05/12/2024 = Psalm 139:7-10 = Who is God? “Omnipresent – All Over” (Mother’s Day)

Posted on May 12, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive stream of this service – starts at 8:00, sermon at 39:00 – Today’s audio did not get recorded correctly, our apologies – it is ambient sound (which means you hear everything in the room), and the Zoom-music-setting got turned off (which means the music is unhearable) – we are so sorry!!)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and m ministries – THANK YOU for your generous gift)

Mark Wheeler

Psalm 139:7-10

Mother’s Day, 05/12/2024

Who is God? – “All-Over (Omnipresence)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends, and Happy Mother’s Day! To one and all – may this be a good day!

I know that there are as many feelings about Mother’s Day as there are people in a room – Moms who are proud, Moms who are grieving, Women who want to be Moms, Women who can’t be Moms, Step-Moms, Adoptive-Moms, Aunties-who-are-like-Moms, God-Mothers, Grandmothers, and this only begins to name the emotions of the women – there are also the children, the fathers, the other men, and so many more!

So, today’s service will honor the women in our lives – Moms and others, but will not be the main focus.

Today we continue our study on theology – who is God? How does God do what God does? Is He real? Today’s “theology word” is Omnipresence – God is “All-Over” the Place – everywhere!

Into Your presence, we come, God of Grace and Peace,
who was, and is and ever shall be the eternal One.
Into fellowship we come, bound together in the love
that died and rose again for us, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

2-3

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, and prepares us for the Love we experience in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, from Psalm 85:

4-9 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #635 … He Leadeth Me –

10 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.

11 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this beautiful anthem: “Blessed Assurance”

12 Children’s Message

13 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

14 Gloria Patri

15-18 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

20-22 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #107 – Christ Be My Leader –

Last week we talked about the Agapeic love of God, and I thought about having that as the theme for Mother’s Day – love – what could be more perfect than “love” for Mother’s Day? Then, I realized — all knowing and every where – that’s what’s perfect for Mother’s Day!

My parents left us children home alone for a week, for the first time – and the last time – when they went to Hawaii for their 20^th Wedding Anniversary, March 1974 – My sister was 18, my brother was 17, I was 13 and my little sister was 10.

While they were gone – 1974 (Expo year) – no cell phones, no Ring cameras, no Nanny-cams – Mom and Dad came home, entered the front door, gave us a hug, and my loving Mom said, “Who broke the stereo?”

How did she know? (It was my brother and me, playing indoor baseball with Hot Wheels tracks and ping pong balls!) Mom was every where!

Created in the image of God? Yes – her seeming-omnipresence reflected God’s “all-over-ness”!

Aseity – God’s independent self-expression; Immutability – God’s unchangeable character; Impassibility – God’s self-agency and immovable nature; and today we look at Agapeity – God’s expression of Perfect Love. – those are the words we’ve learned and concepts we have explored so far. Today we come to one that may be more familiar – Omni-presence – God is “all over the place!”

This week’s pop-quiz questions: Where is God? Do we enter God’s presence when we come through the doors of the “House of God”? When we open our worship service, do we need to invite God to be present with us?

Let’s look, together, at the Word of God: Psalm 139:7-10 …. —-

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

Where is the beginning of God, and the outer edge? Where is where God is not? Do you remember the Great I am name of God? I am, YHWH, Yahweh, means where-ever we find ourselves – we also can find God’s presence!

Relying on God’s presence and power is key to our relationship with the Creator of the universe. And how could we rely on God if we could not find Him?

It’s true that most of us have experienced moments in our lives when we wondered where God was? Usually this is a time of suffering, grief, illness, injury, for ourselves or for loved ones. Theological philosophers might call this “the dark night of the soul!” Who here has been in this place? God where are You? The Psalmists were there often! This is very real! Some of us here today, right now, might wonder if God has left you…. Are we alone in this world?

Even Jesus felt abandoned when He was dying on the cross – but we all know He was not actually abandoned, and in the end, Jesus gave Himself to His heavenly Father.

Yet, the Bible clearly tells us that when we feel this way, the problem is with us, not with God. We may have shut our minds to Him; we may have closed our ears to His voice; we may have walked away from His Word, from His people, from God’s presence.

But this does not mean God is still not every where! Including right where we are! His voice is not silent – our ears are just plugged up and we can’t hear Him. Maybe you’ve seen the Bumper Sticker theology that states, “If God is not near, guess who moved.”

What was true for Jesus on the cross, is just as true for you and me.

God is “all over the place” is not the same as the philosophy that claims that God is “in everything”, or that everything in the universe is somehow divine in and of itself!

That is not what the Bible teaches. We call this “pantheism”. The Bible does not teach pantheism. God is distinct from Creation. Creator and creation are not equal. Creator is in charge – sovereign, Omnipresent!

But, while I completely believe everything I just said to be completely true – I confess that there are places on this planet that appear to be closer to God’s presence than other places!

Am I alone? Who else has experienced what the Irish call a “thin place”, where the nearness of God is more palpable? What are some of those places? [church, mountain-top, beach, the lake, the garden …]

If God is equally “all-over”, how do we explain this feeling? The Old Testament books of the Pentateuch, the History books, the Prophets, often talk about places where God put His name, where God’s presence is heavier – Jerusalem and the Temple in particular. But they also say that the Temple cannot contain God, God does not fit in a building, or a city, or a nation. God is “all-over”!

But our finite brains, our inability to understand God’s ultimate infinite dimensions; so, He helps us grasp His presence with gifts of places that feel more focused, that offer deeper relationship, that seem nearer to the Almighty.

We gather in the Church Sanctuary, not because God is here, and not out there! We gather here because this room is designated for the purpose of worship! We humans require a place that we all recognize as dedicated to the worship of God! It is for our benefit, not God’s necessity, that God might feel nearer here than in our cars or at our jobs or in our classrooms.

God is infinite in His eternally transcendent self – omnipresent! Therefore, wherever we are; whatever our circumstance; whoever we’re with; we can rely on God! He is right here with us – always. Our God is “all-over the place”, always!

27 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or go to www.givlia.com/g/lidgerwoodpresbychurch; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

28-29 Expedition Song #834 – Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing! –

30 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”

31-32

Announcements

Pentecost Sunday – Next Sunday! Wear RED!
Ezra 3 Initiative – Commissioning, Next Sunday, on Pentecost
A/C Fundraiser
Potluck Lunch & LPC Story-sharing – June 2, right after worship, share favorite dish, dish up favorite KPC exoperience

Resources:

Bray, Gerald; “Omnipresence”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 17-19.

05/05/2024 = John 3:16-21 = Who Is God? – Agapeity – Perfect Love

Posted on May 5, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video of this service – starts at 3:00, sermon at 40:30)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries)

Mark Wheeler

John 3:16-21

05/05/2024

Who is God? – “Perfect Love (Agapeity)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends, on this first Sunday of May – Cinco de Mayo – after a chaotically busy week in Alaska, with Brianna and her Alaska-family, paying annual tribute to Yohana with some painful and powerful moments of sharing and receiving, getting and giving, it is very good to be back with our Lidgerwood Family and friends this week.

But, before we move too far along – a GIANT THANK YOU to Lilly for standing in as the worship emcee – beautifully done! To Linda Tufto for leading us into worship and in prayer, to Johnny who so expertly fixed things in the slideshow and got all the online hoopla in perfect order! And to our regular cast of worship leaders – Donna, Julie, the choir, Ken, Vern, and ALL of YOU who tried a little something different with Katie Stark’s FORTY-minute “preaching experiment”! I was not able to be with you “live”, but I was able to watch and listen with you after-the-fact!

