Kirk Of Christ

Families talk.  We bicker, we disagree, and we stay together because we are family and we're supposed to.  Yet in several instances, God's word has records of family arguments where the people involved seem to completely forget that there is a Creator God, His name is Yahweh, and He comes first - even ahead of family!  When we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in family bickering - within our physical families or even our church families ... we are disrespecting & disobeying our God!  Learn from the mistakes of our older brothers and sisters! 

Sorry the sound is messed up on this one again.  I fixed it some, and it's not too bad in the middle ... This episode is an attempt to recap the experiences of the three main characters from the burning bush, plagues, trials of desert life and dependency on God, camping at Sinai and receiving the Torah ... and now they should be ready to enter the Promised Land!  God had trained them - He has given them plenty of reason to understand that He will take care of them.  But then something happens...   "Self Esteem" is one of the very popular false gods of our time.  We are taught  - sadly even in churches - that we should have "good" self-esteem.  These people's esteem was spot-on: compared to the giants in the land, they looked like grasshoppers.  Was that bad self image?  No, it was accurate.  God's people do not walk by self esteem!  We walk by FAITH, which is: "God Esteem."  "The man who trusts himself is a fool," wrote Solomon in the Proverbs, and it's still true.  Self esteem is a god of false hope. 

Okay this one is actually about the Torah itself: the law of Moses.  Does it apply today?  Should we post it in the courthouses of the USA?  What does it have to do with anything? at least ... that's what I think this episode is about.  Actually, I haven't listened to it, and don't remember what I preached about, but this seems logical. 

Not much explanation necessary - the title says it all. 

Not much description for this lesson ... but an apology:   when getting it ready to post I did notice there were serious sound quality issues ... sorry about that! 

God is a patient teacher.  He wants us to understand that we can trust Him completely for everything we need.  If we will learn these lessons, we will arrive at a place of peace.  We will discover that we need fear nothing - be anxious for nothing - be stressed: zero.  This episode of the Exodus is where God's people have escaped their bondage, been baptized in the sea, and now are on their own in the middle of nowhere in the desert.  So now what?  Now God begins the slow process of teaching them that they can live in the middle of a barren desert, because their strength and provisions do not come from their work, but from God's hand.

According to the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinth church of Christ, all of Israel was "baptised" when they passed through the Red Sea.  They symbolically had Egypt washed off, just as we also symbically wash off our sins when we are buried with Christ in baptism. 

The first Passover was held on Israel's last night in Egypt, when Israel was redeemed from their slave masters.  The Last Passover was held on the eve of Jesus' crucifixion.  When Jesus died on the cross he bacame the lamb that was sacrificed once and for all.  There no longer remained a need for the practice of the "shadow," but now the real lamb had been killed, and the true High Priest sat in the true heavenly tabernacle (the spiritual one).  This episode is a slight departure from the Torah series, as it fell on Easter - but it ties-in with the principle ideas. 

The final plague was when God caused the firstborn of all of Egypt to die, but He spared the Hebrews.  This horrible and wonderful night has been remembered for thousands of years with a memorial meal called the "Passover."  The first passover was held on the night of the Exodus.  The last Passover (at least from God's point of view) was held on the night Jesus was betrayed.  In this episode we remember the events of that first night.

Finally, our story begins.  I'm writing this intro without having heard this lesson in a long time, so this may be a bit misleading ... but ... It helps if we remember the situation of the people when their first real encounter with Moses happens.  Their kind of slavery is different than what is generally portrayed, Moses is the old man who's coming to release them by the power of the invisible God of their ancestors, and then the plagues begin.  At first, things get worse - not better - and Moses is in deep trouble with everyone.  What happens to people today when they transition from slavery in the world ... into the freedom of God's kingdom?  Are drug addicts the only ones who have withdrawals?  Were the Israelites the only ones who experienced travails?  No - even Jesus went through temptations right after his baptism, and so do new disciples.  If you are considering becoming a disciple, have just become one, or are walking someone else through that process ... you should know this story!  It's not just a

