06/23/2024 = John 1:29-30 = Biblical Pictures? (“Animals”)

Posted on June 23, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the Facebook Live video – starts at 8:40, sermon at 48:00)

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

Mark Wheeler

John 1:29-30

06/23/2024

Biblical Pictures? – “Animals”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, today, friends!

Who here has a pet, a dog or a cat or a hedgehog or something, that you love like a child, like a family member?

Anybody here a birdwatcher? On the rare occasion that a Gold Finch makes its way into our yard, I am ecstatic! We used to have a hummingbird that nested and laid eggs and grew their babies right outside our slider door!

Or any wildlife … or even cows when we’re traveling down the highway – MOOOO!!

We are in this sermon Series through June and July: a Series on Word-Pictures in the Bible – descriptions of God, ideas about God’s Church, images of what it means to belong to God, and depictions of how we demonstrate having been created Imago Dei!

At the very center of the Christian faith is the belief that there is no one like God! God is not a creature, God is the Creator!! Isaiah 6:1 calls Him “High and lifted up”! And Philippians tells us that this One who is above all, better than all, nothing like any other, stooped down to make Himself known to us finite and sinful creatures!

John Calvin loved to describe God as a “nurse who bends low to lisp to a newborn.”

God demonstrates this aspect of His nature every time the Bible uses metaphors to convey His Message of Good News in a way we can understand. These metaphors help us understand God and live like we believe what we say we believe!

Today we look at the biblical metaphor of Animals!

Stories of lambs and sheep and shepherds weave their way all through the Bible, from as early on as Genesis 4 with the story of Cain and Abel all the way through the book of Revelation. There are, of course, lots of other animal stories – the Creation Story, Noah’s Ark, a “big fish” swallowing Jonah, Samson and the foxes and, Daniel and the lions, birds who nest in mustard plants, doves which symbolize peace, a fish with a coin in its mouth, goats, rams, frogs, grasshoppers, the list just goes on and on. But the most common animal metaphor is sheep!

Moses worked as a shepherd before becoming the greatest prophet and leader of the Israelite people. David, as we saw in the Children’s Message, was shepherd before becoming the greatest king of Israel!

These Israelites and their shepherd-like leaders saw themselves as like sheep in need of a Good Shepherd!

The biblical word-picture of Animals gives us a glimpse of the glory of God and our place in His presence!

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 100:

3-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #103 … Ye Servants of God –

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!

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.

8 This morning we have our first 2024 Summer Special Music, with Diana and Linda singing, and Julie accompanying – the Shepherd’s voice calling: “Follow Me”

9 Children’s Message

10 Pastor 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 – #212 – What Wondrous Love Is This –

Someone tell me the best Old Testament story of a Sacrificial Lamb – the first story is when Abel offered a lamb as a sacrifice in Genesis 4 – but the most significant Sacrificial Lamb event, the one which changed everything about how God is worshiped and how we connect to God as the Good Shepherd happens in the chapters of Exodus that begin the Israelites’ 40-years in the wilderness – the Passover Lamb!

Throughout their entire history, the Israelites survived by keeping sheep, eating sheep, and sacrificing sheep, and because of this they were taught to think of themselves as sheep, and they looked forward to the day when they would not be sheep without a Shepherd!

This is humbling, right? We don’t usually think of sheep as the smartest of animals. *Take a look at this sheep/shepherd video.*

21.5 (https://youtu.be/bLZW-kWr1F4?si=gXIgNpHr5s8jfxcE)

Sheep probably did not carry the cute “Mary-had-a-little-lamb” image many of us might imagine. Sheep can be dirty, stubborn, stupid, defenseless against wolves and foxes and even birds of prey, and way less than easy to herd….

The Old Testament Psalms and Prophets and the New Testament Gospels are filled with metaphors and parables comparing believers to sheep – how does the most famous, well-known Psalm begin? (“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want ….”) We need protection and defending, we require being fed and led to water, we necessitate a safe place and we require guidance.

In Matthew’s Gospel we hear Jesus saying, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore, be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” The Church, collectively and as individual believers, lives in a world of danger – to our faith and to our faithfulness.

God’s Good Shepherd Word is found in daily prayer and concentrated, dedicated dwelling in the Scriptures.

As our denomination’s biennial General Assembly is about to begin its work, some will feel like those dangers are within the denomination as well as outwith it. So we pray – for God’s guidance, protection and wisdom!

Pastor Robert Vandoodewaard, of Hope Reformed Church in Ontario, Canada, says, “In the end, the beauty and power of the sheep metaphor is not primarily a sentimental comparison to a lamb. It is in recognizing our propensity toward sinfulness and foolishness. Most important,” he says,“it is in the Lord’s promises to care for poor and needy sinners.”

Isaiah 40 says, “He will feed His flock like a Shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms…” John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is “the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep and gathers His flock.”

But even more – listen to these words of God spoken through the John the Baptist about Jesus – John 1:29-30 …. —-

²⁹The next day (this is at the beginning of John’s Gospel, and we have already met John the Baptist in the Jordan River, baptizing his fellow Jews into a life of repentance … the next day) John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”

Jesus is the Savior, the Son of God, who stooped so low as to become “the (ultimate Passover) Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Though He is the very Word of God, “like a sheep, He was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opens not His mouth.” (Acts 8:32, Isaiah 40:11)

The beauty of this metaphor is in how deeply it demonstrates God’s love and devotion – He became the Passover Lamb – He gives His very life – for the sheep of His hand, the people of His pasture.