Today I want you to give me a Three-Word-Description of who God is – this has been a Facebook thing for a number of weeks. Let’s hear some answers?

[God is love – God is almighty – God is just – God is gracious – God is … what?]

Today we continue our study on theology – who is God? How does God do what God does? Is He real? Today’s “theology word” is Agapeity – perfect love – what is that and how does it work?

Lord God, in a universe that seems so immense it is easy to feel insignificant as we stand here today.
Yet we know that we are precious in Your sight – unique individuals loved and blessed in so many ways. We stand in awe of the One who has created all things and dedicates this time and all our days to Your service. Accept this offering we pray, our sacrifice of praise and worship. Amen

2-3

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, and prepares us for the Love we experience in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, from Psalm 85:

4-9 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #72 … To God Be the Glory –

10 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

11 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this Communion-love-themed anthem: “Pass Me Not” and remember this song when we come to the Children’s Message

12 Children’s Message

13 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

14 Gloria Patri

15-18 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

20-22 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #16 – Give to Our God Immortal Praise –

One of my favorite pre-Reformation era Christian theologians, the great St Thomas Aquinas, once said, “Theology proceeds from God, teaches us about God and leads us to God.” Theology is what unites us as followers of Jesus, and sometimes divides us as sinners who major on the minors, fight over the little things that we disagree on and forget the big things we have in common.

Over the last few weeks, we have learned a few new words and theological concepts – this month we explore a few more that we might be more familiar with, but about which I expect we will discover something new.

We have begun most of these sermons with a pop-quiz question – so let’s do that again today: What is the greatest commandment? [Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength]; and the second greatest? [Love your neighbor as yourself.] If this is the greatest Commandment – both in the words of Jesus in the Gospels and in the words of God in Deuteronomy and Leviticus – then we’d best figure it out, right? The order is important. Love the Lord your God first, love your neighbors with that kind of love. God’s kind of love.

The Apostle John in his letter to the churches says, “We love because God first loved us” (I John 4:19). So what does this love look like?

The Agapeic nature of God is what we’re looking at today. Agape love.

Earlier we used the three-word-description of God – the most common answer is “God is love” – biblical and accurate. Bumper sticker theology often says it like this: “It’s all about the love”.

Luke’s Gospel includes what may be the most well-known parable, “the Parable of the Good Samaritan” as a lesson on loving our neighbor.

But it could be a little more complicated than that: Francis Schaeffer, mid-20^th Century theologian and Presbyterian Pastor, posed this situation: “Imagine you’re walking down the street and encounter a young thug beating up an elderly woman. He is striking her again and again as she clings to the purse he is attempting to snatch. … What does it mean to ‘love my neighbor’ in that situation? … Unquestionably, loving my neighbor means that I use the force necessary to subdue the thug and rescue the elderly woman.”

“Love thy neighbor” sometimes includes acts of judgment.

Here’s the thing about “love” – it is not always romance and nice. Sometimes “love” means stern words and honest truth. The theological character traits we have been looking at (aseity, immutability, impassibility, agapeity) are not separate truths about God, they are all different sides of the same truth about God: Love and Justice, Grace and Wrath, Goodness and Holiness are not opposites; they are complementary; they are interdependent. Love without Justice is mere sentimentality; Justice without Love is sheer vindictiveness.

In our Call to Worship today, Psalm 85, we read that “steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

The cross of Christ is that perfect expression of both the love of God who saves unworthy sinners and the justice of God who requires that a just price for salvation is covered.

Let’s look, together, at the most famous Bible verse in the world: John 3:16, in the context of its whole paragraph: John 3:16-21 …. —-

¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Did you catch the tensions in that story? As I have said several times this last month – these tensions only seem like tensions, because our finite brains are unable to grasp all the intricate aspects who God is.

So, as we look at these “harmonies” of God’s seemingly opposing character traits, the Bumper Sticker theology of “It’s All About the Love” really is the best place to start.

How do we reconcile “God so the loved the world” with “those who do not believe are condemned already”? Love and Condemnation in the same paragraph? How does that work? How do we know which category or neighbor falls in? How do we know which category we fall in?

Let’s start with a just definition what the Bible means when it says “God is love” – because it does say that? And if that’s true, how would, why would, would a loving God condemn someone to hell? Or even allow someone to suffer … a divorce, a diagnosis, a death?

In English, sometimes, the word “is” works like an equal sign. 2+3 is 5, and 5 is 2+3. Equals. But 5 is also 1+4, and 3-1/2 + 1-1/2. Equals and “is” is not always the same. An apple is red, but “red” is not always an apple. God is love, but we cannot simply reverse the equation and make it be true. The Apostle John does not ever write “Love is God”. John also writes, “God is light”. In Hebrews we read that “God is a consuming fire”. God, who is indeed “love” is also “faithful” and “just”.

Here’s what this boils down to: God’s love is a just love, and His justice is a loving justice! One attribute does not negate or nullify the other. Charles Spurgeon puts it this way: “God is … as severely just as if He had no love, and yet as intensely loving as if He had no justice.” [“Mind blown”!]

How often have we heard, or maybe said, something like, “A loving God would never … condemn me … want me to be unhappy … disapprove of my desires … challenge my lifestyle … etc.” This argument goes on to say that a loving God is only and always completely accepting of everyone and everything. We have redefined who God is, unlinked to Scripture and His own self-revelation. Disconnecting “love” from “holiness” is not who/what God is! An unholy God is not the God of the Bible.

When the Apostles describe God with “God is love” they use the Greek word “agape” – not any of the other Greek or Latin words we translate as love – eros, caritas, phileos, amor. God’s love is distinguishing, corrective and righteous love.

When a Mom scolds her toddler child for playing in the street, or running off in the giant big box store, is she not still being loving? “Don’t play in the street” is not because of anything other than love! The street is dangerous!

When a Dad tells his son that if he takes his sister’s ice cream one more time, there will be consequences, is he not still showing love to both his daughter and his son?

The book of Exodus says, “[God is] merciful and gracious”, and yet He “will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex 34:6-7). Romans 11:22 says, “Behold … the goodness and the severity of God.” I think it was CS Lewis who describes it this way: “If God were not just, He would not be good.” It’s like, if God were to simply “wink at sin, if He were to ignore evil, if He were to tolerate injustice, if He were to leave the innocent at the mercy of the ungodly—unrescued, unavenged, unvindicated, and eternally undistinguished from the wicked, sharing the same space, the same destiny, the same rewards, and the same punishments—God would not be good or kind or righteous or holy or just. Love requires justice!”

But, as I said a few minutes ago, it makes best sense to start our understanding of God as love. Love is the basis, the foundation, for all the rest of how we understand God. Micah 7:18 tells us that God delights in steadfast love – no where in the Bible do we read that God delights in wrath. He is just and righteous and has wrath – but does not delight in it! Rather, “God is slow to anger, and abounds in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8).

John 3:16-21 reveals how God loves us – He gave His only begotten Son – but there is more – all who believe in Him shall gain the everlasting life – those who do not believe are condemned already. Just love is loving justice!

As we approach the Lord’s Table, come to Communion, enjoy the Eucharist, we approach the Table which represents this agapeity, perfect love and justice, sacrificed for our sake. Receive Him and Believe this Good News.

I invite our Communion Servers to come forward. In our Church we recognize that there is no fence guarding this Table – it is open to all of receive Christ, who believe Jesus – and we invite you all to partake of the blessings of God’s presence made real in this sacrament.

