The Apprentice

On October 23, 2010

I have never watched a full episode of the reality TV show, The Apprentice, but I can imagine the pressures the people are under to perform well. They are each competing for a promising business position. However, being an apprentice was never about competition, it was about learning.

Typically, in medieval Europe, a master craftsman agreed to instruct a young man, to give him shelter, food, and clothing, and to care for him during illness. The apprentice would bind himself to work for the master for a given time. After that time he would become a journeyman, working for a master for wages, or he set up as a master himself. ^{^[1]}

In today’s world an apprenticeship has given way, for the most part, to Vocational Schools, however some highly skilled occupations still employ a modernized version of the system.

Dallas Williard in his book, The Great Omission, says that in fact every Christian should be an apprentice of Jesus. Just as medieval peasants would bind themselves to a master to learn a trade, we are to bind ourselves to Jesus to learn (the meaning of “disciple”) what it means to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God in a fallen world.

Sadly, Willard goes on the say, for many professing Christians today “the assumption is that we can be ‘Christians’ forever and never become disciples” (p. xi). This happens when we talk more about forgiveness than obedience and stresses making a decision for Christ over becoming disciples.

The first disciples were apprentices of their Master, Jesus. They spent time with him every day for about three years and learned who he was and what it meant to submit to the Father in heaven in every area of life. They learned to incorporate the practices of Jesus’ life into theirs. On the day of the Pentecost, those disciples who lived with Jesus and learned from him, were filled with the same Holy Spirit which energized them to act Jesus. They, then began to do what Jesus did.

But how does that happen? It’s not like we can move to Jerusalem and take up residence with Jesus and allow him to teach us. It happens because we do what the first disciples did – spend time with Jesus, incorporate the disciplines of his life into ours and choose obedience over comfort.

In short, if we are to become disciples in deed, instead of disciples in name, we must plan for it. Being a disciple does not happen automatically. Discipleship happens when we deliberately incorporate the disciplines of Jesus’ life into our own lives and grow in obedience to him.

Let me encourage you to not to live the normal Christian life, but to become a disciple, an apprentice of Jesus Christ. Then, go another step and ask, “What can I do to help others do this as well?”

Pastor Alan

^{^[1]} ̌ Paul Lagass and Columbia University, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (New York; Detroit: Columbia University Press; Sold and distributed by Gale Group, 2000).

Back to Basics

By admin

On September 29, 2010

In Newsletter Articles, Woodbine Methodist Church

According to an often repeated story, legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, once expressed his frustration by stopping practice and saying to his Green Bay Packers something like, “Let’s start at the beginning. Gentlemen, this is a football. These are the yard markers. I’m the coach. You are the players.”

Imagine that. The coach gathered his whole team of professionals who prided themselves in their knowledge of the game, and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”

Apparently their intimate knowledge of the game was hindering them from actually playing the game.

The same thing can happen in church life. We often get caught up in doing more and more in “ministry” and forget the primary mission. I once heard Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church, say, “Church will naturally drift toward complexity.”

Every now and then we need to return to the basics of following Christ and ask, “What are we to do as a church?” Here it is in a nutshell. And Jesus came and said to them:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18–20)

This passage, known as the “Great Commission” is the primary task of every local church. The United Methodist Church echoed Jesus when it said, “The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” At Woodbine we have characterized that mission as, “Reach out in the name of Jesus, Grow in the likeness of Jesus and Live all for Jesus.”

In Jesus’ words we find not only our mission, but how we are to accomplish that mission as well. We are to make disciples by baptizing and teaching. This means that

disciples are made when people are lead to the point of conversion, where they repent of their sins and confess Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. It also means that as a church our job does not end there, we are to teach them to obey everything Jesus said. By any standard this is a daunting task. The mission is clear, we are to make disciples.

In the business of church life, however, we can forget our primary mission. We can become so caught up in the various programs of the church that we forget the point of it all: making disciples.

A good number of the leaders of the church have been reading a book entitled Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. This book is all about helping the church stay focused on it’s main mission,– making disciples. If making disciple is the mission of the church then everything the church does should be purposed to move people toward that goal.

I would urge every leader, every member and every person who calls Woodbine home to begin thinking about our primary mission and what it means for us to actually accomplish it. You can begin by reading the book or by coming to our next Leadership Gathering on Friday October 22.

At this gathering we will begin the conversation about what it would mean for us to deliberately focus everything we do on the mission of the church. I will present the basic points of the book, Simple Church, and lead discussions around what it would look like for Woodbine to focus on the mission of the church. Join us for what promises to be one of the most important conversations in the life of our congregation.

Call Sharon in the church office, 995-0007 and put your name on the confirmed list for this gathering, you don’t want to miss it.

Jesus: Lord

By admin

On June 12, 2009

In Sermons, Uncategorized

Revelation 19:11-16

We all love the end of a story, especially when it says, “…and they lived happily ever after.”

We love it when the villain gets punished, when the lost dog finds his way home, the teacher finally turns her class around, when the underdog team wins the championship or when the dedicated musician finally gets a big break.

Let’s face it we like resolution, solved mysteries, happily ever after. Maybe we like that because that is seldom the way we find this world. We can’t stand it when resolution does not come, primarily because we have lost sight of the fact that Jesus is Lord!

A Dangerous World

In the book of Revelation, The Apostle John is writing to seven churches under the power of Roman. The Romans were very suspicious of new religions. The Jews had won a little freedom in their worship and were tolerated in the Roman world, which was not the case with the Christians. Christians found themselves on the outs with the Romans on a number of points. They refused to be part of the trade guilds because they refused to honor the gods associated with those guilds. They were branded as traitors by the Romans because they refused to burn an offering of incense to the Emperor and make the declaration, “Caesar is Lord.”