But that is still not the end of the metaphor: in the Book of Revelation, chapter 17, verse 14, we are told how the work of Christ makes this small, weak, humble symbol of the Lamb into the greatest and most glorious symbol of power and might over evil! Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the Lord of lords and King of kings!

He is the reason for every season. Let us worship Jesus, the Ultimate Lamb of God!

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 click HERE ; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

26-30 Expedition Song #356 – All Creatures of Our God and King –

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

Thru-the-Bible Check-in – Tomorrow at noon
General Assembly PC(USA)
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Vandoodewaard, Robert; “Animal Metaphors”; TableTalk; June 2019; Pp. 7-9.

06/16/2024 = Father’s Day = Romans 8:12-17 = Biblical Pictures? – “Family”

Posted on June 16, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video of this service – starts at 3:00, sermon at 38:40 – the audio improves about 19 minutes in, during the Choral Anthem – and then we failed to mute somebody’s home Zoom, so there’s a little TV playing in the background, but the service is mostly clearly heard!)

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

Mark Wheeler

Romans 8:12-17

06/16/2024

Biblical Pictures? – “Family”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, today, friends! Happy Father’s Day to you all! It seems weird to have *this* picture on the bulletin – it’s a Mother’s Day picture from a few years before Covid – and today is FATHER’s Day! This year, as we celebrate this Spokane-started-special-celebration, we also celebrate FAMILY.

Have you ever wondered if you were related to somebody significant in history? Who here knows about a famous relative? Jennifer’s dad started doing genealogy work a decade before he died. There was a time when his research suggested he was related to both Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton (both sides of that famous duel); it turned out he was wrong – and I forget which side he, and therefore Jennifer, and therefore my children, are actually related to – but that’s sort of famous. They are also related to Pocahontas. They actually have Patawomeck ancestry – my blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned better half is part Native American!

I know of no one my own bloodline that is brag-worthy, except for my children! And we’ve been adopted by our heavenly Father – I’m a child of the Creator of the universe! And so are you!

John Calvin loved to describe God as a “nurse who bends low to lisp to a newborn.”

Today we look at the biblical metaphor of Family!

The gift and awesomeness of this Family picture is that, when we are saved by faith, our relation to Almighty God is not a distant relation, like Jennifer’s relation to Pocahontas, or Julie’s relation to Daniel Webster, or …! In fact, this relation is closer than even our own household-family-members!

And, through faith, we can claim our relation to Father Abraham (he had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. And I am one of them, and so are you, so let’s just praise the Lord!); and to David; and Elijah; and Esther; and Mary; and Peter; and Paul from the Bible; we’re also related to Augustine, St Patrick, St. Anselm, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther King Jr, Ray Blackstone, Doug Clegg, Lloyd Thompson, and countless other heroes of the Christian faith from Church history.

When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be – and we will meet all these true brothers and sisters in Christ! The Family Reunion in heaven will be, by far, the best Family Reunion we can imagine!

The biblical word-picture of Family gives us a glimpse of the glory of God and our place in His presence!

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 68:

3-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #11 … Glory Be to God the Father –

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!

We meet as a family in the presence of our heavenly Father.
We meet as brothers and sisters in Christ, accepting the responsibility this places upon us to love one another as you have loved us.
We meet as your lights in this dark world and pray that through our words and our lives others might be drawn into your family, and accept you as their Savior and Lord. Amen.

8 This morning our Chancel Choir leads us in worship with their penultimate Choral Anthem: “I have Felt the Touch of God”

9 Children’s Message

10 Pastor opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

11 Gloria Patri

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

17-19 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #695 – In Christ There Is No East or West –

Today we are looking at the biblical metaphor, the Bible’s Word-picture, of Family as a description of Christian life.

We just prayed the Lord’s Prayer, taught by Jesus to His disciples from Matthew 6 – in that prayer, how does Jesus tell us we should address God? “Our Father ….”

In John 1, God tells us that He gives believers in Jesus “the right to become children of God” and that we are “born of God”.

In Ephesians 1, Paul says that “God predestined us for adoption to Himself as children” through Jesus Christ.

A chapter later he says that we are “members of the Household of God”.

Ephesians goes on the mix the metaphor as “the body of Christ” and “members of Christ’s body”; and then again Paul adds the metaphor of marriage, the church is the bride of Christ.

In Hebrews, we’re told that Jesus calls us “brothers” or “siblings”, and He’s “not ashamed” to do so.

In I Timothy the church is instructed to call older Christian men and women as “fathers” and “mothers”, and younger Christian men and women as “brothers” and “sisters”.

And both John and Paul, in their letters in the New Testament, call their readers: “little children” and “beloved, dear children”.

Listen to these words of God spoken through the New Testament Apostle Paul to a new and fledgling church in Rome (and to our 117-year old church in Spokane) – Romans 8:12-17 …. —- the context here is Paul talking about how faith in Christ gives believers Holy Spirit power to live like we believe what we say we believe – I will read starting in verse 11, but what’s on the screens is verses 12 -17:

¹¹And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

¹²Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

¹⁶The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

That’s a lot of Family talk! God is Father, we are adopted children of God, siblings to one another, as such we are co-heirs with the one and only Son of God! The New Testament uses lots of “relationship” metaphors – Family is only one: Friends, Disciples, Servants, Followers, etc, But by far, the Word of God draws us as Family more than any other word-picture.