29 Communion Hymn #774 – Bread of the World! –

30 Sacrament of Holy Communion –

31 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or go to www.givlia.com/g/lidgerwoodpresbychurch; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

32-39 Expedition Song #733 – We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations! –

40 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

41-42

Announcements

Breakfast Fellowship – Saturday, 9am, at Church – $5/person – Expo ’74 memorabilia
Mother’s Day – Next Sunday, wear Floral and ladies wear bonnets!
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Johnson, Terry L.; “Love, Justice and Wrath”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 14-16.

04/21/2024 = Job 35:5-8 = Who Is God? Un-Influenced (Impassibility)

Posted on April 21, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video of this service – starts at 5:15, sermon at 41:15)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries – THANK YOIU for your being a generous past of our ministry!)

Mark Wheeler

Job 35:5-8

04/21/2024

Who is God? – “Un-Influenced (Impassibility)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends!

When is the last time you were faced with multiple options, and had to choose one over the others?

What color socks you wore today?
Stay home to watch the Flintstones and Gilligan’s Island on TV, or go to church? (Yeah, that’s the TV choices I struggle over….)
Division or Nevada or Crestline to Wellesley or Empire?

Right? We choose one thing over the rest all the time. What influences our choices? What determines our decisions?

Bless us as we choose to meet together, dear Lord we pray.
Bless our singing of Your praise, the reading of Your Word,
the sharing of our fellowship, the prayers that will be heard.
Bless us as we meet together, dear Lord we pray. Amen.

Today we continue our study on theology – who is God? How does God do what God does? Is He real?

In this theology laboratory, we learn what may be new concepts – and what may be new words! We have learned about God’s ASEITY – His self-eternal-existence, and God’s IMMUTABILITY – His unchanging-character!

Today we look at the theme of God’s IMPASSIBILITY!

2-4

Linda Tufto calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 100:

5-8 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #43 … A Mighty Fortress Is Our God –

9 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

10 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this worship-filled anthem: “Lift Up Your Voice”

11 Children’s Message

12 Linda opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

13 Gloria Patri

14-17 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

19-21 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #44 – Great Is Lord –

One of the longest-standing and most-beloved traditions of Church-life – in every denomination and church culture – in every country, language and culture – is the Potluck Lunch!

23 I mean – look at this table! There’s something there for everybody … and there are dishes here that everybody will avoid. – As a pastor, in order to not hurt anyone’s feelings, and because I don’t know who brought what, I almost always get a little of every menu offering! And if it’s something I like, I will get a double-portion! (But there are a few things I will skip unless I am asked by the cook to try … most sea-food dishes, and especially shellfish dishes … they’re just not my favorite. [If I think it’s chicken salad and it turns out to be tuna salad, I’m less than happy; and if I think it’s coleslaw – which I usually love – but to turns out to be crab salad, I’m a little … sad….]).

But I’m not the only one! We all will choose certain items and pass by others. Why is that? Why do we pick some and skip others?

The truth is that this Potluck Table, or any Potluck Table, exerts an influence on us. I am drawn to fresh Baked Bread and Butter, and pushed away from Boiled Broccoli. For you it may be Bacon and Tomatoes, or Lasagna and Lima Beans. We perceive some as yummy and others as yucky, and this perception causes us to move either toward or away from such foods. We have been moved, changed, affected, by the looks, smells, and expected tastes.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Renihan, author of a book called, God without Passions, says, “This is the life of a passible creature.”

He then defines “passible” as being capable of being acted on by an outside influence. “[We] are capable of being the patient of an agent. The words patient and passible come from the same root, meaning ‘to suffer or undergo’.” Think of the Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. This is about Jesus’ suffering in His trial and crucifixion. (Some churches call Palm Sunday Passion Sunday for the same reason.)

A patient is one who suffers or undergoes the action of an agent. To be passible is to be able to be the patient of an agent.

Can you guess where we’re going with this? Is God the “patient” or is God the “agent”?

Today we read the Old Testament book of Job 35:5-8 …. —- Hear the Word of God …. —-

⁵Look up at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.
⁶If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
⁸Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.

As we go through that Potluck line, we pick up the items we expect will delight us, and we ignore those dishes we think might disgust us. Those are “passionate” choices. We might normally use the word “passion” when we’re talking about a kiss or a hot-topic debate – things about which we feel passionate. But the word really just has to do with whether we move toward or away from things, situations, people about which we have any feeling at all.

We give names to these “passions”: love or hate, joy or sadness, hope or despair, confidence or fear, mercy or vengeance. And every one in this room, everyone in the world, deals with these. Paul, in Ephesians 2:3 says, “We all once lived in the passions of our flesh” (the NIV says it like this: “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.”

In Colossians 3:2, Paul instructs us to: “set your minds (or your passions, your affections) on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” In other words, “Be drawn to the good as defined by God, not as defined by society!” The world’s “good” and “bad” is constantly shifting, changing. Listen to what is acceptable language on Prime Time TV today, versus what was allowed just a few years ago….

What is good and righteous? What does God’s Word say? Are we listening to that?!

And our “passions” about what happens to us is also a constantly shifting sea of emotions: green light and we’re happy, red light and we’re not; Gonzaga scores a three-pointer and we’re cheering, Purdue scores a free-throw and we’re jeering; Mark says, “And in conclusion…” and we’re excited, but then he just keeps on talking and we’re depressed…

This is the world of passibility. We are acted upon – passive voice in grammar. And that describes all of us!

But it does not describe God! God is impassive! God is never the patient of an exterior agent. God is never “moved” by something that could provoke a change in Him.

In Job 35, the youthful advisor, the only friend who counsels Job wisely, tells Job, “If you sin, how does that affect God? If your sins are many, what does that do to God? If you are righteous, what do you give to God, or what does God receive from your hand? Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.

This is fantastic news! It means that when it says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” is a sure and confident statement! It means that when I stole an extra sandwich at yesterday’s Reception for Beth Zimmer’s family, my salvation is not at stake! (That does not mean it’s OK to steal – God’s Word is clear that stealing is wrong/bad – but it does mean that God’s character of Salvation-sacrifice is assured!) God is just, and therefore not swayed by my sin or my righteousness.

Or Job’s. Or yours!

If God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s love, were a “passion” like ours – it would constantly be shifting based on our goodness and badness. This is God’s impassibility – I John 4:19 tells us, “We love because God first loved us.” God’s love is independent of our love. His justice and righteousness calls for our obedience and trust – but it does not depend on it!

Psalm 136 starts with: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever!” And then 25 more times – “His love endures forever!”

How long does God’s love endure? FOR-EVER!

What happens to God’s love if I sin? NOTHING. Because it endures … FOREVER!

What about if I’m especially good this week? What happens then? NOTHING. Because God’s love still endures … FOREVER!

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

28-30 Expedition Song #45 – Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing! –

31 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

Announcements

Thru-the-Bible Check-in – Monday at noon, come to the Church Building (or on Thursday Bible Study Zoom) with your questions, insights, and wonderings, and your own sack lunch! (II Chronicles 21)
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Renihan, Samuel D.; “Impassibility”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 11-13.

04/14/2024 = Malachi 3:6-16 = Who is God? Immutable

Posted on April 14, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the Facebook Live video feed of this service – starts at 2:40, sermon at 35:05 – the audio is not all it should be (from 12:40-18:00, we accidentally got interrupted by an outside Zoom attendant – our apologies), try using the Captions-ON-setting and see if that helps, or follow along with this “text”)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries – Bless you for your generosity)

Mark Wheeler

Malachi 3:6-16

04/14/2024

Who is God? – “Un-Changing (Immutability)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends!