When new Christians were baptized they made the confession, “Jesus is Lord,” it put them in conflict with the whole culture of that day.

To remain faithful to Christ they had to be in conflict with every other aspect of life. So, they were persecuted, oppressed, denied rights branded as criminals, traitors and enemies of the state. They became the scapegoats of the whole empire and were killed by the thousands just for the entertainment of the crowds in the Roman Coliseum.

As the Book of Revelation opens John encourages and corrects the churches of the empire toward to ideas faithfulness and hope.

To make the confession, Jesus as Lord in that context was seen as stupid, irrational and dangerous. But, Christians knew something – Jesus was indeed Lord, so how could they say any different. They also had the hope that one day Jesus would come back to set everything straight. Their confession put them at odds with everything in their world, but that world was not the last word.

Revelation

The book of revelation reminds us of a truth we cannot see because we are blinded by our current circumstances. It tells us that in spite of how everything appears Jesus Christ is the true king. “[These verses] describe not what Christ is going to do but what he is: conquering King, righteous Judge, Captain of the armies of heaven.^{^[1]}

Look at the way Jesus is described in those verses:

Faithful and True,
A Judge and Warrior, leader of the armies of heaven
His eyes are like a flame of fire – he is able to see into the hearts of all
On his head are many diadems – he is the absolute ruler of all
He has a name written that no one knows but himself – he is under the control of no one
He is called is The Word of God and by his word he conquerors
The agent of the wrath of God the Almighty
King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus is the One to whom all people owe allegiance, the one before whom every knee will bow, the One who has the final word.

Our World

For us in the western world the danger is almost nonexistence. Instead of lions we have the ACLU, instead of burning incense we are asked to go with the flow – and many do!

The fact that Jesus is Lord calls forth two very important traits in those of us who claim to be his followers.

Faithfulness

If Jesus really is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, what other response could possibly be appropriate?

For faithfulness to be real it must be unconditional. When we chose to follow Christ we didn’t know what that choice would involve. We made the choice because in light of what we knew about Jesus there was no alternative. No one else can forgive sin; no one else can give new life; no one else can save. What life circumstances could possibly change that truth?

The truth that Jesus is Lord is the same in good times and bad, in prosperity and poverty, in sickness and health, in peace and in peril, when prayer is answered the way I want or not. And our only response is faithfulness – what else is there? Here was Paul’s experience:

[2 Co 4:8-11 ESV ] We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

And yet he remained faithful!

The circumstances we face in this world, whether personally or with our families and friends, don’t change the fact that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We remain faithful because there is no other option.

Does God do miracles, healings? Yes, they are wonderful gifts of his grace. But if God never did another thing for us, if all he did was forgive us and grant us new life here and in heaven…it would be enough for us to be faithful for all eternity!

What does faithfulness mean?

It means we maintain the relationship through prayer, we continue to obey, to worship, to learn and grow and gather with God’s people.

Since the fact of who Jesus is doesn’t change with the circumstances, neither does my faithfulness. Do the circumstances hurt, make me sad, cause me to doubt? Yes. But our doubt is expressed in relationship not out of it.

Many people only come to Jesus because of the personal benefits they will receive from him. If Jesus does not fulfill all of their expectations, they get upset and stop honoring God. If that is the case, who is really Lord?

Hope

If Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords that means my circumstance doesn’t have the last word – Jesus does!! And because of that I have hope!

Paul kept preaching and traveling because of this hope. In spite of all that happened to him. Listen to what he says:

[Ro 8:35-39 ESV ] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can continue to pray, obey, worship, toil, grow, witness and even die because no matter what, Jesus has the last word! Do you believe that? That is what hope is all about!

An Invasion

When we understand that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that truth has a profound effect on our everyday lives. In reality it is not something that will happen in the future, it is something that is a fact now and because of that it affects our lives now.

That fact invades the present and affects the way I treat others, my decisions, my entertainment choices, the way I do my job, the way I dress, my dating life, if I am single, my married life, the way I view the government, the way I spend my money, the way I see the world and even the way I see my current circumstances.

The declaration, “Jesus is Lord,” is not about emotion, but the alignment of my life with the truth of who Jesus is. It is not about adopting a new philosophy of life, or merely reframing the world or my circumstances in the world. It is about a commitment to the One who not only will rule the nations with a rod of iron, but who allowed iron nails to pierce his hands and feet to show you how much he loves you. Isn’t it time you acknowledged Jesus is Lord? If not now when?

^{^[1]}Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation : I Saw Heaven Opened, Reprint. Originally published: I saw heaven opened. Downers Grove, Ill. : InterVarsity Press, 1975., The Bible speaks today, 183 (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., U.S.A.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986], c1975).

Jesus: Savior

By admin

On June 12, 2009

In Sermons

Text: Luke 19:1-10

The story of Zacchaeus is a very familiar one. We mostly think of it as a story and a song for children, but it is so much more!

A story of Salvation, one scholar classified it as a miracle story because Zacchaeus was a very wealthy man and according to Jesus the wealthy, are difficult to save.

The Story

The Romans contracted out the collection of certain tolls and tariffs. Those who won the contract had to pay the contract in advance. They would often employ others to collect the tax and inflate the tax for their commission. Zacchaeus was one of these contractors.

Because they were Jews collects taxes for a foreign power, they were despised throughout all the land. In the eyes of devout Jews they were the epitome of a person outside of God’s blessing — tax collectors and sinners.

Meeting Jesus

Something about Jesus’ message and ministry intrigued Zacchaeus. When he heard Jesus was coming his way, he wanted to see him. Since he was a short man he could not see Jesus, so he decided to run on ahead and climb a tree. This probably made the people burst out with laughter. An adult man would never run, and never ever climb a tree. I can imagine the people shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at this blanket blank tax collector.