Using the metaphor of Family we hear over and over that God’s love is key to how we connect to God – not as customers, as children; more than servants, we are sons and daughters. We don’t pray to God simply hoping that Genie-in-a-bottle-like, God must grant our wishes – the source of prayer is as children crying to “Our Father who is in heaven”, or to “Abba, Father!”

As brothers and sisters in the House of God, we have something deep and profound – yes, God is King of kings and Lord of lords, Almighty God, Creator of the universe, Sovereign Judge – He is all of that, and all of that carries with it ultimate authority and power over us – but as God’s children, we have an inside channel to God’s perfect love and grace and mercy.

Jesus clearly and pointedly reminds us that “the Father Himself loves you” (John 16).

Donald Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY, says, “We could almost say [God] loves us ‘doubly,’ as we are His children both by new birth (born again) and by adoption. Even when our Father disciplines us,” Whitney says, “He does so because He loves us. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, ‘The Lord disciplines the one He loves,’ and when He does, ‘God is treating you as sons’ (Hebrews 12:6-7).”

And that relationship of Family only starts in this life here on earth. It begins here, but eternity in “our Father’s House” is included! Imagine the wonder of that Family Reunion! “You’re here?! Wow! Who knew!!” The joy gathered around this Family Table promises to bring tears of enthusiasm to all our eyes! Remember what Jesus says at His Last Supper: “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine again, until I see you in Paradise!” That is going to be a Party to Remember!

And notice that the Family metaphor is all nuclear family – brother and sister – there’s no aunts and uncles, no cousins, second cousins or cousins once removed – I mean, we might see our aunts and uncles and cousins; but in the Church and in the Church Triumphant, they’re all brothers and sisters!

I think I can guess that your families here are not too much different than mine – our families are not perfect; perhaps your father was harsher than necessary, possibly the siblings felt more rivalrous than caring, maybe mom was more absent than wished for; our eternal Family Home will be perfectly peaceful and always celebratory! In our human condition, our broken relationship with God and each other, life is hard and we don’t always treat our family with the love and respect we should. As Christians, we are called to try harder! And this is true for Church family, too.

Oh wow, a God moment. While I was writing that lasty sentence on Thursday night, my phoned dinged to tell me I had a new Facebook post from a friend … It was Pastor Shawn Stevenson, former pastor at Hillyard Church of the Nazarene shared this from Benjamin Holmgren:

Reminder to self:

Years ago I learned something from Brené Brown that I still use every single day:

When you get home to your spouse/kids/dog etc..

Before you open the door

Put a smile on your face!

It doesn’t matter how your day went. Or what you’re doing next. Or if you’re starving.

For 30 seconds, at least pretend that you’re elated to see them.

Make them feel like you were looking forward to getting back home.

After all, they’re your favorite people in the whole world. I hope.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “That seems like a cheesy, tiny thing, man. Hardly an earth-shattering revelation.”

But your #attitude sets the tone for the rest of the evening within 15 seconds of walking in the door.

So really, it’s not tiny at all. It’s a huge deal.

Because you come home every day. And the things you do every day grind on you.

Jordan Peterson says if you can fix 25 little things like “coming home,” you will have an extraordinary life.

Taking your family to Disneyland is insignificant.

Your kid’s expensive birthday party will be forgotten within weeks.

Coming home?

That’s your whole life. Fix it.

Start today.

As Family of God, sisters and brothers, welcome home! It is good to have each other together! Thank You, heavenly Father, for allowing us to be Your children.

Let’s strive to be God’s Family, to look like God’s children, to treat each other like sisters and brothers in Christ, and to open our doors and put another chair at our Table as we invite and recognize a new stranger as a true sibling.

Happy Father’s Day, brothers and sisters, 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 go to www.givlia.com/g/lidgerwoodpresbychurch, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

27-31 Expedition Song – The Family of God –

32 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

Spokane Indians Baseball
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Whitney, Donald S.; “Family Metaphors”; TableTalk; June 2019; Pp. 24-26.

06/09/2024 = Isaiah 28:16 = Biblical Pictures? “Buildings”

Posted on June 9, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive video of this service – starts at 6:30, sermon at 46:25)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood’s mission and ministries – THANK YOU for your generous gifts to God’s Kingdom-building here)

Mark Wheeler

Isaiah 28:16

06/09/2024

Biblical Pictures? – “Buildings”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, today, friends!

Last Sunday we had such a fun time sharing stories and learning history about Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church! We listened to 117 years of building constructions and, even more important, building uses! 12-step groups, Flannel Lady, District 81 Religious Studies Classes, Boy Scouts, TOPS, Fresh Start Mental Health Group, Spokane Carvers Association, other churches, Russian Messianic Jewish Torah Study Group, If You Could Save Just One … what’s next?

We are in a new sermon Series through June and July: a Series on Word-Pictures in the Bible – descriptions of God, ideas about God’s Church, images of what it means to belong to God, and depictions of how we demonstrate having been created Imago Dei!

John Calvin loved to describe God as a “nurse who bends low to lisp to a newborn.”

Today we look at the biblical metaphor of Architecture! I love looking at buildings – ancient buildings from 1,000 years ago, 100-year old downtown storefronts, Browne’s Addition mansions, Sears’ Craftsman Houses, old churches, new churches, cave-dwellings, I kinda just love admiring architectural styles from different cultures and eras.

