Jesus - Facing Temptation Part 2

We are at the time of the year when we remember Jesus’ birth. We remember His birth in a manger in Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph and their donkey, and the shepherds, and the three kings and the star. But we also need to reflect on the question: why was it necessary for Him to enter into this world, why was it necessary for Him to be born as a human being, live like a human being, and eventually die as a human being on a criminal’s cross?

The answers to those questions are very complex, and theologians have devoted years and centuries to the subject. Last week we began to look into some of the issues. But one reason for Jesus’ coming to the earth as a human being, temporarily putting His deity on Hold, was to live as a human being. He lived amongst us, the human race, amongst our poverty, amongst our sickness, amongst our troubles, amongst our sin, and exposed to our trials and temptations.
This helps us realize we have a God who understands us fully: He has been a human being and knows the things that we go through, because He has gone through them Himself.
One of the things that Jesus went through was being tempted. And He was exposed to temptation from the devil right at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Last week we looked at the temptations that Jesus faced right after he was baptized, when the HS led Him out into the desert.

Read Luke 4: 1-13.
And we saw how the devil tempted Jesus by trying to make the issue be all about him and his rightful place as the Son of God, but Jesus deflected Satan by quoting Scripture to him. WE said that we should read Scripture, meditate on it, and learn it, because that is the most successful way to combat the devil. Now we need to examine each of the temptations that Jesus faced, and see if and how they relate to us in our lives.

The first temptation: the tyranny of need
The first temptation that the devil placed before Jesus was based on the fact that Jesus was hungry. He had just fasted for 40 days, He was weak with hunger. Satan had an answer to the problem. If Jesus was truly the Son of God, He could turn stones into bread, eat and be renewed. There is nothing obviously wrong with the suggestion. In fact, it seems like a definitely helpful suggestion. Hungry people need to eat. (As Jesus showed a little later He could make
bread out of nothing, when He fed the 5,000). Why not do so now? Why not meet His own needs?

But Jesus rejected Satan’s suggestion by quoting Deut 8:3: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” At first glance, this answer seems beside the point. Of course we don’t live by bread alone. But bread is a necessity. But if you examine the passage from Deuteronomy that Jesus quoted and the context it was written in, you will find that it was in the context of the Israeli march across the Sinai desert.If you look up the passage, you will see the children of Israel were hungry, and their hunger was no accident.

Listen to the entire verse:Deut 8:3: He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with Manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that come from the mouth of God.”
In other words, As Israel followed the path out of slavery in Egypt and towards the Promised Land, both hunger and miraculous food were part of God’s plan, teaching them to depend on God.

Nothing happened beyond God’s control. He would provide both hunger and food in His own way and timing. Jesus recognized how this narrative applied to His own situation.
It was not God’s timing to end the fast. The Scripture Jesus quoted said the live on “every word that comes from the mouth of God.”Thus, Jesus was listening for the Father’s words, and it wasn’t time to eat.And this is what Jesus insists by means of this Scripture, and so should we.

Some people who wait for God’s direction even when life is desperate are accused of being foolish. Aren’t they indulging in fatalism, waiting for God and not taking the initiative? That would be true, if there were no God. But the fact is, God does take care of His children. They can afford to wait for Him.Often enough, of course, God’s Word tells us take the initiative, to take risks. But on whose initiative do we take risks? Do we take direction from God or from our own appetites?Are we directed by dreams of glory, hopes of admiration or fears of humiliation?
Or, do we listen to God’s voice?

The second temptation: cutting corners to achieve good
In the second temptation Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain from where He could see from one end of the earth to the other. Satan says to Jesus, “I will give you all the authority and splendour of the kingdoms of this world, if you will worship me.” In Isaiah 49 Isaiah prophesied that the anointed One to come would receive all the authority and splendour of the nations. Satan knew the Scripture and makes an incredible offer. All those things that Isaiah promised could be his right away. What an offer! It was promised in Scripture and was exactly God’s will.

Interestingly, Jesus does not dispute Satan’s right to make the offer. (If Jesus had accepted Satan’s offer, would he have been able to deliver?He probably could have.) But Jesus focused instead on another issue: the issue of worship. Because Satan had a condition: all those kingdoms would be Jesus’, if Jesus worshipped Satan. Notice That Satan did not say, “Worship me only” .
Satan is not a monotheist. He in effect says to Jesus. “You can worship me and him. We are not in conflict.” In effect Satan, the father of lies, is saying that poly-theism, i.e., worshipping more than one God, is an enticing possibility.