The third and final character in our mini-series is Moses.  He's introduced here in an unusual way.  Warning: People hated this sermon, particularly the slides that accompanied it.  Listen at your own risk. Let's be clear: Moses wasn't Charlton Heston. He did not have blue eyes, and at the time of the Exodus, he was 80 years old.  He wasn't well-liked or highly regarded by anyone.  In the eyes of the Egyptians, he was low-class.  In the eyes of the Hebrews, he was a crazy, snooty old man (schooled in Egypt).  It's not until after many, many years that we now idolize the man and raise him up as if he's almost God Himself.  If you want to maintain your high-view of Moses, you probably will hate this lesson, too.  The real story of Moses' life and work is that no one in God's Kingdom is so low-born that he cannot be useful.  That eductation means very little, by itself.  And that very often, being a leader is a lonely, scary and unwanted thing.  It's all about two things: trust and obey.  Trust God - and no one

Second part of the Torah series in which we're introduced to the second of three main characters: the people.  To understand the truth about Israel and the Torah, one must start by understanding what it must have been like to see the world from their point of view.  What would it feel like to be them - then?  What was their story - up until Moses appeared from across the desert?  If one doesn't have a bit of an idea about those things, then one cannot hope to understand the Torah.

This is episode 1 of 22 lessons about the Exodus.  I refer to it as the "Torah," because these stories are more than just stories - they are also the context within which the first five books of the bible were written, and those books are called the Torah.  Torah is technically the Hebrew word for "Law," and so much of what's in Exodus - Deuteronomy includes the Law for the people of Israel.  For us, it's important to remember the context within which these lessons came.  When modern Christians read this, they almost never take the context into account, and that leads to lots of bad conclusions, boors us, and is generally really disrespectful of our God.  The first three episodes will discuss the main characters in the story in an attempt to establish this context.  The first main character is God Himself.  Listen to this and start trying to understand what the Exodus looked like from God's perspective. 

Serving, giving, teaching ... all forms of ministry can hurt.  Sometimes the same people you're trying to help will hurt you - run through it.  Ever tried to help an injured animal?  It can be dangerous - the animal often doesn't understand you're trying to help.  Well-meaning people killed prophets and even our Lord, Jesus.  So we will suffer at the hands of our own brothers.  Run, anyway.

Forrest ran from bullies, but his bullies were easily recognizable.  Jesus warns his followers that wolves will come masquerading as sheep.  They will look and seem in every aspect like sheep, so we’ll trust them – but we should be careful.  As we seek to be rescuers, we’ll encounter many misleading people and groups.  Some are deliberately misleading, while others are well-intentioned but ignorant.   Solomon even warned us against trusting ourselves: Trust in Yahweh with all your heart & don’t lean on your own understanding.  Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.  (Proverbs 3.5&7) He who trusts himself is a fool (Proverbs 28.26) We should all be more humble and aware of our tendencies to being gullible!

Jesus said: "The son of man came TO seek & save the lost."  That was his purpose statement, his goal: to 'seek' (which is also to pursue, or go-after) and to 'save' (or rescue).  We ought to have a similar idea of our lives.  People who are respected and remembered for their character are never selfish - rather they live (run) with a purpose.  They fight through the tough battles of life for a reason, and the reason is always something beyond themselves and their own selfish interests.   Run for a reason: rescue people from danger, pain, slavery and even death.  "Pursue & Rescue"  

Forest had friends to save ... so do we. It'll be hard!  Sometimes we'll have to work through pain, trouble, boredom, distractions ... even at great cost to ourselves. Le'ts learn to see these as challenges to be embraced - not a hassles to be avoided. This is how we grow ever stronger. Let's run the race all the way to the end! Never quit Never stop Finish the whole race

Forrest Gump ran.  In the remaining episodes, we'll look at Forrest's runs and see how they connect to the text of Hebrews 121: "Let's lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entagles us, and let's run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus..." In this lesson, we're reminded that Forrest ran "for no particular reason at all."  Sadly, many "Christians" also do what they do out of habit or because they're raised that way ... but really have no reason at all.  Jesus' true disciples run for a reason. We have a purpose.  Do you know 'why' you run?

This is the first of a series sermons preached at a teeny church some years back. I post it here to see if it will be effective for a larger audience, even though it was only intended for that small group.   Also you may note that I had visuals for the original lessons which won't appear (obviously) in the podcast, which I'm hoping won't take away from the value. This Lesson: The lesson is based on Hebrews 12.1, in which the writer encourages a somewhat discouraged and burned-out church to lay aside all the junk in their lives that slowed them down, and run the race with endurance.  To run the road ahead most effectively, we need to pack light.