Jesus surprised them all by calling out to Zacchaeus by name and telling him “I must stay at your house today.”

Zacchaeus was overjoyed but all the other people grumbled because Jesus was going to the home of a tax collector. At one point during the dinner Zacchaeus made some bold statements.

I give half my goods to the poor – you were considered righteous if you gave 20%
If I have defrauded anyone I will restore it fourfold – the maximum penalty only required to pay double.

Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house.” How did he know? Jesus knew because of Zacchaeus’ reactions:

He began to value others – the poor
He confessed, repented and made restitution – as the law said he should

Why do we need a Savior?

Because, as the Bible puts it, we are lost. To be lost is to be spiritually separated from God. We are out of relationship with God. When that primary relationship is wrong it affects every other relationship in our life: spouse, kids, work, self, strangers, creation.

The Bible puts it like this:

[Is 53:6 ESV ] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[Mt 9:36 ESV ] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve rejected the relationship God offered them, because they didn’t trust God. God had given them everything thing they could ever want and yet they wanted to be their own boss. They got their wish along with all the consequences of their rebellion: estrangement from God, shame, guilt, blaming others, suffering and hardship.

We have continued that pattern. We want a nice life, happiness and fulfillment, but we reject the source of that fulfillment- God himself.

When we are lost, out of relationship with God, we cannot please God. We cannot keep the two most important commandments.

[Mk 12:30-31 ESV ] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We can’t love God because we are rebellious, disobedient, self-centered, prideful, ignorant of what God actually wants, materialistic, we have no eternal perspective.

We can’t love our neighbor because we devalue people or label them so they become less than people and we can treat them any way we want. We judge people, exploit and oppress – we use them as things to meet our needs -, ignore them and their situations, push them to the fringes of society and only value people for their abilities or what can do for us.

We are messed up! We are lost! We need a savior! And we cannot fix ourselves!

How does Jesus save us?

Through the cross of Jesus Christ Jesus paid the penalty for our rebellion and disobedience. God created us, gave us life, sustains us and provides for us in every way. When we reject God’s direction for our lives we stand accountable. God is just and righteous so, wrongs must be punished or atoned for.

Jesus paid the penalty for our rebellion. He removed the barrier between us and God and opened the way for us to be reconciled to God.

Jesus rescues us from the consequences of our rebellion. We are rescued from guilt, shame and hell itself.

Jesus saves us by helping us see others as he does (Yes salvation includes this). He helps us see their value, appreciate and care for tem and even love them.

Jesus saves us by giving us a new way to walk and a new power to living for God. through God’s grace and power we can walk as a follower of Jesus Christ, love God with all of our heart mind soul and strength, love our neighbor as ourselves and make the right choices.

Zacchaeus and us

Zacchaeus was an outcast; someone who others believed was outside the grace of God.

On that fateful day, Jesus went to his house and his life and destiny was completely changed. Jesus showed him that although others considered him an outcast, Jesus would make a way for him to be reconciled to his God. His heart was so changed that he repented and made restitution, in that very moment.

But, what about you? For all of those who have not committed their lives to Jesus Christ, you are an outcast. Not because of someone’s opinion of you, but because of your own rebellion and disobedience. Because you refuse to honor God and love your neighbor, you are lost, separated from God – even though you may sit in church week after week.

But there is good news. Jesus wants to go home with you today. Through his cross Jesus paid the penalty for all of your rebellion and opened the way for you to reconciled back to God. That reconciliation changes everything. It changes: the way you see God, the way you see others, the way you see yourself.

Jesus is Savior and he wants to save you today.

Jesus: Rabbi

By admin

On May 25, 2009

In Uncategorized

Luke 13:22-30

We are not really acquainted with the term rabbi. Many of us may know that Rabbis are the leaders of Jewish Synagogues, but who were they in Jesus’ time? What is a rabbi? How do you become a rabbi? What do they do?

Rabbi means “My Master” it was a term of respect and not an official title until after A.D. 70. A rabbi, in Jesus’ time was more than just a gifted teacher; he strove to be the embodiment of Torah, the Law.

Jewish boys in Jesus time began reading and memorizing Torah by 5 or 6. At age 10 began learning the oral Torah called the Mishnah – the rabbinic traditions. By this time they knew many scriptures by heart. At age 13 they concluded their formal training and began learning a trade. The most gifted were encouraged to continue studying until they were 18 or 20 or until they married. Only the most brilliant would go on to study under a great rabbi as Paul studied under the great Gamaliel.

The life of a rabbi

Most rabbis were not from the wealthy or priestly classes, they were ordinary folks. Most worked other jobs and taught and traveled during off times, or slow seasons of their work. They were never paid for teaching although they accepted the hospitality of others.

Rabbis interpreted Torah, explained the scriptures and told parables and stories to help people grasp an understanding of who God was and what he wanted of their lives. They were teachers and guides. They would take disciples who would study under their direction and travel with them for years.

The Rabbi’s disciples

Disciples not only studied scripture, but the rabbi’s life also. The disciple wanted to acquire the rabbi’s knowledge and character. Learning was not about retaining data, but about gaining wisdom for living [How do I live faithfully before God?]

How did this take place?

The disciple lived with the rabbi. He became a humble and caring companion and servant. Transformation takes time and the relationship allowed the time to be transformed. A blessing from the Mishnah depicts the intimacy and transformation that was possible: “May you be covered with the dust of your rabbi”

The Text

Now look at his passage of scripture in light of what we know of Jesus as our Rabbi.