In response, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” Jesus was a monotheist right to the core! Now Jesus might have quoted a whole slew of other Scriptures that warn against idolatry and the worship of other gods. But instead His response is simple and direct.

Notice that the Scripture he quoted as a result of the first temptation propmpts us to listen to God only, this Scripture tells us to worship God only. Jesus does not react with a rulebook mentality; warning against improper religion. Instead He focuses on true worship, dedicated in complete purity to the One and True God. No compromise. Idealistic mission-driven people can feel the temptation to compromise. “As long as the end-result is right, I guess it’s OK”.

This can also be the attitude of anyone who wants to do good and would like to hurry up the process, both in the spiritual realm as well as in the secular. It is too easy to oil the wheels of bureaucracy to speed things up. Temptations urge us to use unfair influence, to assault the character of those who oppose us, or to shade the truth or withhold the less pleasant aspects of it, or simply to indulge in righteous anger.

Think of this: the only cure for such temptations is to worship God and Him only. You should actively model your life to Him. We will find it very hard to cut corners while we do that.

The third temptation: testing God’s love
In the third temptation, Satan quotes Scripture, perhaps in a mocking way, to show Jesus that he can quote the Bible too. He chooses Psalm 91, a prayer poem full of God’s love and protection. He quotes vs11-12 : “He will command His angels concerning you , To guard you in all your ways.They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Satan has taken Jesus onto the pinnacle of the temple and is urging Him to jump. Satan’s argument: if He really is the Son of God, God will surely protect Him as He promised in Scripture. Surely the verses in Ps 91 apply to Jesus. Why not claim them, Satan asks Him.
What does Jesus stand to gain from this stunt that Satan proposes? Will the miracle make a big PR splash?Will it jump-start His ministry of ushering in the Kingdom of God? Will it overcome any of Jesus’ own lingering doubts and reassure Him that God really is on His side?

But Jesus does not argue the point of the demonstration. Instead, He quotes Deut 6:16:Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Actually, Jesus did not quote the entire verse. The complete verse says: Do not put the Lord to the test as you did in Massah.

Massah was an arid spot where the Israelites complained to Moses that there was no water. They complained so bitterly and persistently that God got Moses to strike a rock with his staff, making water gush out. God did the miracle, but Psalm 95 tells us that for 40 years God was angry with his people: Psalm 95:8-10: Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts… as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation…
Evidently, God does not always like to do miracles. But we often ask, Is God there or not? Does God care or not? Does God have power or not? Is God amongst us or not? These questions will come to most of us who follow God, because God is not obvious nor does He work with the predictability that we would like.

In Jesus’ third temptation, Satan proposes a plan to test God’s support. Ask God for a miracle, Satan says. In fact, force God’s hand b y putting yourself into a position where God has to do a miracle. If you are God’s Son, God will have to bail you out. In some circles this may pass for miracle faith, but not in Jesus’ circle. Who is He to test God as though God were a faulty battery? This plan did not come from God, and God never endorsed it. The plan treats God like a mechanical part, guaranteed to perform. Miracle faith is addictive. It makes the adrenaline rush that comes from daring approaches and eleventh hour rescues. Be careful what miracles you ask God to do, and make sure they are based on right and pure motives. But, very subtly, the request may become a test of whether God is willing to perform as we demand .
I believe that sometimes God grants us our prayer requests when we demand things from Him in the wrong way.

Judging by this third temptation, Satan enjoys this way of thinking. He wants people to make ultimatums to God. He knows that even if God answers the prayer as He did at Massah, one ultimatum will lead to another. Human beings quickly become addicted to giving God orders. “God, you’ve got to…” Any time we pray those words we make ourselves the masters and God the servant. Any time we rush ahead expecting God to pick up the pieces, we put God to the test. Any time we make up tests for God to pass, we set the agenda for God. Jesus did not operate that way. Jesus, God’s beloved Son, would not put God to the test. He would not jump from the pinnacle of the temple to see God work.