In our meeting together let us remember that we worship the God who created this world,
the God who spoke through His prophets from generation to generation,
led His people from captivity to liberty, healed the sick, fed the hungry,
and is faithful even when faced with rejection.

The same God who wants all people to be drawn to His love and grace,
to know His forgiveness and the joy of His Salvation.

Let us put aside all that interrupts us and gets in our way and join together in worship and praise.

Today we continue our study on theology – who is God? How does God do what God does? Is He real?

In this theology laboratory, we learn what may be new concepts – and what may be new words! Last Week we learned about God’s ASEITY – His self-eternal-existence. Today’s concept and word is IMMUTABILITY.

We sometimes say things like, “Nothing is certain but death and … [taxes].” Those are indeed certain, but so is the immutability of God – this is what allows us to trust Him!

Linda Tufto calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 121:

3-4 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #125 … Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him –

5 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

6 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this anthem that prays for what God wills for us from the beginning of Creation: “Let There Be Peace on Earth”

7 Children’s Message

8 Linda opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

9 Gloria Patri

10-13 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

15-17 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #577 – O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus –

Finish this Bible verse for me: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and … [forever].” (New Testament book of Hebrews 13:8)

The Bible has several verses that describe that same concept of God – God’s immutability! That word – immutability – is related to the word “mutate” or “mutant”:

19 This is NOT what God is like [TMNT poster]. These Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – by definition – have been changed (mutated) – Incredible Hulk or Spiderman-like – into super-hero figures. They once were ordinary men, boys or turtles – and they become something “better”.

God cannot be made better! And He was never better before than He is now!

Today we read the Old Testament prophet Malachi 3:6-16 …. —- Hear the Word of God …. —-

⁶“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

⁸“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

¹¹I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹²“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

¹³“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ ¹⁴“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners

before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵But now we call the

arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

The term “immutable” means unchanging and unchangeable! All three persons of the Trinity are “immutable”. If God were to change – if God was changeable – it would mean He went either to or from something better, which implies that God could either be better than He is now, or that He used to be better and now He’s not as “better”.

I have heard people argue that if God doesn’t change, then God is nothing more than a stick in the mud or a block of concrete. Why bother praying? Wait, didn’t Abraham argue with God and change God’s mind about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah?

Here’s what those arguments miss: God is life! He is Life itself! Life, by definition, is not “stuck” and is not inanimate! And God’s character never changes as a result of those questions or considerations! In all of that, God’s immutability is connected directly to His Aseity (His self-existent state of being). God is who/what God is – YHWH – Yod–Hey–Vav–Hey!

God is the living God, life itself. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (That’s what the Swahili is on the front page of the bulletin.) This is what this aspect of Immutability is about!

Immutability means that God is unchangeably true to Himself – and true to His purposes and true to His promises. That’s what we read in Malachi!

God is sovereign – a key theological understanding in the Presbyterian family. Sovereignty means that He is not subject to external influences. Name any aspect of God’s attributes, any character traits we consider divine – someone name one [love – almighty – omnipresent – perfectly just – etc]: Not changed by any thing we throw at Him.

God’s character does not and cannot change! This truth is the foundation for all His external works of creation, providence, and grace. This is the basis for our faith and assurance!

For the last four months we have been celebrating and commemorating the fact that the Second Person of the Trinity became Incarnate, the Son of God was born in Bethlehem, lived in Capernaum, died in Jerusalem. Isn’t that a change? A mutation? Doesn’t that make God “mutable”?

The quick answer is, Yes. The incarnation involved a change in substance – Spirit became Human. But it was NOT a change in essence! Yes, for 33 years the Son of God needed to eat and sleep, was limited to one place at a time, and could be hungry or hurt or hung-over. But, even with those limitations in place, Jesus walked on water, healed the centurion’s son from a distance, and offered healing and life-saving miracles. His essence did not change. He was still God!

And it’s not as though those 33 years happened by accident, or was a last ditch effort to accomplish what God had failed to do before…. There are hints of the coming incarnation from as early as Genesis 3 – that’s Adam and Eve! Genesis 12 with Abraham! And in dozens more places throughout the Old Testament. God did not change, because God’s character does not, cannot, change!

Dr. Robert Letham, professor of systematic theology at Union School of Theology in Wales, says, “It was God’s primal decision to become incarnate in Jesus Christ from then and forever, as the foundation of our own election and union with Him (Eph 1:4). In the incarnation, God Himself did not change. The Son [of God]did not become man in the sense of changing into man. He did not enhance Himself or add to what he always was and is. That would not be incarnation but metamorphosis. Rather, the Son by taking human nature into permanent union so that it became His human nature. (Phil 2:6-7) became flesh in such a way that he continued, as the Son [of God]or Logos, to be the subject of all the experiences of Jesus of Nazareth, while remaining who he ever was and is (John 1:1-4, 14-18; Heb 13:8), experiencing them as man. From that, the processes of human life in this world, including suffering, death, burial, and resurrection, are known to God from a human perspective. The immutability of God secures this!”

This immutability is foundational to the whole of theology. Malachi reminds us that God’s unchanging nature secures the salvation and redemption that God has promised since the beginning of the Bible, and that is fulfilled through faith in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

God’s sovereign immutability, unchanged by any forces outside Himself, gives us the assurance of his unending love and justice! Trust Him, believe Him, receive Him, know Him, grow in Him, and discover Him all around you, every day!

Amen.

26 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

27-29 Expedition Song #530 – Be Still, My Soul –

30 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

Announcements

Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Letham, Robert; “Immutability”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 8-10.

04/07/2024 = Exodus 3:1-15 = “Who is God? YHWH, God is Self-Existent (Aseity)”

Posted on April 7, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FB Live video of this service – starts at 6:30, sermon at 43:00)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries – THANK YOU for your support!)

Mark Wheeler

Exodus 3:1-15

04/07/2024

Who is God? – “Self-Existent (Aseity)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends, on this first Sunday after Easter – a week after the Resurrection – the disciples, scared that maybe they’re next in line to be crucified, hiding behind locked doors and shuttered windows, in a dark room, whispering. And in this sealed cell, these closed quarters, this vacuum-packed accommodation – the risen Jesus shows up, appears, transcends the traps!

How does He do that?

Today we begin a seven-week study on theology – who is God? How does God do what God does? Is He real?

Spring break is over tomorrow morning, so students, let’s start our learning today! In this theology laboratory, we learn what may be a new concept – and what for 90% of us is a new word! (This may come in handy the next time any of us are actually on the Jeopardy Game Show – so pay attention!)

2-3

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, and prepares us for Communion:

4-7 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #66 … The God of Abraham Praise –

8 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

9 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this Communion-themed anthem: “Lest We Forget”

10 Who can guess our “new word”?[Aseity] Children’s Message

11 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

12 Gloria Patri

13-16 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

18-20 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #336 – God Is My Great Desire –

Today we begin a series of theological studies – as I said in the April Newsletter, quoting from a great pre-Reformation era Christian theologian, St Thomas Aquinas, “Theology proceeds from God, teaches us about God and leads us to God.” Theology is what unites us as followers of Jesus, and sometimes divides us as sinners who major on the minors, fight over the little things that we disagree on and forget the big things we have in common.

And, as I said a few minutes ago, Spring Break is just about over – that’s why Johnny is not here today – so we’re learning a new word, and having a pop-quiz on God’s proper name.

You have perhaps seen a poster like this one:

22 Open-poster pop quiz: What name did God tell Moses was God’s name? Do you see it in here? “I am” or “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” or “YHWH” (theologians sometimes call this “the great Tetragrammaton” (Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey).

