Is your Religion "worthless" or "pure and faultless"?

Sermon: April 15, 2012

Main Text: James 1:26-27 (NIV) If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

As Christians, we like to avoid the word “religion”.  We like to think, and say, that Christianity is not a religion that it is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  And it is true that Christianity is more of a relationship than a religion.

However, even the Bible tells us that your faith system is a religion.

Webster on “religion”:

·         the service and worship of God or the supernatural

·         commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

·         a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices

·         a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

THEME: We should be religious according to the Biblical pattern.

Characteristics of Biblical Religion

1. Tongue-Tied

2. Compassionate

3. Unpolluted

1. We should be Tongue-Tied.

James 1:26 (NIV) If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

We have to be careful what we say.

Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV) But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

2. We should be involved in Compassion Ministries.

What type of activities or responsibilities should the Christian church be involved in besides worship, teaching and evangelism?

Recently, the Assemblies of God changed the description for the “Church and Its Mission” to include “compassion ministries”.

10. Church and Its Mission

Since God‘s purpose concerning man is to seek and to save that which is lost, to be worshiped by man, to build a body of believers in the image of His Son, and to demonstrate His love and compassion for all the world, the priority reason for being of the Assemblies of God as part of the Church is:

a. To be an agency of God for evangelizing the world (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19,20; Mark 16:15,16).

b. To be a corporate body in which man may worship God (1 Corinthians 12:13).

c. To be a channel of God‘s purpose to build a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 14:12).

d. To be a people who demonstrate God‘s love and compassion for all the world (Psalm 112:9; Galatians 2:10; 6:10; James 1:27).

In our text and throughout the Scripture, God commands His people to care for widows and orphans.

James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…

Exodus 22:22-24 (NIV) “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. ²³ If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 (NLT) “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave some of the olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²¹ This also applies to the grapes in your vineyard. Do not glean the vines after they are picked, but leave any remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. ²² Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 (NLT) “At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in the nearest town. ²⁹ Give it to the Levites, who have no inheritance among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.

Luke 6:38 (NIV)  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

                       

Romans 12:9-13 (NIV) Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

3. We should be Unpolluted by the World.

James 1:27 (NIV)  Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: … and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

KJV/NKJV “unspotted”

NLT “refusing to let the world corrupt you”

NASB/RSV “unstained”

The text of my very first sermon:

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

2 Peter 3:13-14 (NIV) But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. ¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Conclusion

How can we do this?

It is right above our text:

James 1:19–22 (NIV) My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

“Just do it.”

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^[1] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Parable of the Trees

I spend a lot of time walking my German Shepherd dog, Stormie, in the woods at Frances Slocum State Park.  A normal day consists of a morning and evening walk.  Usually, one of those is at Frances Slocum (I also walk the Back Mountain Trail, Kirby Park, and other places.).

As I was walking in the woods early one morning, I noticed the variety of trees.  From hunting those same woods months ago, I can tell you where to find the oak trees and the fruit trees.  There are also small stands of pine trees.  But on this particular morning, what stood out to me was the many varieties of trees.  The non-evergreens were bare.  The trees were different sizes; some tall, some short, some thick, some thin.  Upon further reflection, I realized that different trees served different purposes depending on the type of tree.  Some provide shade or cover; others provide food.

As I noticed the trees, my mind considered how similar they were to people.  There are many, many different types of people in the world, in my community, in the church.  And even though we sometimes categorize people (like we do trees), every person and every tree is unique, and each has a purpose.  At Frances Slocum, the trees contribute to the ecosystem in which they are located.  In the human realm, each individual contributes to society.  Hopefully, your contribution is a positive one.

The same is true in the church.  There is a variety of people in the church, serving in various roles.  But every individual person is a valuable part of the body.

It doesn’t matter what kind of tree you are, just be yourself today.

God bless,

PK

New Year Plan

In Jeremiah 29 God said to His people , "I know the plans that I have for you."

Do you know the plans that God has for you?  Do you have any plans for you?  The first week of the New Year is a good time to evaluate the past year and pray about the new one.  Ask God to lead you in setting goals for the coming year and beyond.

The Bible talks about Goals.

Luke 13:32 Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’

Romans 9:31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.

2 Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Set some godly goals for 2012, and Happy New Year!

-Pastor Ken

Puppy Lesson 3: Relationships

My “puppy” is now 5 months old and weighs almost 60 pounds.  Emotionally, she is still a puppy but physically she is fast becoming a dog!  She experienced her first snow yesterday.  And she LOVES snow!  She doesn’t mind rain and she loves the snow.  Thursday night it got dark before I could walk her so I took her downtown where there is plenty of light.  She likes to walk in the city; she likes to walk in the city park; she likes to play in the woods; she is even happy in our small back yard.

So what has she taught me?  That relationship is more important circumstance.  As long as she is with me (or another family member, including “Chance”, our other dog), nothing else seems to matter to her.  As much as she likes to be outside, she doesn’t like to be out there alone.

To God, a personal relationship with Him is more important than the good deeds that we do (Matthew 7:22-24).  From the human standpoint, a relationship with Him will carry us through any and every circumstance.  Do you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ?  You can have it.  God wants you to have it.  If you don’t know how, contact me.  I want to keep this short, so I won’t talk about all the other relationships that are more important than circumstances: friends, family, marriage, parent-child, child-parent, etc.

