All posts tagged Theology

Obadiah – Sermon Manuscript

-Have you ever noticed the way people seem to react like a pendulum? You look at the White House, and doesn’t it seem to flip to the other party every 4 (or 8) years? People don’t like what’s taking place so they assume the opposite must be better. Maybe you’ve seen it in people dating: you see someone going through a breakup, and the next time you see them dating someone it’s the exact opposite of their ex! Or in churches, I’ve seen a tendency to react to the weaknesses of a previous pastor by only hiring a next pastor who has those strengths (without realizing there are DIFFERENT weaknesses that will come with that).

-A similar thing seems to be taking place throughout these prophets. One prophet talks about one area of focus, and then the next prophet comes along and brings up a different perspective on it. Last week, in Amos, we say the prophet calling out God’s people for their lack of justice. This week, the prophet will be calling out a different nation for their lack of justice.

READ/PRAY (pg. 819)

  1. The Message of Obadiah:

-We need to understand some family history in order to know what Obadiah is talking about. Does anyone know the history of the nation of Edom, where they came from? All the way back in Genesis there are twin boys born who have conflict with each other from the womb to the tomb: Jacob and Esau. We’ve previously studied the beginnings from Gen. 1-11 and Father Abraham in Gen. 12-25, but that’s where we stopped. So Abraham eventually becomes the Father of the Israelite people, but his promised child is Isaac. Isaac becomes the father of Esau and Jacob, the twins who were in conflict with each other, even before they were born! There was so much conflict that Rebekah asked the Lord what was going on and He told her:

-When they’re born, it says Esau came out “red-looking” which sounds like the word for “Edom.” And that theme continues: Jacob is described as a quiet man who stays home, while Esau is the outdoorsman, the successful hunter, Esau is loved by his father while Jacob is loved by his mother. Their lives are continual conflict. One day, while Esau is out hunting, Jacob is at home cooking. Esau comes home “exhausted” and demands that Jacob give him some of the “red stuff” (adom) to eat. Jacob is shrewd and agrees IF Esau will give Jacob his birthright in return. In this culture, the oldest received the inheritance, and no one else did.

-Then, as Isaac is getting old, he realizes he needs to bless Esau, his inheritor, but Rebekah overhears and tricks Isaac by having him bless Jacob instead of Esau. When Esau finds out he’s furious and demands a blessing from Isaac. And look at the blessing Isaac gives:

-Church, don’t miss that the Bible is completely honest about the whole experience of humans! Genesis is basically a case study in family dysfunction! Dishonestly, backstabbing, deception, and abuse are normal!

-There is a bit of a happy ending to this story, at least the last biblical account of their interactions. Jacob runs away from Isaac and Rebekah and goes to live with his uncle Laban, ends up marrying his cousins (plural, and sisters, which is apparently not illegal at this time!), and grows incredibly wealthy. Eventually he leaves his uncle with his whole family and runs into his brother Esau again. But look at how this meeting begins:

-Just as God promised, there would be 2 nations that would come from Rebekah’s womb: Israel and Edom. Edom existed southeast of Israel, not an easy area for agriculture, as you can see in THIS picture, these are the mountains of Seir in Edom (which we just read about). These mountains served as a natural barrier and protection from other invading armies, which led to a misguided pride for the Edomites. They viewed themselves as essentially impenetrable at the time, which will be called out by God in this book!

-But the conflict that started in the womb continues down through their descendants! When Israel is led out from Egypt, they ask the Edomites to let them through and here’s how they reply. And on it goes! King Saul fights them, King David fights them, and then they revolt against King Solomon. But then comes the final straw. The Babylonians attack Judah in 586 BC, and instead of coming to help their brother, the Edomites attack Judean forts near their territory. And this event seems to be what Obadiah is talking about when he brings this prophesy to them. So let’s get to the book:

  1. Judgment on Edom (1-14)

-Same as Joel, we know nothing about Obadiah apart from his name! As I shared at the beginning, the general beginning is the name of the prophet followed by the kings who were on the throne during their ministry which gives us dates for many of the prophets, but Obadiah is one that gives us none of that information!

-Let’s look at what God condemns them for right away: pride. Think of what Prov. 16:18 says (as I heard it from when I was growing up, the KJV)

-Pride is trying to build yourself up, looking down on others so that you can feel superior to any and everyone else. And pride is sinful. At its core it is an anti-god approach to life. CS Lewis wrote an entire chapter of Mere Christianity dedicated to the sin of pride, listen to what he says:

-Here he’s saying that pride leads us so far as to even look down on God. Pride was at the root of the devil’s fall because he was looking down on God! And that same pride that affected the devil affects us today, which is where he continues:

-Since God is so far above and beyond us, it requires us comparing ourselves to the right standard. Think of what we read in Amos 5 last week where Amos sees God standing with a plumbline. A prideful person is the one who accuses God of using the wrong standards! Pride is what leads to Jacob being a trickster and stealing his brother’s birthright, pride is what leads to Esau being careless about his birthright, and friends, humanity hasn’t changed in the last 4,000 years, because pride is still one of the prevailing sins in the world today. Our entire economic system is built on pride: assuming that people will always be wanting more and more and building bigger and bigger. I don’t have any alternative proposals because that has been the root of economics for a LONG time, but I think it’s true.

-But it also runs contrary to the way of Jesus. Look at how Lewis describes a humble person: do you see the contradiction here? He’s not saying you have to think less about yourself, he’s saying true humility is on a completely different plane: it’s someone who is finally able to get beyond themselves and start thinking about and caring about others. Tim Keller (who loved Lewis) summarized this idea this way:

-God’s way is completely different than what the world wants us to pursue. Edom is representing the way of the world which means they stand condemned by God. And this serves as a warning for us too! We can be so prideful that we refuse to admit we need help. If you haven’t heard the name, there’s a former Nebraska senator named Ben Sasse (who’s also a Christian) who in December announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He has enough accolades and worldly success that he announced it through a press release, but I’ve been so edified reading or hearing various interviews he’s conducting as he’s facing his end because he’s shared that it’s causing him to look back on the ways pride affected him and family, and unless we admit that we’re needy people, we won’t ever get to that point. Edom is condemned for the sin of pride, we are still prone to that same sin today unless, through grace-driven effort, we work to shift the focus from ourselves to others.

