GIANT THANKS TO THE ABRAMS FOR THEIR FINANCIAL GIFT, TO THE CREW WHO HELPED ATTAIN AND SET OUR SCREENS UP (especially the Nolanders), AND TO THE CREW WHO HAS HELPED CORRECT OUR ON-LINE AUDIO (especially the Davises)!
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Mark Wheeler
Genesis 11:1-9
Fourth Sunday in Lent, 03/19/2023
“Behold, There Is a New Creation: B-roken”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
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Welcome to worship, friends – on this fourth Sunday in the season of Lent – a Season designed to prepare us for the wonder and grace of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Maundy Thursday, Jesus’ Last Supper, His Good Friday arrest and crucifixion and death, and Resurrection Sunday – let’s join in as Julie McCarter leads us in our Call to Worship –
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And let’s immediately follow that with our Prelude of Praise and wonder –– O God, Our Help in Ages Past #78
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Good morning Friends! Welcome worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem!
One middle-of-March-day, a little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through his backyard, wearing his baseball cap and carrying a ball and bat. “I’m the greatest hitter in the world,” he announced.
Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.
“Strike One!” he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!“
He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. “Strike Two!” he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, “I’m the greatest hitter in the world!“
Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. “Strike Three!“
“Wow!” he exclaimed. “I’m also the greatest pitcher in the world!“
Pride is a deadly virus that eats away at us emotionally and spiritually. It is a great deceiver. Pride has destroyed more marriages and churches and individual successes than any other thing.
This is why the Season of Lent exists. So that we might see in ourselves that while we are so deeply loved by God that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life – He loves us in spite of ourselves, not because we are so deserving …..
This Season of Lent is meant to open us to reflect on our own ways we have betrayed God, and on the human condition that makes us so capable of betraying God….
We spent the month of January reading Genesis 12:1-4 (blessed to be a blessing), today we look at the opening verses of the chapter leading to that promise God made to Abraham, that He makes to us! And while we remember the verse from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church, “Behold He makes a New Creation”, today we contritely confess and repent of the reasons why making us New is so important!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, those in the room and across the globe, to a moment of Sabbath in God’s presence and peace, and with others whom we love and with whom we grow together. Friends, may “The PEACE of Christ be with you – and also in you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
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.
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Choir –! Thank you leading us in worship with this Sunday’s Choral Anthem – lead us in worship: “A Wind Blew Over Calvary”
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While the choir transitions to the pews, let’s fill this time highlighting some announcements :
Easter Cantata Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings at 6pm – it is not too late to join them
The Easter Cantata – The Rose of Calvary – will take place on Resurrection Sunday, April 9, during worship – invite your friends to hear this beautiful rendition of the original Easter story!
Listen in as Julie opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
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9 Gloria Patri
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- what are some praises, thanksgivings, adorations we want to offer?
- Is there a person or a situation you want to lift to our Lord for His answers and grace?
13 We pray this in the name of Jesus, who taught us to pray: [The Lord’s Prayer]
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Let’s prepare to receive a Word from our Majestic God by singing a song of Devotion and Praise and Glory – Nothing But the Blood of Jesus – #471!!
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Creator, Comforter, Giver of Life, You are the Master of all creation – the Great Inventor, the Noble Physician, the Wonderful Counselor – we are thankful for Your Word to us. Come among us, Holy Spirit, and fill us with Your presence that we might be made whole today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pride is a deadly virus that eats away at us emotionally and spiritually. It is a great deceiver. Pride has destroyed more marriages and churches and individual successes than any other thing.
Nimrod founded the city called Babel. He was attempting to build a world empire without the blessing or direction of God. He was the great-grandson of Noah, so he had a family lineage he was proud of. But his pride did something to his successful accomplishments. BTW, he also was the founder of Nineveh, the wicked place where Jonah was sent to preach.
The Tower of Babel story is about our determination to live sufficiently, firmly, and arrogantly without God. We think we are smart in ourselves, strong even without God, and safe with each other. With the advance of industry, active collaboration, and concerted effort, nothing can stop us from reaching to the top.
However, God reminds us His counsel will stand. Relying on Him assures our well-being, and excluding Him from our lives only brings failure.
Today’s Bible passage comes from Genesis 11:1-9, the last story in Genesis before God called Abram to come and start a whole new family of people through whom God had chosen to bless the world. Let’s read Genesis 11:1-9…. —
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1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
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4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
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7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
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This morning what we discover is that while God is perfect and did a perfect thing when He created the universe and all that is in it – the whole universe declares His glory! – part of that perfect creation includes creating human beings in His own image … with a free will! (I hope to have that fully explained to me in a way that I can understand when I get to meet Him face to face!) With our free will we humans have broken the original intent of God’s perfect creation.
So far during this Season of Lent we have discovered that “Behold! We are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come.” We are called to Be-Come God’s reality; and we are to understand that calling by Be-Dreaming God’s dream for us. Today we discover how we have B-roken God’s dream … and what God has done to fix what we broke!
I am convinced that the thing at the head of that brokenness – the main reason why our relationship with God is not as pure or complete or clear or easy … as it might be/should be … is pride! I think that’s what the Adam and Eve story really teaches us. We are not God … and we should always remember who God really is!