Temptation is a central reality in the life of a Christian. Jesus experienced it, and so will all who follow Him. Undoubtedly that’s why Jesus told His disciples about His experience in the wilderness. Jesus’ temptations show that even the best person gets tempted. They also offer us hope: tempters do not always win. Some people believe that temptation gets to everybody sooner or later. “I’m only human”, they say, as though they are bound to fall. But Jesus shows us another possibility. He used no supernatural weapons to overcome temptation. At his moment of hunger and vulnerability, no miracles came. Jesus did only what lies in the power of every one of His followers.

So in this Christmas season resolve to do things the way Jesus did them:

Use God’s word. It’s much more efficacious than your own arguments
Do not cut corners. Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only
Wait for God’s timing. Don’t force the pace by setting the agenda instead of God
Listen to God, worship God, wait for God.

Jesus’ approach sidesteps Satan’s suggestions and defers to God.

Jesus’ approach to changing the world is radically God- centered.

Let’s make this our approach starting this Christmas.

Jesus - FacingTemptation Part 1

JESUS
FACING TEMPTATION
Part 1

We are at the time of the year when we remember Jesus’ birth.
We remember His birth in a manger in Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph and their donkey, and the shepherds, and the three kings and the star. But we also need to reflect on the question: why was it necessary for Him to enter into this world, why was it necessary for Him to be born as a human being, live like a human being, and eventually die as a human being on a criminal’s cross?

The answers to those questions are very complex, and theologians have devoted years and centuries to the subject. But one reason for Jesus’ coming to the earth as a human being, temporarily putting His deity on Hold, was to live as a human being. He lived amongst us, the human race, amongst our poverty, amongst our sickness, amongst our troubles, amongst our sin, and exposed to our trials and temptations.

This helps us realize we have a God who understands us fully: He has been a human being and knows the things that we go through, because He has gone through them Himself. One of the things that Jesus went through was being tempted. And He was exposed to temptation from the devil right at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

Last time we focused on his baptism by John the Baptist, “the baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins”, and after wondering why Jesus asked John to baptize Him we drew the conclusion that Jesus was stepping into the gap and assuming the collective guilt of His people Israel, as the Lord called for in Ezekiel 22:30. After His baptism, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, where for 40 days He was tempted by the devil. During that time He ate nothing, and at the end of them He was hungry.
(quoted from Luke 4:1-2)

Now here are some more puzzling things:
Why did the HS lead Jesus out to the desert, to fast for 40 days and to be tempted by the devil?
In the passage I just quoted it is quite clear that the desert experience was caused or provoked by the HS. It was necessary for Jesus to undergo serious temptation by the devil.

A few weeks ago, here in church, some missionary friends showed us their photographs of the desert. They told us that it was an extremely dry and hot place. We saw the pictures of the sands, the rocks and the scrubby vegetation growing in the crannies left by the rocks. Why would the HS lead Jesus there of all places? What’s going on here? A 40 day fast..... The pastor of the church I used to be a member of went on a 40 day fast. At the end he was weak and haggard. When the 40 days were over, he recovered, but his physique always looked older after that. Did that happen to Jesus? The Bible simply says that at the end of the fast he was hungry. What’s happening here?

What’s happening here is that there are some issues we are not aware of. Jesus had just had a glorious day when God blessed Him and announced Him as His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. So now, we think, it is the right time to begin His ministry of ushering in the Kingdom of God. Instead, we meet the devil. Satan is the aggressor, approaching Jesus with vivid, subtle and compelling arguments. From this we learn, disappointingly perhaps, that temptation is normal. Most of us, when we experience torment and temptation, immediately think we have taken a wrong turn and missed God’s will. But temptation is not a sin; it’s what we do with it that counts.

The way that Jesus responded to the temptations that the devil put before Him give us lessons on some of the subtle temptations that the devil puts before us, and how Jesus responded to them. So they give us lessons on how to face temptation. They also reveal a deeper dimension of Jesus’ story, that only surfaces occasionally in the accounts of His life. On the face of it, Jesus spends His days dealing with fractious religious leaders, dense disciples, hungry and sick beggars, Romans Pharisees, family members and friends. But the temptations reveal another level of experience: the conflict between the powers of darkness and the Kingdom of God - Concepts like life versus death, heaven vs. hell, holiness vs. sin, etc.

Through these temptations we can glimpse on how this war is waged. The first thing that draws our attention is that the things that Jesus is tempted with apparently are not the same as the ones that tempt us. When we think of the things that tempt us we think of things such as sex, anxiety and anger, power, satisfaction of appetites, etc. But the temptations that Jesus faced are the kind that affect people who are serious about being disciples, who want to participate in leading the people of God toward salvation and growth within the Kingdom of God.