Who here has stood at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle, in wonder of its magnificence? Who has been to the top? Right? Cozy mountain cabins or cottages at the lake whisper warm welcomes. Well-loved family homes make memories. Buildings seem to carry their own soul – an empty sanctuary feels haunted, old basements smell musty, new construction hollers of hope. Am I alone here? We all feel this … at least a little … right?

But when God builds a House, He declares His covenant faithfulness to His people! He dwells with His people!

In II Samuel, King David wanted to build a Temple to God – but God said, No. Solomon finally did build a Temple – majestic and amazing, and God said, “Can God fit in your building? No, but I will build you a House!” I think He was pointing to King David’s-1,000-year-later-relative King Jesus. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples, “Upon this Rock of faith I will build My Church!” (Peter had just stated, “You, Jesus, are the Christ, the Son of thew living God!”)

The biblical word-picture of Buildings gives us a glimpse of the glory of God and our place in His presence!

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from Psalm 18:

3-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #43 … A Mighty Fortress Is Our God –

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 their penultimate Choral Anthem: “He Lifts Me Up”

9 Children’s Message

10 Pastor opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving

11 Gloria Patri

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

17-21 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #709 – O Christ the Great Foundation –

Any architect will confirm that the most important part of a building is not its beautiful façade or high-pitched pinnacles. The most important part of a building is its mostly unseen foundation. When the foundation is faulty the building leans (think the tower in Pisa, Italy) or worse, it topples and tumbles.

In the ancient world, the foundation was built into the building’s cornerstone! Everything leaned into that cornerstone to secure the structure’s stability.

Listen to these words of God spoken through the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah to a spiritually unstable and insecure people – Isaiah 28:16 …. —-

¹⁶So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.”

There’s a fundamental promise and a guarantee in this passage.

The Israelites have rejected their Lord, but God has not rejected His people! He Himself sends the Cornerstone, Zechariah 10 says, to gather His people and redeem His House! Jesus continues this metaphor in a multitude of ways – He warns the chief priests that if they reject Him and don’t believe, they would “stumble over the Cornerstone and be crushed.” His tells parables about building our lives on the sure foundation of Jesus Himself and that everything else is “sinking sand”.

Matthew and I Peter and Ephesians all describe the people of God as “living stones” making up the “House of the Lord”, the “Rock on which the Church us built”. As Lidgerwood leans into the Ezra 3 image of rebuilding the Temple into what God calls us to be, this is what we’re talking about – not just the building that Lidgerwood Church meets in – but the people who ARE that Church!

In I Corinthians when Paul encourages these Greek believers who are arguing with each other about whether Peter or Apollos was the preferred preacher, Paul says, “We are ALL fellow workers building on the foundation of Jesus Christ!”

Rev. Thomas Myrick, pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church of Bethesda, MD, uses the Three Little Pigs analogy – are we “preaching and teaching [with] gold, silver, and precious stones, or is the quality of wood, hay, and straw?” He says that Paul is asking whether the Church workers “trust the Master’s means, or [are they] wise in their own eyes?” Building on the Foundation which is faith in Jesus Christ, relying on the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, builds a Church with lasting legacy and community influence! We can be that kind of Church!

And the Bible is clear, in the Old Testament Ezra and Nehemiah’s telling of the reconstruction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and in the New Testament Gospels and History and Epistles, Christ calls every single believer to be built up in the most holy faith and to build one another up into the likeness of God in life and belief!

How we act, what we say, where we go, all impact the strength and integrity of the building of the Church of Jesus Christ!

The Good News here is that the Foundation is sure and confident! And we stand on that Foundation!

This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.”

Jesus said, “On this Rock I will build My Church – and the gates of hades will not stand against it!” We are in the process of being built into God’s perfect blueprint plans!

And the Apostle John got a peek at the finished building project in Revelation 21. John tells us he saw, “the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband” (this is another word picture we’ll get into next week).

He says, “Glory is all around, and the city has no need for the sun or the moon, for the glory of God gives it Light, and its lamp is the ‘Lamb of God’” (another metaphor we’ll get to in two weeks).

The purpose of the Temple was originally to demonstrate God’s presence with His people! The Truth is that God lives with us, in us, among us – and the Church sings and shouts our praises!

26 Graduates

27 Kayden Allen

28 Gabe Benedetti

29 Julie Chernak

30 Braden Green

31 Riley Jane Halvorsen

32 Roxy O’Neil McBurns

33 Tawnee McGee

34 Aida Tursunbek-Wheeler

35 Andrew Wheeler

36 Graduates

Our children are God’s children. No matter where they go or how old they are, they are in God’s care. And He has great purpose for them in this life. Let us pray for our graduates to know God’s love and care for them.

As we watch our graduates walk across the stage to receive their diploma, we want to take a moment to thank You, Lord, for keeping them safe and guiding them to this point.

Lord, touch them now with wisdom to be able to handle the next stages
of their lives in a way that will be pleasing to You, and that will set
them on a path of living a life that will be a blessing to others. Through Christ, our Foundation, we pray. Amen.

37 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”)

38-39 Expedition Song #670 – Rise Up, O Saints of God –

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.

Announcements

Father’s Day
Spokane Indians Baseball
Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser

Resources:

Myrick, Thomas K.; “Architectural Metaphors”; TableTalk; June 2019; Pp. 12-14.

06/02/2024 = John 15:1-5 = Pictures of God and God’s People: Gardens

Posted on June 3, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to find the FBLive video of this service – starts at 4:30, sermon at 35:40)

(Click HERE to donate to Lidgerwood Church’s mission and ministries – Thank you for your generous faithfulness!)