As Jesus was teaching, something he said triggered a question in someone’s mind. That person asked the question as they might have done with any traveling rabbi. “Are there only a few who will be saved?”

To answer that question Jesus told a story and gave some instruction, like any rabbi would have done. And notice what he says…

Strive to enter the narrow gate. Strive implies agony, struggle and effort. A person must strive as a athlete strives to win a race. It does not really matter how many will be saved in the end, but only that you are saved. Salvation does not come by going with the flow. The relationship is offered freely as with any friendship. But to maintain the relationship requires work; as with marriage.

Strive for the Narrow gate – narrow implies prerequisites, not everyone who thinks they are in are in. The invitation goes out to all and for all – whosoever will…. But, in order to reap the benefits of the grace of salvation, there are certain requirements. Paul says those requirements include:

Confess Jesus is Lord – That means Jesus has the right to direct my life. Jesus determines what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable.
Believe that God raised him from the dead. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were ordained by God as the means of my redemption. God’s action validates everything Jesus said and did. I must trust that my relationship with God is based not on my effort, but God’s grace. I must seek to live in that grace for the rest of my life.

As the passages continues Jesus indicates there will come a time when all opportunities to be part of the kingdom of God are gone. At that time many people will find themselves on the outside and will want to come in. But the Master will say to them, “I do not know where you are from – I don’t know you – you have no relationship with me.

Many people want the benefits of God’s grace without the commitments of that grace. Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes that attitude as “cheap grace”:

Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace … is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 2.

Those on the outside will begin to protest, “Don’t you remember me? We had dinner with you we heard you teach we came to hear you speak when you were in our town.” The Master will say, “Get away from me all you do is evil. They thought that because they knew who he was that implied a relationship that was not there. They had a passing acquaintance with the Master and not a relationship with him.

The horror is that those people will see people they admired feasting at the master’s table, and even some people they never expected to be there. Those were the ones who strove to enter the narrow door and had real fellowship with the master.

Striving to enter through the narrow door begins with becoming a disciple of Rabbi Jesus.

Conclusion

To sit at the feet of a great rabbi, you had to excel in your study. You had to be the best of the best of the best. You had to be invited by someone who recognized your inherent abilities.

Very few of us would have been chosen. But that puts us in good company! It puts us the same company as all of the disciples all of the people Jesus hung around with.

The Apostle Paul, a rabbi in his own right, put it this way:

[1 Co 1:26-29 ESV ] For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

[1 Co 6:9-11 ESV ] Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Today Jesus says:

I choose you. Strive to enter the narrow gate. Sit with me, learn from me, eat with me, live with me, imitate me, follow me.

What will you do with that invitation from Rabbi Jesus?

By admin

On May 12, 2009

In Sermons

Jesus: Messiah

This series of sermons was born out of a desire to spend time reflecting on Jesus and the various roles he assumes in the faith.

The first has to do with Jesus as Messiah.

Matthew 16:13-20

Jesus challenges his disciples to declare their understanding of his ministry and mission. Peter ultimately declares that Jesus the long awaited Messiah of Israel. Jesus commends his answer, but not his expectations. Peter’s expectations of the Messiah where those of many Jews at the time: Messiah would come to save Israel from their oppressors and destroy their enemies.

When Jesus told the disciples that he would be killed and rise on the third day be raised, it was too much for Peter to fathom. The same thing happend when John the Baptist was in jail.

Jesus had to change their expectations of the Messiah. Messiah would come to conquer, but the conquest would begin with death and resurrection and happen first in the heart.

In the same way we often have own expectations of what Jesus Messiah will do in our lives

Often we want a conquering hero, a Rambo God. We want someone who will come to our rescue and save us from the problems we encounter, someone to make our lives smooth and trouble free, someone to take all of the struggle out of our lives, someone who will save us from the lot of every other human on the planet, someone who will save us from the consequences of our actions.

Jesus often has to correct our perceptions of Messiah. Most of the time what we really want is a Genie in a bottle and not a Messiah. We want a Messiah who will be at our beck and call and make life comfortable. We want a Messiah who will come and destroy our enemies and deliver us circumstances we do not like. And judge the people we do not like.

But the ministry of Jesus the Christ, at this point in history, is to conqueror and redeem our hearts.

At his point in salvation history Jesus is redeeming and judging from the inside out – where we need it most!

Jesus as Messiah frees us from all the things that bind us to our self-centered lives and offers us to opportunity to live a God-centered life.

Jesus, the Messiah marches boldly into our hearts and begins his work of judgment and redemption.

He judges our motives, our prejudices and reactions
He redeems our pain, our brokenness, and our bitterness
He judges our unforgiveness and our inner rebellion
He redeems our hopes and our perceptions
He gives us peace with God and the peace of God that is found in our trust in God no matter the circumstances
He releases us from the bondage of sin and self-centeredness into the freedom to live as God intended.

Jesus Messiah begins his work in our hearts the same way he started it with Peter. He asks a simple question: “Who do you say I am?”

Look at the evidence…The testimony of Jesus, the lives of those you know as Christians, the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The testimony leads to the conclusion that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

The only response that makes any sense is the same response that Jesus asked of Peter and the rest of the disciples — to lay down our lives for our Messiah, to follow in his footsteps.

[Mt 16:24-28 ESV ] Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

There will come a time when everything will be put right. There will come a time when judgment will fall. There will come a time when every tear will be wiped away. But it is not hear yet. So, until that day we give ourselves completely to Messiah. Our biggest problems in life stem from the fact that Jesus doesn’t measure up to our expectations of what a Messiah should be.

Every one of the disciples performed miracles, raised the dead and saw many baptized into the way of Jesus Messiah, but they also suffered tremendously and rejoiced in spite of it. Maybe the problem is not Jesus, but our expectations. Some may say that is not enough, Paul thought it was.