-Think back to what I shared at the beginning of Edom’s refusal to help when Judah was being attacked. Instead of helping, Obadiah says they stood aloof, they wanted some of the riches, they acted just like the rest of the nations. Which means Edom is included in the punishment that’s coming on the nations:

  • Judgment on the Nations (15-18)

-One of the brilliant ways Obadiah works to get this point across is he uses the word “day” repeatedly building up to this: 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 before landing on THE day. I spent some time when I preached on Joel talking about the day of the Lord, we’ll look at it in more detail in a few weeks, but the short summary is during this time, God’s people were waiting for the day of the Lord because they viewed it as the day God will destroy all their enemies, but Obadiah gives us a different perspective.

-After increasingly building up these various days, we get to the Day of the Lord as being near, and this time instead of being against God’s people it’s against “all the nations.” But Obadiah doesn’t stop there with a warning, he tells them exactly what they can expect here: “as you have done, it will be done to you,” this is the opposite of the golden rule! If they had followed the golden rule they’d be in a different place at THE day. He goes on to talk about drinking, and in many cases throughout the Bible this is referring to drinking a cup of judgment.

-And look at the end of these nations in the next verses:

-Where will deliverance come from? Mount Zion, Jerusalem, from Judah. Everyone who oppressed God’s people will find themselves oppressed, just as Edom pursued the survivors of Judah, they will be pursued, attacked, and will have no one left. And just as we saw last week at the end of Amos, this is guaranteed to happen because the Lord has spoken.

-But unlike last week, that’s not where Obadiah ends!

  • Restoration of God’s People (19-21)

-While Edom mocked Judah when they were destroyed, the irony is Edom is eventually destroyed by the same nation. So as they did to Judah was literally done to them. Once again, Obadiah repeats a word through this section to drive home a point: possess. Just as all these nations were once possessed by others, the day is coming when God’s people will “possess” all these other lands.

-The last verse alludes to the book of Judgeswhere the Lord raises many “saviors” or “deliverers” to help with the various enemies who were fighting against God’s people. But none of them could ever establish a full and lasting dynasty for the people, they all fell short. Even David’s dynasty only lasted through his grandson! But someday David’s descendent will come to Jerusalem to rule over everything. Does anyone have any ideas who that might be?

  • The Inclusion of the Nations

-Friends, this is where God’s guidance of all the events in human history shines the brightest and should give us the most amount of hope! See, here God predicts the complete destruction of the nation of Edom, of Esau. But what does that look like in reality? In 553 BC, Edom was conquered by the Babylonians (remember the 2 mountains: close future and far future). The close future was they had the same punishment as Judah, the FAR future tells a different story, and to understand exactly what’s taking place there, we need to go back to the beginning.

-Adam and Eve are provided everything they need to live a flourishing life. They are in perfect harmony with God, themselves, and the rest of the creation. God gave them 1 boundary: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. See, when they were created, they only knew good! But pride (as we saw earlier) led to them wanting to take the place of God. Satan tempts them with that reality by telling them God didn’t have their best in mind and if they eat from that forbidden fruit they would become like God. What they failed to realize was they already were!

-Look at what God says: when does God say they would die? In the DAY they eat from it! But do they die? No! Friends, we can’t even begin to comprehend God’s grace toward His creation. Now, some people will say that they spiritually died, and that’s probably a part of it, but God doesn’t stipulate that it would be limited in any way, He says they will die. Period. Instead, what happens? God gives them grace, He clothes them (just like He had done in creating them). Friends, our God is the God of life, not death! He hates death, death is an enemy to be defeated! And we also see that reality with Edom.

-For the far future of Edom, after they were conquered by the Babylonians, there weren’t many descendants left, and the Arabs from the east eventually began encroaching on their territory, so they moved into the land of Judah which became known as Idumea. Now, there’s 1 horrible Idumean that comes up in the Gospels, his name is Herod, and we read about him in Matt. 2. He’s the one who tried to kill Jesus when He was a child. The family conflict between Jacob and Esau carried down all the way to Jesus! Herod slaughters any boy under 2 years old around Bethlehem. One final act of Edom belittling Judah. But Herod dies, and Jesus lives. The way of Esau only offers death, while the way of Jacob leads to life.

-The only time Idumea appears in the Bible is in Mark 3. This is towards the beginning of Jesus’ ministry where he’s starting to preach and share the gospel message with the nations. But look where some of these early followers came from:

-Friends, God’s invitation is to repent and come to Him! Apart from His mercy and grace the only future hope is in judgment. But we see that NO ONE is too far away for Him to save! Everyone is invited to align themselves with God’s family and have a different trajectory for their life. WE, all of us, were once like Edom. We were once enemies who were doing everything we could (willingly or unwillingly) to fight against God’s plans for the world. Paul talks about this reality in Col. 1. Some translations use “enemies” for where this says hostile. God doesn’t save people because He likes the way they look or they somehow clean up their act enough to get His attention. God says at the time when we were his enemies, Jesus still reconciled us to Himself. And now, how does God see us? As holy, faultless, and blameless. Even Esau, Edomites, and Idumeans are welcome to be a part of this new family of God, which means there’s hope for everyone in this room! But it demands a choice, and not just a one-time choice, a daily working to continue following after Jesus every day, which is what Paul goes on to say here: grounded, steadfast, not shifted. Friends cling to Christ!

-And when we are saved, what is the correct way to respond to God?