Today we read the Old Testament story where God tells Moses His name – but before we read it, let’s consider this name for a minute: I am, or I am what I am, or I will be what I will be, or I am what I will be, or something else just as benign and baneful. I mean, we all say things like, “it is what it is”, and every time we hear it, we throw up a little in our mouths …. But, you know, it is what it is….

But – is that really God’s name? Is that what we call Almighty God, creator of the universe? “He is what He is”? (Or, equally as possible, “She is what She is”?)

Listen to the context of what this name really means. Hear the time and place where God reveals His own identity. Exodus 3:1-15 – Moses was born in Exodus 1, and two chapters later he is nearly 80 years old, being called by God to deliver God’s Chosen People from slavery in Egypt …. —-

¹Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, & I am concerned

about their suffering. ⁸So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites & Jebusites.

⁹And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

¹²And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

¹³Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

Did you catch the context of God giving Moses this name? It is God’s promise to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt! Moses cries out his own in-ability to do the saving work, his self-insufficiency – so God declares His perfect self–sufficiency to save His people!

His name – YHWH – I am who I am – shouts out the reason He is reliable.

God does not tell Moses I am good, or I am strong, or I am able – He tells Moses, “I am who I am!”

“I am good” or “strong” or “able” makes us wonder, is God good enough? is He stronger than the forces of bad? how able is He? But I am who I am is just that – there’s no comparison or competition.

This is why we can trust God. God is who God is – we learn who He is in Scripture. We learn who God is by testing Him. When we pray, do we pray boldly? This is the lab work in the class of Christian living. Putting faith to practice. God is – and God is beyond our every imagination.

God is – and this truth means God is not dependent on anything or anyone else. God is completely self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-dependent. Nothing else, no one else, can say that. If this were not true – if God were dependent on anything beyond Himself – all our confidence in Him would actually be confidence in the next thing in line.

A few years ago, our dear friend Joanne used to corner me after Bible study and pin me down to an answer. She would ask about the origin of creation – and the answer was God; the origin of the stars – God; the origin of the universe – God; and then she would ask, “And where did God come from?” What is the origin of God? What came before God?

And the answer is “God’s name is ‘I am who I am’ – present tense, never beginning, never ending!”

Some of us remember one of our later 20^th century US Presidents asking, before the Grand Jury and the world’s public opinion, what “the definition of the word is is…” Exodus 3:14 gives us this answer. God does not have existence – like you and I do – God simply just is!

The word we are learning today is the word theologians give to this attribute of God – aseity – self-existent – in a way that only God is! And if that is true – we can put our full and complete trust in Him, and in Him alone! This word comes from Latin a-se – from-himself or of-himself. Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck, died a little over 100 years ago, once said, “When God ascribes this aseity to Himself in Scripture, he makes himself known as absolute Being, as the One who Is in an absolute sense…. By this perfection He is at once essentially and absolutely distinct from all creatures.”

It’s like this: creatures, because they are creatures, because we are creatures, depend on causes of our being – we have birthdays, because we have parents; we depend on food to sustain our bodies, we depend on water to stay alive, we depend on oxygen, we depend on others. We cannot exist without the cause of others. But this not true for God! God does not exist with any such dependence or reliance on causes. Toward the end of the book of Job God reminds Job that all of creation is caused by God, but that God is not caused by anything!

The aseity of God suggests that God is not made up of many different parts – the Trinity, Father ,Son and Holy Ghost, is not three different parts that combine to make one magnificent Holy God. James Dolezal, professor of theology at Radius Theological Institute, says, “Because God is not composed of parts, He cannot fall apart on us. There just are no parts into which He might fall. It is because He is ‘a se’ … that we can cast ourselves on Him and His Word utterly and unreservedly.”

I don’t think I have the ability to satisfy all the questions of this theological theme, of this attribute of God, but I hope I have pricked some wonderings. So, for all the mystery that attends the doctrine of aseity, let me assure you that God would not be God if He were not perfectly self-sufficient and uncompounded. This is what makes God totally trustworthy.

As we approach the Lord’s Table, come to Communion, enjoy the Eucharist, we approach the Table which represents this aseity, self-sufficient existence, sacrificed for our sake. Receive Him and Believe this Good News.

30-32 Communion Hymn #770 – As We Around the Table of Bread Together! –

33 Sacrament of Holy Communion –

34 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

35-38 Expedition Song #741 – The Battle Is the Lord’s! –

39 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

Announcements

Breakfast Fellowship – Saturday, 9am, at Frankie Doodles
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Dolezal, James E.; “Aseity and Simplicity”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 4-7.

03/31/2024 = Resurrection Sunday = He’s Living Today

Posted on March 31, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to watch the worship service on Facebook Live – it starts about 8 minutes in)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood church’s mission and ministries – THABNK YOIU for your generosity!)

Happy Resurrection Day dear friends! Today’s service our Choir presents the John W. Peterson Cantata, “He’s Living Today”! Please use the link above and be blessed!

03/29/2024 = Mark 14 = This Is Good Friday!

Posted on March 30, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

May this Good Friday service bring comfort and hope and personal reflection to your Easter weekend and your lives. Click on this link to see the FB Lice video feed: https://fb.watch/r7jh74h_fm/?mibextid=Nif5oz

03/24/2024 = Mark 15:1-39 = Lent 6: “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – trials, temptations & the Truth to the end”

Posted on March 24, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to watch the FBLive Video Feed – starts at 3:45, sermon at 37:00 – musical audio is terrible, but stay for the rest of the worship)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood’s mission and ministries – THANK YOU for your generous support)

Mark Wheeler

Mark 15:1-39

Palm Sunday, 03/24/2024

Lent 6: “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – trials, temptations & the Truth to the end”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship on this Palm Sunday!! Does everyone have a palm frond? Let’s use them (or just our “palms”) to praise the Lord together!

Let’s stand as Mary leads us in our Call to Worship from Mark 11:

3-5

and then we sing our Prelude of Praise and Worship – #203 … Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!

6 Today, we continue going through the Gospel According to Mark – our Lenten series is called “‘Mark’-ing Our Fidelity” – like marking our territory, but we are marking our faith – and today’s theme is that one of the ways we “mark our fidelity” is in how we face trials, temptations and the Truth all they way to the end!

And if you were here last Sunday you heard me say that last week and this week the Scripture stories and the church calendar were not syncing up perfectly – we’re a little out of order. Today, the theme of the Call to Worship and the Children’s Message and all the songs connect to the fact that TODAY is PALM SUNDAY – the Sunday Jesus triumphantly comes into Jerusalem as King and Savior; the Sunday before the week of His last Supper at that year’s Passover, His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the arrival of His betrayer Judas Iscariot (that was what we read last week), and then His unwarranted arrest, His illegal trial, His unfounded conviction, which leads to His unjustified execution on the cross (this is today’s story).

This is that week! Today is Palm Sunday (wave your “palms”). This Thursday is Maundy Thursday (we are advertising the 7pm Communion service at First Presbyterian Church). This Friday is Good Friday (our service is at 7pm at the Fellowship Church of God on Crestline and Everett).

But because we cannot all make it to one or either of those services, today we have the opportunity to experience with Jesus and His First century Followers what this week holds, so that NEXT Sunday is more than just Easter Eggs, family gathering, and Ham dinner! [By the way – we have HAM to give away if you’d like one – just ask downstairs after worship!]

And for those joining us from across the street, around the county, or from the other side of the planet – welcome to this day of worship and this worshipping community!