1 Mark Wheeler

John 15:1-5 06/02/2024

Biblical Pictures? – “Gardens” Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Welcome to Worship, today, friends! It’s not officially Summer yet, but it is June! So, we trust that Summer is on it’s way! A new Season is about to begin! Lawns need mowing; weeds might require pulling; flowers and veggies demand tending; and everything craves watering!

What’s around the corner? Wildfires? Vacations? Trips to “the Lake”?

A new Sermon Series! Today we begin a new Series to carry us through June and July; a Series on Word-Pictures in the Bible – descriptions of God, ideas about God’s Church, images of what it means to belong to God, and depictions of how we demonstrate having been created Imago Dei!

John Calvin it is said loved to describe God as a “nurse who bends low to lisp to a newborn.”

One of the many ways God shows Himself to His people is with the metaphor of Agriculture! This makes perfect sense because Israel was a people whose existence depended on the soil! Remember how God promised this Land to Israel? Especially after the generations of slavery in Egypt, after the 40 years in the Wilderness? The Promised Land they were entering was called The Land flowing with milk and honey!

More than just a way of life – the Land, the “Fertile Crescent Promised Land” was a sign of God’s blessing! God fulfills His promises to Abraham with the Fruit of the Vine, the City of Palms, the Fields of Barley, Bethlehem Ephrathah – House of Bread, Region of Fruit!

This is what we look at these next few months – and this is TODAY’s particular picture of God and God’s people! This is the “Garden o’ Feedin’”!

2-3

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, from the very first words of the Book of Psalms – listen for the botanic reference:

4 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #31 … Make a Joyful Noise –

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 beautiful anthem: “God Made Your Hands”

7 Children’s Message

8 Pastor Kathy 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 – #442 – O Come to Me, the Master Said –

On my first three trips to Israel, our Tour Guides each pointed out how green and lush and fruitful the valleys of the area around the Sea of Galilee were. And they were not wrong – bananas and citrus and dates and olives and tomatoes and mustard and grapes and oh so much more, grew every where! And, now this may simply be part of their Israel-Tourism spiel, they then all three told us that in 1947, the year before “Palestine” became “Israel” again, this land was either flooded and unproduceable or dried and dead with nothing growing! Their claim was that the fruitfulness of the land was a sign of God’s blessing that The Promised Land was back in the hands of God’s People!

All through the Old Testament, when the Israelites break their covenant with God, the result seems to be some kind of exile away from the Land of Milk and Honey – either through the famine when they move to Egypt, or through the Babylonian conquest and they were taken away by Nebuchadnezzar. But they weren’t simply in a different place, they lost the soil that produced for them the fruit of that land!

But even while in Exile, Isaiah prophecies God’s Promise to “raise up a shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1), one of the Christmas-Messianic prophecies. And we know that this “shoot from the stump of Jesse” is King Jesus, Jesse’s son, King David’s long-awaited great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great-grandson, Jesus! (Something like 27 “great”s there.)

And Jesus uses this agricultural metaphor as well – mustard seed faith, cursed fig tree, olive oil, seed sower, grapevine.

Let’s listen to this last example together, from Jesus in John’s Gospel, chapter 15 – hear the Word of God …. —-

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

⁴Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus has already called Himself the “Bread of Life”, an easy reference to the Old Testament Exodus story of Manna – both Manna – Bread from Heaven, and Barley and Wheat and Rye become agricultural metaphors.

This passage in John 15 directly points to the fruit of the vine of Communion. The Old Testament is filled with vineyard illustrations of God and His people – in fact from early on *THIS* was a symbol of God’s Chosen people and a piece of National Identity:

Psalm 80, Jeremiah 2, Isaiah 5 and 27 all describe Israel as a grapevine, but we learn that Israel has become a grapevine that failed to bear fruit! Thus, the need for a “True Vine”.

Jesus says, “I am the True Vine, and my Father is the vinedresser … I am the Vine and you are the branches!”

What happens to the branches that stop bearing fruit? They get “cut off and thrown into the fire”; and the fruit-filled branches? They get “pruned” (or “cleaned”).

These words are meant to warn us: it is not enough to call ourselves good church-going-Christians; we need to actually live our faith deeply connected to our Savior – reading His Word, praying without ceasing, feeding the hungry, gathering in His name – living like we actually do believe the things we say we believe!

The branch that does bear fruit represents that kind of believer – united to Christ in tangible, practical and palpable ways!

John is not the only Gospel writer or the only New Testament author who uses this metaphor. Paul contrasts the “fruit of the Spirit” against the “fruit of the sinful nature”: sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness, orgies, etc; but the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Abiding in Christ, dwelling in the Word, Living in Jesus, means putting the ways of our human sinful nature to death! Picking up our cross and following Him! Paul says, “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires”! That takes discipline and devotion! But its rewards are the Fruit of the Spirit, and faithful following of Jesus every day! Walking by Faith leads to eternal life for that is how God loves us!

Our Call to Worship from Psalm 1 gives us good encouraging advice: Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

We are just now getting our Garden o’ Feedin’ started – what would happen if we didn’t water it this summer? Right? Nothing will produce! No thing! Not a single thing!

Learning how to bear fruit is part of what’s behind what our Ezra 3 Design Team is working at! How do we grow in Christ? What does it mean to bear fruit? When are we abiding in Christ? When are we not?