[2 Co 4:16-18 ESV ] So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So what do we do? We allow the mission and ministry of Jesus Messiah to shape our lives, our expectations and our future. There may be many things happen in this life as we journey with Jesus; many things we do not understand. But we do know this: we walk with Jesus.

The God Questions: Is God Real?

By admin

On January 16, 2009

In Sermons, Woodbine Methodist Church

This series of sermons takes a look at the biggest objections to the Christian faith. The resources were originally produced by Hal Seed and Dan Grider. I have used much of their material and adapted them for our congregation at Woodbine United Methodist Church. Two links are listed below to go a little further into the subject.

This is the first and formost question that any person should ask and answer: Is God Real?

To answer this question we will look at three pointers to God’s existance.

The Existence of Stuff

If nothing exists, we don’t have to explain it. But, the minute we acknowledge that something is real, then we have to come up with an explanation for it.

The universe exists. It’s real. We live in it. We see it, hear it, feel it, and breathe its air. Where did all this stuff we feel, hear, breath, smell come from?

Here’s a principle we all understand intuitively: The nature of cause and effect: For every effect, there has to be a cause.

For every effect, every thing, there has to be something that caused it. So what is the first cause of everything in the universe?

The Nature of Stuff

The universe is a huge, complex, marvelously well-ordered place. Since it exists, you have to explain where it came from.

One possible explanation for how something got here is that it was self-created. It came from itself. That doesn’t follow logically. Scientists and philosophers tell us that something cannot come from nothing. A thing can not cause itself.

Everything in the universe is contingent.

The universe is dependent on other things in order to exist.

Everything in our universe is contingent on something else for its existence.

Nothing we observe around us seems to be absolutely self-caused or self-reliant. In fact, it’s easy to conclude that everything we can see around us did not exist at one time, and probably will not continue to exist forever.

So, if everything we observe is dependent on something else, and not independent or self-caused, the principle of dependency leads us to ask, If all that exists is dependent, fragile, and temporary, who or what is responsible for all these dependent objects and beings?

Philosophers go through all sorts of complex arguments and intricate proofs to try and answer this question. Let’s simplify it for a moment. In your mind, get way, way away from the universe, zoom out from it, and then take everything in the universe and draw a circle around it. All the galaxies, solar systems, planets, black holes. Shrink the whole thing down to fit inside a small circle. The circle represents our universe and is about 25 billion light-years in diameter. By comparison it is 9 light minuets to the sun. It would take the space shuttle 7 months to fly there. It would take our fastest rocket 70,000 to get to the nearest star. If our solar system was the size of this quarter, our galaxy would be the size of the United States (100,000 light years). The nearest star would be 2 soccer fields way.

Everything inside the circle is dependent. It relies on something besides itself for existence, and because of the principle of entropy it’s slowly headed towards non-existence.

So the big question is, where might the thing that caused all this dependent stuff to exist in the first place be located? Inside the circle, or outside of it? If everything inside the circle is fragile and dependent and reliant on other objects inside the circle, how likely is it that the cause of all we see originated inside the circle of contingency?

A thinking person would have to conclude that everything that exists inside the circle must have been created by something outside the circle. And by definition, whatever is outside that circle must be independent, absolutely self-caused and self-reliant.

This would make it eternal. Unlimited. All powerful.

Which is why the Bible says in Psalm 19:1, ” The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

See what God is saying here? “Open your eyes and see. I am all around you. I have left pointers to my existence all over the universe!”

The Design of the Universe

The universe we live in also reflects the marks of a designer. In fact scientists tell us that there are no less than 154 (Reasons to Believe) aspects of the universe that are finely tuned to the point that if one of them were off by a fraction, life would not be possible. This fine tuning is evident in the physical constants of the universe: the average distance between galaxies, gravitational forces, orbits of planets, the decay rate of protons and even waters heat of vaporization.

Remember how Psalm 19 said that the heavens declare the glory of God? I would argue that the tropical jungles do too.

Hints to God’s nature

To design something so intricate and delicate and beautiful and superior as this, whoever created this universe must be smart and thoughtful and creative and superior. He must be loving, because He designed His creation around the needs of His creatures.

And if you want a verse to share with a friend, should they ever ask you how you know there is a God, you can turn them to Romans 1:20, where the Bible says:

[Ro 1:20 TNIV ] For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

If they just stop and think.

3. My sense of right and wrong.

All people everywhere have an innate sense of right and wrong. We have within us a sense of right and wrong. A sense that certain things are right and should be done, and certain things are wrong, and shouldn’t be done. Anthropologists tell us that that is a universal phenomenon. Morals vary from person to person and culture to culture, but every person has them.

Now, here’s the interesting part: how many of you have ever done what you believed was wrong? You betrayed your own sense of morals? Anthropologists tell us that that is a universal phenomenon as well; that all people admit that they have within them a moral standard, and that they haven’t lived up to their moral standard. Because their moral standard is actually higher than they are.

How do you explain that all of us have within us a sense of morals that are beyond us? The only reasonable way to explain universal ideas of right and wrong is that our morals were not self-invented, but came from a higher moral source.

The Bible recognizes that as well: [Ro 2:14-15 NLT ] Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law

Now, let’s put all of this together.

The circle of contingency leads us to conclude that the universe was created by an uncreated creator. An unlimited, eternal, all-powerful being.

The fine tuning of the universe shows us that that creator is very smart, creative, thoughtful, and cares about his creation. He put great beauty and care into His creation. So He must be smart and beautiful and creative and caring.

Our own hearts demonstrate to us that the creator surpasses us in morals, or He wouldn’t have been able to create morals that were higher than we are.