7 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this anthem that takes place while Jesus is hanging on the cross: “I Think I Heard Him Say”

8 Children’s Message

9 Mary opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

10 Gloria Patri

11-14 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

16-21 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #204 – All Glory, Laud and Honor –

As I said a minute ago, today’s passage in Mark’s Gospel takes us a little out of Gospel story sequence – today we read about what happens on Maundy Thursday – the Thursday night AFTER Palm Sunday, and then Good Friday’s crucifixion.

With that, let’s open our hearts and minds to hear the Word of God, Mark 15:1-39 …. —-

Easter morning, Resurrection Sunday, does not happen in a vacuum! There is so much that happens in the days before that we need to experience to truly get a grasp on the significance of Sunday!

So … hear the Word of God …. —-

23 Outline of Mark 15 –

Jesus before Pilate

Jesus before public ridicule

Jesus before death

Jesus during death

Holy Heroes: Lenten Adventure: Palm Sunday (Scripture reading) https://youtu.be/KzXRHwBFd7c

15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

²“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

³The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”

⁵But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

⁶Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

⁹“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, ¹⁰knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

¹²“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

¹³“Crucify him!” they shouted.

¹⁴“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

¹⁶The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

²⁵It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

²⁷They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ^[28]^[^a^] ²⁹Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³²Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

³³At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[^b^]

³⁵When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

³⁷With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[^c^] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

The trial and crucifixion of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel highlights the human capacity—with rare exceptions—to resist and even oppose the ways of God.

These chapters that tell the story of Jesus suffering and death unfold at a noticeably slower pace than the rest of Mark’s Gospel, as if he’s challenging us readers to consider again our own answer to the question Jesus asked at Caesarea Philippi(Mark 8:27): “Who do you say that I am?”

Some of you will remember that Mark’s Gospel begins, not with the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, but with a description of Jesus’ identity (Christ, Son of God); he says, “This is the beginning of the Gospel Good News”; but human opposition quickly rises against Jesus’ ministry (for example, 2:6–7; 3:6; 3:21–22; 6:3–4). Even the disciples, those closest to Him, struggle to understand both His mission and His message.

And Jesus’ growing popularity causes the power-elite—scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, chief priests—to fear Him and make even more opposition (see again 11:18; 12:12).

So, after Palm Sunday, when Jesus clears the Temple because they have “made God’s House of Prayer for All Nations into a Den of Thieves”, it comes as no surprise when they collude to end Jesus’ ministry (and His life) by handing Him over to Pilate. After all, Jesus had predicted this outcome at least three times in the last month (8:31; 9:31; 10:34).

As Roman governor of Judea, Pilate authorizes Jesus’ crucifixion, although he seems to be swayed by political expediency rather than by a conviction that Jesus deserves to die. He acknowledges that jealousy fuels the actions of the chief priests even as he hands Jesus over “to satisfy the crowd” (Mark 15:15).

For their part, the crowds who shout, “Crucify Him!” had—just a few days earlier—welcomed Jesus as a king with shouts of “Hosanna! … Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” (11:9–10).

Geez! How quickly things change! The crowds’ words and actions illustrate how easily people may be manipulated into violence: the dangers of mob mentality at its worst. This divisiveness is just as real in America, in Spokane, as we talk politics in this election year!

Mark’s Gospel attributes several titles to Jesus (Son of God, Son of Man, Christ, Teacher/Rabbi, Lord, etc), “King of the Jews” appears only in what’s called the Passion account, where it sounds more ironic or sarcastic than authentic.

Three times Pilate refers to Jesus as king, as if with a question mark, maybe implying that he thinks the whole trial is a scam.

The Roman soldiers taunt Jesus as king (see also Psalms 22:7; 69:19–20). They clothe him in a purple cloak, twist thorns into a crown, salute, and kneel in false homage. They even create a game of the spectacle when they cast lots for a share of Jesus’ clothing.

In ironic testimony to Jesus’ supposed crime, the words “King of the Jews” are inscribed as the charge against Him. Passersby mock him, as do chief priests and scribes, whose sneering taunts are joined even by the criminals who are crucified with Him.

They all act as if Jesus’ ministry has counted for nothing. Forget that He cast out demons, healed the lame, gave sight to the blind, fed multitudes, and forgave sins.

None of that is enough for them to trust in His mission as God’s Messiah. People want more, don’t we? We all want more, and on our own terms. “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe” (15:32).

They do not recognize the Truth they speak. Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah, King of Israel, and the cross will not be His end. However, like those who hear Jesus’ parables or witness the feeding of the multitudes, they see, but they do not understand.

Our inability to perceive the Truth reveals our answer to the question Jesus had earlier asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?”

When we face our own trials and temptations, our own troubles and tribulations, our own demons and devastations – it is helpful to remember that Jesus has already been there and done that! Whatever suffering might lie ahead for Jesus’ followers, His faithful disciples in Mark’s Gospel and His Church that meets at 4449 N. Nevada St (or wherever we might meet), it has already happened to Jesus. Cruelty, betrayal, abandonment, suffering—even the death every human must face is a death He has already endured.

For those who enjoy creative writing and story-telling, God’s Word here should be included with the best: Notice the way Mark connects this last chapter of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus’ death (15:37–39), to the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ baptism (1:10–11). In chapter 1, at His baptism which begins His ministry Jesus is identified as “my Son” by a voice from heaven, and in this nearly last chapter, at His end, the forsaken Jesus cries out to “my God, my God”, holding tight to that relationship even at this most desolate moment.

The Spirit that came into Jesus (Greek pneuma…eis) as the heavens were torn apart (schizō) departs from Him with His final expiration (ekpneō). And the Temple curtain is torn (schizō).

And, in contrast to the unable or unwilling Jews to see the Truth of who Jesus is, a lone Roman centurion, whispers his answer to the question Jesus asked at Caesarea Philippi: “Truly, this man was God’s Son” (15:39).

Like the crowds, who turned from cheerleaders at the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday to a jeering mob at the trial, the disciples seem to have lost their trust in the Truth Jesus’ messianic identity.

Jesus told them this would happen. They should not have been surprised.

Nonetheless, the disciples are nowhere to be found throughout the trial and crucifixion. Only a small group of women, and Joseph of Arimathea—not one of the 12 but a member of the council waiting expectantly for the Kingdom of God—who takes the bold step of providing a respectful burial for Jesus, are there.

The end of the passage leaves a lot hanging. Life and death are often like that.

But—spoiler alert—this is not the end of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of God. Through every Trial and Temptation, will we hang onto the Truth to the very end?

Holy Jesus, throughout every trial and every temptation, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Help us see Your Truth in the midst of our every trial and temptation. Cleanse us, forgive us, and renew us in Your perfect and saving Word. With faith in You, we pray, Amen.

25 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or go to www.givlia.com/g/lidgerwoodpresbychurch, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

26-30 Expedition Song #205 – Ride On, Ride On in Majesty! –

31 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”

Announcements

Furnace Fundraiser
Easter Lilies – $10 each, forms are on the back table and in the office

Maundy Thursday service – 7pm at First Presbyterian Church, downtown
Good Friday service – 7pm at Fellowship Church, Crestline and Everett

Easter Sunrise service – 6:30am at Greenwood Memorial Terrace
Easter Cantata – 10:30am on Easter morning at LPC

Resources:

West, Audrey; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/sunday-of-the-passion-palm-sunday-2/commentary-on-mark-151-39-40-47

03/17/2024 = Mark 14:1-42 = “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – surrender or sacrifice

Posted on March 17, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video stream – starts at 5:00, sermon at 41:00)

(To DONATE to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries, click HERE – THANK YOU for your generosity and faithfulness)

Mark Wheeler

Mark 14:1-42

03/17/2024

Lent 3: “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – sacrifice or surrender”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends, on this Fifth Sunday in the Season of Lent – these several weeks of reflection and repentance and prayer leading us to the events of Good Friday when the Son of God fulfilled His purpose for His incarnation – His death on the cross – and then Resurrection Sunday when He rose from the grave and conquered death for all who receive Him and believe this Good News!