As we approach the Lord’s Table, come to Communion, enjoy the Eucharist, we approach the Table which holds the grains of the field and the fruit of the vine – this is Bethlehem Ephrathah, the House of Bread, the Land of the Fruit of the Vine! 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.

24-26 Communion Hymn #776 – Let Us Break Bread Together –

27 Sacrament of Holy Communion –

28 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”)

29-32 Expedition Song #540 – Take Time to Be Holy –

33 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

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

Potluck Lunch and LPC Stories – TODAY
Spokane Indians Baseball – Tuesday, June 18 – sign up in the hallway, or on-line through the June Ledger

Resources:

Barrett, Matthew; “Agricultural Metaphors for thew Christian Life”; TableTalk; June 2019; Pp. 4-6.

05/26/2024 = Hebrews 4:12-16 = Who Is God? Omniscient – All Knowing

Posted on May 26, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive Stream – starts at 7:30, sermon at 39:00)

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

Mark Wheeler

Hebrews 4:12-16

05/26/2024

Who is God? – “All-Knowing (Omni-Science)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to one and all!!

Our weather is always a little iffy this weekend – sun and warmth and rain and chill. So, as they say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.”

Did you see the mountain of garden compost in the parking lot? It’s there for ANYone who wants/needs a little healthy dirt in their life! Bring a bucket or a truck, and take what you need (and share with your neighbors!)! Our own “Garden o’ Feedin’” is about to get started – water is on, weeds are getting weeded, and plants are starting!

We hope to see you out there whenever you want to get a little mud under your fingernails.

As we gather in worship today – let’s expect to experience God’s Holy Spirit in some very real ways!

To that end, 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 Omniscience – God’s Perfect-Knowledge – the word “science” is right in this character trait! – what is that and how does it work?

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 hinders and join together in worship and praise. Amen

2-3

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, and proclaims God’s perfect omniscience, from Psalm 139:1-6:

4-7 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #85 … Join All the Glorious Names –

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 anthem that praises God’s Creative power and presence: “How Beautiful”

10 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 – #621 – I Must Tell Jesus –

Awkward show of hands … who here likes that song? I mean, I do, too – I think it proclaims an important aspect of our dependence on Jesus to help us get through…. But – here’s the pop-quiz question for today – if God is omniscient, if God knows everything, if God really is all-knowing – why “must I tell Jesus” anything?

Let’s hold to that for a minute….

Have you ever said, “I wish I knew then what I know now”?

Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Dr D. Blair Smith, says, “A condition of being human is that at any given moment we do not know everything there is to know, and that if all our faculties are working correctly, we know more over the course of our lives. The fact that we often want to know more, and dedicate so much energy to education, indicates that knowledge is a good. That is, it is deeply valuable and beneficial for life; it is an ingredient of wisdom that we live by. Gaining more of it likely improves the condition of our humanity.” (By the way, in two weeks, June 9, we will honor and celebrate our graduates – if you have someone on your family who is graduating, please get that info to us ASAP!)

The point is – we all have to learn whatever we know – the smartest person you know, the person who seems to know things with little effort, who can explain complex mathematical formulae or who win trivia games or understands complicated theories – has to learn whatever they know – and has the capability of forgetting what they once knew!

And the truth is, if we actually did know then what we do know now, we might have made different life choices and maybe it would be better – but maybe not. And since we’re not omniscient, since we don’t know everything, we can never know if we would be happier, or wealthier, or healthier, or not…. We do not know – but guess who does!

Mid-20^th Century theologian, pastor and evangelist, A.W. Tozer, defined God’s omniscience like this: “To say that God is omniscient is to say that He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn. But it is more: it is to say that God has never learned and cannot learn.”

So, again, we ask, “Why in God’s name “must I tell Jesus” anything?”

Psalm 94 declares: “He who planted the ear, does He not hear? He who formed the eye, does He not see?” God knows … it all!

I do not! If you were to ask me about Placentia, CA, I could tell you a little. I grew up there. I went to school there. I knew long-timers from there. But ask me about Eritrea and I can tell you almost nothing! Ten years ago, if you had asked me about Kyrgyzstan, I would have run away from you; but since Andrew has lived there I have learned quite a bit.

But God does know! God knows!

For me, and for you, we can say, “Aha! I didn’t know that!” God never has a “Eureka moment”! God is never surprised by what He discovers. God already knows!

Look at these words from Hebrews 4:12-16 …. —-

¹²For the word of God is alive and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

¹⁶Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account!

This suggests that God’s knowledge is not “perfect” simply because He knows more than we do, not just because He is smarter than us. God’s knowledge is omniscient because it is God’s knowledge! God exists outside of time, beyond creation, past understanding.

The whole reason God can be omnipotent, which includes foreknowledge and what we think of as predestination! In God there is no “fore”, no “before”, no “after”. There is no “pre”, no “post”. There is only now for God! God can never say, “Sheesh, I wish I knew then what I know now!” Then is now, and now is now, and tomorrow is still now, for God!

This is exactly why we approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. It’s because God is trustworthy. It is because God is Aseint, God is Immutable. God is Impassible. God is Agapeic. God is Omnipresent. God is Omnipotent. God is perfectly and completely Omniscient!

So, why “must we tell Jesus”?

It’s not because God doesn’t know. It’s not because if we don’t pray, He won’t understand our fear or pain or sickness or need.

We pray, not because there is power in prayer.

We pray because it is in prayer that we connect to the self-revealed, unchanging, irrepressible, love and presence and power of God!