Put all those together and you have an eternal, powerful, smart, beautiful, loving, moral creator. And that comes very close to a working definition of God, doesn’t it, friends?

And really, what are the alternatives? Random chance and circumstance? Which takes more faith? Which is more intellectually honest?

I would argue that it takes more faith to believe that there is no God than to believe that there is one.

Below are some links to investigae this further:

Hugh Ross catalogs 154 aspects of the universe that are fine-tuned to allow life to exist.

William Lane Craig’s extended essay “Does God Exist?”

Urban Legends 2: God Has a Plan For Your Life

By admin

On July 18, 2008

In Sermons

Text: Acts 26:12-20

To be real honest with you, what I say today will make you feel very uncomfortable. There are some aspects of folk religion that are so ingrained in our lives that we believe them even though we have evidence to the contrary. We even take folk religion ideas and read them back into the pages of scripture so that we make the Bible confirm our superstitions.

So, if you get a little uncomfortable today, I ask you to do four things:

Suspend your judgment until you have heard everything
Take time to look at the whole counsel of scripture and not just a few proof texts (passages that seem to justify one position)
Be willing to reexamine the beliefs you hold in light of scripture
Enter into dialog, not to prove a point, but to understand

Paul’s mission statement

When we look at Paul’s life we see a man chosen by God for a specific mission. There are situations where is seems that God had a specific plan for everyday of Paul’s life: the call to mission journeys, his arrest and trial at Rome. But here in this passage, Paul recounts for the third time what happened to him on the road to Damascus and spells out the tasks God assigned for him to do:

To be a servant and witness of the things that would be revealed to him
To proclaim these to the Jews and Gentiles.

Everything that happened in Paul’s life and ministry was a direct consequence of Paul’s faithfulness to this commission. In other words the plan for Paul’s life was not a minute by minute path from which he was never to stray, but using his gifts and abilities to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ

The Blueprint Plan

The blueprint plan is the idea that God has a specific path marked out for your life. That path includes all the major decisions that you must make for you to be in the center of God’s will. There does seem to be some biblical precedent for such and idea. (Jeremiah, Jonah, Joseph).

The we have modern examples. We try to seek God’s plan for the right college, the right spouse, the right job and then expanded it all of the major decisions of life.

Assumptions of this model

This model assumes several things about and our relationship with God. First, God has a plan for your life fully mapped out from birth to death which you must discover in order to live faithfully in the world – be in God’s will. Second, God is completely in control of your life. And third, God reveals this plan as you seek him in various ways.

Problems

When we go into Scripture we find all kinds of problems with this idea.

It is just not supported in the Bible – just because God worked this way with one person doesn’t mean he does it with everyone.

It makes God a reluctant giver. He hides will will from his children and expected them to go looking for it.

It turns God into a machine spitting out plans rather than a person. At its worse it seems to make God into a blind uncaring force like Fate or Destiny. God has set an unalterable future in front of you and will fulfill it regardless. Like the ancient Greek heroes.

What happens if you get off the path? Are you sunk for the rest of your life because now you are not completely fulfilling God’s plan.

When you do get off the path you have to settle for God’s permissible will rather than his perfect will. And what is that any way? (Rom 12:2)

If God already knows the future and knows that you will either keep or not keep on the path, why bother seeking him? It will happen just as he saw it happen. If God is really in charge how can you do other than his will?

If God has a blueprint for your life, he has already made every decision for you, so there are no decisions for you to make.

It is just not the way we experience the world.

God’s plan for our lives

What is God’s will for your life? God’s will for your life is not so much a path to follow as a purpose to fulfill. There may be something specific, but God is willing and able to show you that.

[Two resources have been extremely helpful in this regard check them out. Decision-Making and the Will of God and Questions to All Your Answers by Roger Olson.]

This is some of what Scripture says about God’s will for you:

Eph 5:15-17 – make the most of the opportunities we have and be filled with the Spirit
Eph 6:5-7 – Serve others, carry out your responsibilities
1 Thes 5:18 – give thanks always
Heb 10:36 – Be faithful to God no matter what
2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish….”
1 Thes 4:3: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification….”
1 Peter 2:13-15: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15-18: “Rejoice, pray, give thanks…for this is God’s will for you.”

The Dynamics of the relationship model

God enters into a real relationship with us. God is open and does not hide things from us that he wants us to do. Look at what Jesus said about prayer:

[Mt 7:7 ESV ] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

God is not a heavenly MapQuest; we live in relationship with him and it is a real relationship. We discover what he wants by spending time with him.

What is God’s Plan for our lives?

God wants us to discover and use our gifts and abilities for the Kingdom; How do we begin?

Through worship – offering all of our lives to God
In Fellowship – developing close relationships with other Christians so we can grow and care for others
Step out in ministry to develop our gifts and serve others
Join in God’s mission for the redemption of the whole world

God wants us to grow into the likeness of Jesus

Is there something very specific, maybe? The best place to discover that is in fulfilling this part

The Choice

Paul was confronted by Jesus with a blinding light on the Damascus Road and everything else in his life flowed out of that confrontation. God’s will for Paul’s life was to be a servant and witness of the things that God revealed to him.

The choice is God’s plan or yours; God’s dream for your life or yours?

You must live with the consequences, temporal or eternal of which ever one you choose.

Urban Legends 2: Don’t Judge

By admin

On July 18, 2008

In Sermons

Matthew 7:1-5

“You shouldn’t judge,” has become the mantra of our time. We hear it especially when someone is engaged in a questionable activity, at least from your perspective.

You become aware of a couple living together without being married or you see a gay couple on the beach, or maybe you see someone wearing an outfit that is just way too provocative. As soon as you voice your opinion, someone will say, “You shouldn’t judge.”