Do any of such temptations have anything to do with you or me? So long as I am content to go about my own business (not God’s) untroubled by glory, these temptations will never come my way. However, when I take up Jesus’ mission, I put myself in range of satanic bombshells, no matter how focused I am on my ministry. The world has never known a more focused person than Jesus.

People have often wondered how Jesus got this consciousness. Did He know He was God right from when He was a little boy? When and how did He discover He was Israel’s Messiah?
We don’t know the answers to these questions. We know without a doubt that Jesus knew His mission at the time of His baptism. In Genesis it tells us that the serpent (the devil) was more crafty than any of the animals the Lord God had made. Satan’s temptations were extraordinarily shrewd. He designed them, not to keep Jesus from success at His God-given mission , but to make sure Jesus succeeded in the wrong way. And this has been Satan’s strategy ever since, whenever God’s people have begun to take their mission seriously.
Satan would like us to work at maximum effectiveness at a goal ten degrees off target.

Read Luke 4: 3-13.
Satan approached Jesus with 3 helpful suggestions. ....and they all began with the dangerous word If:
If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
If you worship me, all this will be yours
If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here

The phrase “if you are the Son of God” can be taken as a way to goad Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, act like it. Do miracles. Demonstrate your power. Take risks. What - are you afraid to assert yourself?” In fact, Satan was reminding Jesus of His privileges. But notice the focus: Satan encourages Jesus to think about Himself; to assert Himself. The focus is on Me.

The second temptation is the same. If you worship me, says Satan, it will all be yours. Not God’s. Satan asks Jesus to think about the legacy He can create for Himself. How Jesus responds to this focus on “Me” is very interesting:
He doesn’t argue with Satan.
He doesn’t rise up and assert Himself as God’s Son in whom He is well pleased. Instead He takes Himself out of the discussion.
He deflects Satan’s focus on “Me” by quoting Scripture.

In fact, the 3 passages He quotes are all from the book of Deuteronomy. They are words spoken by God to Moses just before Israel was due to enter the Promised Land. Jesus had evidently studied, meditated and memorized the specific Scripture to meet the situation He was going to face. When the temptation came, He drew on that Scripture.

If anyone could have argued Satan down, it was Jesus. He could have humiliated Satan, exposing his lies through brilliant analysis. He could have demonstated His godly power, ordering Satan to cringe before Him. Instead, Jesus said almost nothing. Confronted with temptation, He did not try to speak for Himself. He let Scripture speak for Him.

This tells us something important about meeting temptation. The response must be formed long before the moment. Jesus’ close involvement with Scripture, along with His close relationship with His Heavenly Father, formed the basis for His choices. He did not grasp the air looking for help when the pressure was on. He drew on what He already had. Jesus was a man formed by Scripture. And anyone who wants to follow Jesus must do the same. So the first lesson we learn from Jesus from this episode is this:

Know Scripture.
Don’t think you are smart enough to argue and fight your way through temptation by yourself.
Know the Bible; let it saturate your mind.
Think it through carefully, and God’s Word will argue for you.
That is the path Jesus followed and it will work for you.

It works for me. Sometimes I am amazed how the HS brings to mind. Scripture for me at the right time. Sometimes even Scripture I didn’t know that I knew! Knowing Scripture is conventional Christian advice. But is it conventional Christian practice?

Jesus attended God’s word. He worked to burn Scripture into His mind. He thought about Deuteronomy so much that He could quote it to counter Satan’s helpful suggestions. God’s Word was His food and drink, his source of sustenance.

Let’s make this Christmas a time when we purpose to get into the Word of God in a deeper fashion. As we saw, it is the Word of God, together with the power of the HS, that will see us though as we face temptation. Satan will put before us temptations that look good. He will offer us practical solutions that will make our objectives look achievable and good. Through the Word we will gain a better understanding of some of the temptations we face and the HS will quicken Scripture to us as we face the daily struggles.

A New Tomorrow

A New Tomorrow


Prepared for Eternity
Armed with Serenity
Cleansed from Iniquity
Filled with Humility

I bow my head and place it in your lap.
Wipe the tears, from my eyes.