Who’s wearing some green today? Points for each of you! Who’s wearing any orange? Extra-credit points for you! Does anybody here know what the Irish flag looks like? What are the colors? [Green, White, Orange] Why are those the colors? What does the flag represent? Green represents the Irish Catholic faithful, and the Orange represents the Irish Protestant faithful in the north (try Googling William of Orange and see what you come up with), and the White between them is meant to represent the purity and the effort to find peace between them.

Just a little St Patrick’s Day trivia, and an invitation to each of us to make the same kind of sacrifices – to surrender our own self-interests for the good of the whole.

Today, we continue going through the Gospel According to Mark – our Lenten series is called “‘Mark’-ing Our Fidelity” – like marking our territory, but we are marking our faith – and today’s theme is that one of the ways we “mark our fidelity” is by discerning the difference between surrender and sacrifice – and living into those differences!

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 50:

3-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #489 … Jesus Paid It All –

7 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

8 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this “Mark-ing Our Fidelity” anthem about sacrifice and surrender: “A Wind Blew Over Calvary”

9 Children’s Message

10 Pastor Kathy opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

11 Gloria Patri

12-15 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

17-20 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #315 – Break Thou the Bread of Life –

Today’s passage in Mark’s Gospel takes us a little out of Gospel story sequence – next Sunday is Palm Sunday on the Church Calendar – the day we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem as the King of kings and Lord of lords, where we remember the people singing Hosanna and waving Palm Branches to the One they thought might free them from the Roman government’s rule!

That’s next week – but today we read about what happens on Maundy Thursday – the Thursday AFTER Palm Sunday, the Thursday just BEFORE Good Friday’s crucifixion. (By the way, NEXT Sunday will be even more out of order!)

With that, let’s open our hearts and minds to hear the Word of God, Mark 14:1-42 …. —-

This is a long passage – and I am not posting the words on the screen, not because I don’t want you to read it – open your Bibles and follow along if you want – but because I want you to feel it. At the Elders’ Council Meeting last Tuesday, Donna mentioned how moving this year’s Easter Cantata is, and she named the song “He Carried the Cross for Me” as one that brings her to tears.

That’s what I want us to feel this morning. Easter morning, Resurrection Sunday, does not happen in a vacuum! There is so much that happens in the week before that we need to experience to truly get a grasp on the significance of Sunday!

So … hear the Word of God …. —-

22 Outline of Mark 14 –

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

¹Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ²“But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

23 ³While he was in Bethany [here is Bethany – 1.5 to 2 miles from Jerusalem, on the south side of the Mount of Olives], reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper [some scholars say this is also the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus], a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. [Did you hear that? A year’s wages?! That’s a lot of money! We don’t know much about this woman, but we know she made a giant sacrifice – she surrendered her expensive perfume to honor her Savior!]

⁶“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” [Does this comment from Jesus bother you? It used to bother me a lot – Jesus says, “Don’t worry about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked or finding shelter/warming stations for the homeless – instead, spend your money on me!” – but then I realized He is actually saying – “You, Mark, you, LPC, you 21^st Century Church, you still have poor – feed them, clothe them, keep them safe – you can help them any time you want – Do you want? Are you helping them? Stop criticizing this woman and look after the poor yourselves! Live your faith! Live like you believe what you say you believe!”]

¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Last Supper (in Jerusalem)

¹²On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹³So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city [Jerusalem], and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

¹⁶The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. [look at the map again – the “Upper Room” where Jesus and the Disciples celebrated the Passover and instituted what we call the Lord’s Supper (Communion, the Eucharist) happened here – on the southwest corner of Jerusalem – many scholars believe this is the home where Mark, the Gospel writer, and his family lived – probably upper-crust Jews who believed in Jesus – and probably the same Upper Room that housed the Disciples after the Resurrection where Doubting Thomas needed proof, and in Acts, where the Pentecost event happened 50 days after Passover!]

¹⁷When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” [Whom is He talking about? Judas Iscariot, right!]

¹⁹They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

²⁰“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²²While they were eating, Jesus took bread [here’s the Lord’s Supper], and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. [Breaking the bread and sharing the wine are all very expected, anticipated, pieces of the Passover Meal – that happens at every Passover Table – but what Jesus does that no one else has the authority to do is claim that the Bread and the Wine represent His own Body and Blood]

²⁴“This is my blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. [Who remembers what the woman in Simon the Leper’s house in Bethany did to Jesus? – she “poured out the very expensive perfume on His head” – she sacrifices her perfume for Jesus’ sake, and Jesus sacrifices His blood for ours!] ²⁵“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶When they had sung a hymn [all a part of how the Passover is celebrated], they went out to the Mount of Olives. [look at the map again – they went to the Garden of Gethsemane on the lower west-side of the Mount of Olives, right across the Kidron Valley from the Temple’s Eastern Gate]

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

²⁷“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written [in the Old Testament prophet Zechariah 13:7]:

“‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

²⁸But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

²⁹Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

³⁰“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”

³¹But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same. [C. Clifton Black, Bible teacher and commentator, says, “The mind reels at the interlocking ironies: Jesus’ injunction that his followers must deny themselves (8:34); their reckless refutation of their imminent denials of Jesus; Jesus’ denial of himself — the giving of his life — out of enduring loyalty to those who will presently prove traitorous.” I believe that a huge reason why these betrayals and denials of Jesus are preserved for all eternity is that we are meant to reflect on how thoroughly we surrender our selves for Jesus’ sake – have we submitted to God’s purposes, or do we continue to deny and betray His sacrifice?]

Gethsemane

³²They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³He took Peter, James and John along with him [these are the same Disciples Jesus took with Him to the Mount of Transfiguration, where they met the Old Testament greats Moses and Elijah, and they heard God’s voice tell them “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him” – these are the friends Jesus took with Him to pray], and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” [Mark’s Gospel is punctuated with Jesus praying – we read that He finds a lonely place and prays, several times; but this, and in chapter 15, while Jesus’ surrender and sacrifice places Him on the cross, is the only place we actually see the words of Jesus’ prayers – “Abba Father, You can do anything, please don’t make me do this thing – but, never mind, I surrender my will to Your will”, and then a chapter later, on the cross, quoting from Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have Your forsaken me?”]

³⁷Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” [Jesus is speaking directly to Peter, James and John – but as we read, He speaks to us as well! A sleeping church is reawakened to this lesson: self-surrender and self-sacrifice for the Gospel’s sake defines discipleship to Jesus Christ, from whom the cup could not pass and who finally wanted it no other way. The gift of Gospel Good News is that neither here nor anywhere does Jesus’ fidelity to His followers depend on our faithfulness to Him.]

Holy Jesus, the bread and wine of Your last supper totally represent Your body and blood, given for us. Transform us with Your holy presence. Cleanse us, forgive us, and renew us in Your perfect and saving Word. With faith in You, we pray, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; or click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

26-27 Expedition Song #659 – A Charge to Keep I Have! –

28 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

Announcements

Cantata Rehearsals – Thursdays at 6pm
Furnace Fundraiser

Easter Lilies – $10 each, forms are on the back table and in the office
Maundy Thursday service – 7pm at First Presbyterian Church, downtown
Good Friday service – 7pm at Fellowship Church, Crestline and Everett

Easter Sunrise service – 6:30am at Greenwood Memorial Terrace
Easter Cantata – 10:30am on Easter morning at LPC

Resources:

Black, C. Clifton; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/lords-supper-prayer-in-gethsemane/commentary-on-mark-1422-42

03/10/2024 = John 3:14-21 = “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – living in the Light

Posted on March 10, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video stream of this service – starts at 3:00, sermon at 35:00)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries – THANK YOU for your generosity!)