If the person who is pointing out your judgmentalism is the lease bit religious they may even cite Jesus as the authority on the issue- and he is!

You Shouldn’t Judge!

It’s hard to miss Jesus’ point in this passage. The simple message is do not judge. The Message paraphrase drives the point home well.

[Mt 7:1-5 The Message ] “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults- unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

Jesus gives some valid reasons in this passage not to judge.

Why are we not to judge?

We are not God – we have no right to judge a person’s eternal destiny. Judging in this way usurps the place of God.
We have limited knowledge – most of us make snap judgments based on nothing more than our perceptions and prejudices
We are prone to error – we all make mistakes in almost every area of our lives so why do we think our judgments are 100% correct all the time. We sometimes even spiritualize them by using words like discernment.
We may have wrong motives – probably the last factor we consider in our judgments, if we consider it at all.

We have all done this haven’t we? Haven’t you ever sat in worship and said to yourself, “Boy, So-and-so should have been here to hear this. You judged someone.

Our culture

Our culture applauds those ideas, because they think you shouldn’t judge either! Amazing our culture agrees with Jesus!

But usually the cultures motivation is not that pure the culture is usually upholding Individualism and Personal Autonomy. They are putting forth a skewed notion of tolerance.

The Other side – we are called to make Judgments

But wait a minute; something doesn’t seem to fit here. Jesus tells us not to judge and then he says:

[Mt 7:6 ESV ] “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Isn’t that a judgment? Yes it is. In fact, much of the Sermon on the Mount assumes that we will make judgments!

Love your enemies – you made a judgment about a person
Give to the needy – you made a judgment
In the Lord’s prayer we talk about forgiving others – how can you forgive someone unless you have judged them as a wrong doer
We are told to judge the words of those who claim to speak for God – judge their words as either good fruit or bad fruit.

And besides all that, when you tell me that I shouldn’t judge – you just judged me!

It is obvious that whatever is going on here Jesus did not forbid all judgments.

Normal judgments

Judgments are part of everyday life. If judgments are wrong then we could never have contests of any kind. Sports would be out. We couldn’t shop for clothes at have a favorite store. We couldn’t recommend a doctor, mechanic or a plumber. We could not hire the best candidate for a position or fire someone who didn’t measure up. All of these require judgments – judgments about people

We Are Called to Judge The Fruit of Ministries

Bible teachers / speakers – We are told to evaluate what teachers tell us by the Word of God.

The apostle Paul blasted the churches of Galatia and Corinth because they didn’t do it.

[Ga 1:8 ESV ] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

[2 Co 11:4 ESV ] For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Candidates for ordination – In the United Methodist Church all candidates for ministry undergo scrutiny. Pastors, Staff-Parish Relations committees, Church Conference, District Committee on Ministry, Board of Ordained Ministry all judge these people.

We Are Called to Decide disputes

Scripture says that we should be able to judge disputes between people.

[1 Co 6:1-3 ESV ] When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

We Are Called to Judge Behavior

[1 Co 5:9-13 ESV ] I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler-not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Why is Paul so harsh on these things? Have you ever been told that the church is full of hypocrites? People see folks involved in church who do things like this and even unchurched people know it is unacceptable behavior. When you engage in this kind of behavior you not only give a black eye to the church but also to Jesus. We are to judge behavior.

Making Judgments

Jesus, however, did not leave us without any guidelines. In the Sermon on the Mount we can discern some very important principles to keep in mind when we make judgments.

Humility

We must always remember that we are not God. And because we are not God our judgments are riddled with errors, misperceptions, prejudices and questionable motives.

A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy “luxury” food items-like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp-with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who treated themselves to such non-necessities were “lazy and wasteful.”

A few weeks later Lander’s column was devoted entirely to people who had responded to the grocery clerk. One woman wrote:

I didn’t buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So what? My husband had been working at a plant for fifteen years when it shut down. The shrimp casserole I made was for our wedding anniversary dinner and lasted three days. Perhaps the grocery clerk who criticized that woman would have a different view of life after walking a mile in my shoes.

Another woman wrote:

I’m the woman who bought the $17 cake and paid for it with food stamps. I thought the check-out woman in the store would burn a hole through me with her eyes. What she didn’t know is the cake was for my little girl’s birthday. It will be her last. She has bone cancer and will probably be gone within six to eight months.

You never know what other people are dealing with. — Terrie Williams, The Personal Touch (Warner Books, 1994); submitted by Danny Smith

Mercy

Making judgments with mercy is about generosity of spirit, a willingness to forgive and give the benefit of the doubt. It is about being conscious of your own failings. Notice the following survey

Percentage of Americans who:

Think incivility is a serious problem: 89.

Think mean-spirited political campaigns are to blame: 73

Think rock music is to blame: 67.

Think talk radio is to blame: 52.

Think their own behavior is uncivil: 1.

U.S. News & World Report (4/22/96). Leadership, “To Verify.”

When it comes to making judgments we would do well to remember Jesus’ words:

[Mt 7:2 NLT ] For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

Willingness to Revise

This principle follows logically from the other two: If our knowledge is flawed and incomplete and our judgments should be tempered with mercy and a willingness to forgive, then our judgments ought to be open to revision.

When we make unfounded, harsh judgments and refuse to revise them we put people in bondage, a bondage from which, at least in our minds, they can never escape. They have no change for appeal.

When we are willing to revise our judgments we release people into an open future. A future where they may become brothers and sisters in Christ

Conclusion

“You shouldn’t judge.” It’s true, but only a half truth and that makes it an urban legend. We cannot live in this world without making judgments. So when we make judgments, especially of people, let us make them with humility, mercy and a willingness to revise them.