Replace with joy, all my sorrow.
And give me hope, for a new tomorrow.


Ana Cecilia Petersen
Dec-8-2006

I Want

I want your holy spirit in me to flow.
I want to give it up to you Lord, I want to let it go.

What ever it is that stands in the way,
what ever it is that could lead me astray.

I want nothing more today,
than to let you have your way.

I want to surrender at your feet,
as Satan looks on in defeat.

I want you to strip me of my attachments.

For they are the stumbling blocks,
that hinder our talks.

I want to remain in your presence.
I want it to permeate all of my essence.

I want to be lead only by your hand.
I want by your promise only to stand.

I want to honor your word Lord.

I want it to be my guiding light.
I want this to be so with all of my might.


Ana Cecilia Petersen
Dec-6-2006

Adoration

Good morning Lord, bless me today and everyday of my life.
To be with you, does not mean, to be without strife.

Yet, I can remain faithful to you and pray.
I can remain calm, and in your presence stay.

Allow me Lord, under the wing of your protection,
to wallow in your affection.

Keep me Lord, under the watchful eye of your angles, I pray.
Don’t let me in any way stray.

Over-thinking leads to despair.
Remind me Lord that’s an error.

I refuse to have a thinking party today.
Allow me, from this conviction not to sway.

Thinking, thinking, thinking……
Thinking myself all the way to fear and apprehension.

Today Lord, instead of thinking, I will give you adoration.


Ana Cecilia Petersen
Dec- 5- 2006

Christmas Banquet

On the first Saturday of December 30 people met at the church to have our Christmas Banquet. Everyone brought a covered dish which we shared after canapes and fruit punch. The meal was delicous, but the best part was the fellowship. We had the opportunity to enjoy each others company in a different setting.

Before dessert, Karen pulled out her keyboard and we sang Christmas carols to our hearts content. We had fun singing different versions and different languages, but the joy in our hearts was the joy this season has brought throughout the ages.

Thank you all for coming and for praying for JP, Rachel and Eva, who were leaving the next day toward their re-location in Kansas. We love you guys! And we are praying that you will bring blessings to a new fellowship there.

Jesus - Who He Is

JESUS
WHO HE IS

I have been reading a book by Tim Stafford, called “Surprised by Jesus”, which has given me quite a bit of food for thought.

Most of us have formed a concept of Jesus that traditionally includes a number of events that we all know by memory. These things are deceptively familiar to us, and we feel comfortable with them. But sometimes Jesus says things or does things that leave us puzzled. For example, when He told the fig tree to shrivel up, or when He told His disciples to not tell anyone about His miracles. He was hard on His opponents, the Pharisees, but He also made extreme demands on His disciples, like telling them to be as perfect as His Father in heaven.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke give us the account of his earthly life, that most of us can recite by heart. And because it is the Christmas season, we will go through some of those events we know so well.

He was announced by the angel to the Virgin Mary, and then to Joseph.

He was born in a manger in Bethlehem. He was born “at the appointed time” and angels announced his birth to some shepherds watching their flocks by night. Three wise men from the East received a sign that the Messiah was due to be born and so, guided by a star, they went to Bethelehem and brought gifts.

Warned by an angel that Herod the Roman-appointed stooge king of Israel was having all baby boys killed to prevent the newly-born Messiah from becoming a threat to his kingdom, Joseph took the family to Egypt, where they remained until Herod died, and they returned to Israel before Jesus was 12.

And Jesus grew up in Nazareth in the North of Israel, in a region called Galilee. He learned from the rabbis and teachers. He went to the temple.

When he was 30, he began his earthly ministry, which lasted around 3 years. He selected and called 12 disciples to work with him. The first year his acceptance level was good, but as time went on opposition by the religious leaders grew, and his second and third years were much more difficult. During his earthly ministry, he performed a great number of miracles, which alarmed the religious leaders, who plotted his death, and aided by Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, arrested him, had him tried and convicted under very dubious conditions, and he was condemned to the die on a cross in Jerusalem.

He died an awful death and was buried but on the third day he arose, and he appeared first to his most intimate disciples and his family, then to over 500 more, and then ascended to heaven on a cloud after being on earth for 40 days.

We know that Jesus never sinned. We know he showed compassion to the people; we know He spent a great deal of time teaching His disciples, and He sent them out by twos to proclaim the good news about the Kingdom of God.