We pray because we need it! After Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, the so-called forbidden fruit, they realized their nakedness, and in shame they hid from God. And God asked, “Where are you?” Did God not know? No! Of course, God knew. But God needed Adam and Eve to know what they were doing.

We pray so that we will know where we are, what we are doing, who we are,,, and Whose we are!

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account…. [So,] let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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 click HERE; or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)

28-30 Expedition Song #243 – Christ Is Alive! –

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

Graduates in your family? June 9 we will honor and celebrate their achievements!

Ezra 3 Design Team –
Furnace Fundraiser
Summer Special Music – ASAP

Potluck Lunch & LPC Stories – June 2
Spokane Indians Baseball Game, Tuesday, June 18 – Get your tickets on-line or sign up in the Hallway!

Resources:

Smith, D. Blair; “Omniscience”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 23-25.

05/19/2024 = Pentecost = Joshua 22:22 = Omnipotence (Over-Power)

Posted on May 19, 2024 by lidgerwoodpresbychurch

(Click HERE to see the FBLive Stream if this service – starts at 4:45, sermon at 41:20)

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

Mark Wheeler

Joshua 22:22

Pentecost, 05/19/2024

Who is God? – “Over-Power (Omni-Potence)”

Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church

Happy Pentecost and Welcome to Worship!

There is a beautiful sea of RED out here today! For those who are new to liturgical colors, one of the ways the Church might commemorate and celebrate who we are in Christ is with colors! There are four different Liturgical Colors

White which symbolizes purity and joy (7-13 Sundays – Christmas Season, Easter Season, World Communion Sunday, and a few others)
Green, symbolizes growth and faith during the non “holy-day seasons” (most of the year, up to 30 Sundays)
Purple, symbolizes Preparation, Repentance and Royalty (Advent and Lent, 10 Sundays)
Red – one Sunday a year – on the Day of Pentecost – TODAY – representing the Holy Spirit (tongues of fire on the Apostles’ heads, Acts 2) and Christian Martyrdom (how we bear witness to Christ in the world by Holy Spirit presence and power, including but not limited to actual martyrdom [death])

As we gather in worship today – let’s expect to experience God’s Holy Spirit in some very real ways!

To that end, 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 Omnipotence – God’s Over-Powering Presence – what is that and how does it work?

We meet together in the presence and power of God whose love is freedom, whose touch is healing, whose voice is Truth.
We meet not in our own strength but in the knowledge that God’s Holy Spirit abides within us, in our worship today, and in our daily lives when we depart from this place.
The blessing we receive is shared, in the hope that others might be drawn to the God we serve. Amen

Pastor Kathy calls us to worship, today, and proclaims God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, from Revelation 19:6:

3-6 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship ––– #29 … O Worship the King –

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 anthem that praises God’s Creative power and presence: “The Earth Is the Lord’s”

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]

17-21 Song of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #48 – God of Creation, All-Powerful, All-Wise –

Almighty God! – or God Almighty! Certainly one of the most used names for God!

I have heard this name for God far more than any other, except maybe “Father”, especially by people who feel they have little control over their life circumstances – in developing countries with corrupt governments. Praying to our Sovereign God who has immeasurable powers makes perfect sense!

The Hebrew El Shaddai, or some other version of that, gets translated as Almighty God some 333 times in the Bible, and describing God as Mighty happens another 30+ times. That’s like once per day of every year!

Most Hebrew language scholars teach that the most literal translation of El Shaddai would be something like: “God the Mountain One!” (I love this particular image for that reason!)

Over the last few weeks, we have learned new words and theological concepts – each of which describes a major understanding of a character trait of God:

Aseity – God’s independent self-expression;
Immutability – God’s unchangeable character;
Impassibility – God’s self-agency and immovable nature;
Agapeity – God’s expression of Perfect Love;
Omnipresence – God’s “all-over”ness;
And today, Pentecost Sunday, Omnipotence – God’s Power over all!

With all of those places, 365 different times, that God is named Almighty or described as Almighty, we are going to a single verse in an obscure place to see how He works this out among His people.

Here’s your pop-quiz question today – don’t answer out loud, though – just ponder and see where this discussion leads us. Ready?: Is God so powerful that He could create a rock so big that He Himself could not lift it?

(Does that seem like a silly question? Like asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Well, let me tell you – this exact question has been used to try to refute the biblical proclamation of an Almighty God for as long as humans have had the ability to ask stupid questions!)

Let’s look, together, at Joshua 22:18-23 (we are only posting verse 22!) …. —-

[The priest and chief men representing the Tribes of Israel said:] ¹⁸“And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. ¹⁹If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things, did not wrath come on the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”

²¹Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel:

²²“The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day.

²³If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.”

The Mighty One – Shaddai – God – Elohim – the Lord – YHWH – and he says it again! 365 times, more or less, and that does not include the hundreds of times the Bible only uses words like YHWH, Lord, Sovereign, God’s right hand, God’s mighty arm…. The Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Prophets say that this trait is revealed in creation, the Apostles remind us that God’s Power Over All is revealed in God’s providence and judgment and God’s consummating all things.

Simply put – God is God. He is unchangeably and everlastingly Omnipotent!

My friend and colleague, a real brother in Christ, Pastor at Orchard Christian Fellowship on 3^rd Ave, reminded me of an episode of Friends where the gang of “Friends” were at the Central Perk coffee shop talking about what they would do if they were omnipotent for a day:

Phoebe: “I would want world peace, no more hunger, good things for the rain forest … oh, and bigger [bosoms].”

