THE CHARACTERS OF CHRISTMAS: Jesus (a sermon to be preached on Dec. 20, 2015, at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI)

"The Characters of Christmas" series has looked at the primary figures in the Christmas story.  We have considered the active faith of Joseph and the profound belief of Mary.  This week we will look at the Son of God becoming flesh and consider the humility necessary for God to become man.

As we move toward Christmas day, we relish in the opportunity to worship our God and Savior for His mercy and grace.  Won't you join us as we worship the Christ child on Dec. 20 at 9:30am.  Let us gather to give Him praise!

John 1:1-18New International Version (NIV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of graceand truth.15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

KENWOOD CHURCH SUNDAYS FOR THE REST OF 2015

 The next two Sundays I will be preaching about "Feast and Famine:Thanksgiving for the Blessing and the Curse."  Join us on Nov. 22 as we talk about the great feast of God's bounty that He has lavished upon us in all His blessings.  There will be a dinner following worship that morning with a "Soup, Stew, and Chili Cook-off."  Come join in the fellowship and a great meal.  You do not need to bring anything to stay.  Nov. 29 we will talk about famine and the curse and how our Great God blesses us through hardship and difficulty.  Rex Odglen, Wolverine Christian Service Camp director, will be with us that morning as we share the blessing of our special camp offering with him.

In December, we will begin a series on "The Characters of Christmas."  We will look at Joseph on Dec. 6,  Mary on Dec. 13, and Jesus on Dec. 20.  This series will be filled with special surprises like drama, hand outs, special music, videos, and an extra dose of Christmas spirit.  Dec. 27 will be "A New Year/A New You: A Hope for Change" as we end 2015.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Gentleness (a sermon to be preached on August 23, 2015, at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI)

I am back after a bit of a break from blogging.  I will be back on a regular basis again.  

Here is some nerdy Bible geek information about our fruit of the week, gentleness.  Thank you, Biblehub.com.

Strong's Concordance

prautés: gentleness

Original Word: πρᾳΰτης, τητος, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: prautés
Phonetic Spelling: (prah-oo'-tace)
Short Definition: mildness, gentleness
Definition: mildness, gentleness.

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 4240 praýtēs (compare 4236 /praótēs, another feminine noun which is also derived from the root pra-, emphasizing the divine origin of the meekness) –meekness ("gentle strength") which expresses power with reserve and gentleness.See 4236 (praotes).

For the believer, meekness (4240 /praýtēs, "gentle-force") begins with the Lord's inspiration and finishes by His direction and empowerment. It is a divinely-balanced virtue that can only operate through faith (cf. 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 2:22-25).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from praus
Definition
gentleness
NASB Translation
consideration (1), gentleness (8), humility (1), meekness (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4240: πραΰτης

πραΰτης, see πραότης. 

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

meekness.

From praus; mildness, i.e. (by implication) humility -- meekness.

see GREEK praus

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: Patience (a blogpost for a message to be delivered at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI on July 26, 2015)

Macrothymia is the Greek word used by Paul when describing the fourth fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.  The word means "long-suffering, patience, forbearance, longanimity."  This word has two parts macros and thymia.   Macros points toward a long duration.  Thymia refers to rage, passion, or anger.   The usual usage of the term finds its place when self-restraint does not hastily retaliate.  This notion of patience fits within the context of a wrong suffered.  Patience, as in "having to wait for something," may be implied but does not carry the wait of the original idea.

Waiting is a life skill.  Waiting is not a fruit of the Spirit.  Sometimes life happens more slowly than we like.  We cannot  rush it; we just have to wait.  We are not in control.  Say that with me, "We are not in control."  We must wait.

This spiritual fruit waits for God to answer in the midst of strife before resorting to our own actions.  Long-suffering is much more than being held up in the check out aisle at the grocery store or at the red light on the way home.  Let us pray we have patience when we really need it.

JAME PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR TODAY - Works (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached on May 10, 2015, at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI)

New International Version

Made Alive in Christ

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:1-10

JAME PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR TODAY - Faith (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached on May 10, 2015, at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI)

New International Version

Faith in Action

1Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.

3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^a For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she^b considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^c 19Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

23By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.

31By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.^d

32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were put to death by stoning;^e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.

39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.  (Hebrews 11)

JAME PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR TODAY - A Working Faith (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached on May 10, 2015, at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI)

Faith and Deeds

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^d ? 21Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^e and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.  (James 2:14-26)