But enough of generalities. To see Jesus clearly we must study what He said and what He did, in the context of the times He lived in and who He was and then, how that should affect our lives today. Jesus was a Jew, born in a country that was severely troubled, and, in fact, was at that time occupied by a ruthless foreign power, Rome. And Rome was the most recent of a series of other powers that had occupied the country – the Greeks and their offshoots, and before that the Babylonians and the Assyrians. In fact Israel had not been a free nation for hundreds of years.

The Jews longed for the days of King Solomon, when Israel was at the height of her glory, and it looked like the Kingdom of God was becoming a reality. Prophets came and told the people to turn from their wicked ways, or God would send judgement on them. Most of the prophets were ridiculed or imprisoned or killed by the Jews, for giving such bad news. And just as the prophets foretold, so it was that they were conquered, oppressed and occupied by these foreign powers, and they longed for deliverance.

In that context, a prophet appears; the first after 400 yearsof silence: John the Baptist. John was Jesus’ cousin. He was a strange eccentric figure. He lived in the desert, he dressed strangely, he ate strange things, and he made a dramatic impact on Israel just before Jesus began His ministry. And John preached a baptism message of repentance, because the Kingdom of God was at hand. “Repent, for the K of G is at hand” (Matt 3:2)

And people came in droves into the desert to hear John. Why? He was the first prophet sent by God in 400 years. The people knew that God spoke to His people by means of prophets. Here at last, after 400 silent years, a prophet had arisen. “Repent for the Kindom of God is at hand.” John did not preach a sermon. He brought news: the long-awaited day had arrived! The people had great expectations. In Mark 1:5, we are told that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to hear him.

And in that dramatic setting, among the crowds surrounding John the Baptist, Jesus makes His appearance. It was almost like He came anonymously: only John and a few of his followers noticed Him. Then Jesus did a very strange thing: instead of proclaiming Himself to be the Messiah and the Son of God who was bringing in the K of G, He came forward to be baptized!

Matt 3:13-15: Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”.
Jesus replied “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. So John consented and proceeded to baptize Jesus. Now here’s the question: if Jesus was sinless, why did He request to receive the baptism of repentance? Wasn’t that out of line? Wasn’t it even blasphemy, to attribute sin to the Son of God? Apparently, God did not think so: Matt 3:16: As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment Heaven was opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Undoubtedly, on the surface, this is an enigmatic passage. First Jesus asks to receive the baptism for the repentance of sins from John. John finally consents to do it, and Jesus is baptized. Then God unmistakably adds His stamp of approval by descending upon Jesus like a dove (the HS), and speaking from heaven saying that He is well pleased with Him!

What’s going on? This does not make any sense. Was Jesus only going through the motions of being baptized in order to relate to sinners? Like drinking Ginger Ale at a cocktail party in order to “fit in”? In order to explain what happened here, let’s turn to the book of Daniel.

Read Dan 9:4-7:
Daniel is a righteous man and here in prayer and supplication, he confesses the sins of his people Israel! He repents of their wickedness and their stubbornness. Was he the one who was wicked and stubborn? No! But he puts himself in their place, he literally stands in the gap, between God and Israel. Nehemiah did the same thing. And that is what Jesus is doing when He asks to be baptized. He stands in the gap for Israel, He identifies with them. And that is the repentance that John the Baptist was proclaiming: it was a national, collective or group repentance.
He never said, “Some of you need to repent, for the K of G is at hand”. He said, “Repent, all of you, for the K of G is at hand.”

This was the kind of repentance that John called Israel to show. He spoke to Israel as a whole. Like all the prophets who preceded him, John told the people that they were chosen as a people, and as a people they would be judged, and as a people they needed to turn around and repent.
Jesus felt the sins of Israel deeply and personally. And so He began His ministry by fully embracing His people, sins and all.

Jesus did not cause Israel’s problems, but He took on her tragedy. He entered into Israel’s experience, carrying her load. And He would end His life in the same way, bearing the sins of Israel. The interesting thing is, of course, that we are the spiritual heirs of Israel. We – the Church. We are also not only personally guilty of sin; we are also collectively guilty of the collective sins of our Church, the Body of Christ. And the history of the Church throughout the centuries has shown that every time there is a revival, it is always preceded by Repentance.
Repentance not only of our individual sin, but also of our collective sin. For being tolerant of so many things that are an abomination to God. We need to repent of those things.

