02.05.2023 - Shaped By Christ - The Mind of Christ

1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. 6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. 14 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Gen Z Language

It is humbling to realize how old you are and how little you know for all your years.

I have had the privilege of watching children grow up from a distance, like being a grandparent without going through the parenthood part. Bekah has always done a better job of keeping up with them than I have; she has always understood their culture better. Truthfully, I had difficulty keeping up with the popular culture of youth when I was a young teenager myself.

I remember being frustrated that my parents could not understand our culture when we were younger. I also remember hearing stories from my grandparents and some of the older generation that told us that our parents were just like us when they were younger. However, today's young people are different from the generations before them. They have some extraordinary gifts for language that I’m not sure our world has ever seen.

The youth of our world have been raised with mobile communication in a way that has given them the ability to connect with people worldwide through text and symbols. These words and symbols are only sometimes in English. Sometimes they are abbreviations of other words. Other times they are made up of words altogether. Often, they are not even meant to be read out loud. It is a visual communication that crosses national and cultural boundaries, and I understand very little of it. Within ten years, I will need help understanding the American English used by everyone around me. Everyone younger than me will be able to understand me well enough, but I will be left in the dark when they speak and text their lingo to and around me.

That will be a challenge for me, but it will be a gift to the world. When Greece and Rome took over Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, they brought their language with them, and that language carried the gospel and built the church across the world for over 1000 years. For the next 500 years, we’ve been working on translating the gospel message to as many different people as we can. As a result, our children can take the gospel further and faster, going right through and behind enemy lines, in ways we can’t even imagine. Reaching people won’t be the issue. Our challenge is ensuring we find the way to teach the Gospel to them so they know what to share with the world.

Sharing Jesus with others does not sound difficult at first, but when we get down to figuring out the words and how to back up those words with our actions, it can quickly become mission impossible, and all the wisdom in the world will fail us in our mission.

However, in Christ, we find wisdom greater than the world's wisdom.

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Simple

It is tempting to overcomplicate anything spiritual in our lives. The meanings of the word spiritual have changed a lot over many years. In past centuries, it referred to a religious process of re-formation that sought to recover the original state of humanity, which is "the image of God.” Over the centuries, a second meaning has worked into the concept. Today, the word spiritual usually means subjective, as in “to each their own.” When we say things are simple but cannot communicate how to do them, things get muddy and overcomplicated. What starts as going from point A to point B becomes a maze.

Paul calls this gospel message a mystery. Mysteries are, by nature, like mazes. They are complex. Mysteries and mazes have wrong turns and false leads, and sometimes they have a variety of possible endings. Some mysteries have confounded humanity since the beginning of time. They can be incredibly complicated. However, once you know the solution, the maze becomes simple. You cannot help someone else through a maze you have not already gone through. But once you have the answer, everything becomes simple.

That mystery of God is as simple as restoring us to our original purpose, the humanity we lost when sin entered the world. Before Jesus, it was impossible. After Jesus, it became simple for us to experience. Jesus comes to us at point A and leads us to point B. We no longer have to navigate the maze. The path from death to life is simple: Follow Jesus.

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Not Easy

Paul knew it was simple to say that Jesus leads us from death to life. Once we have experienced that saving grace and transformation, we can share each step we take as we follow Jesus into new life. Many of those steps are things others can also do: Read the Bible, attend a worship service, and find ways to serve others. These are things that people do as they follow Jesus, but doing those things will not get you through the maze without Him. Navigating a maze may involve a lot of left turns and right turns, but if you don’t make them in the right places and at the right time, you will still be lost.

The mystery of our spiritual life is simple but not easy. Telling someone to follow Jesus is simple. Following Jesus yourself and leading by example takes work. Jesus promised in Mark 10:29-30 there are blessings and challenges on the road He leads us. Some of those challenges can be impossible on our own, like trying to build a ship in a bottle by tossing in pieces, pouring in some glue, and shaking it until it comes out right. I’ve noticed that worldly wisdom does not run very deep, and once we have found the bottom line, we get suggestions that sound like instructions with customer service for our tech devices.

“Try turning the power off and on again.”

“You need to download the latest information for it.”

Or, for some of our antique machines, “Just give it a good kick to get it going again.”

That worldly wisdom may solve tech and mechanical issues, but it won’t work for your life or those you love. Likewise, worldly wisdom will not work for spiritual problems. There are many books and opinions about handling spiritual issues in your life, and they all come down to two directions and one destination.

The first direction is to think positively and try your hardest to achieve your desires. The second direction is to give up on your desires because the hard truth is that we don’t get everything we want.

The final destination is the realization that we do not have control over our lives, only our choice of how we respond to life. Worldly wisdom will eventually tell you that life is too complicated and that nothing you do matters in the long run, so do whatever is easiest. It won’t make a difference in the end. That is a lie.

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Living Word

We do not have control over many things, but every choice we make matters. The Bible is a different kind of book. It tells us that we are not in control of our lives but that God does, and God loves us. Paul wrote that a God who sent His only Son into our world, only to be crucified, sounds foolish. More than that, it sounds like utter madness! But our world cannot think spiritually, so they miss vital pieces of that message. They ignore that Jesus came willingly and that He had opportunities to make other choices every day of His life. He was born a king, and they put a sign on the cross above His head when He died to remind us all that He died a king as well. But He lived the life of servanthood. He chose not to claim His royal privilege in our world.

He did that because He had the spiritual wisdom to know that what comes after is far greater than anything that has come before. Therefore, as followers of Jesus, we do not look back to the good old days behind us. Instead, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who goes before us, leading us closer to God.

Our past is essential and stands as a witness to God’s love for us. We need to understand that who we are as God’s people stands on scripture, and if we deny or neglect the scripture, we are building a history without a foundation, which will collapse on top of us. God’s Holy Spirit works in cooperation with the scriptures to connect us to Jesus - the Living Word of God.

As Paul wrote, we have limited minds compared to the wisdom of God. So much of life, especially spiritual things, are mysteries to us that we have no hope of solving on our own. But if you follow Jesus and have a relationship with Him, He will share His wisdom with you. Through Jesus, you have access to the Mind of Christ. But you only have it through Him.

As Jesus taught in John 15, He is the vine, and we are the branches. We are created to bear fruit for Him, but we can do nothing if we are not connected to Him. We can access the wisdom of God, as the Scripture and the Holy Spirit point us to Jesus in a way that we can follow and obey, even if it goes beyond our understanding at the moment. Without both of them, we wouldn’t know Jesus, we would be without spiritual wisdom, and we would have nothing to share with future generations.

Will you seek the wisdom of God today? Will you ask for His help in all the decisions and opportunities before you?

Today, as we celebrate Holy Communion, we make a covenant with God. We admit our sins and our weakness. We recognize our need for God. And we ask God to give us the wisdom and Grace we need to be His Church. So join me today as we seek God together.

Communion – The Great Thanksgiving II

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

Glory to God. Amen.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

Always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

And so,

With your people on earth

And all the company of heaven

We praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death, And made with us a new covenant

by water and the Spirit.

On the night to which he gave himself up for us

he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread,

gave it to his disciples, and said;

“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

“Drink from this, all of you

this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink it,

in remembrance of me.”

And so,

In remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving,

as a holy and living sacrifice,

in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood.”

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other,

and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory,

and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit in your holy church,

all honor and glory is your, almighty Father,

now and for ever.

Amen

The body of Christ, given for you. Amen.

The blood of Christ, given for you. Amen.

Sunday school starts soon and we invite you to come back this evening at 6 pm where Richard will be sharing with us for our evening service.

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