  • The Response of God’s People

-When God acts, we worship. This has been true since the very beginning of creation! When God brings Eve to Adam he sings a song of praise. When God leads His people out of slavery in Egypt, and then defeats the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, look how they respond:

-“He has become my salvation.” Friends, that’s the song every one of us should be lining up to sing! All these people that we read about in the OT could only dream of what we get to experience every day of our lives! Our habits, our practices, our routines should all be shaped by the reality that the Lord is our salvation. That’s the focus and goal of every Sunday morning. One of the themes that has come up through the prophets already is that we need to get God right, and in order to get God right, we need to get our worship of God right because our worship shapes and informs the way we see God.

-If you pay attention to it, you can see we have a rhythm that guides each Sunday. It’s rooted in historical Christian tradition, which is guided by Scripture, and looks to be acceptable to God. One of the words that drives me NUTS that often gets connected to worship is “authentic.” It was one of the core values of the previous church I was at, and I died a little inside every time I had to say it, because we don’t just come to God as we are, we come to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, otherwise God will not accept our worship! Look at how the author of Hebrews puts it: By referring to “consuming fire” he’s talking about an event in the OT where Aaron’s sons offered to God “strange fire” and were killed, so we need to be careful in our worship of the one true and living God.

-The second key comes from Col. 3. We begin seeing the reality that we are 1 body, which tells us this is something we’re supposed to do together, with 1 voice, united together (and by the way, be thankful, even if you don’t like the music. Especially if you don’t like the music!)

-What does Paul say the focus of our worship should be? To let the Word of Christ dwell richly among you. One great question to ask of any church you visit is: how long does it take to have the Bible opened? I had a guy who did NOT like the music we sang at church, and he made sure I knew it! He would stand in the aisles with his arms crossed staring at me anytime we sang a “new” song, and would sing as loud as he could anytime we sand an old song. Instead of only focusing on what we like, we should focus on what the song teaches us about the Bible. AND music is supposed to be a way we can teach and encourage each other (which means we should be able to hear each other singing)

-Do you see the variety Paul talks about too? Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. There isn’t only 1 style of music that can be used to worship God. “And whatever” anything else we do should bring honor and glory to God.

-Friends, our entire worship service is important. We have announcements at the beginning so we can know practical ways to love and care for each other, we have Scripture read to orient our hearts to God, we respond to who God is through singing. We gather to confess our sins because when we confess our sins God is faithful to forgive our sins and cleanse us. We remind each other truths from the Bible in recitations, catechisms, creeds. We corporately pray together for various needs in our body. We have exhortation and teaching from the Word of God, and we respond to that exhortation with more singing. See, part of the reason we sing after the message is because we need to respond together to the truths we’re learning from the Word. I hope those songs give time for the truths that we’ve heard go from our heads to our hearts, and then we end with a benediction from God’s Word before being sent to live out the new reality we’ve learned together with our hands.

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by mikethestrand on March 1, 2026  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on March 1, 2026

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2026/03/01/obadiah-sermon-manuscript/

Psalm 20 – Sermon Manuscript

-Both my parents grew up on a farm. There are a lot of things about it that sounded very enjoyable! Tons of room to run around, animals that are bigger than you to play with, farm equipment to drive around. I always liked going to the farm, they let me start driving as soon as I could reach the pedals! My dad’s side had 5 boys, so you can imagine that house. Interestingly enough, 4 of them have ended up in some kind of education role (the oldest still works on the family farm!). House of 5 boys who like to read & study. The older I get (and the older my dad & uncles get) the more stories get leaked out when they get together! 

-The youngest brother in particular had a bad habit during seeding of bringing books into the combine to not be so bored. As grandpa would drive around their acreage he would make comments about where each of the boys had gotten too invested in their book, or even note whole fields where books were being read! Do you know how he could tell? The plow lines weren’t straight! What was supposed to be a straight-lined field was covered with zig-zags. Each time my grandpa would apparently gently remind them to fix their eyes on a particular point in the horizon then never drift away from that spot, ensuring straight lines every time. But as boys are prone to do, there are far too many other things to focus on! A bird flying by, a rock in the pasture, contemplating when lunch is because they’re always hungry, or if it’s the Strand family the book you snuck onto the combine with you. 

-As Christians, we are all tempted to act like a Strand boy and be distracted by so many distractions around us instead of keeping our eyes focused and fixed on Jesus. Psalm 20 is a great reminder for us to be reminded to keep our eyes fixed on the right place so that our lives are marked by straight lines.

READ/PRAY

  1. God, Hear Our Prayers (1-5)

-A number of the Psalms we’ve studied together this summer as “royal Psalms” in that they are for/about/centered around the king. This one connects specifically to preparation for a battle.

-We miss some things as we don’t have a king, and are proud of it! I’ve been listening to the biographies of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams recently and was first of all struck with the differences in their approaches to life (Hamilton wasn’t a believer at least until the later end of his life, Adams was a committed believer), but secondly was struck by the strong debates related to whether positions of power should be passed down through generations, or whether it be merit based (if you didn’t know, merit based won out). 

-So since we don’t have a king, one thing we need to note is the king is meant to serve as the representative for the entire people. Our president is kind of similar to that, but not quite to the same extent. In the OT the king’s success determined the fate of the entire nation. Not too much of a stretch to say the nation was literally identified by the king, we can too easily dismiss identification with the president, even seen bumper stickers that say “don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for him”

-A second piece we need to be aware of as we read a royal Psalm is the king is meant to serve as the best, most accurate representation of God on earth. Remember last week we saw one of the first things a king of Israel was supposed to do was write out God’s law himself, then read and meditate on it throughout his life, allowing the king to keep his eyes on the right path and not end up with zig zags in his life! But because the king served as God’s representative, wars weren’t as we often see today for land or resources, wars were meant to reflect spiritual realities, so if a nation won in battle, it signified the superior strength of their God. 

-This is why the people would join together to pray for the protection and preservation of their king as they would prepare for battle. That’s why this Psalm begins by asking God to answer when the king faces trouble.