I thank God for my German Shepherd puppy.  She reminds me of important things, like “relationship is more important than circumstance.”

-pk

Puppy Lesson 2: Evangelism or Discipleship

As I was walking the puppy (12 week old German Shepherd) and the dog (4 year old terrier-mix) yesterday morning, I had time to think and reflect.  I realized (again) that “Stormie” would mentally be a puppy for three years.  The weight and responsibility of training her for three years hit me again.  At less than 30 pounds, she is easy to physically control….now.  But it won’t always be that way.  When she is full-grown, I may not be able to beat her in a physical struggle.  I MUST TRAIN HER!  In order to have a well-behaved and likeable and SAFE pet, I must be diligent to train her.  And if I do (which I gladly will), I will have a great adult dog—one that people will like, one that will protect our family, one that will bring us years of enjoyment, etc., etc.  If I were training her for service, she could be a seeing-eye dog or a police dog or a great sheep herder, but only after years of training.

In Matthew 28, Jesus did not say, “Go and evangelize.”  He said, “Go and make disciples.”  And then He explained Himself, “baptizing them and teaching them to obey.”  When did we as Christians think that our responsibility to the lost was to quickly offend them with the message of salvation or eternal damnation and then move on to the next lost person?  Jesus commanded us to “disciple” which comes from the Latin word meaning “learner”.  We are to create students.  Evangelism means to “preach, share, proclaim.”  We need to evangelize, but we need to do more than that.  We are to share with people and then be willing to show them by our example.  Jesus spent three and half years with His disciples, teaching them how to live.  Like Jesus, we need to invite others to share in our lives and thereby learn by what we say and by how we act.  There are no shortcuts.

It is going to take me three years of effort to develop my puppy into a well-behaved, dependable German Shepherd Dog.  It may also take me years of spending time developing a genuine friendship with my non-Christian neighbor before they will become the kind of Christian God wants them to be.

If you want to see non-believers become believers, are you willing to spend years (if necessary) in the process?  Are you willing to invest in the lives of those that don’t share your beliefs?  Or are you too busy with your Christian friends and your other ministries and your whatever?

Let’s “seek first His kingdom” (Matthew 6:33).

-PK

Pray in the Spirit

“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 20 NIV)  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18a NIV)

The Apostles through the Scriptures encourage us to pray in the Holy Spirit.  Paul briefly explains this in two other passages:

·         Romans 8:26 (NIV) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

·         1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (NIV) For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

There is value in praying in the prayer language of tongues that you received when you were baptized with power in the Holy Spirit.  Pray in the Spirit!  Get alone with God and allow the Spirit of God to intercede for you in a supernatural way.  Jude says that we are to build ourselves up.  We all have days when it seems that we or someone is tearing us down.  We need to be built up in our faith.  The spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading are important, invaluable.  But also take the time to “Pray in the Spirit” and allow God to minister to you.

Puppy Lesson 1: Counting the Cost

A week ago, we brought home a new German Shepherd puppy.  We had planned it for more than four weeks, when we put a deposit on the new family member.  Before that, we thought about it a lot and I counted the cost.  I remarked to my family more than once: “Do you realize how much work this is going to be?”  I think the only one that truly understood was my wife.  Well, after a week, it is just as I expected.  She has to be carefully watched whenever she is not in her crate.  She whines in the middle of the night, waking me up to take her outside to “go potty”.  She has already interfered with some possible spontaneous plans that we could have made as a family.  Walking her is easy…a VERY slow pace.  I “run” with her.  It resembles running in place.  She is costing us time, sleep and freedom.  She doesn’t eat a lot….yet.  She weighs less than 20 pounds.  But when she weighs nearly 100 pounds, it will cost us something to feed her.  We had to buy her a crate, her own water & food dishes, and lots of chew toys.  She costs us money.

Her name is “Stormie” and she is cute.  But she is a lot of work.  She is fun to play with.  And she is a lot of work.  Her coat is soft and she can be cuddly.  Yet she requires a lot of work.  She is warm and friendly.  But did I mention that she is a lot of work?

And she is worth the work.  We chose to have a puppy, knowing that it would be both a blessing and a chore.

Most wonderful things in life cost you something.  Having a good marriage will cost you something.  Excelling at work will cost you something.  Athletes know that victory comes at a cost.  Everything worthwhile is costly.  Jesus taught that before starting any adventure that we should “count the cost.”  He even said that we should count the cost of being one of His disciples.

Have you counted the cost?  Are you willing to pay the price?  So many people accept Jesus Christ as their savior and then are reluctant to fully serve Him.  When we accept His FREE gift of salvation, it will cost us everything.  At the end of talking about the cost of being a disciple, Jesus says "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33 NIV)  We must be willing to give up everything when we come to Christ.  Most of the time, God doesn’t ask us for much.  But He might.  He may ask you to enter the ministry.  He may ask you to change jobs.  He may ask you to change your relationships.  He may ask for your money.  Are you willing to give God whatever He wants?

In life, expect the unexpected.  I have learned as a computer programmer that “It always takes longer than you expect even when you expect it to take longer than you expect.”  Builders like to say “Measure twice, cut once.”  Count the cost!