Most of us have been on the short side of judgmentalism; we know how much it hurts. If for no other reason we should be willing to hold the reins on our judgments.

There are some you here this morning who have made judgments about another brother or sister in Christ and that judgment has affected every aspect of your relationship, if you have one. You have judged the way they look their spiritual lives, their behaviors even the way they have raised their children. Humility? Mercy? Willingness to revise? Not for you. It is time for you to repent, today. Or maybe you want to be judged that way too.

There are some here who are engaged in immoral lifestyles, sinful or hurtful behaviors. Whenever someone says something to you about it you tell them,” Hey you’re not supposed to judge.” And you think that little statement makes everything OK, but it doesn’t. Because you are still wrong, and if you will not listen to someone who holds you accountable here what will you do when you stand before God Almighty? It’s time for you to repent.

All of us in this place today stand under the gaze of One who knows our hearts better than we ourselves. He knows when we have tried our best and failed and he knows when we said we “couldn’t” and we really meant “wouldn’t.” God knows our past completely and not just our version of the past. God knows our present and our future. And yet he chooses to be in relationship with us. The only one who can and does judge perfectly is reaching out a hand to you even now to offer you a relationship that will change your life. Don’t you think it’s time?

Urban Legends 2: The Safest Place

By admin

On July 12, 2008

In Sermons

What is an urban legend?

Stories which are believed to be accounts of actual incidents that befell or were witnessed by someone the teller almost knows. These tales usually play on our fears and concerns in an effort to confirm the rightness of the way we view the world. These stories are usually passed around the internet as forwards – and people actually believe them! In this series I am using the term to refer to the Christian cliches which get thrown around our popular culture.

Why this series?

In my twenty three years of ministry I have come upon many Christian Urban Legends – cliches which we spout out when we don’t know what else to say. We accept the truth of these sayings even though we have not verified them.
A few months after the last series, theologian Roger Olson published a book entitled Questions to All Your Answers. In this book he tackles many of these cliches like, “God is in control” or “Jesus is the Answer.” In the book he encourages us to adopt Reflective Christianity instead of folk religion which is made up almost entirely of cliches. As Dr. Olsen says, “Folk religion thrives on cliches and slogans that fit on bumper stickers and resists their critical examination even by…Scripture. Reflective Christianity, on the other hand, values critical, deep and thoroughly biblical thought. It values truth more than comfort and refuses to reduce the glory and mystery of God to bumper-sticker slogans
In the next few weeks we are going to look at some of these clichés and examine them in the light of biblical and historical Christianity.

Safety

The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will. It sounds really good doesn’t? It gives us a sense of security in a hostile world. But is it biblical?

We are a culture obsessed with safety and security. Last month for example the Consumer product safety commission issued thirty-six product recalls. Often news stories play on this innate insecurity, and drive our fears to new heights.

Scriptural Context

In the 10th chapter of Matthew Jesus is preparing the disciples for their mission. He tells them who to go to, what to say and what to do, how to conduct themselves and how to respond to various situations. He prepares them for the persecution they will experience and encourages them in the face of that persecution.

In these verses Jesus cautions them about the cost of following him. Following Jesus will cause conflicts with families and the world at large. This will be a problem if you are trying to get along with everyone. Following Jesus involves a cross.

The conflict will come from various sources:

Those who don’t like what you stand for
Those who don’t understand
Those who disagree with you
The Enemy

We want safety even in our mission for God

We crave safety and security above all else. Who could blame us?
Our desire for safety and security could mean that we see the value of this present life. That is a good thing!
But sometimes this desire becomes an excuse for not doing what we know God has called us to do. Sometimes it is a way to spiritualize our lack of perseverance when things get tough.

God is not necessarily concerned with our comfort; He is more concerned with our faithful witness in the midst of whatever circumstances come our way.
We have a tendency to think that if God has led us to do something then everything will go smoothly, it will be easy and everyone will like us. But that doesn’t square with the biblical witness.

Examples of tough times

When the Israelites came to the Promised land they had real battles and many of them died even though they were doing God’s will. Stephen the first martyr in the book of Acts, was doing Gods will when he was arrested for preaching. Paul was beaten, persecuted and even left for dead all while in the will of God

So what do we do when things get tough?

We continue to do what we have always done. We pray, read the word and continue to trust God as we live as disciples.

We ask questions to get at the reason for the difficulty. Is it something within me? Have I miscommunicated? Did I misunderstand what would be required? Could my perceptions be mistaken? Am I under spiritual attack?

We rely on our spiritual support group to help us weather the difficulty. The we simply persevere we go through the difficulty knowing that faithfulness to God is more important than anything else. We persevre just like the saints of old:

[Heb 11:34c-39a ESV ] Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,

A World in Conflict

Those who would follow Jesus Christ live in a dangerous world. That is not all there is. There is joy and meaning and purpose and excitement and heaven too!
God wants us to know that when we pledge our allegiance to him that pledge, if it is lived out, will put us in conflict with this world. That same allegiance gives us peace with God.
The last night Jesus was with his disciples before the crucifixion he warned them of the coming persecution and gave them a promise:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Pledging our allegiance to God puts in conflict with the world, but it also opens us up to the resources of God’s grace.

Prayer for Courage

Dear God, give me courage, for perhaps I lack it more than anything else.
I need courage before people against their threats and against their seductions.
I need courage to bear unkindness, mockery, contradiction.
I need courage to fight against the devil, against terrors and troubles, temptations, attractions, darkness and false lights, against tears, depression, and above all fear.
I need Your help, dear God.
Strengthen me with Your love and Your grace.
Console me with Your blessed Presence and grant me the courage to persevere until I am with You forever in heaven. Amen