-“God of Jacob” shorthand for “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” connects all the way back to Gen. 22:17. (Abraham after the sacrifice of Isaac)

-This is another reminder, as we’ve seen before, to know the story you’re caught up in! David didn’t appear out of nowhere, there’s a history that he’s a part of. Whether you believe it or not, history has an ending point, but that also means there’s a purpose and a reason behind it. If we don’t know and understand the history and our place in it, we’ll miss where we’re aiming at. 

-“sanctuary/Zion” (2) similar to the shorthand above, refers to the place where God’s glory or manifest presences dwells. Same thing for us today praying “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Is he ONLY in heaven? Absolutely not! But it reminds us that He is not just like us.

-honor or accept the various offerings of the king. 2 different offerings mentioned in this verse (different Hebrew words to refer to different kinds of offerings)

-This isn’t (as I’ve heard far too many people say) putting God in your favor by offering, or tithing, or sacrificing something. These offerings refer to restoring the relationship between God and the king. 

-For example, the “burnt offering” refers to an atonement offering, as seen in Lev. 1. This specific offering is meant to deal with the sins the king has committed. There is nothing we can do to put God in our debt, yet as I talk to people there’s a tendency to treat God that way. “if I give this to God, he has to bless me back.” I even heard this from a pastor in town here! That’s not how God works!

-I liked the way one commentary put it: “it is the inward reality of right relationship that Yahweh remembers rather than the abundance of sacrifices offered. Rather than taking this to mean that God remembers how we make sacrifices (of time, money, suffering, etc.), this passage is talking about fulfilling our covenantal responsibilities of relationship to God. Have we acknowledged our sin and turned from it? Are we experiencing and celebrating a renewed and restored relationship with God? God “remembers” us when we are on the way of faithful loyalty to him and when we daily seek him with body, mind, soul, and spirit.”

–Selah: instrumental to stop and reflect on what was just sung. I’ll leave the Psalm on the screen for you to reflect on it, think about your relationship with God.

-“heart’s desire” does this mean the king get everything he wants?

-Think about 1 instance in David’s life: when he first looked down at Bathsheba, was God’s answer to allow her to be David’s wife? Doesn’t this just confirm what I talked about in the last verse, if we make all these offerings, then God will give us the desires of your heart? Think of Cinderella “a dream is a wish your heart makes” or the song I danced to growing up “listen to your heart, when it’s calling to you.” So God is in heaven as our fairy godmother to make our dreams come true?

–NIVAC: “this is a wake-up call to bring our hearts into alignment with the will and purposes of God.” Or this is a way of ensure our eyes are on the right place instead of being distracted by all the things around us.

-Notice what takes place right before this, acceptable sacrifices, not to place God in your debt, but working to align the king’s hearts with God. It’s only after being obedient to God that he’ll have the proper desires to ask for.

-This is the proper way to pray! ACTS, the Lord’s Prayer all reorient our hearts and minds before we get to asking.

–5: do we actually celebrate that we have been saved? We should be a joyful people! Even celebrating communion like we did last week is meant to be a joyful experience because we’re no longer dead in our sin.

-As I was growing up I had no clue that Christianity was meant to lead to joy! Not sure where I missed it, but it always felt like being a Christian meant there was no fun, just joy sucking rules to follow. Yet when Jesus came, he was accused of partying too much! We shouldn’t be partying too much, but there should be a level of joy and celebration at the daily victory we have in Christ!

  • The Response of the King (6)

-Notice the change in pronouns here. We go from “you/your” to “I”

-God sometimes calls the equipped, but He always equips the called.

-There is no question or doubt “I know this truth!” this is one of the reasons it’s so important to continue meeting together, we sometimes need each other to believe the realities of the gospel.

-Tami at last week’s music practice warned the team: be careful where you look when we sing this song! It’s a hard one when you know what’s going on in people’s lives! But think of how encouraging it is to see someone struggling with a cancer seeing someone else struggling with cancer and singing their heart out because God is still working in them!

-David wrote this 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, we now have the privilege of seeing the fulfillment of this promise. God’s salvation is done, accomplished, finished, now there’s nothing that can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

  • The Response of the People (7-9)

-Literally: “some in chariots, some in horses, but we invoke the name of the one true God” What are you looking to as your ultimate source of identity, comfort, and strength?

–Deut. 17:14-20 Last week we saw the need to write down the law, this week I want you to look at another command: not acquire too many horses, aka find comfort in your nation, your tribe, your people. Since God created us, he knows our tendencies to look to anything else as the source of our confidence instead of Him, which is why we have vs. 7 in this Psalm. Specifically, what this is referring to the ancient near east is putting your ultimate confidence in geo-political power. The chariots/horses were the best weapon of the day, whoever had the most would most likely win in a battle. Has anything changed since?

-I say this with some trepidation, knowing that it may step on some people’s toes, but why is it that so many people today are looking to Politics as their primary source of identity? Why is everything that’s said filtered through a partisan lens instead of filtering it through a Jesus lens? We see this every 4 years from both sides! (actually seeing it pretty much daily now) Unless our candidate is elected into office our country is going to descend into anarchy, or if our candidate isn’t in office our country is falling apart and it’s OBVIOUSLY the fault of the policies of the other side. Unless this vote passes through the House our world is going to fall apart. It’s using fear and scare tactics to manipulate people, and the sad part is that it works! So then in response to the fear from one side, the other side doubles down on the opposite position and leaves no room for nuance. I wonder if today this verse would be more applicable if it said “some trust in the donkey, and some in the elephant.” 

-Neither party is completely aligned with every Christian virtue, which makes it hard to know how to vote. The problem in our culture today is because everything is viewed through a partisan political lens far too many assumptions are made about what someone truly thinks or believes. Instead of asking for clarification or trying to understand where someone is coming from, conclusions and assumptions are made about whether someone is “in” or “out” and then we decide if we’ll continue associating with them or not. This is the mark of following the ways of the world, not the ways of our Lord, and this cuts through both sides of the political aisle.