So this morning, let’s look at the problem of pride. This Babel story teaches us 3 things about pride: Pride affects our worship; Pride affects our view of life; and Pride results in the very thing we want to avoid!
I. PRIDE AFFECTS OUR WORSHIP. “Come, let us build a tower whose top will reach up to heaven.”
A) This tower was probably a ziggurat with a runway or stairway that went around the edge up to the top. At the top of these towers (which are commonly found in ruins of that area) there was an altar used for pagan sacrifice – an ancient place to worship someone other than God.
Do we have any “towers” in our lives, places where God is not even thought of, let alone glorified as the Creator of all that there is!
B) Pride affects our worship when we try to impress God or others with our goodness.
1) God is no respecter of persons…… We must be careful not to take on the attitude of the Pharisee in the temple who prayed “Thank you Lord that I am not like these….”
2) Being active in the service of God is a privilege. God loves us and wants to use us in His service but He doesn’t need us. If I were to walk away from His service today, God would be sad, but He would raise up another to take my place.
C) We cannot worship God with a spirit of pride. Ps 101:5 says, “God will not endure conceit and pride!”
I realize that this “warning” is specific only to those who love God anyway. That was a message to believers – brothers and sisters in Christ. We should take that to heart. But now let’s hear God’s Word to believers and non-believers alike:
II. PRIDE AFFECTS OUR VIEW OF LIFE. “… and let us make a name for ourselves.”
A) Every person who has attempted to be a world ruler has been defeated. From Nimrod to Nebuchadnezzar to Hitler to Stalin to current day world-leaders and even the Antichrist in the end-times.
Destruction and judgment from God is promised to the one with this attitude.
But somehow, Pride makes us think we’re better than the rest … and it won’t – it can’t – happen to me!
Not just world-rulers, but Kingdom builders – Enron, Elon Musk, Televangelsists – potentially, you and me. And when we say, “Yeah, well, not me.” Guess what? We may have just become a target of Satan for just such a fall.
B) Pride encourages us ignore the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our life.
1) When He convicts us of sin—we break through the warning barriers and continue in sin … because, we think, I don’t need God’s help here, either.
2) When He gives us guidance—we go our own way.
C) We take credit for things that we shouldn’t. It’s like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared up at the immense wall of Grand Coulee Dam, “No, I didn’t actually build it myself. But it was based on an idea of mine.” —Charles H. Townes
D) Pride will cause a great deal of envy and division in our life, business, home, and church.
1) Every extra-marital affair starts because someone thinks they deserve a better spouse than they have. And usually because the one in the affair didn’t think it could ever happen to him/her.
2) When we are Proud, we refuse to follow the scriptural admonition to put others first.
III. PRIDE RESULTS IN THE VERY THING WE WANT TO AVOID. “… lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth”
- What is God’s response to their Pride? In vv. 5-8 God scatters them over the face of the whole earth! God’s power is greater than our pride … every time!
B) What is the answer then?
1) A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. Prov 29:23
2) What does the Lord require of man? Nothing, but to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Mic 6:8
3) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. James 4:10
Humility is necessary for salvation. No one has ever been saved by demanding that God let them into heaven because they deserve it!
Humble ourselves to accept God’s will for a church home. We ALL need to be humble enough to not insist on our own way, but to listen together for God’s perfect way!
Humble ourselves to serve God where He leads – through this church, in our community, with our neighbors, co-workers, families, etc.
Humble ourselves in our marriages and watch them improve. Humble ourselves with our children, our parents, our in-laws … and watch those relationships improve, too.
We have, indeed Paul says we continually have, B-roken our connection to our Creator! “All have sinned and [continue to] fall short of the glory of God.”
But, in Jesus Christ we are brought back to our heavenly Father! We are not left broken. There’s a Gospel song called “Run Away”. The Gospel in that song was that our brokenness is fixed so well that once we’ve been re-attached … we cannot get lost again! We still need to continue to repent, to help our connection be as strong as it can be … but God’s Super Glue in Jesus Christ – Holy Ghost Super Glue – is stronger than ANY brokenness we can experience.
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As the Church of LPC, journeying toward Jerusalem with Jesus as He offers Himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross, getting ready for our next Hundred Years of ministry in NE Spokane, Now is the time of God’s favor! Behold, we are a new creation! We are Be-Comers of God’s reality. Be-Dreamers of what that might look like! B-roken from our God, and ready to be re-connected! Amen!
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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, 99207 ; or click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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26-28 Expedition Song #470 – Jesus Loves Me, This I Know!
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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.
And as we do that: “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 Announcements
- Thursday Bible Study –very Thursday at 10am, here and on Zoom
- Cantata Choir Rehearsal –very Thursday at 6pm
- Easter Cantata – Rose of Calvary – Easter Sunday, April 9, during worship
Resources:
Dietterich, Inagrace T.; Journey of Discovery Bible Study: Behold, There Is a New Creation; Center for Parish Development; Chicago, IL; 1999; Pp. 15-20.
Richards, Jeffery; The Pride of Babel; sermon preached; 08/2002.
Wheeler, Mark; “B-roken”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 03/19/2006.
Yap, Victor; Man Proposes, God Disposes; sermon preached; 01/2000.
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