Chandler: “If I were omnipotent for a day … I would make myself omnipotent forever!”

Monica: “Hey Joey, what would you do if you were omnipotent?”

Joey: “I’d probably kill myself…. Hey, if Little Joey’s dead, then I got no reason to live either….”

Ross: “Uh – Joey – Omnipotent.”

Joey: “You are?? Ross, I’m so sorry…”

Omnipotence is God’s Power Over All – a very different word than impotence (same root – exact opposite definition!)

This concept seems very simple – but it often brings two very quick arguments or counter-questions:

First, does God’s omnipotence mean that God can do anything? (This is often referred to as the omnipotence–paradox);

Second, how does the Bible reconcile God’s omnipotence with the reality of evil in this world? (This is often referred to as the omnipotence–conundrum)

First – Can God do anything? This is actually the Pop-Quiz Question I asked a few minutes ago, the philosophical question of God’s ability to create something to heavy for His own ability to lift. CS Lewis answers this with these words:

25 “Omnipotence means the power to do all that

is intrinsically possible, not to do the

intrinsically impossible. You may attribute

miracles to [God], but not nonsense.”

The Bible is clear that God can do more than He actually does do – Jesus says, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53)

He also says, “God is able to raise up children of Abraham from the stones.” (Matthew 3:9)

Paul writes that God “can do far more abundantly than all we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20)

God asks Jeremiah, “Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

Luke tells us that “All things are possible for God.”

So, what do we do with that paradoxical question? Can God create a rock too big for Him lift? If we say NO, God is no longer omnipotent. If we say YES, but then He can’t lift it, God is still not omnipotent!

Lewis says, it’s nonsense to ask a question that has only one outcome. It’s like the “Have you stopped stealing from the church offering yet?”

Another way to address this paradox is to assert that God’s character of Love, what we talked about two weeks ago, God’s Agapeic character – does not allow Him to lie! Or to change His character! Or to deny Himself! Or to tempt us with evil! (Again, the New Testament addresses all of these assertions (Hebrews 6, James 1, II Timothy 2).

St Anselm, late 11^th century-early 12^th century, pre-Reformation era monk, taught that the ability to cheat or deceive or contradict oneself is no power at all, but a form of weakness. Therefore, God’s inability to create a rock too heavy for Him to lift does not define weakness, but accentuates omnipotence! This does not deny His omnipotence, but demonstrates it! God’s omnipotence gloriously expresses His perfect, absolute sovereignty! There’s a Children’s Catechism that asks, “Can God do all things?” and answers, “Yes; God can do all His holy will.”

Which brings us to the second question – how does the Bible reconcile God’s omnipotence with the reality of evil in this world?

If God really is all-powerful, and if we assume that God is good – then why does any evil exist? Why is there cancer? Why does our Spokane News page blow up with Overdoses every single day? Why does murder, rape, war, theft, happen? Why do I get frustrated when my short line at the grocery store takes longer than every other line?

I was watching the God’s Not Dead movie on NetFlix while I was preparing this message – where a college Philosophy professor insists that his students sign a God is Dead belief on the first day of class, and a freshman student challenges him only to discover that this professor once did believe until his mother died of cancer! If God exists, and is all-powerful, then He must not be good, because God allowed the evil of cancer to take his mother!

One way this argument goes is: if God is all-good, and evil exists, then God must not be all-powerful!

One way the Bible answers this dilemma is that God, in His sovereign omnipotence allows our free-will, our choice, our agency to choose how we live and what we do, and this “permission” grants the possibility of bad choices and evil decisions – we live in a world which is broken from God’s perfect, sovereign will, because our sin interrupts God’s created order.

But God’s omnipotence has power over sin and brokenness and fallen nature through faith in His sacrificed and risen Son! Sometimes miracles happen – healings, weather changes, protection, providence – sometimes God’s mercy comes not in this life, but in the next!

Omnipotence means that neither my sin nor my stupidity limits God’s ability to love me and save me when I accept His Son, believe Him and receive Him!! God’s Omnipotence means that you, you, you can be saved through faith!

As Jesus Christ healed the lame, stopped the wind, opened the eyes of the blind, brought back to life, and rose victorious over death, He showed Himself to be “the [ultimate] power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:24).

Revelation 19:6, our Call to Worship: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!” Amen!

27-32 Commissioning our Ezra 3 Design Team

33 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”)

34-36 Expedition Song #52 – I Sing the Mighty Power of God! –

37 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.”

38-39

Announcements

Ezra 3 Initiative –
Furnace Fundraiser
Summer Special Music – ASAP
Potluck Lunch & LPC Stories – June 2

Resources:

Lewis, C.S.; The Problem of Pain; MacMillan Pub. Co.; NY, NY; 1962; P. 28.

Wynne, R. Carlton; “Omnipotence”; TableTalk; May 2022; Pp. 20-22.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Category Archives: Uncategorized

06/23/2024 = John 1:29-30 = Biblical Pictures? (“Animals”)

06/16/2024 = Father’s Day = Romans 8:12-17 = Biblical Pictures? – “Family”

06/09/2024 = Isaiah 28:16 = Biblical Pictures? “Buildings”

06/02/2024 = John 15:1-5 = Pictures of God and God’s People: Gardens

05/26/2024 = Hebrews 4:12-16 = Who Is God? Omniscient – All Knowing

05/19/2024 = Pentecost = Joshua 22:22 = Omnipotence (Over-Power)

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

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

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

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