-This doesn’t mean we therefore throw up our hands and disengage (as tempting as that might be!), instead I think we need to work hard to find a better way forward together, and it MUST start in the church. 

-This is why I have said and will say in the future, leave your politics at the door when you come in here. What I mean by that (and what I should probably change what I say to) is leave your PARTISAN politics at the door, because there are political truths that must be shared in here: Jesus is Lord is a political statement, because it’s saying no one else has the ultimate answers or authority. The Bible makes it clear that every person who is in authority (kings, rulers, presidents, governors) is in there by God’s good plan and design, even ones you don’t like or agree with.

-I have read of, and even talked to, some pastors who have shared Bible verses over the past few years and then either been labeled a woke Marxist or a racist, and I know they were neither of those things! Why is it that sharing something like “blessed are the peacemakers” or “turn the other cheek” or “a gentle answer turns away wrath” are labeled “woke” today? If you didn’t know, I just quoted Matt. 5:9, Matt 5:39, and Prov. 15:1. I’ve been called some of those things since I got here! When everything is filtered through a partisan political lens there’s no room for nuance, subtly, or trying to understand someone else’s point of view. Yet that’s exactly what we as Christians are called to do.

-I’m not sure how this happened (I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it) but there has even been Christians I know who have said it’s time to move on from gentleness and start fighting fire with fire. 

-I need all of you to pay attention to this: demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit isn’t optional for anyone who is “In Christ.” Look at these 2 lists Paul gives us in Galatians 5: one of them is led by the Spirit, and one of them is not.

-Maybe politics isn’t important to you at all! You’re probably much more sane than many of the people you’re rubbing shoulder with! However, these 2 lists I think can serve as a litmus test of where you have idols in your heart that God is revealing to you. In what areas of your life are you marked by the flesh instead of the Spirit? When are you prone to respond with sexual immorality, etc. instead of love, etc. In God’s kindness, He is provided a way for you to see where you’re looking to comfort in the world instead of Him. Areas in your life where you’ve taken your eyes off the right place and turned them to worldly things.

-Vs. 8 doubles down on this idea: Those who trust in anything other than God collapse and fall.

-We’ve seen this all summer! Where is the foundation of your life, in rock or sand? Do you have enough foundation built to endure the difficulties of life, or are you building on a foundation from this world that will ensure destruction? 

-Do you want to have God answer your prayers? Entrust yourself to God. Do you want to have a flourishing life? Entrust yourself to God. Do you want to have the strength to endure under trials? Entrust yourself to God. Do you want to be a strong person who isn’t worried by the changing world around us? Entrust yourself to God. 

-The last verse is repeated in the NT. 1 Tim. 2:1-2 also commanded to pray this in the NT. Do you pray for “kings and all who are in high positions”? Once again, not just for the candidates whose policies you agree with, but for “all people.” 

-Similarly to many other Psalms, all this is pointing us to the ultimate and perfect king: Jesus. Today we can use this prayer when we remember that we are in a battle, not against flesh and blood, which means we can’t use the world’s weapons to fight!

-Don’t lower yourself to slander, dissensions, or divisions. That’s how the world will try to tempt us to fight! Instead we fight by demonstrating: love, joy, peace, etc. And who demonstrated those traits perfectly? Jesus! Therefore, as we saw at the beginning of this, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Don’t be distracted by the things of this world, don’t let your eyes wander away from Him. It’s only by faithfully keeping your eyes on Him that the lines of our lives will be straight.

Bene: (Heb. 12:1-2)

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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by mikethestrand on August 21, 2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on August 21, 2022

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2022/08/21/psalm-20-sermon-manuscript/

Passively Engaging with God

One of the most difficult aspects for me during a worship service is to be actively engaged with what is happening. Someone moving down the row from me, or someone coming in late, or a child crying or a funny joke all distract me from the primary purpose I’m there: to commune with the family of God and to spend time in awe of who God is. It takes a concerted effort to be engaging with people and with everything that happens during the service. This is the difference between being an active participant and being a passive participant.

Being a passive participant means I expect everything to go my way, for the music to be my favorites that I enjoy, for the sermon to be perfectly applicable to me and relate to me. This leads to both an entertainment model of church and a me-centric model of church. Church is all about me and what I get and want from the weekly services.

Being an active participant means I look for opportunities to serve those around me. Instead of wanting the music to be my favorites, I look for the ways these songs can serve us as a whole. I actively listen to the sermon and think through ways I can encourage the pastor for being faithful to the Word, ways I can grow as a believer, and support those around me.

This is part of the reason I ask for people to stand when we sing. By standing people are forced to be more engaged in what they are doing. Not to mention, it’s much easier to sing with correct posture, like you have when you stand.

Instead of looking for ways that we can get something, I hope we as a church can look for ways that we can engage with the Word of God and allow that to change our lives and the ways we interact with each other.

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by mikethestrand on January 26, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in Blog, Church, Music, Relationships, Theology, Worship
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Posted by mikethestrand on January 26, 2016

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2016/01/26/passively-engaging-with-god/

The Avoidance of Titles

As I’ve expressed before, during college I somehow found myself in the middle of those who consider themselves “young, restless and reformed.” The one time I interacted with Collin Hansen I was introduced as “one of the people you wrote about.” (thanks Dad…) I quickly embraced the title and began reading and listening to more Piper, Driscoll and Chandler and then went to as many of the “Gospel” conferences as I could (T4G, The Gospel Coalition). I enjoyed the commitment to the Word and history of the church but didn’t always enjoy the connotations that came with identifying myself as a “Calvinist.” After having the books for 2 years, I’ve finally been digging in to “Against Calvinism” and “For Calvinism” and find myself resonating much more with Calvinism than I ever have before, but still don’t always like what comes with the label.

Reading through a couple blogs today on what has been dubbed “the Neo-Calvinism” (which you can read about here and here) and continuing to reflect on where I’m at and where I’ve been I’m continuing to find myself less within the so-called neo-calvinism movement and more likely to consider myself to be an Evangelical, to which my dad has been delighted. So what do I mean by Evangelical?