Lessons from the Prodigal Son and his Brother

Read Luke 15:11-31.

There was once a man who spent his life doing the right things. He was a reliable man who tended his father’s farm. Day after day, he rose early, along with the servants, to work the fields until sunset. His strength, his suntanned complexion, spoke of his persevering, painstaking labour. So did the plentiful harvest he helped to reap.By all appearances, he was an exemplary man: hardworking, efficient, persevering, faithful, fruitful.

But in spite of all this, the man still lacked something. The joy and contentment that should have come with his hard workwere absent. This became apparent the day he heard that his father had organized a celebration to mark the return of his younger brother.

In his eyes, his younger brother had done everything wrong: he had asked for his inheritance, then left home for a distant land. He had indulged in wild living and squandered all his inheritance. When the young man had become destitute, he returned home and begged his father’s forgiveness.

The older brother complained bitterly to the father:

Lk 15:29-31: “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for Him!”

“My son”, the father said “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

How many times do we act like the older brother, doing the right things for God, and missing the inheritance our Father wants to share with us? We may be faithful in our praying, in studying our Bible and doing kind deeds for our neighbours, but we miss out on the peace, love, joy, contentment that God promises His children.

Why does our striving sometimes hinder us from knowing the God we work so hard to please?For a possible answer to this question, let’s turn to Matthew 5:5. This is the passage that refers to the Beatitudes. Jesus is telling His disciples that they will be blessed for who they are, not for what they do.

Matt 5:5: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

What an inheritance! Nothing less than the earth! But it is God’s children who are meek that will experience this blessing. It is not a by-product of their doing, but flows from their being. Meekness is an attitude of the heart towards God: an attitude of humility. Without meekness, we will not receive what we already have in Christ. In the same way that the older brother failed to receive his father’s love.

What does it mean to be meek and humble before God? We see this quality in 3 images from the life of the son who left home.

A humble heart. Meekness and humility begin with a heart that recognizes how needy, helpless and impoverished it really is. Until our hearts are emptied of self, we cannot be meek before God. The older son was far from meek, in spite of his commendable deeds, because his heart was haughty. He was self-sufficient, self-righteous and he valued recognition morethan a deep relationship with his father and his brother. The younger brother initially adopted the same attitude as his brother. He prematurely demanded his inheritance in order to live his life in his own terms.

But things went wrong for him. His wild (and expensive) living and a famine stripped his hopes bare, and revealed his need. When he hit rock bottom, he came to his senses and he remembered he had not lost everything. He remembered that he still had a good father to whom he could run.

But there was a catch: he needed to give up his arrogant heart in exchange for a meek one. The prodigal son knew he was unworthy of love and forgiveness, and that he was absolutely dependent upon the mercy of the one whom he had rejected.

A destitute heart recognizes that apart from God we can do nothing. We are utterly impoverished and dependent on Him. All our good works and efforts will not satisfy our craving for love and meaning in life. Only a deep relationship with Christ in an attitude of humility and dependency on Him will.

Bended knees. Rembrandt the famous artist has a painting of the return of the prodigal son. He depicts him on bended knee pleading to his father while the older brother stands nearby – stiff, unsympathetic, and furious. In contrast, the prodigal’s posture is one of complete surrender.

Surrender involves two actions: --[if !supportLists]-->·

Letting go, which requires continually releasing control over our lives and relinquishing our plan in favour of God’s will. It may mean letting go of a bad habit, an addiction, an approval-seeking behaviour or anything else we’ve used to find fulfillment apart from God. ·

Relaxing. The call to surrender is also a call to relax in the Father’s unconditional love, into which we are forever invited. Our striving, grasping, positioning, manipulating, performing and mask-wearing can all slip away as we yield to the goodness of our Father. He loves us and accepts us as we are. In relaxing, our souls find true rest.

Open hands. Finally, a meek heart resembles open hands that are ready to receive. The older son missed out what he already had in the father’s household. He was so consumed and blinded by his efforts to earn the father’s riches that he couldn’t receive the father’s freely given love, presence and acceptance. The father wanted to give so much more than just an inheritance to his sons. He longed to give himself. In the same way, our Heavenly Father wants to give Himself to us. He longs to be admitted into our hearts. But He does not force His way. Rather, He waits for us to open the doors and receive Him (Rev 3:20).