Mark Wheeler

John 3:14-21

03/10/2024

Lent 3: “Mark”-ing Our Fidelity – living in the Light”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, friends, on this Fourth Sunday in the Season of Lent – these several weeks of reflection and repentance and prayer leading us to the events of Good Friday when the Son of God fulfilled His purpose for His incarnation – His death on the cross – and then Resurrection Sunday when He rose from the grave and conquered death for all who receive Him and believe this Good News!

Who here is noticing how much longer the sun is up these days? There is more and more light and less and less dark every day! In another 10 days, there will actually be more daylight than night-dark! I can hardly wait!

I mean … I didn’t need to lose an hour of sleep last night … and the light of the sunshine is working better than the heat of the sunshine … but just wait … it’s all coming!

While we continue going through the Gospel According to Mark – our Lenten series is called “‘Mark’-ing Our Fidelity” – like marking our territory, but we are marking our faith – today, again, we interrupt Mark to listen to John’s Gospel …. and today’s theme is that one of the ways we “mark our fidelity” is by stepping into the Light of Christ – and reflecting that Light for our friends and family to see the risen Lord as our Savior and Lord!

Gerri Lockwood calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 107:

3-5 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #16 … Give to Our God Immortal Praise –

6 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem! May the PEACE of Christ be with you!

Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!

7 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with this “Mark-ing Our Fidelity” anthem: “A Green Hill Far Away”

8 Children’s Message

9 Gerri opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

10 Gloria Patri

11-13 Praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns

14-16 Let’s begin our prayer-time together praying this prayer – from Father Darrin Connall, rector at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral – slightly redacted – and then I invite you to simply join is prayer – all together – all at the same time – and then we’ll close with …

17 and prays [The Lord’s Prayer]

19-24 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #72 – To God Be the Glory –

As I said at the beginning of this service, today we are stepping outside of Mark’s Gospel and into John’s Gospel.

And in today’s passage we find what is the best-known Bible verse in the world.

John 3:16 shows up all over the place. Hoisted on posters, etched on jewelry, and isolated from this passage, “For God so loved the world…” has become the central message of the Christian faith. This is not undeserved. The power of this verse, however, becomes even more powerful when it is read carefully and in context.

With that, let’s open our hearts and minds to hear the Word of God, John 3:14-21 …. —-

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

You might remember that this is the passage where Nicodemus sneaks over to Jesus under the cover of darkness to talk with Jesus – he was afraid of being caught by his friends and colleagues. In verse 14 Jesus begins with a play on the word “lift up.” This references God’s command to Moses to lift up the serpent in the wilderness way back in the Pentateuch and then foreshadows the lifting up that is in store for Jesus. The passage makes little sense without the background story from Numbers 21:4-9. In that story, the people became “impatient” on their way. Still in the wilderness after their Exodus from Egypt, and afraid of being unable to survive in a land with no food and water, they complained against God and Moses.

This resulted in snakes showing up, biting the people, and killing them. When they repented, the Lord told Moses to make a serpent and set it on a pole so that anyone who had been bitten might look at it and live.

The serpent was a mark of God’s justice and God’s mercy. God’s people will be saved by the God of life, if only they would look upon the image of that which would have brought about their death.

To see the Son of Man lifted up calls for “belief” for the sake of eternal life, not simply a restoration of earthly life. God once saved the people by calling upon them to gaze on the serpent. Now, God would save the people by having them gaze in belief upon the Son, lifted up.

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

This was the John 3:16 verse! But listen a little more closely. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son….” What does the word “so” mean? I think it is usually misunderstood. The Greek word houtos means “so” in the sense of “in this way” We could translate the verse as “God loved the world like this: He gave his only Son, in order that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 is not about how much God loves the world. It is about in what way God loves the world.

This does not take away from how much God loves the world, but the single most important thing to notice about this verse is that God loves the world. God deeply loves the world that He created, and God longs for this creation to live. It is not only God’s own people whom God will save, as in the Numbers story. It is the cosmos that God has loved, precisely by having given His only son. God loves by having given His son.

Just as the purpose of commanding Moses to put a serpent on a pole was to save the people from death. The Son came to save, to grant eternal life, because that’s how God loves the world.

That was Jesus’ announcement: “I’m here because the God who loved you of old, still does. He sent me to tell you, to show you, to gather you up into life with Him forever!”

¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Jesus’ coming is like the bringing of Light into a dark space. The contrast of light and dark is intense. Indeed, the coming of the Son into the world leads to many contrasting pairs of realities:

condemn and save
believe and not believe
stay in the darkness and come into the Light
do evil and doing what is true

These opposites express the sharp distinction that is created when our dark cosmos is entered by the Light of God. Like the people in the story in Numbers, we have already been bitten or are in imminent danger of being bitten. Death is inevitable. When the bronze serpent is brought into the world, we look and live, or we do not. As Jesus comes into the world, we trust that which bears God’s gracious love, or we do not. We receive eternal life or we continue to live apart from God, condemned.

If this begins to sound like a theology that demands our deciding to believe or not, we have several reminders in the context that help us to hear more deeply what John wants to say.

First, these verses are embedded in a story where Jesus continues to engage, argue, and persuade people who are slowly transformed into believers. In John 3, Nicodemus is the seeker by night who is left in confusion, only to reappear in 19:39 to help care for Jesus’ body. He has emerged from darkness into Light over the course of Jesus’ ministry.

So also the Samaritan woman of John 4 whose long conversation with Jesus ends in a tentative belief, far from where she first began. Consider the blind man Jesus healed in John 9, whose move from darkness to light happens rather quickly in physiological terms, but more slowly in terms of identifying Jesus.

The intense contrast between believing and not believing, darkness and Light, and evil and truth are descriptions of realities, but not necessarily of the process by which we come to recognize truth, Light, life, and God’s own son.

Finally, verses 18-21 follow the first and most important contrast, the contrasting ways to depict God’s own goal and longing. God’s way of loving the world was to send His Son to save it. Jesus is God’s expression of love and longing. The Light comes to find us, to illuminate our path for our sake, because God wants us. God reaches out through His Son with the sheer purpose of sharing everlasting life with us.

John tells us, in this all important story about Jesus, that there are real consequences in our daily life and our everlasting relationship with God. He tells us this in order to help us see the contrasts, look clearly at our lives, appreciate the gracious gift of God as a gift of love, and live in fearless confidence of that love.

Friends, have we ever been so truly and consistently pursued by another as we are by God? No indeed. God loved the world in this way that He gave His only Son so that we might live forever with God. Do you believe this? Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior? How is your life different today because of this Truth and the Light?!

30 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Offering (4449 N Nevada St., Spokane, WA, 99207; click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

31-38 Expedition Song #733 – We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations! –

39 Benediction:

May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.

Announcements

Cantata Rehearsals – Thursdays at 6pm
Furnace Fundraiser

Easter Lilies – $10 each, forms are on the back table and in the office
Maundy Thursday – 7pm at First Presbyterian Church, downtown
Good Friday – 7pm at Fellowship Church, Crestline & Everett

Resources:

Henrich, Sarah; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-in-lent-2/commentary-on-john-314-21-2

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