Evangelical gets it’s name from the Greek word evangelion which we translate as “gospel” so the whole gospel centered movement is Evangelical in nature. I uphold Scripture as the ultimate authority in my life and daily strive to be more like Christ. In this way I am also reformed, in that I am constantly reforming my life to the message of the Bible. I can join with the early church fathers in reciting and agreeing with the creeds of the early church and go back to Christ’s final command in Matthew 28 to spread the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

This is also something I often hesitate to do because so many labels come with so much baggage. Calvinists tend to be over bearing and domineering without much grace extended. Many people don’t know what an evangelical is or what one believes. And reformed tends to bring to mind Luther and the Reformation. What are some labels you’ve seen in your life that have either been helpful or unhelpful?

In the same vein, some of my hesitancy to use labels to identify myself is because neo-calvinism is currently the “cool” title to use. And while there are some aspects of it I so resonate with and will whole heartedly agree with, there is some hesitancy for me to jump on bandwagons. I know things come and go so quickly in the church and don’t want to be swept away by the newest trends-even if they’re good things. I know that the truth is here to stay and am continuing to trust God to lead and guide the church of yesterday, today and forever.

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by mikethestrand on June 25, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on June 25, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/06/25/the-avoidance-of-titles/

EFCA Theology Conference 2014

I’ve decided to do things a little differently this year and just continually updating this page with the new sessions in order. Would love to hear any questions or comments you might have!

A World Absorbing Text or a Text Absorbed by the World?

Dr. Richard Lints

Introduction – Cultural Saturation

Interpreting Overlapping Realities: Gospel and Culture

Misconceptions

Micro and Macro Stories

The Gospel as Theological Framework and Theological Vision

Culture as Macro and Micro Stories

Pre and Post – Modernity

Defining Narratives

Democratic Consumerism

Technological Rationalism

Social Pluralism

The Great Irony

Reading Our Times

Beginning Clues

Reading the Scriptures as a Canon

Being Read by the Scriptures

Christian Faithfulness in the Face of Ancient Cultural Challenges

Dr. D. Jeffry Bingham

  1. Christian Faithfulness in the Face of Persecution
    1. The Accusations of the Culture

1. Christians were being accused by a culture that was very religious, the culture saw Christians as atheists. This was the main motivation for Roman persecution.

2. Christians didn’t make good Roman citizens.

3. Romans viewed Christians as incestuous

4. Communion is viewed as cannibalistic

  1. The Faithful Responses of the Christians

1. They explained in literature and conversation. Showed how monotheism was something allowed even among the Romans, pointing to poets and scholars (Plato in particular) to show that monotheism was already accepted.

2. Pointed to their care for others (orphans, neighbors, hungry) as their appeal to how they were good citizens.

3. They said they were a family and that’s just the way they refer to themselves.

4. Eucharist was the reason they came together. They explained to the community what they were doing and why.

Christianity is a very gory religion, characterized by the sloppiness of blood.

  1. Christian Faithfulness in the Process of Scriptural Definition
    1. The Proposed, Erroneous Models of Scripture

On the one hand you had Marcion who cut most things out of the Bible, and then the other hand had add everything.

  1. The Faithful Responses of the Christians

The sacred text, if nothing else, included the Old Testament Hebrew Bible.

So they said nothing gets into the Bible unless it’s in harmony with the OT. And if they are universally embraced by Christians throughout the world. We don’t accept any text that doesn’t put the slaughter of Jesus as its’ focus.

Where is the Lord’s supper in your meetings?

The Opportunity to Learn from the Challenge of Race

Dr. Vincent Bacote

Mandela’s Death and movies like 12 Years a Slave show us the problem of apartheid and puts the legacy of racism right in front of us. Thought it may be in front of us, we may be tempted to avert our gaze.

  1. “Our” Issue and Our Mission: A commitment to Bible and the obligations of the gospel

Using the issue of race to enslave people is completely missing the idea of the greatest commandment: love God and love others. The Bible talks about it.

  1. Dancing with history: facing the world and society we have inherited in the modern West; why race remains a challenge for all of us in spite of improvements

These issues don’t simply disappear.

  1. Considering the Experience of Minorities: What can the church learn…and perhaps anticipate in the future.

The question of a lack of power. People become accustomed to accepting the fact that they are lacking in power. There’s also the question of hope.

  1. Considering Some Core Beliefs: How does our Christology, Soteriology and Ecclesiology lead us toward persistent and patient progress on the lingering question of race and the prospect of the evangelical church as a cultural minority?

Theology and ethics need to be seen together. Which Jesus do you emphasize? Which text do you go to when talking about Jesus? What do people experience at your church that helps deal with the issue of race?

If you’re going to be people of the book, are you considering all the book teaching us? Or are we just pragmatists?

  1. What Posture Should We Take: Faithful Presence, or something else?

Your context makes a huge influence as to what your suggestions can be.

  1. To Consider: What vision might we have for the future?

At one level, Christians out to be a counter-cultural people practicing a counter-cultural reality. People will notice this because it’s not typical for people to live with other people who are not like them.
Need to have a disposition of massive patience.

Regression happens within the church as well (the crisis of marriage is also taking place within the church)

A commitment to public engagement without messianic ideas.

Understanding the Times and Understanding the Places: Theological Localism

Dr. Fred Sanders

  1. Theology with a local accent

It’s just a matter of fitting in – the message of the cross should offend, not our way of talking about it (i.e. sports)

  1. Two methods: correlation and proclamation

Correlation: identified in Paul Tillick – philosophy raises the questions, theology answers them. Explains the contents of Christian faith using questions.

Proclamation: identified in Carl Barth

I suggest using theological localism.

  1. Taking action: Men of Issachar in every place

See 1 Chronicles 12:32. Seen in Augustine’s City of God.