Yet, unless our hearts are destitute, unless our knees are bent before God in surrender and in submission, it will be hard to stretch out our hands, to wait for and receive the gift of love and mercy that God is always ready to give. As we welcome our neediness and surrender our control to God, we are released to receive all that He waits to bestow on us. Through the hidden blessing of meekness, we inherit the earth – and all the joy our Father wants to share with us, His beloved children.

May and June Fellowship

Life is full of surprises, isn´t it?
We want to say a big "Thank You" to Paul, Faye, Pete and Lou for bringing in a simply fantastic meal for the whole congregation to enjoy as a surprise this past Sunday, June 25. We just loved the way everyone stayed and enjoyed the surprise. Any time you want to repeat the Spring Roles, Paul, we will help you eat them!

We also want to say "Thank You" to Janae for all the wonderful ideas for fellowship she has shared with us over the last couple of years. The latest was a progressive dinner on June 11. After church we went to one house for entrees, then everyone climbed into their cars and went to the next house for salad, then back into their cars for the main dish and finally the dessert! It meant a different ambience in each house, different groups forming to visit, different places for the children to run ( or watch football - woorld cup, no less). We are very glad that the slope in the grass that made Karen´s chair tip over did not dampen Karen´s enjoyment or hurt her in any way.

We have enjoyed several different speakers this month, which is always a blessing. Our congregation has a Spanish sermon on the first Sunday of every month (with translation into English) and it is always great to get a different mix into the picture. Janae, you did a fantastic job for your first two translations. We are going to miss you this time that you will be away from us, for manay, many reasons!

Awaken

Awaken my passion Lord, remove the fear of man.

Let me praise and worship you with all that I am.

Awaken my passion Lord, remove my fear.

That I may come in the presence of one so dear.

Awaken my passion Lord, remove my pride.

Strip me bare, and leave me nowhere to hide.

Awaken my passion Lord, remove my doubt.

That I may be lifted out from the drought.

Ana Cecilia Petersen

May 16 2006

Holy Week

We had a wonderful symbolic Seder meal together on Thursday after washing each other's feet in rememberance of Jesus' Last Supper with His deciples. This led very naturally into a very meaningful communion service. We continued our fellowship over sandwiches and fruit. Nobody wanted to leave!

On Resurrection Sunday, several of us joined in a joyful early service in the garden at the back of our building.

He is Risen - He is Risen Indeed!

We sang songs together and listened to the first part of a teaching by Kelly Liebengood, a teacher at Esepa Bible University. By the time we went inside for breakfast we were looking forward to the cool fruit juice as the sun was quite warm. After breakfast and fellowship, with some of our members going and others coming in, we continued in the teaching and the worship.

As people left, they kept saying that this Holy Week had been especially meaningful. Thank you Kelly, thank you to those who organized and cooked, but most of all - thank you, Jesus, for all that you did for us!

Activities in March and April

PICNIC AND BAPTISM








Our congregation brought family and friends to La Garita for a wonderful picnic on March 18.

Highlight of the day: Baptism!

Vignettes of the day:
. All the children and some of the men had a great time in the pool.
. Marcela also had a lovely time playing in the pool while little Carlitos excitedly enjoyed being with his grandmother amongst the trees
. Howard supervised the BBQ with help from a number of people, and Maritza and Gary worked on a wonderful salad nearby
. Teresa and Rachel shared pre-natal tips amongst other things
. Kathy missed a step and went flying, but love and ice came to the rescue
. There was more than enough delicious food to share
. Drew got sunburned shoulders
. Several people who would have liked to have been there were traveling or sick, and we pray they had good trips and/or have recovered their health
. Sunshine, sustenance, fellowship and caring were abundantly present

APRIL

HOLY WEEK
April 9 - The sermon will be in Spanish with translation into English, so be sure to invite your Spanish-speaking friends.

April 13 - Thursday at 5:00 we are planning a Sadar meal and foot washing, learning about the Christian meanings behind the traditions

April 16 - Resurrection Sunday has a 3-part program:
8:00 am Early Halleluyah Service
9:30 am Breakfast (bring a plate of sweet rolls to share)
10:30 am Regular service including children's program
This special day we will have a guest speaker for both services and we invite you to come to all three parts of the program or come to one service and join us for breakfast fellowhip as we celebrate the Risen Christ!