They do not lose their ethic identity. Whether you like that or not is not the point. It’s fact. It’s the way things are today. Here is what is sad – the most segregated place in Tulsa on a Sunday is the average church.
We are segregated not just along racial lines but economic and cultural lines as well. The fact is we are just more comfortable with folks who look like, think like and act like us. But is that indicative of the Gospel? Is that in keeping with the power of the Gospel or the Gospel mandate? I don’t think so. Further such thinking has little or no affect the community. So how do we change that? The apostle Paul gives us some good advice in chapter 9 of his first letter to the church at Corinth.
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27
The subject of chapters 8-10 is Christian liberty.
Our freedom in Christ.
Paul points out the fact that this freedom is not absolute.
It is limited by love.
Love for Christ, love for fellow believers, and love for the lost.
In the first 18 verses of chapter 9 Paul show this “love principle” in action.
Though he is entitled to material support from the churches – he does not accept it.
It was a matter of conscience for Paul – others were not wrong for receiving support.
He chose not to for fear that as a trailblazer the advance of the Gospel may be hindered.
Now in our text this evening he applies the principle in another way. What is clear is that Paul’s lifestyle of self-denial is fueled by a profound love and driven by a supreme allegiance. It is fueled by his love for Christ and driven by his allegiance to the Gospel above all else.
New Testament scholar D.A. Carson, in dealing with this text, outlined 4 characteristics of a “world Christian.” By world Christian he means a follower of Christ who is not held captive by his own cultural context. The 4 characteristics are:
Allegiance to Jesus Christ and His kingdom above all national, cultural, linguistic and racial allegiances.
Commitment to the Church, Jesus’ messianic community, not just his local turf (tribe, body).
See themselves first and foremost as citizens of the heavenly kingdom.
Single-minded and sacrificial in evangelizing and making disciples.
The apostle Paul is a great example of this kind of believer and that is what our text is all about. As we work our way through 9:19-27 we are going to discover that…
Thesis: Impacting the culture demands a Gospel-oriented lifestyle.
I want to point out three things from this text.