  1. “Theological Engagement with California Culture”

 

Evangelicals in 21st Century American Culture

Dr. Leith Anderson

Introduction

  1. Living in challenging times

We get caught up in our time and forget about previous times issues

  1. Theology of Culture

Do you consider culture to be the friend, or the enemy of Christ?

  1. Matthew 13:24-30 – parable of the weeds

Looking back – where we came from

  1. Liberalism & Fundamentalism

Scopes vs Monkey trial in 1925, fundamentalists increasingly marginalized. Most of the world didn’t even think of fundamentalists, then along came Billy Graham

  1. Billy Graham & today

Evangelicals are now ¼-1/3 of all people in the US, so what do we do with that?

Looking around – where we are

  1. Globalization of Christianity

Now the largest & fastest growing religion. 20,000 new believers in China every day

  1. Evangelicals in America

We are the dominate Christian force

  1. Demographics

Segregation in America remains strong

  1. Theology

Homosexuality and the exclusivity of Christ

  1. Church in adversarial circumstances

Conclusion: How then shall we live?

Speak the truth, but always in love

Don’t be quick to come to conclusions

TRUST GOD

As long as people have the Bible and the Holy Spirit they’ll be ok.

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by mikethestrand on January 23, 2014  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on January 23, 2014

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2014/01/23/efca-theology-conference-2014/

Responding to An Open Letter to Praise Bands

I came across a blog today titled, ‘An Open Letter to Praise Bands,’ written by James K.A. Smith, a professor at Calvin College. In his blog he lists 3 problems he sees with worship music in churches today, and they are:

  1. If we, the congregation, can’t hear ourselves, it’s not worship.
  2. If we, the congregation, can’t sing along, it’s not worship.
  3. If you, the praise band, are the center of attention, it’s not worship.

While I wholeheartedly agree with his statements on worship, there is some refining of them I would like to see, as someone who leads worship. I completely agree with his first statement, you shouldn’t need ear plugs at a church. If the congregation can’t hear themselves it encourages people to become much more focused on themselves than the body around them, who they are there to encourage through their singing (Ephesians 5:19).

The second point I also agree with, but would refine some. Different congregations have different styles of music they prefer to do. Now, with the internet, when you go to most churches today, you’ll typically recognize a couple of the songs, but every church has their own unique gifts and styles, especially in urban contexts. One church I went to did old Gospel songs that I didn’t recognize, but everyone else in the church loved! Another place I’ve been used rap as worship for a couple songs. The other issue I have with this is some of the push back I’ve gotten from elderly people where I serve. Some of the older people will use this as an excuse to not sing some of the songs on a Sunday. I would encourage people to listen to the songs we sing on Sundays outside of Sunday so they can sing along. And finally, introducing a new song can often be difficult for people to grasp, so I will often sing a verse and chorus so people can figure out a song, then repeat it and encourage the congregation to sing along.

Finally, the third point is the one I would most refine. Part of the reason I like to lead from the front so people can see me is so that they can know when their supposed to be singing. It’s always awkward when there’s one person with an especially loud voice who doesn’t know when the next verse starts, so they jump right in then sheepishly look around. Yes, I do want to model what it looks like to worship through music, but I also want to show the congregation when they are supposed to sing along. One of the things that I think is incredible helpful for this issue is to make sure what is being said is focused on God. This can be done by including pertinent Scripture passages during musical interludes, or having someone use that time to praise an attribute of God that the song talks about.

Honestly, it is very hard to not make it about myself and try to use music as a way for me to build myself up, so I pray before every service that I make God’s name great, and pray the same prayer of John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease.” I want to model to the congregation what it means to worship, but then apply that worship to my whole life as I conform myself into the image of God’s Son, Jesus.

“You cannot find excellent corporate worship until you stop trying to find excellent corporate worship and pursue God Himself.”

-D.A. Carson

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by mikethestrand on May 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 30, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/30/responding-to-an-open-letter-to-praise-bands/

Once And For All

Passion is a wonderful conference that has exploded in recent years. Fueled by speakers like Louie Giglio and John Piper and music by Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman, people flock to this conference by the tens of thousands. I have a few friends that have gone to this conference in the past, and every year I buy the CD to hear some of the new songs that will be big in churches the following year. This year was no different-a wonderful conference with great music. I bought the CD the day it came out, and have begun doing some of the songs at the church in which I help lead music. One of my favorite songs from the album was ‘Once and For All’ done by Chris Tomlin. This past week, I was sent an e-mail with a discussion about some of the wording in the song, and led to this blog on the song. The lyrics in question are the first ones in the chorus “We believe our God is Jesus.” One of the most difficult concepts within Christianity is the idea that God is three persons yet one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If this line is true, then Jesus is the only person of the Godhead who is God. Wording in the songs we sing matters!

This is similar to a song I used to love in middle school by John Reuben titled ‘God Is Love.’ The chorus says, “Love is God and God is love.” Yes, God is love (1 John 4:8), but love is NOT God. Describing God as only love puts limits on many of his other characteristics.

So what do we do with a song like ‘Once and For All’ when the rest of the lyrics are theologically sound and speak to the truth of what Jesus has done on our behalf? The writer of the blog I pointed you to earlier suggested changing the words to “We believe our King is Jesus,” which I agree would be a big improvement on the song, and would keep the song theologically true. I continue to be grateful for the gift of Chris Tomlin and hope to sing this song soon at church, with the edited words.

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by mikethestrand on May 28, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 28, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/28/once-and-for-all/

A Gracious Theologian?

One thing I’ve discovered about myself in recent years is that as I learn new things, I’m convinced I’m an expert on them before I truly understand everything I’ve learned. I read a really good article today titled ‘Fourteen Characteristics of Theological Legalism.‘ Michael Patton, a professor at Dallas Seminary wrote:

Theological legalism is nothing new (and such is certainly not limited to the world of theology). Think of the Pharisees who, according to Christ, strained out gnats and swallowed camels (Matt. 23:24). To the theological legalist, there is no such thing as gnats. Christ spoke of the weightier things of the Law (Matt. 23:23). To the doctrinal legalist, all issues are of equal weight. Paul spoke of things of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3); to those who are theological Pharisees, everything comes in first place, there is rarely, if ever, a second.

He then goes on to list 14 ways that show someone who is a theological legalist, and finally, says,

If you love theology, please be the first to put on the attitude of humility. When someone speaks about you in this regard, don’t have your goal to for others to think you are smart or right, but humble and meek. When others talk about your personality with regard to theological discourse, would they say you are arrogant and legalistic, or gracious and meek? This does not mean we sacrifice our passions or beliefs, it just means we temper ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. The truth is too important for us to lose our witness due to theological legalism.

I’ve seen this in my own life, as well as the lives of many of my friends. In college, I discovered that I was reformed, and was convinced only those who were reformed were true believers. Then I discovered I was a Calvinist and was convinced anyone who didn’t hold to the “TULIP” was either uniformed, unintelligent or not a true believer. Yes, we should be a people who are studying the things of God (i.e. theology) but may that knowledge be used to build up others in the body. As I’ve come to know many people who are far smarter and learned than I am, I am continually amazed by their humility and graciousness. These men who are some of the experts in their field took time to stop and talk to me and ask about the ministries I’m involved in, yet I often have trouble “lowering” myself to talk to someone who is an Arminian. What is my problem? I hope and pray that as I continue to grow in my understanding of God, that I am a humble and gracious theologian, one who not only intellectually knows God, but who lives out the things I know so that I may grow to be more like Christ in my everyday life.

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by mikethestrand on May 23, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on May 23, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/05/23/a-gracious-theologian/

EFCA Theology Conference – My Thoughts

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the EFCA Theology Conference in Denver and was really stretched and encouraged in my thinking on the issue of sexuality. The most powerful session for me was Wesley Hill on his struggle with homosexuality. Never before had I talked to someone who struggles with same sex attraction, yet is willing to submit it at the foot of the cross and call it sin. We live in a broken side world, as evidenced by looking around us. All of us are sinners and have our certain areas where we are more prone to temptation than others, I think it’s safe to admit that for most of us, sexuality is a very hard issue, especially being a single man as I am right now. But what should we, as the church, do to reach out to single people like Wesley and myself?

I’ve talked about this very important issue before (“Where Are All the Young People“) and was reminded of it again this week. The church is called to be a family (see Jesus in Matthew 12), yet so often we don’t treat each other as the family we are supposed to be. As someone who is single, I can so often get overlooked in the ministry of the church, and most churches I’ve been to have a fantastic youth group ministry, a thriving couples-with-small-children ministry and some even have a great college ministry, but what about the single 20-somethings who are trying to figure out how to figure out a schedule, budget, and where best to use their time? We need the encouragement and support of those in the church, and those in the church are primarily those who are older and married. So again, PLEASE just come talk to us, invite us over and invest in our lives! I promise you again that we won’t bite!

Tied in to this is the issue of homosexuality. As it becomes more prevalent, we in the church need to know how to reach out and welcome those who are, as Wesley described himself “gay celibate Christians.” Wesley has written why he uses the term “gay celibate Christian” in a recent blog post that you can read here. The church needs to be a place where even single people can feel loved and as a part of the family. The Gospel should bring us together in the same way that growing up together in a family does. We should be willing to lay down our lives for our friends, just as Christ laid down his life for us. This is an issue in my life as well-I so often focus on myself and my needs instead of the needs of the body. I’ll close with this final thought from 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has past away; behold, the new has come.” May we continue to cling close to the cross as we daily repent, die to ourselves and remember to live in Christ, who will give us the strength we need to not give in to temptation.

You can buy Wesley Hill’s book on Amazon, and read his blog here. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to him and am incredibly grateful for his faithfulness to God’s word as he attempts to follow His will in his life. Thank you, Wes, for being open and transparant this week with your struggles, you are in my prayers.

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by mikethestrand on February 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on February 4, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/02/04/efca-theology-conference-my-thoughts/

EFCA Theology Conference Session 7

The Theology of Sexuality Applied: Teaching/Training of Youth in the Home and the Church – Stan Jones

What are our Objectives in Sex Education and in Parenting?

To prevent immorality?

To equip and empower our children to enter adulthood capable of living godly, wholesome lives

Don’t focus too narrowly and negatively, such as focusing on only preventing sexual immorality and the ravages that illicit and irresponsible sex; this goal is too small, too limited, too narrow. Our most important goal in sex education should be to equip and empower our children to enter adulthood capable of living godly, wholesome, and fulfilled lives as Christen men and women, Christian singles, wives and husbands.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

A Summary of Key Points in the Theology of Sexuality

We are embodied, we are gendered sexual beings, we are relational, we are made in God’s image, we are broken and twisted, we encounter objective reality when we have sex, we are souls under construction

We are souls under construction

Given/Discovered Constructed?

Given: Evolutionary Psychology Reproduction as an evolutionary impulse in the context of a meaningless universe; sex, like life, is meaningless

Atheist Delusions (David Hart)

The Five-Factor Model of Sexual Character:

Needs – Relatedness and Significance

Values

Beliefs

Skills

Supports

Twelve Principles of Christian Sex Education in the Family and Church

Principle 1: Sex education is the shaping of character

Principle 2: Parents are the principle sex educators

Principle 3: First messages are the most important

Principle 4: Seize those “teachable moments;” become an “askable” parent

Principle 5: Stories are powerful teaching tools

Principle 6: Accurate and explicit messages are best

Principle 7: Positive messages are powerful

Principle 8: “Inoculate” your children against negative beliefs

Principle 9: Repetition is critical; repetition is really, really important

Principle 10: Close, positive parent-child relationships are crucial

Principle 11: Sexuality is not everything; keep your perspective

Principle 12: Our God can forgive, heal, and redeem anything

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by mikethestrand on February 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mikethestrand on February 4, 2013

https://pastormikesmusings.com/2013/02/04/efca-theology-conference-session-7/

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